Getting beat up mid-game

[Rickykin]

Hey, first time poster on this site but ive played civ series since civ1 came out, but have only really tried the harder levels last year or so.Started playing with BTS and Ive managed to work my way up to prince, playing elizabeth of the english. I can get a good tech lead by around 1500AD but about this time i always get declared war on by people i thought were my friends i.e had all plusses on diplomacy info. As i usually try to be peaceful and aim for space race victory, im vastly un prepared on the military front, and always get chinned. Been going through strat guides etc, and cant seem to work out quite where im going wrong.

Firstly why are they decalring war on me when their attitude has always been pleased or friendly?

and secondly how many prodction cities should i have ideally?I play on a standard map big and small.

 

[xanadux]

Most AIs will eventually declare war on you, regardless of how friendly you are in the following cases:

1. Your culture is strongly pressing some of their cities, especially if a city has culture flipped to you.

2. They have no more room to expand, and you are the most convenient target.

3. You are weak.

How many production cities depends on how much military you need. Just 1 or 2 can be enough if all they do is produce military units constantly. Usually you will need more. You just can't ignore the military like you often could in earlier civ games. I would suggest getting more production earlier and having a war of expansion at a key point. Try to get a superior unit then use the advantage. If you can get a good tech lead, use it to grab military superiority and make sure you have enough production to use it. Eventually you will be attacked in most games. You can usually tell who it is going to be. Better to attack them yourself at a time you have an advantage.

 

[vra379971]

The short answer is you look tasty.

If being cordial with your friend won't prevent them from "borrowing" your stuff and never returning them, why do ye think diplomacy would be enough to protect you when the future of the world is at stake?

If you don't have a standing army, be prepared to lose every game. And frankly, who can blame them, all that cool land there for the taking...

 

[johncross21]

you will be picked on if you are too weak - make sure youre not behind on the power graph - if you are add to army

at least two big production cities on a standard map - with a secondary one near to the front

 

[Rickykin]

Ok guys thanks for that, i had a feeling i looked too weak lol. I am a bit aprehensive about building a huge army tho because of maintenance costs. But i guess better than being attacked all the time. Just need more practice i think.Takes me all day to get halfway through a marathon game lol gonna have to give up social life for a while.

 

[madscientist]

Welcome to the boards!

First of all, sound like your serving yourself up to be killed. If you prefer a peaceful space game (I usually go for this after playing a grind it out war) here are some hints.

1) Check out the power graph numbers. Build enough updated military to stay minimally #2 or #3.
2) Find out who you most agressive neighbor is (Shaka, Ghengis, Ragnar etc...). Bribe them into attacking someone close to them (and preferably NOT next to you). When they invite you into the fight, join, you need not send an army, just be prepared to defend if need be.
3) Build wonders. I have noticed AIs tend to be more reluctant to declare if you have alot of wonders. Emphasize the Great Wall (extra GG points) and the Statue of Zeus.
4) Keep up the good relations, give people what they want. Ignore those that are enemies of your friends.
5) Be prepared to defend yourself if need be, and be agressive if attacked. The best defense is a good offense.
6) With Elizabeth you should close if not at the top in tech. Keep teh army updated and build new units.

Sounds overall like you need more military. One way to do this is to build teh Heroic epic in a high production city and build nothing there but Military the entire game (only building production buildings like forges/factories and needed health buildings like graneries). Delete the Obsolete ones if you need to for economic reasons. This will help keep the army sufficient I would think.

 

[vra379971]

Who needs to pay costs?

Just build a few defensive units, and put them and strategic trouble points.

 

[xanadux]

Enough army to be prepared for a war usually isn't too bad on maintenance, and you can often keep the support cost pretty close to the free units allowed. You don't need lots of units in every city. Just a garrison unit in each interior city, and keep the rest of your force near your borders. Be careful about ocean landings though. It is a good idea to have scout ships about if you think you might be invaded, and even if you can't kill the fleet, have an idea where it will land. I like to keep clusters of units in different regions of the empire, so that each city that could be attacked can have defenders to it in 2 to 3 turns. Also don't just build a bunch of archers. You want active defense. Build units that can kill the enemy before it reaches your city and starts pillaging. Catapults and cannon help a lot to damage an invading stack.

 

[Sisiutil]

One other thing: I love playing as Elizabeth as well, and by mid-game, England's unique unit, the Redcoat, should be available. Granted, it's been nerfed from its vanilla version, but it's still a very strong unit. Just before the time you seem to be getting dog-piled, try to bee-line to Rifling and start pumping out Redcoats. Try changing civics to Nationalism for awhile so you can draft several of them. Build enough of 'em and you should be able to keep the AI off your back. You may even want to take 'em out for a spin and do some conquering of your own.

 

[manu-fan]

One other thing: I love playing as Elizabeth as well, and by mid-game, England's unique unit, the Redcoat, should be available. Granted, it's been nerfed from its vanilla version, but it's still a very strong unit. Just before the time you seem to be getting dog-piled, try to bee-line to Rifling and start pumping out Redcoats. Try changing civics to Nationalism for awhile so you can draft several of them. Build enough of 'em and you should be able to keep the AI off your back. You may even want to take 'em out for a spin and do some conquering of your own.

Hey, less browsing the boards and more completing the ALC, Sisiutil.

Back to work buddy

Cheers.

 

[Rickykin]

Ok guys firstly like to say thanks very much given me a lot to think about, and the replies have been very prompt. Ihave started a new game with lizzy and have had two early wars against mongols and persians wiped both of them out, also managed to get couple of great people generated so am in good stead to go from there. will keep check of military though and try out the advice.thanks again guys.