AI declaring war

[JonBrave]

It really, really irritates me that AI still just seemingly declares war out of nowhere. It feels to me as though this has been similar since Civ I.....

I play just Noble, latest I was pacifistic (ok I guess that doesn't help) , and then Napoleon --- same religion, relation fine --- just DoWs after 1000s of years. Tried reloading and giving him everything under sun, still DoWs start next turn. Then later on another Civ. If I make peace, seems some other AI just declares war....

Point is, it's a shame there never seems to be more to it. In "real life", you get a lot more interaction/feelings leading up to war. I wish there was more to it, this "random" way has always bugged me...

 

[Refar]

I play just Noble, latest I was pacifistic (ok I guess that doesn't help) , and then Napoleon --- same religion, relation fine --- just DoWs after 1000s of years. Tried reloading and giving him everything under sun, still DoWs start next turn. Then later on another Civ. If I make peace, seems some other AI just declares war....

Reloading just befoe declaration does not help you in no way. The decision to go to war is made a couple of turns befor the actual DoW (Perhaps a dozen). Then preparations are made.

As the grounds for the decision to go to war in the first place... The forums are full of threads on this.

Most common reason is just you beeing too weak. You saying you was pacifistic suggests that might be the case. Some AI's will not attack if have good relations, even if you look like a easy target. But most of them will backstab you if you look weak'ish.

Check the power/demographics often. Try to be somewhere arounf the top 3 civ's power-wise. The more the better.
If you drop far below - like having less than half of a AI's power, you are in acute danger.

 

[JonBrave]

OK reading this it makes a lot more sense, thank you.

Point taken. Now, how's a bit more preparation/escalation from AI, it's just "whoomph, i've declared war on you".... ? I hate that.

 

[Willem]

Check the power/demographics often. Try to be somewhere arounf the top 3 civ's power-wise. The more the better.
If you drop far below - like having less than half of a AI's power, you are in acute danger.

Yes, this is a very important thing to remember. Allow your power to drop too low and even Ghandi will be tempted to attack you. I find it helpful to set my graph to show me the power rating for the past 50 turns, rather than looking at it as a whole. That gives me a better idea of how well I'm progressing, and who's up and coming. Ideally you want to be the most powerful civ in the game, though being in the top third will at least deter all but the aggressive civs from declaring. And keep in mind that having things like Barracks and Walls also adds to your power score, not just units.

 

[JonBrave]

I don't build walls coz it says they don't work against gunpowder units. I don't have many barracks coz I'm a pacifist. Is there a pattern here...... ?

 

[Willem]

OK reading this it makes a lot more sense, thank you.

Point taken. Now, how's a bit more preparation/escalation from AI, it's just "whoomph, i've declared war on you".... ? I hate that.

Yes it can be a bit annoying. In real life there's usually some indication that something's brewing , like angry diplomatic exchanges etc. However that's not always the case. Look at Saddam's invasion of Kuwait a number of years ago. There was no one that was really expecting that. One thing you can do is try to have Open Borders with as many civs as you can. At least if they suddenly cancel that agreement, you'll know something might be up. Having them cancel trade deals is an indication as well.

 

[JonBrave]

I don't have Open Borders with anyone either , coz I'm trying to isolate myself....

 

[widdowmaker]

yea, i agree. Monty is bad like that too, it seems like alot of the leaders are just bloodthirsty.

Maybe they should add bush?

 

[Refar]

I don't build walls coz it says they don't work against gunpowder units. I don't have many barracks coz I'm a pacifist. Is there a pattern here...... ?

Actually the usefullnes of Walls/Castle is not certain... there are ongoing discussions on this subject

A good approach is to have one city beeing your military factory (at least one. you will want more if planing heavy action). Choose a city with good base production, put only the most needed buildings there: Granary, Forge, Barracks and Heroic Epic. Then put the city on military duty. Dont build anything else there, unless it is really-really needed to make the city better troop-factory (like temple to make people happy to let city grow...). The city should give you something like 1 unit per turn. This will often be enought, to keep you army scary enought, so the AI will not attack you. Then your other cities can keep they pacifistic ways

 

[Willem]

I don't build walls coz it says they don't work against gunpowder units. I don't have many barracks coz I'm a pacifist. Is there a pattern here...... ?

But gunpowder units don't come into the game until half way through, so you still gain some benefit from Walls. Plus their bombardment bonus and that of Castles doesn't disappear when they become obsolete, so they're worth having just for that. And you should at least have one city with a Barracks that's producing almost nothing but units. Even if you're more of a Pacifist player, you need to remember that addage "Walk softly but carry a big stick". You need to have an army that can hold it's own against your neighbours or they will come knocking.

 

[Willem]

Maybe they should add bush?

I read that they were considering it but they couldn't program the AI to be that stupid.

 

[JonBrave]

Thanks guys, your comments really help.

I have had a word with comrades in proposed city for churning out military. Trouble is, they still want be pacifist...

 

[Verge]

I don't have Open Borders with anyone either , coz I'm trying to isolate myself....

In addition to not nourishing your power rating, it also sounds like you're neglecting your diplomatic front, which will likely hurt you in the long-run.

 

[Refar]

How about beeing well armed pacifists ?

 

[Crowqueen]

What help does trying to surround your rivals do? My solution on my first few games has been to try and envelop the surrounding civs to make sure that I have room to expand and they stay small and weaker and therefore easier to attack and destroy or provoke cities into changing hands. (Shame in the leap from Civ II to Civ IV spies can no longer foment revolution.) I destroyed Japan by doing that and attempted to do it to Egypt but in the mean time ruined my chances for a diplomatic victory with the UN in my hands. It has a historical precedent - by isolating and cordoning off others you can absorb and assimilate them easily - but it doesn't work so well without ways of having them capitulate without all-out attack.

Refar - quite. Pacifism however should penalise you for concentrating on military production, but a deterrent is always handy. Shame there seems to be no in-game mechanism for armed threats if you don't hand over a surrounded city without me moving a few tanks into it first.