Half attack theory

[rilnator]

I don't go in to overrun all their lands and put them out of the game entirely but just to slow them up a bit.

A big stack of cav or a few landings on an island to take out several of their big cities and then seeking peace.

Not sure if this works in slowing them up much but sure is fun.

Any opinions?

 

[Choobie]

I'll do that too. Basically I will attack and capture/destroy several of their cities, then I will extort money or technology out of them. I would only do this to one civilization at a time though, if you tick off too many civilizations they tend to band together and go after you... and it can be difficult fighting three fronts at once

 

[Lord Emsworth]

That will almost inevitable force you to raze. Else those cities will just flip back before long. If you want to keep anything, go for the kill.

 

[Snarkhunter]

I'll do that too. Basically I will attack and capture/destroy several of their cities, then I will extort money or technology out of them. I would only do this to one civilization at a time though, if you tick off too many civilizations they tend to band together and go after you... and it can be difficult fighting three fronts at once

Tell me about it! Only I wasn't the ticker-offer--they jumped on me unprovoked there I was, peaceably finishing off the Aztecs when Xerxs sends a cav, a longbow, and a sword into my newly conq--assimilated lands. He says he's just visiting, but I notice there's nothing to visit except me & sure enough he declares the next turn around. Now, I've just gotten my first 2 armies, so I finish off the last 'tecs & hustle them over to the other side to confront Xerxs. I get a little worried about William watching all this from the sidelines, so I invite him to the party & we proceed to make Xerxs do the Big Dance. Now--I don't really want to conq--assimilate Persia at this point; I'm not ready yet. So I send my now-4 armies off on a little sightseeing tour of the Persian heartland. I'm afraid they're a little messy, though; landscape just doesn't seem the same where they've been. Meanwhile, Willie gets tired, goes home--and next thing I see is Izzie's cavalry riding in from the north, thru Willie's demesne &, uh-huh, you guessed it: she declares next turn. I make nice with Xerxs, having glommed a stray silk he no longer needed & a lonely saltpeter that I sure did, & get the armies busy healing, because--yep--Willie joins Izzie & now I've got a maximal front to defend & not all that many bodies to do it with.

And about the time I locate Izzie's longbow rush SOD--hilarious, but with enough bodies you can grind down any stone in time--Osman decides to drop a few warriors on one of my offshore islands, just to give my swordsman & dromons a workout. . . .

Latest is that I've roped the Portuguese & Indians in on my side, just to be able to keep track of them, I sold Xerxs on steam, so I could soak up his unnecessary cash to use for upgrading my cannons. . . and the Portuguese cavalry & navy seem to be lining up next to the dyes I've got on another offshore holding. If WWI wasn't enough, I smell a sellout in the making

I'm estimating I'll just be able to steal some wine from Willie (& take his capital) right about the time the Ports get dyed, but won't really be able to finish him off. Yet

My one edge: 6 4-strong cav armies, & rails deluxe. And a goodly number of frigates & dromons acting in concert. I'm a peaceable kind of guy, but these AI's are gonna get seriously talked to the only way they'll listen, & the conversation promises to get just a mite, um, energetic

kk

 

[CommandoBob]

I would kill the AI to put them out of my misery.

Unless,

they were SCI and I need techs for some reason. In that case I would grind them down to a One City Civ and keep them around for a while. Once I moved into the next age, I would gift them up to my level, so that I could trade for their free tech.

But that plan involves some planning and maybe some units to keep the AI inside its borders. Sortofa headache.

I tend to capture everything and have the new cities makes slaves as they starve down to size 1.

 

[Katyusha44]

I prefer to put the ai down to one city then take all there techs, money, workers, maps for peace then redeclare war one them to finish them of.

 

[rilnator]

I'll do that too. Basically I will attack and capture/destroy several of their cities, then I will extort money or technology out of them. I would only do this to one civilization at a time though, if you tick off too many civilizations they tend to band together and go after you... and it can be difficult fighting three fronts at once

As if you need to tick off an otherwise friendly civ to make them declare war on you.

I never pay attention to reputations/relations etc because my civ and others, it never makes them more willing to trade techs with me or less willing to declare wars. Lol.

 

[rilnator]

I prefer to put the ai down to one city then take all there techs, money, workers, maps for peace then redeclare war one them to finish them of.

If you're flogging the **** out of a civ in my experience they don't tend to have too much money. And if I'm able able to flog them so badly I'm usually ahead on techs.

 

[Katyusha44]

I usually put my science to 0 once I meet other a then beat them into giving it to me. I<m the ultimate warmongerer. I always take of diplomatic victory option.
Sometimes the nation will ahve a good a mount of money. Just check, if they dont have enough dont make peace with them

 

[Aabraxan]

As with so many things, it depends. What do I have? What do they have? What do I need? If I've got the military to kill off a civ and hold the ground that I take, I usually will. Lots of times, though, I'll have enough military to harm them, maybe even cripple them, but maybe not enough to totally take them out. So I'll take a few cities, make peace, let 20 turns elapse (while I rebuild and organize, obviously), then declare again. Rinse and repeat.

 

[Katyusha44]

Good point it depends on your forces. I usually assemble a huge force and conquer a nation or two. I start attacking rather late unless my enmey is very late. And if I cant take out my enemy in one attack, I usually wait. Unless he has a very important resource: Iron or rubber.

 

[TheOverseer714]

I also usually wait until it seems a sure thing, and even then I am often surprised. You'd think 6 archers would be enough to take out 2 regular spearmen in a 5 population town, but sometimes it isn't. The RnG is very cruel at times, other times it can be kind. That's why I tend to go for overkill.

 

[MAS]

Ahh, overkill!

There's no such thing as...

 

[Tad Empire_0_o]

lol I love your smilie picture, Mas

 

[Theov]

- will the civ be a thread in the future?
- what's the war costing me (war weariness)
- is there any more lux or recourses to be gained if the war goes on?
- do I need the land? (is the land productive)
- will the civ be a usefull allie in the future?

 

[Whythat]

I also usually wait until it seems a sure thing, and even then I am often surprised. You'd think 6 archers would be enough to take out 2 regular spearmen in a 5 population town, but sometimes it isn't. The RnG is very cruel at times, other times it can be kind. That's why I tend to go for overkill.

I believe in massive overkill. If I am not sure I'll be able to take over and hold their cities I'll often just pillage the country side. Take out every resource I can to halt production, and other mines and roads just for good measure.

 

[D0NIMATRIX]

If you can't spare the time and effort, I wouldn't condemn not finishing them off.

 

[Ringo Kid]

It depends on whether or not you like to finish all the turns in a game, or win asap. Often I will land a big stack of infantry and artillery next to a city with a lux I need. Then I take that city and hold onto it until I can get a peace treaty. I have the flip turned off, so that is not a problem. If you take all the land, or 67% of it I think, then the game just ends before all the turns have run out.

 

[eamofox]

they were SCI and I need techs for some reason. In that case I would grind them down to a One City Civ and keep them around for a while. Once I moved into the next age, I would gift them up to my level, so that I could trade for their free tech.

Wow Bob, a strategy I hadn't thought of! I am impressed, and will start doing this immediately in my next game, probably at each age (if the game lasts to modern.)

 

[timerover51]

As I generally play on archipelago and continent maps, I find myself using a two-phase strategy to take another island or continent a lot. I will invade and take at least one city, and then cut a peace treaty for a few turns while I build up that city and move units in. Once I get a strong enough force, the start the war again. Normally, the AI masses everything against that city, allowing me to hit the other sides of the island/continent where there are few defenders, and take a bunch of its cities quickly. Then it is a case of mopping up.