DoW tips please

[Donny Brook]

I'm learning about the war happiness benefit and would like to take advantage of it. In the past, I've just barged into my enemies, disregarding who actually declared the war. Consequently, I'm not well versed on how you can predict that an enemy will actually declare on you.

I understand that you first make the enemy furious, which is easy enough. Apparently, they're more likely to declare if they're military is superior to yours - true? What else?

In my present situation, I have a RoP with my target which expires in 12 turns. I also owe him 4 gpt for another eight turns. He's polite and superior in military. I have about three units in his territory, he has none in mine. So forget about the "ask him to leave" threat - he's shown no settler pairs or any other units that are interested in using my territory. Plus he's entitled to be there for another 12 turns.

1. Can I just make him furious now and he'll declare on me in a few turns?
2. What if I do a new trade where he gives me a tech and I give him gpt before I make him furious. Would that reduce my chances that he'd declare on me soon (i.e. because he'd forego the gpt).

Or is it just as simple as threatening him every turn until he declares? What if I give him some easy pickings like an unguarded worker?

 

[Donny Brook]

Oops...found this thread which is pretty informative.

http://http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=289530&highlight=declaration

So if you could just address whether or not it matters that I have two existing deals and would reeeally like to do a third. Does any of that (or the fact I have a few units in his territory) affect whether he'll declare?

 

[Lord Emsworth]

You can set up a deal where a peace treaty is tied to a lux or resource import:

They give:
Peace
Iron
+ ...
We give:
Peace
+ ...​

Pillaging the trade route will result in a DoW on you with absolutely no drawbacks for your reputation (assuming you do cut one of your exports), that gives you WH, and happens on your turn. You need to be at peace however, and be able to renegotiate the peace treaty.


You can try to make them DoW you at almost any time, by failed espionage missions. The DoW will happen on your turn and you won't suffer any rep-hits, but you don't get any WH either, plus there is the danger that you burn a lot of cash on being successful on your missions or on AI forgiveness. It is probably helpful if the AI is already furious.


You can tie peace treaties to Military Alliances and hope for a peace treaty between AIs. This will give you WH and has no consequences for reputation, but is a little unpredictable and there is a good chance that the DoW comes on your targeted AI's turn. You also need to be at war with preferably several different other AIs.


Or you can try to lure AI units into your territory. One possibilty is to ally them against a civ on the other side of your territory, so that the AI has to cross your territory in order to reach their new enemies. Another possibility is try to gift a town on the far side of your territory to the AI and hope that they send defensive reinforcement. Once you have units in your territory you can try to pull the make furious and ask to leave or declare trick. As long as you have a RoP this won't work, but you can nontheless try to keep AI units in your territory by blocking or surrounding until you can cancel the RoP.


Then there is also that thing with Privateers in your harbours and hoping that the AI will come and attack it there and unitentionally DoWs. No rep-hit, you get WH, but I think it may be fairly unpredictable and happens on the AI's turn. I've never tried it.



But what you can do in order to make it more likely that your are attacked on the AI's own devices, I don't really know. I generally assume that making per turn gifts, like gpt or lux, decreases the likelyhood of being attacked, but I can't really prove it. I'm also very convinced that it decreases the chances of being attacked if the AI is already occupied in a war or two elsewhere.

I am also fairly convinced that an AI sneak attack is always aimed at one of your cities and that they don't intentionally start a war by attacking a unit of yours outside.

 

[jeffred1111]

If I really want someone to declare on me I usually take these basic steps:
a) Have the AI furious (you know that part)
b) Leave a border town not defended or lightly defended, especially if they have units near it (be sure to be able to block arriving forces/recapture the town the same turn).
c) Sell a tech to them for gpt (the AI hates having to pay you gpt and likes breaking such deals)
d) Steal techs until they declare (this can get costly, but you the bonus of having a chance to steal). Any espionnage mission that fails has a chance to get a DoW.

Getting caught planting a spy also can have the same basic effect and is usually cheaper. The AI is more lenient though.

PS: if the AI is too small/weak, I usually don't bother since it's not often that a civ will be suicidal enough to DoW with 5-6 towns, they need to be on the same level as you or even stronger to readily fall in the trap.