Encroachment - Keep the AI out!

[Dutch]

Was curious what you experts had to say. Here is my little CIV III problem. I really work hard to attack and drive off the computer off of the continent I am on. At that point, I want to keep the other civs out. I have tried to put cities on every place surrounding the coast, but somehow when I turn my head another civilization ends up at my front, back and side door. Even if my culture influence expands out and encompasses the whole continent - the computer puts a settler on, and then a city materializes. How do I keep the AI out? Do I need to have a military unit on each tile surrounding the coast?

 

[Motonuke]

If I was you I would put a military unit on every coastal tile. Then they would need marines to get in.

 

[Dynamic Cow]

daclare war and take the city. of course, you might wanna be prepared for the rest of the civ to come and retake the city...

 

[Hawkster]

If your cultural bounadires cover the whole continent then settlers shouldn't be able to build cities there.You must have some gaps where the other civs can squeeze in.

Putting millitary units on all coastal squares is possible but unrealisitic both in building the units and the gold cost.

Possible things you could do:-

1.Expand the culture in your coastal cities quickly (temples/libraries) to close any gaps.

2.Put millitary units into any gaps - also have some fast units (eg horsemen) available to rush to any gaps and to surround any settlers who do arrive and force them toward mountains where Ai can't build.

3.Don't trade world/territorial maps - this will show other civs where there are gaps them can settle.

4.Build outside in - more cities near (but not necessarilly on) the coast - makes it harder for settlers to get a foothold.#

5.If you don't mind war - keep the fast attack units handy and kill any settlers - get free workers each time they try and land - or have a few naval units and sink any approaching ships.

 

[phishphanatic]

If the civ attacking you is many moons away, and there are a few civs between you and he, just attack his settler, and declare war. Before he gets his army to your area, you can probably negotiate peace. This will work best in earlier eras, as the longer the games go, the faster the units are, and the quicker they will get there.

 

[Koronin]

I just leave it alone and wait for my culture to make it flip to my civ. It always happens.

 

[DaDoo]

build roads on all tiles near the coast and then have fast moving units in stacks 5-7 strategically placed near the coast. About 2-3 tiles inland from the coast. When the other civ lands a settler on your continent, move the stack of 5-6 fast moving units closest to the landing point to almost surround the settler(see the ugly drawing below). You can now dictate which direction you want the settler to move. When he moves, you reposition your troops. Make him go on a wild goose chase. This will buy you some time as you should make more settlers of your own and fill up all the empty spots in the middle of the continent.

x = your unit y= theirs

x y x <-- force the settler away from unsettled land
x x x

 

[Zouave]

Originally posted by Koronin
I just leave it alone and wait for my culture to make it flip to my civ. It always happens.

Then you have proven what the AI does with this Settler Diarrhea crap is STUPID since it doesn't work - it just annoys the human.

Failing to address the Settler Diarhea encroachment problem is yet another defect Firaxis will not correct.

 

[Tweedledum]

If the AI is persistent enough (and it usually is ) there's nothing you can do about it, short of wasting loads of units to create a barrier.
Personally, I just ignore them - let them found their poxy city and then just assimilate it.
Also it can be amusing to watch a bunch of settlers wander around looking for somewhere to settle only to give up and head home. It's even funnier when they pass the next incoming bunch on the way...

 

[MadHatter]

Yeah, if it's only a beachead city on the tundra tip, or desert coastal tile of your continent, just let the city get created, surround it with units and wait for a convenient time to war with them, or beef up culture improvements around it and wait for it to flip. It's not like the AI is smart enough to put dozens of military units in there. If you're afraid he will surround the water tiles with those old galleys you never got around to upgrading. The enemy civ sinking one of them is all the excuse you need to move in and destroy the city anyway.

 

[phishphanatic]

I had an old, unupgraded (if that is a word) knight protecting one square that was not culturally mine on the corner of my continent. I realised that the city closest to it was going to expand culture next turn, so I took my knight off the square and upgraded to calvary since I needed it in a war. After I end my turn, the AI screams through my territory with 1 calvary, 1 settler, lands there, and builds a stupid city (I had ROP with him).

My beef is, he had no idea I just moved that unit, since it should be "in the dark" as he had no units/cities within 100 squares of that tile. I took over the city in 5 turns anyway with culture, but it gets like 2 land tiles, 6 shared tiles, and the rest are ocean tiles. I tried to disband it with workers, but it won't go away. Oh well.

 

[Zouave]

phishphanatic,

The AI constantly cheats with settlers - both in getting freebies and moving to places it should have no knowledge of. I've posted many examples. It is all part of the insidious Settler Diarrhea problem Firaxis refuses to fix.

 

[The Persian]

do not trade world maps, EVER! or at leatsuntil youve got all you want settle, i never trade world maps, cuz then the AI sees what hasn't been settled on your continent or the small piece of land you want to settle.

 

[MinutiaeMan]

Actually, there's a caveat to that note about the world map: if you settle a city in a region that is already on the map, the game will automatically update to add the new city, even if you've never been there. I believe the same goes for population points and culture boundaries. Those are just universally known.

But there's still no good reason why the AI should've known about you moving that knight... unless he's been spying on you. (Does the AI do that much at all? I've only caught a couple of spies trying to infiltrate my country.)