4000 years of peace?

[BlackFiend]

I'm so frustrated.

The game has the Babylons, Persians, Russkis, french, chinamen, english and germans...and me Zulu.

The year is 1000ad. The babylonians and the persians are the only two to go to war. I got in between the two by selling the babylonians a city on my continent far from the Persians. The persian wiped the babys out to the last city in his continent...and I gained the Babys as a weakend vassal who builds cities in a region I'm not currently in. Its a strategy I've used long ago I call wheat makin'. In essence, the babylonians are completely neutered, very weak, unable to research...basically send back to the stone ages. But they pay a few steady coins to keep from being wiped off the map, and build me cities to reap later.

Meanwhile, I await for other civs to do their thing. But each has mastered their own continent or sub continent...and not a single spark has fired off since the babylonian crushing in 3000bc.

I've been playing the zulus poorly. Not playing them militaristically..and generally been a diplomat and tech leader. I have the chinese on my continent and we roughly split it...though the AI have twice the city count I have...though my cities are much more powerful. Quality over quantity.

Its a powderkeg situation...and I want to light the fuse so bad. But I'm worried that if other civs don't start fighting amongst each other, they will take advantage of the battle between the chinese and I to slip in and start populating my huge continent in areas I've yet to fully colonize. I've seen it before where a civ not in the war will start sending settlers in the ruins of the cities I raze, getting excellent position and making it tough for me to reap spoils from war.

BTW...I've been keeping most of the civs very poor. Not a single one of the civs have more than 300gold in their vaults stored. But corruption is crippling me even though I'm in Republic. I'm afraid that doing a revolution to democracy will cause me to lose my science edge and make war with China that much more tougher.

I NEED the powder keg to blow. I need CHAOS. I need WAR among the nations. How do I pit one civ against the other?

 

[WackenOpenAir]

An AI will only accept an alliance if you have war with the common opponent already.

So first you must choose an enemy and declare war.
Then, you can buy allies against this enemy. Usually they will fight for you if you can give them a technollogy. It will basically always work. They don't have principles that prevent them from being bought in a war they don't want. Sometimes it will cost you more than other times, but they will always fight for you.

 

[Aceman101]

What If the new allies declare but don't send any troops?

 

[RFHolloway]

That is the risk, but at least the target will divert units to defend against them - every little helps.

 

[Aceman101]

Yes that's true. But is it worth it to give up a whole tech?

 

[Theryman]

They are going to get it soon enough anyways- and if they are really far behind, then the tech is worthless for you. You may as well get something out of it.

 

[Pyrrhos]

In the War Academy, someone pointed out that you can do it if you make a present of the first town you capture to the Civ you want to go to war. Empty it of your trops, hand it over as a Machiavellian "gesture of good-will" and watch your enemy recapture the town from the new owner. Now, if the town was down to one pop point, will it not be razed at that point? And what does that do to the attitude of recipient of your "gift"!

 

[Desertsnow]

That is just ! Muahuahahahahahaha!

 

[AutomatedTeller]

another way is to declare on a bunch of civs, especially far away ones, and bring in the other civs near by to actually fight. This can work better if you do it with luxuries or resources, because then the civs have more of an incentive to keep fighting

Try to pair civs that will both waste their GA on beating the snot out of each other, too, if you can

 

[BlackFiend]

Bastards!

Just when I was on the eve of the great Zulu-Chinese war, with a healthy alliance ready to snap crackle and pop when I attack...the stupid English start a war with the Persians. The Persians have an alliance with me. I have an alliance with two other nations (the Russians and the French).

So now, I'm at war with one of my favored trade partners...and all the world wants to crush the English!

Meanwhile...the Chinese build up and aren't involved at all in the conflict. Grrr!

I may have to take a English city, and sell it to the Chinese. If I can just get them to war against someone else for a while...while I fight the English!