Being Forced into War -- But Im trying to be your FRIEND

[Angmar]

I am currently playing a game with the maximum amount of civs on the largest map size and the most land around in an archipeligo land formation. It is now about 1000 AD. Up till this time I have been very generous with tech and trade. If a Civ has something that I want and will only trade for a specific tech I will do it and then go around with the other civs and see what they will give me for it. I usually take whatever I can afford and if they feel they dont have anything worth offering for it I usually just hand it over.

Now this in general has left me with a lot of friends out there however there are a few lame civs on the other side of the map who have demanded tech from me. I have a decent sized army, lots of cities well conected with roads so Im not going to bow down to cheap bully tactics. In the past when a civ has done this they had to go through the Romans to get to me.. and I have yet to see war on my soil. This time it looks like the Zulus bought off the Romans for a right of passage now I have a horde of Impis and Swords man on my doorstep.

With the amount of goons at my front door right now I am little worried that I might loose a few cities. This is no good as those cities are my "culture assault" on Rome ..

Im looking for some feedback and thoughts on this? I am currently a republic and I have yet to initiate war with with anyone. The only time I have been brought into war is with Civs who were trying to bully me into giving them stuff. How does this affect me with War Weariness? If my troops are always inside my borders and simply defending my civilization is this as bad as my troops stomping through foriegn territory razing cities?

I am also looking for comments about what I should do in the future when some Civ with large mobile army wants some of my tech and is willing to go to war over it? Do I just bite the bullet and give them gunpowder and them quickly pitch it all over the world such that we are all on an even footing? Or do I stand up in the face of oppression and say NO? My goal is to win this game through a UN victory.

Currently I have the Zulus on my door step and Russia and Germany also 'at war' with me. However the Germans are going to have to walk through four other civs to get to me. The Russians are going to have to build a pile of galleys

 

[eyrei]

In your current situation, I would first try to bribe the Romans into a military alliance against the Zulu. Even if they demand a high price, it might be worth it to get those Zulu off your back. Even if it seems like a horde, armies far removed from friendly territory are pretty easy to eliminate since their units do not heal. Also, should the ****ing Zulus take one or even two of your cities, they will probably revert back to your rule before long.

I really hate the Zulus! I do everything in my power to make sure they are beaten down and then left to watch from their single tundra city as I taunt them with tidbit gifts of technology.

 

[foodgoat]

I had the same situation too - What I recommend is let the foolish Zulus attack your homeland - A great way to get a few leaders out of it / more wonders. Your people will understand since your are defending your land and are not on the offensive. But after MANY turns -your people will get tired of war - now it's time to cash in with the other civs. Have a few of them declare war, and send in your settlers and some troops to claim the zulu's former land. It's quite enjoyable letting the other civs do the dirty work. After a few Zulu's cities fall - make peace with the Zulus for a couple juicy cities near some needed resources/lux. If you get enough civs against them, the zulus will soon be part of ancient history; and their land will be yours.

 

[Angmar]

The first time the Zulus attacked me after looking for tech I was easily able to bribe Rome into going to war with them. I think I saw but one Zulu unit, a lone horsemen who made it all the way through Rome and into my areas. Too bad Rome got thumped pretty hard Im thinking

This time around looks like Rome has a Right of Passage with the Zulus and say that an Alliance cant be done. Will the computer ever break a Right of Passage and go to war? After this most recent build up I dont actually have much to offer Rome. I can give them gunpowder and if I can assure myself that Ill never need to invade Rome I like the idea of them having gunpowder as they are the landbridge to my area of the world.

 

[eyrei]

Just fight the damn Zulus then. One hint: next time you beat back an offensive so that you can get a bunch of workers near your border, build fortresses convering all but a couple of spots. Fortify these with pikemen, and then position offensive troops just on the other side of the 'gate'. When they come through, slaughter them, preferably with mounted units of some sort that will retreat before they die (retreating will not work against ****ing Impi though). This will make the war much easier to manage, and should give you the solidity to launch a counterattack(see if you can get a right of passage agreement with the romans too).

 

[Angmar]

I have no problem fighting the Zulus out of my territory. I think its going to be a pretty nasty fight mind you. As right now most of my mobile army is in galleys and a turn or two away from one of their costal cities. Its going to take me a handful of turns to build up enough units to smash them down. However I really want to take that costal Zulu city and then move inland and take their city with the Salt Peter. Then my cavalry will gladly meet their impis out in the plains around my cities. For the next few turns Im thinking Im just going to turtle and let them break some of my roads

 

[eyrei]

Good plan with the naval assault. I have noticed the Zulus, at least on lower levels, are much more effective at offense than defence. Do note that saltpeter is really not very important in the long run so I wouldn't waste a whole lot of time or resources on it. Try trading for it.

 

[EvanCiv]

Certain Civs are aggressive and generally use bullying to get what they want. They sometimes attack for seemingly no reason (although there probably is one, you just don't know what is).

I believe the beligerent tribes are:

Zulus
Aztecs
Germans
Japanese

I generally try to keep extra units in my cities near borders with these civs.

 

[Buecephalus]

I agree with that assessment, although as far as threats go the French and English aren't above trying to bully you into giving them tech. My policy overall is "no capitulation" I don't give 'em squat and I use the "take your empty threats elsewhere." reply.

I've yet to have any civ declare war over that. On the other hand I'm playing on the lower levels so they might be more aggressive on Regent, Deity, etc. Another civ that surprised me were the Babylonians.

Usually pretty peaceful, I was playing on the standard Earth map and had been placed in South America. I had covered most of the continent when I see Babylonian settler and warrior come down the isthmus, I quickly sent a settler to build a city above them and cut off the land bridge.

The very next turn they declared war on me! No warning, nothing! They took the newly built city, which I promptly took back the next turn. And then I spent 30 turns getting an army together to go up to North America and kick the crap outta them. Took two of their cities and made them pay me to stop kicking their ass! Using what?
Impis!
The Zulus are a blast to play in a domination game, same goes for Rome. You can build Impis immediately and only have to discover Iron Working for Legionary.




"do or do not, there is no try."

 

[Kaos]

Wow, you're lucky that noone has declared war if you don't give in! I get it everytime =/ Maybe cause I generally build large scientific empires that expand with culture and have generally small armies until I can build tanks and stuff in 1 turn ;o