Can I win a war by starving out my enemy?

[Capitalist]

Im playing on super uber duber easy mode, as Greece, and Im currently in a battle with the Romans, but it seems that no matter what I throw at them, Im having a tough time winning, I've got Hoplites, longbowmen, catapults etc. So, Im attempting a new strategy, that of trying to starve them out, so i send in my hoplites and destroy their fields, luxurys etc. Will they eventually just starve and die?

Thanks,

 

[Woody]

They will not "die" the city will eventually loose pop and it will not be able to produce defenders or improvments very fast. Anything that weakens the enemy cant hurt but it will be a slow process.

 

[Apollo]

Even if you occupy every square in a city's radius with troops so that the city can't work any tiles then the best you'll be able to do is reduce it to size 1. To kill it you have to attack it and take it with troops.

 

[No.Dice]

Pillaging luxuries is very effective. The AI will lose tons of gold per turn from what it was exporting, suffer a reputation hit for the disconituned trade, and will have to compensate for the unhappiness with entertainers, making its cities less productive.

When i'm not strong enough to fight a traditional war, i fortify several defensive units over each lux.

Pillaging their iron/horses will give you a big advantage, being able to build knights, while they can't.

Its generally more effective to starve them/deny them resources until you gain a troop advantage, and then capture/raze their cities.

 

[The Hun]

Yes, pillaging is good. Right now, my calvary and artillery aren't making headway against his rifleman. In response, I pillaged every square around his capital (destroying trade and resource availability). Next, I pillaged the second level of squares around his capital so he could re-establish roads in one turn easily. Finally, I pillaged nearly all his resource tiles. Now, all his AI buddies hate him. He he...