Do you kill AI settlers?

[Eclectic99]

We had a good thread here started by Scyphax and a poll whether you kill scouts. Here's a variation that's more serious: how about a poll whether you kill AI settlers who show up on your continent from overseas, or come wandering through your continent from unexplored territory in the early years? They usually whow up accompanied by a military unit and it is obvious they will found a city in the territory you are working if you don't do something about it. Is it worth an act of war to kill them? How say you?

 

[DiamondzAndGunz]

If they're inevitably going to settle somewhere that I wanna claim as my own, I will kill them, especially if only gaurded by a warrior in the early game.

If they show up from another continent, I can usually flip their city later with culture, but sometimes the territory can be precious (strategic resource I don't have, etc), and that would be a time when I would declare war.

 

[zagnut]

I don't think you kill the settler. You kill the military unit guarding the settler and then capture the 2 workers who spring from the settler at time of capture.

 

[Trev]

If it is an unaccompanied settler, or a settler accompanied by a weak defensive unit, then I stay close by with an attacking army and conquer the city in 1 or 2 turns after it is founded, a DAMN CHEAP WAY to get another city

 

[china444]

Originally posted by Trev
If it is an unaccompanied settler, or a settler accompanied by a weak defensive unit, then I stay close by with an attacking army and conquer the city in 1 or 2 turns after it is founded, a DAMN CHEAP WAY to get another city

Exactly what I was going to say. You took the words outta my mouth.

 

[MummyMan]

ALWAYS! I hate AI settlers going past my borders, i wish zone of control was still in effect for borders, this crap where the ai can just waltz through your territory after repeated threats to leave just sucks

 

[tao]

Originally posted by Trev
If it is an unaccompanied settler, or a settler accompanied by a weak defensive unit, then I stay close by with an attacking army and conquer the city in 1 or 2 turns after it is founded, a DAMN CHEAP WAY to get another city

I always thought that size 1 cities without culture are auto-razed ..........

 

[Scyphax]

I would only capture them if I am ready to go to war with that civ.

It is probably a bad idea to go to war with every one at once.
The AI civs will trade maps and if they see a prime bit of empty real estate they will all head for it.
If you see dozens of settlers heading for that barren bit of ice at the edge of your borders it means that it contains a future strategic resource.

I generally do one of the following.
- hurry a settler an place a city there.
- If a small plot of land place some obsolete units to hold it
- Block the settlers
- Rapidly expand my culture borders in that area by rushing temples, libs etc
- let them settle (but get ready to take it by cultural assimilation or war)

I used to worry about the AI setting up cities within terroritory I had my eye on but now I don't but intead find it very convienient. These cities are often small and isolated from the rest of the AI civs territory they are often not connected to stategic resources so cannot build advanced units. They are easy to take by cultural assimilation or war.
If war generally I build some roads up to the borders, get units ready near each of them clean them out in one turn them make outragous demands in return for peace. You need to take at least 2 and I believe the more you take the more you can demand.
Once taken these towns are easy to defend as they are far from the enemy and don't culture flip.

 

[Moulton]

I have successfully killed/captured the settlers, defend against the war, and sue for peace a few turns later. Get lots of workers that way.
If I have the land area to spare, let them come and flip them later.
I built a ring of cities around Australia, to take it, but they snuck in with two units. I herded them out to the outback, and let them eat sand. The city cant grow, cant get support from home, cant develop workers to irrigate, roads for the resource, or ports to move them out. Just a thorn in my side. If they flip, I dont really want them, except to block the last little bit of coast.

 

[WickedWombat]

Originally posted by tao

I always thought that size 1 cities without culture are auto-razed ..........

This is what I thought too

 

[MummyMan]

They are auto razed

 

[Tiger_Nation]

to be frank and brief ... yes

 

[Trev]

The origional civ3 before its many revisions did not raze the city, so those who have not updated with patches can capture the city as I stated, but those with more recent versions of the game will find them razed

Anyway all you need to do is wait about 10 turns to it grows then capture the city if you have the updated civ3, still a cheap city