Discovering a superior AI too late

[Bismarck]

What do you do when you discover a strong AI too late to do anything about it? I mean, when they're too powerful to weaken or destroy.

Case in point: In my Monarch game, I'm well into the middle ages. I've slowly and painfully managed to eradicate the Japanese presence from my mid-sized continent; all that's left is the small Indian "Empire" to my north which I could destroy without much difficulty (I'm reluctant to do this, though, because of the culture hit).

Looks like I'm top dog, right? Wrong. A few turns later, I discover the Americans, who completely control a huge continent far away. They are easily the strongest civ in the world; I'm a distant second at best.

How can I catch up with them? The other civs aren't especially strong, as 3 of them have split a continent between them and seem to have kept each other in check. The Americans, on the other hand, have had an entire continent all to themselves, and have colonized it very efficiently.

Is it just the luck of the draw? Will an AI that starts out with a large continent to itself just naturally dominate the game, with no hope of catching up with it?

Should I just accept my ill fate and restart?

 

[Catt]

Originally posted by Bismarck
Should I just accept my ill fate and restart?

No - they are never too powerful to weaken or even destroy. Particularly a non-religious civ such as the Americans. The AI cannot conduct effective intercontinental warfare - you can. You can also consuct effective diplomacy.

A large raiding party, backed by alliances with other civs against the Americans, can both wreak havoc in their empire and force a conversion to Communism or Monarchy (war weariness). The AI will also not be as diligent as you in building a spaceship.

I suggest you play the game out -- games that sometimes seem hopeless are often winnable (remember that Firaxis sells to humans, not AIs ).

 

[ukrneal]

You still have a lot of hope.

1. The Americans, since they are on a different continent, have little chance of making it to you. The AI does not make effective landings. But make sure your defenses are adequate until RRs. Once RR's are in the game, they should have difficulty landing on your continent.

2. I say your continent, because you clearly need to eradicate the Indians. I'm not sure what you mean by culture hit. Just get a lot of knights (or calvary) and go wipe them out.

3. Trading. What is the luxory spread? If the Americans lack luxeries, get some embargos or make the other civs mad at America (they already are since the Americans are bigger.

4. Declare war with America with the purpose of wearing them down. Sometiems, just staying at war with them for a while will hurt enough for you to catch up. Coupled with navy bombardments of improvements and any "improvement destroying military contingents: can wreak havoc. You could destroy hill and mt improvements, thereby reducing their production and gold, while retaining significant defensive bonuses. A group of 5-10 calvary units can be surprisingly destructive.

 

[Shabbaman]

Don't wait for the modern era though: don't allow them to get in their golden age!

 

[Heffalump]

Play on and take out weaker opponents until you've got an empire powerful enough to match them industrially in a slugfest.
Then go for their throat. Meanwhile, be careful not to become isolated diplomatically.

 

[MTheil3508]

Destroy your weaker opponents and colonize where they were.
Build up your empire, may be swicth to a government where you get free units (Communism) which will allow you to have an added punch on d-day.

Step up your research. See if you can buy some of their technology. Try to get better if not superior units to them.

Build privateers to weaken some of their navy (depending upon units now available, Destroyer vs. Privateer is frivolous) before the main landing. Once you declare war, bombard intensivly with your ships. Remember to plant a spy and get all of their military information. For an added bonus, win one of their cities with propaganda build an airport, and start flying units in.

 

[zagnut]

I agree that since you are only in the Middle Ages it is certainly not too late. You might want to check out a good article in the War Academy entitled Warfare: Attacking and Defeating an Enemy on Another Continent. You can get to it with this link:

http://www.civfanatics.com/civ3acad_conquering_abroad.shtml

 

[antimatter]

I got a good tip! NUKES LOTS OF EM!

they work wonderful for crippling a superior AI civization, what i usually do when i get into that sort of sitution is try to catch up research wise, and make a beeline for ICBM, then build enough to take out his core cities, that usualy knock em out of the game.

 

[tao]

Phase 1: Get strong! Get a foothold on the 3 civ's continent; ideal would be a city which gives you access to luxury resources. In parallel wipe out the Indians and make sure to grap all their land. Nobody must be able to settle on "your" continent.

Phase 2: Declare war on the Americans. Then get all other civs in e.g. by bribing them with a tech.

Phase 3: Very important! After 1 or 2 turns sign trade embargoes with everyone against America. They may not honor the military alliance for 20 turns, but they have to stick to the embargoes! On the exact turn the embargoes expire, prolongate them before(!) the other AIs can make deals with the Americans. Pay if necessary.

This should be enough to push the Americans into war weariness, happiness problems, etc. and you should be able to start conquering their continent after having appropriate defenses (musket/riflemen, cannon).