Why wont you DoW me?!

[Professor Pedo]

So im playing a game as poland and suddenly the assyrians show up with their units.
I already have a decent millitary for defence wich is still only 1 third of theirs.
They stay at my borders for about 4 turns and then they just leave.
And they come back and then they leave.
This happened 2 times and my spy even told me he was plotting against me.
Why ashurbanipal just why.

 

[EK834]

So im playing a game as poland and suddenly the assyrians show up with their units.
I already have a decent millitary for defence wich is still only 1 third of theirs.
They stay at my borders for about 4 turns and then they just leave.
And they come back and then they leave.
This happened 2 times and my spy even told me he was plotting against me.
Why ashurbanipal just why.

He hasn't declared war on someone else?

One plausible reason why he suddenly recalled all his units is that he was about to DoW you when one of his spies reported someone was plotting against him or even had sent a force to attack his city X. The AI react to such reports.

Another reason is that he may have spotted military units on his border elsewhere or near his cities. The AI sometimes recalls units when this happens.

Another reason could be that your diplo level fell under a threshold and he's no longer as eager to declare war anymore.

 

[echolalia]

Make a demand of him, denounce him, ask him to stop spying on you and to stop settling near you. Bully city states under his protection, and steal some of his territory with a citadel. That should make him ready to attack you.

 

[Socratatus]

So im playing a game as poland and suddenly the assyrians show up with their units.
I already have a decent millitary for defence wich is still only 1 third of theirs.
They stay at my borders for about 4 turns and then they just leave.
And they come back and then they leave.
This happened 2 times and my spy even told me he was plotting against me.
Why ashurbanipal just why.

I actually like this kind of thing. It shows that the AI is able to change plans in real time in response to changing circumstances. Maybe he was going to attack you, but someone else became a greater threat. Maybe you became tougher than he expected. Maybe he just wants to pass to attack another Civ, but never got round to asking for a way thru and when he`s about to, another Civ takes his attention, etc, etc, etc.

You have first consider all the variables the AI is having to deal with first before complaining.

Of course, if this was a Human player, you`d just accept it, cos he`s Human

 

[Barghaest]

Maybe someone left the stove on and they had to go back to turn it off?

Number of units doesn't always equate either. He may have fresh units with no xp while your units might be level 3 or more (meaning your pointy stick rating is actually higher because XP is a factor).

Also, he may actually be marching on someone on the other side of you and having issues pathing around your borders to get to them (probably because the other empire's scout blocking the northern route in the second screenie).

 

[Magma_Dragoon]

I had Pacal dance his army around Tokyo for 20 turns yesterday before I got fed up declared war and slaughtered his army.

 

[Aenthin]

Funny how the opposite happened to me. I had, according to the Demographics, the second best army in the world and Japan, who I could read like a book, still decided to DoW me, right smack in the middle of my territory (I had open borders) where all my Camel Archers and Crossbowmen were located. In comparison to my army, his was small and (eventually due to cancelled open borders) separated and easy to pick on.

Granted, it might also be in the AI traits.

 

[fwootamala]

There's something about the Assyrian's AI; I've seen this at least 3 times (2 post-patch), two of those there was no other civ on the continent for his army to pick on. Dance dance Dance... In all 3 examples I had a small-to-moderate defensive army in/around the city in question. Most other aggressive civs would have DOWed me, especially if they brought a couple of siege towers along. Something about Assyria's flavor seems to make them wishy-washy.

 

[Professor Pedo]

Number of units doesn't always equate either. He may have fresh units with no xp while your units might be level 3 or more (meaning your pointy stick rating is actually higher because XP is a factor).

i acctualy had less units than him, and they mostly didnt even have any promotions. except for one i think.

 

[Barghaest]

i acctualy had less units than him, and they mostly didnt even have any promotions. except for one i think.

Ah, nixes that theory.

As for specifically being Assyria, could be the "Only Attack Cities" part of Siege Tower. Maybe they do not count STs as units when comparing against defenders because of this, so when he gets in range to see your units in defense, he realizes he didn't bring enough non-STs to get to the city...

 

[phillipwyllie]

I believe its the symptom of the shuffle of doom, where the script that that makes the AI move his troops into the best position before a DOW never completes.

 

[Smokeybear]

There's something about the Assyrian's AI; .... Something about Assyria's flavor seems to make them wishy-washy.

Dunno what it is, but I have to agree with this. Occasionally they may do some early expansion by conquering a few neighbor cities, but most games with them, I've seen them just stagnate and fail for 95% of the game. Rarely have I seen them higher than the bottom third of the scoresheet.

 

[orasis]

Psychological warfare.

 

[isau]

Although this happens with a lot of civs, the Assyrian AI in particular really doesn't know how to use Siege Towers or the fact that while they are great against cities, they can't be used against normal units.

 

[Magma_Dragoon]

Assyrian AI is a tactical genius in my current game. I stole a worker on like turn 25, and he didn't make peace until turn 150. He has lots of bows and used the hilly terrain around him to great effect. I managed to burn one city, but only because it was on my side of the mountain range between us. That being said, Pacal danced his army between Kyoto and Tokyo for 20 turns trying to get into position for his "sneak attack" before I attacked him preemptively.

 

[Aenthin]

Although this happens with a lot of civs, the Assyrian AI in particular really doesn't know how to use Siege Towers or the fact that while they are great against cities, they can't be used against normal units.

I once was ambushed by a hoard of siege towers...

 

[BroOfTheSun]

is he there to demand tribute from the CS?

 

[Sturmgewher88mm]

Psychological warfare.

This

 

[Polisurgist]

is he there to demand tribute from the CS?

Actually this.

 

[Novalia]

You have to give him a way in. Blocking off the tiles he wants to occupy will send him shuffling.. That pike you have in front of the city is the culprit. He is also making you horse archer redundant. Give them that tile and it will be the kill tile all you units level up on.