Domination Problem

[Save_Ferris]

Hello, I've been playing civ for a while and have had some troubles with a domination victory.

I've been playing at Cheiftain (I'm not really that good) and, usually as Greece or Japan on a standard map, the first civilization is easy. I assemble some troops against a small civilization and usually vanquish them before 1000 BC. Then, after they're long gone and I've once again assembled my troops, I will go after another easily defeatable civilization and kill them off. But right after I conquer them, two to four civilizations declare war on me IN THE SAME TURN. Of course, with my troops unhealed and lower in quantity, I lose. I don't know why: I always sell off or raze any cities I take for fear of invading another's space, and I'm also friends with some of the people who join the alliance against me. So I can get remotely close to a domination victory, can someone help?

 

[Superluminal]

Ha ha! This happens in my games too. Nothing you can do except CRY HAVOC AND LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR! Give em a hell of a fight even you end up losing, just save the last nuke for yourself. Keep playing, have fun and you'll naturally learn how to engage in ferocious blitzkrieg warfare my friend.

Godspeed sir.

 

[KeyCey1995]

They are programmed to win, not entertain...

In my opinion one of the big design flaws...

 

[Camikaze]

Watch where you put your units. Secure safety for your core, and then attack places that you can hold. Peninsulas, for example. Take advantage of chokepoints. This means that even if your opponents declare war, you'll have a much better chance of survival. Don't spread yourself too thin, and don't leave cities or units right on plains on the borders of potential enemies.

 

[blac]

I would just puppet instead of razing or selling. If you sell them you are giving the AI an advantage. I would also try to just take their capital and a few good cities and not the whole empire to save on troops.

 

[ryan1266]

Hello, I've been playing civ for a while and have had some troubles with a domination victory.

I've been playing at Cheiftain (I'm not really that good) and, usually as Greece or Japan on a standard map, the first civilization is easy. I assemble some troops against a small civilization and usually vanquish them before 1000 BC. Then, after they're long gone and I've once again assembled my troops, I will go after another easily defeatable civilization and kill them off. But right after I conquer them, two to four civilizations declare war on me IN THE SAME TURN. Of course, with my troops unhealed and lower in quantity, I lose. I don't know why: I always sell off or raze any cities I take for fear of invading another's space, and I'm also friends with some of the people who join the alliance against me. So I can get remotely close to a domination victory, can someone help?

That's because they have figured out that you are a threat to the world and they're probably next. This exact same thing happened to me. Generally the AI isn't very good at launching an attack, so just pull your troops behind your first line of cities and heal. Then as they are failing at taking your cities, go up and destroy them with your fresh army (since defense is much easier than attack and you have interior lines, fending off a couple adversaries is not very difficult). They'll throw all their troops at you, wasting their armies, making conquering them that much easier.

In addition, for some reason if you take a nation's capitol, in order to make peace they will give you a ton of their cities for no apparent reason... I conquered a nation by taking two of their cities and they gave me the rest (except one, but after ten turns... ).

 

[Buccaneer]

They are programmed to win, not entertain...

In my opinion one of the big design flaws...

So it's more entertaining to have the AI not declare war on you so you can roll over them?

ryan is correct. That's exactly how I would want opponents to react - trying to stop my aggressiveness (and winning) in any way possible. That they cannot adequately fight militarily is another story but I would want them to try.

 

[ryan1266]

That they cannot adequately fight militarily is another story but I would want them to try.

They kind of fail at invading, I'm not even sure if they are even able to take cities later in the game, they just seem to sit out in front of my cities for me to slowly destroy...

 

[KeyCey1995]

So it's more entertaining to have the AI not declare war on you so you can roll over them?

ryan is correct. That's exactly how I would want opponents to react - trying to stop my aggressiveness (and winning) in any way possible. That they cannot adequately fight militarily is another story but I would want them to try.

In civ 4 they acted somewhat like leaders in real life. But I think it's a matter of taste. If you want realism or not.
In civ 5 they play it like a game, and they try to win it at all cost, while in civ 4 it was more realistic according to how they would react in the real world...

 

[ryan1266]

In civ 4 they acted somewhat like leaders in real life. But I think it's a matter of taste. If you want realism or not.
In civ 5 they play it like a game, and they try to win it at all cost, while in civ 4 it was more realistic according to how they would react in the real world...

More realistic? You mean doing absolutely nothing? The AI in Civ 4 did basically the same as Civ 5... They launch a couple attacks at first, but then just retreat back and defend the cities.

 

[jtb1127]

This is perfectly normal. It happens to everyone in almost every game. The cascades of denunciations and declarations of war. They get so tiresome.
The core of this problem is rooted to the fact the AI in Civ V think they are real players. They try to win the game at whatever cost. They do not believe they are real leaders, ruling real nations. Instead they are convinced there existence is solely to win. This is what drives the mad and insane decisions they always make. This is why they invade you for building cities too close. This is why at turn 578 for they denounced you. When your score gets too high, or you get too close to victory, they will attack.
Diplomacy is currently dead. The AI can never be allies with you as they want to win too much.
But there is some hope. A new patch is to be released in February that will remove sudden declarations of war and denunciations. But the problem can never be truly fixed as this problem lies deep in the heart of civ v.

 

[esemjay]

A rule that I follow during wartime, is that my forces are stretched too thin if I don't have enough troops at home to fight a war. Whatever my strength is overseas, I try to keep a comparable force at home-- in case of invasion. I have been sneak-attacked too many times by so-called friends in Civ4 to fall victim to that stunt again.

You never really know when a war is going to flip a 180 on you.

 

[Babri]

Hello, I've been playing civ for a while and have had some troubles with a domination victory.

I've been playing at Cheiftain (I'm not really that good) and, usually as Greece or Japan on a standard map, the first civilization is easy. I assemble some troops against a small civilization and usually vanquish them before 1000 BC. Then, after they're long gone and I've once again assembled my troops, I will go after another easily defeatable civilization and kill them off. But right after I conquer them, two to four civilizations declare war on me IN THE SAME TURN. Of course, with my troops unhealed and lower in quantity, I lose. I don't know why: I always sell off or raze any cities I take for fear of invading another's space, and I'm also friends with some of the people who join the alliance against me. So I can get remotely close to a domination victory, can someone help?

Keep some archers & horses for defence. Don't leave your empire without any defenders. When AIs declare war on you, attack invaders with your horses & retreat. Garrison your archers/catapults/cannons in cities or on a hill & destroy anyone who comes nearby.Try weakening down enemy troops instead of completely destroying them. This way all enemy army would be damaged & unable to attack cities, then if they try to retreat, follow them with your horses.