Blocking Cities on Deity?

[Ladron1204]

I'm currently trying to learn how to beat Deity game's somewhat consistently but I'm thinking my biggest problem is with how fast the AI expand and I'm not able to block off enough land for myself. Are there any more rules to blocking aside from blocking off the land you want with your cultural borders? Do you have to avoid Open Borders until you have settled all of your blocked off land? Are there any ways in which you can leave holes knowing that the AI won't settle there?

 

[DMOC]

Having Open Borders seems to be irrelevant to how much land you'll get from my experience.

there don't seem to be many "rules," the only one of which I know is that Ai's won't go through your culture until later in the game.

Remember though that a 4 city empire that can tech well is better than a 7 city empire that can't tech at all.

 

[kossin]

Usually the AI, on any level, will settle resources and close to their own cultural influence before looking at moving in the holes through your culture. Not opening borders is only useful if you see a galley coming and a possible settler on it. Otherwise they'll just go around your culture.

As for tips... try to get the first border pop ASAP and settle in a way that will block the most land off. Practice is the best way to get a feel for it.

 

[JBossch]

One of the hardest things for me on deity has been learning to settle cities that may be suboptimal only because they are in a position to get borders popped sooner. This can mean settling right next to a food source instead of 2 spaces away even when the latter would work better long term. Sometimes you have no choice.

 

[obsolete]

2 votes say open borders have no effect. Interesting, because time and time and...
time and time and time and time and time and time again.....

...every time I open borders with any AI it causes them to send settlers after your direction like a mother-f@cker....

This is why I refuse to OB unless I'm really desperate for cash or something else.

 

[MyOtherName]

*deleted*

 

[DMOC]

2 votes say open borders have no effect. Interesting, because time and time and...
time and time and time and time and time and time again.....

...every time I open borders with any AI it causes them to send settlers after your direction like a mother-f@cker....

This is why I refuse to OB unless I'm really desperate for cash or something else.

In the immortal university ragnar game, I got OB with the neighbor to the north very early. He has not sent a settler past my borders yet (I've blocked him), leaving me free to take up the available land, up until about 1AD of course.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

In the immortal university ragnar game, I got OB with the neighbor to the north very early. He has not sent a settler past my borders yet (I've blocked him), leaving me free to take up the available land, up until about 1AD of course.

Same for me, well past 1 AD...probably closer to 1k AD though I started looking for galleys much earlier.

The AI has no problem marching troops through OB to take barb cities or using galleys to sail through them though, so watch out for those things. AI will not send settlers through OB on land in BTS...vanilla was different though vanilla was before my time and deity was harder then (as were other difficulties > monarch)

 

[mirthadir]

My experience is that you need to define "blocked off" and remember geography. If you just have cultural borders across a line of land the AI will slip out when its cultural borders extend along the coast. If the AI is "overseas" it will send galleys through your borders to settle the "Island". Once or twice I think I've seen a barb city get conquered an end up in a secondary settlement, but that may have been coast hugging I've missed.

I will deny open borders if gives me a few more turns to get border pops. Forcing the AI to slow march around a 3x3 or 6x3 box from its cap can be enough time to pop the borders and turn the settler back. On the flip side good timing can pop the settler out and make the AI lose a bonus turn if timed/situated right.

 

[Gliese 581]

I usually open borders asap to get the diplo bonuses faster and close if needed later on. I used to wait until I had TR to avoid giving AI the better deal but the +diplo earlier is worth more. Same goes for gifting single health resources and stuff that you often don't need early on.