Darn Expansionists!

[MooMooCow]

I'm playing on chietian and I have run into a problem on a couple of my games. An "expansionist" civilization(Germans and the Iriquois so far) seems to think that they can treat my land as international property. What happens is this: Early on I explore and find this nice little civilization. I keep onchecking on it as time goes by, and soon enough the go through a mojor expansion. They just build cities galore. The put cities in all the gaps in my borders, just EVERYWHERE! Soon they want to cross my empire(which usually by this point spans from coast to coast). Do they ask for a right of passage? NO! They just truck their settlers and troops right through my land. I'm a peaceful civ, so I don want the start war. Everythime I ask them to get out, the do. They just go out the other side of my nation.

If anyone else has this problem or knows an effective strategy of how to counter this, please post!

 

[jc011]

The germans are not expansionists... but any AI will do anything to get an extra city....I have experienced this already. I blocked off the Germans on one end, and they would send their settlers all the way across my territory to plant a city on the other side. You just have to keep telling them to leave, or, you just have to fill up all of the empty spaces on your land.

 

[Proteus]

It helps to have a large Area of your own culture at the Border to their Empire.
If you ask them to leave for the second time (it is "Leave my country or go to war" and they agree to leave, their Units are automatically sent to the nearest neutral spot. That is, if they are more than halfway through your cultural area, they are sent to the other side of your nation.
Therefore it is very important, to ask them very early to leave, best at the moment thy enter your Territory or have only moved once within your borders, cause then they are sent back to the point where thy started.
The Russians have tried it for some time to send their Settlers through my territory, but after I had rebuffed them for a couple of times they looked elsewhere for spots to settle

 

[MooMooCow]

Thanks for the tips. The only reason I dont go ahead with the "leave or go to war" is because I'm terrified they will declare war. Currently I'm preparing for the butt kicking session of all butt kicking sessions, but even so, I'd rather not go to war.

 

[Proteus]

I´ve very very rarely seen that the other leader chooses war.

Depends on the circumstances I think.
If you seem to be an easy picking, technologically backward with little culture and only a few units, they are more likely to choose war, than if you are culturally and technologically on the leading edge.

 

[eyrei]

If, after the AI tries to send a settler across your land several times, and you kick them out, you had best beware that lone Galley moving along your coast. It is not exploring, it is carrying a settler and a spearman, and you will soon be really irritated. The best way to avoid the AI trying to found cities on the other side of your empire is to avoid trading maps with ANYBODY until you have filled out your cultural borders. I recently played a game where I ended up at war with everybody because each one of my neighbors put a city, at one point or another, right next to my borders, or right in the middle of my ****ing empire. Needless to say this game was a lost cause (war with 4 neighboring civs in the late ancient era at Monarch level is not going to go well).

 

[Sam_Catchem]

I find it that the AI will eventually declare war over that tiny spot. He will leave most of the time..but the more you do it..the closer you come to war it would seem. I now just expand by taking them out. It is a lot more fun anyways. I leave a spot open sometimes just to make them go after it..and eventually declare war.

 

[WSmitty]

The best solution I've found is to let them build a city that has no chance to connect to the rest of their empire. Eventually, it will culture defect to you and chances are YOU DON'T WANT IT. It's in a crappy place, it shares land w/ several of your future megatropolises and it probably even falls into civil disorder ever other turn.
Solution..... disband it after you've culture grabbed it! Let the population fall to 2 or less (build settlers/workers) and then ensure that the city is not growing (make some entertainers, etc). Build another settler and you'll get the option to disband the city.
No war or genocide needed, and the annoying as crap Germans are kicked out.
Unfortunately this does no good for cities on the edge of your borders.... you just have to expand faster to prevent this.

 

[Patchmaster]

I had one game where the Egyptians consistently tried to move a giant stack of workers across my territory. I'd tell them to get out and next turn they'd move right back in again. After ten consecutive turns of telling them to get out I figured they'd had enough warning so I took their workers and about half their empire. Funny thing was the only place they could have been moving those workers was a size two town completely surrounded by tundra on the southern tip of the continent. It was a worthless piece of real estate and they ended up losing all but a couple cities over it. Very stupid.

 

[jc011]

I will just let them cross,....I don't care...I may even be able to assimilate them!!!

 

[Smirk]

You can usually tell when they are preparing to go to war, and when they are just running thru your land, at least I can. If you see an increase in activity on your borders, military units moving back and forth right on the edge, he is preparing to attack.

I have no problem with war, and as a matter of fact I will go to war for a settler, I love those 2 free cost workers, and no maintence either. Even in war the AI will try to send settlers to those unsettled areas, either kill those settlers again and again or settle there yourself. I go for former since I would rather have more free workers than 1 or 2 more cities. And they will continue to do this, only slightly increasing the offensive escort. And this also serves to halt their growth somwhat, which is their biggest advantage.

 

[MooMooCow]

One more question:

Now the damn Iriqois have made a city barely on my borders that has captured my only source of horses. I have about 5 knights on the broder ready go attack, but I would prefer to assimilate it. It has a cultural connection to its empire, but other than that it is surrounded by my cities. Will it ever defect? Or should I just kill them :slay:

 

[eyrei]

Definately kill them. Kill them all. There is no guarantee the city will convert, and even if it does you will be without horses for a while. Attack before they make use of the horses.

 

[Sam_Catchem]

Never wait to assimilate what you can conquer now. Assimilation is NEVER a gauranteed thing.

 

[GreenLantern]

I like to find them early, then build a "wall of cities" that are 3 apart in a row, which make a solid cultural barrier 3 spaces thick. When they enter, first time I ask them to leave, they promise but don't go. When they get to the middle, I demand again they leave and they do - punted back. After a couple of times, they usually give up. If you have a little offensive power there, they will rarely declare war. The danger in this strategy is that the cities are often far from you capital and in danger of switching sides if you don't make them happy.

 

[MooMooCow]

One more thing I forgot to mention. The road that connects the city with the empire has been cut. It also controlls my only hope of getting some saltpeter. Any new advice, or should I go ahead with the invasion?

 

[Talamane]

If your culture is strong, they will eventually defect to your empire. I find it pays to keep a cool head in this circumstance, though i find the unit moves it makes during the turn is a bit irritating.

In one game, i had a "colony" like this on my border that changed hands several times between the German and the Zulu, eventually it caved in to me.

 

[MooMooCow]

As a brief update, I just captured the city. I made some military alliances against the Iriqous and so for I have suffered no retaliation. The fact that they have no horses now really helps and now I have some saltpeter.