Do you kill scouts

[Scyphax]

AI scouts always used to annoy me getting all those goodies from the huts just before I did.

I used to just grin and bear it until recently. Now I trade with the scouting civ (preferably giving cash and making sure not to trade any tech that is of immediate miltary importance) then I kill the scout. In the few games I have tried this I have ended up facing a weaker civ than I would have otherwise and easily destroyed them a little latter in the ancient era.

I so far only tied this on standard map/continents/monarch with Civs with an early UU - (Zulus, Aztecs, Egyptians)

Does anyone else use this strategy to neutralise an expansionist civs?

 

[Unregister]

If i know the other civ is far enough away i usually kill the scout. If the the other civ is at least 15-20 turns away i feel that i can get peace with them when they show up at my borders. If i kill a scout i usually never follow up with a full fledged attack because i don't have the guys.

 

[Moonsinger]

I usually don't kill them. Since they are the expansion civ, they have better chance of getting tech from the goody huts; for every tech they get from the huts, one less tech for me to research. I don't mind if they get rich either because the richer they get, the more gold they will share with me later on. The AIs are usually my friends; I scratch their backs and they scratch mine.

 

[anarres]

Kill those poor defensive scouts? Shame on you

I prefer to let them live, but only usually because I don't want the AI's attitude to change towards me. Even if they can't reach you in the war, they will hate you for a long time.

 

[Gothmog]

I let them carry on because I tend to avoid ancient war (Diety).

 

[Zcylen]

Originally posted by anarres
they will hate you for a long time.

yes, they do.

 

[Hellfire]

If you have difficulty with expansionist nations, try one yourself. I'm in the middle of a game where I'm playing the americans. Most people don't like expansionist civs, but the larger the map, the more I love them. They gobble up goodie huts. On this map I got a huge break by being on a continent with other civs, but I was really far from them. I had lots of room to work with, so wars weren't happening until the late industrial era for me. All the free techs shot me so far ahead I never let go of the tech lead and didn't have to trade techs.

Plus I was so far removed the other civs really didn't have time to worry about me since they were busy fighting each other.

I find each person has a different strategy depending on their Civ, you might find yours works better if you go for expansionistic civs.

 

[MTheil3508]

I like to play expansionist civs on PTW. With the explore command it saves you time. And it seems that the scout on explore makes a bee line for the nearest goodie hut. I have not done any research, but since the computer is controling the scout and the AI (computer) knows where all the goddie huts/cities/land it is worth a shot.

I usually don't kill scouts because I lack the military. I don't want their army to come knocking on my door before I am ready.

 

[muppet]

I've experimented with that explore function and scouts by replaying the same start over and over again, and it doesn't work well.

Your starter scout tends to move in the direction towards the most fog of war, assuming you've moved your settler and worker at least once. Otherwise, after multiple restarts, it appears pretty random. Your second scout (first 1 built) gives priority to moving along any road leading out of your capitol (or direction of least resistance), at least when the immediate area around the capitol hasn't been explored yet . They're also very inefficient on explore when you have a bunch of them... it's like they haven't heard of team work.

 

[muppet]

Anyone know of killing an AI scout early is an exploit?

I've tried to watch the AI with scouts and warriors of my own after killing one of their scouts. It looked like their settlers and workers headed home or safer places to settle, and they just kept building military units until peace.

On a huge map, that is crippling - it's not being short 1 or 2 cities, it's being short 10 cities. Both times I've done it, that particular AI became the smallest territory and most backward civ by the middle ages with no chance of ever being a threat.

 

[japskua]

I don´t bother to kill them. Eventually when I discover map making I will get the map from them. I´ll just go for techs and be nice to AI :-D

 

[philippe]

Kill them.Those damn scouts stealing my huts!
If they want huts they should go to the pizza hut....