AI abandons city

[Yumbo]

I've never actually seen this before (in years of playing CivIII).

The pesky but backward Egyptians inexplicably attacked and took from me a city on a small island (which had been defended by a lone spearman; the city had been ceded to me from the Celts as a spoil of war).

While the bulk of my forces sped toward Egypts homeland with divine retribution on the agenda, I sent a small force fo three Knights to retake the pilfered city (not that I really wanted it, but you know how it is).

Finally, after ten turns or so, the Knights reached the island, and prepared to take the city from the clearly visible Med. Infantry. The next turn, as my Knights prepare to invade the city, I was shocked to discover that the Medieval Infantry was no longer in the city. With no ships, and no escape routes (my three knights cut off the only way out of the city by land), the Egyptian unit had just vanished.

Had the AI simply surrendered?

 

[wilbill]

My guess would be that Egypt was in a budget defecit situation and that unit was chosen to be disbanded.
I'm with you, though, I don't recall ever seeing the only defender of a city disbanded before, intntionally or not.

 

[Chieftess]

I've seen this in PTW (look at PAD1 Regent Team in the SG forum). The Vikings abandone their cities, probably partially because of barbarians, and partially of a lack of infrastructure.

 

[Turner]

I've seen AI units disappear for no reason, being disbanded. I figured they were running a deficit, and the unit went bye-bye.

It does seem strange that the last unit guarding a city would be taken.

 

[Yumbo]

Wow. Of course. I hadn't even thought of the unit being disbanded due to a budget shortfall.

And here I thought that my Knights bearing down on them had scared them into disbanding...

Thanks!

 

[The Last Conformist]

I was once shocked when an AI Guerilla unit that had been fortified on my border for quite a few turns suddenly died quite graphically. I eventually figured out the AI must've been running a deficit and was disbanding it ... but oh why must they disband them in a such cruel and repulsive way?

 

[Yumbo]

but oh why must they disband them in a such cruel and repulsive way?

Because it is much more fun to watch.

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

Sometimes when I am at war with a civ, and they have one city left, by the time I get there, the civ is running a defecit, and their last city has no defenders.

 

[wilbill]

Playing the Sengoku conquest the other day, a neighboring clan kept a couple of Stone Crossbowmen fortified near our border. Every 3 or 4 turns one would expire. A couple of turns later a new one would appear. The process went on for about 20 turns. I finally went to war with them just to put a stop to that annoying process.

Originally posted by The Last Conformist
... but oh why must they disband them in a such cruel and repulsive way?

You'll want to avoid disbanding cavalry units, then. The horse's death throes will tear your heart out.

 

[NHJ BV]

I noticed that the AI often disbands workers it captured from me...I saw them die a few times and sometimes when I killed the units that captured them I couldn't find the workers anywhere, with no way they could have possibly escaped.

 

[wilbill]

The AI will kill captured workers if it feels there's no chance of getting them to safety.

 

[EddyG17]

one time a civ capture my just captured city-size-8 and razed it, just to kill all the workers it got from it.