Harboring Terrorists: Privateers

[Nelsonius]

I'm currently in one of the most enjoyable games I've played and have a massive navy of privateers. They were dropping like flies against frigates until I started to leave them in "friendly" cities (need open boarders) until they saw an unescorted caravel or gallon. This combined with a few airships for scouting, and any unescorted ship was toast. You can attack a caravel and hide in one of their cities in the same turn, all while surrounded by scary frigates. I'm about to get combustion and half my (illegal) navy has blitz. +1 movement for circumnavigating is huge for this. Now how to get them back to my territory haha...

Here's a great page about pirating if you haven't read it:

http://www.civfanatics.com/civ4/strategy/privateers.php

 

[Zx Zero Zx]

Privateers are awesome, but sadly I never make it to Astro. Maybe I will have to play some Archipelago to rape some face with them.

 

[Handel]

You can attack a caravel and hide in one of their cities in the same turn, all while surrounded by scary frigates.

http://www.civfanatics.com/civ4/strategy/privateers.php

It is weird 'cause I couldn't enter the vassal's cities with my privateers and no way to enter a non-vassal city even with open borders. (3.19 BTS)

But yes - if you first to research chemistry and can build a sizable force of privateers it can delay the AI development considerably while being on self-upkeep even on pacifism.

 

[Nelsonius]

This worked for me for the past two games. One was Earth18 scenario.

 

[happyturtle]

I've never been able to enter cities that weren't mine with privateers, though I am able to enter my vassals.

I stack privateers in threes. That's usually enough to keep them safe until the frigates start coming in stacks. Then I run away home until they can upgrade to destroyers.

 

[dalamb]

You can attack a caravel and hide in one of their cities in the same turn, all while surrounded by scary frigates

I've never been able to enter cities that weren't mine with privateers, though I am able to enter my vassals.

The only way I can see to reconcile these two quotes is to wonder whether Nelsonius is running a mod or an older patch with a bug in it?

 

[happyturtle]

Or my memory could be faulty.

 

[Handel]

I still think it is impossible to enter any not owned city, no matter vassal or not. Just a quick thought - what exactly will happen if there is a ship in the vassal city? Or if a ship tries to enter the vassal city? And the ship can be both vassal owned or 3rd party with open borders.
Also I am absolutely sure you cannot enter a fort on vassal territory with a privateer.
(BTS 3.19)
And of course it is absurd about the privateers entering other's civs cities while the frigates of this civ cannot enter their own city it because "you see, my privateer is there".

 

[Nelsonius]

I actually think I'm running BtS patch 3.13. They must have changed it in 3.19... Here's a screenshot so you know I wasn't lying.

 

[happyturtle]

That's been shopped. I can tell by the pixels...

 

[Um the Muse]

That sounds like it would be a hilarious exploit.

You know what's even funnier about that screenshot? That has got to be the worst city imaginable, except possibly for the one that it replaces (city ruins just north of it).

 

[strijder20]

That sounds like it would be a hilarious exploit.

You know what's even funnier about that screenshot? That has got to be the worst city imaginable, except possibly for the one that it replaces (city ruins just north of it).

Actually, with the ridiculous bonuses the AI gets at higher levels (although I don't know what difficulty that game is), it'll pay for itself in the long term. Now, two east, that would be horrible

 

[cripp7]

To bad they can't be upgraded to frigates, pirates are still alive today

 

[goldys_lackey]

It might be cool if more terrorism was implemented in the next civ game. Unaffiliated units that retreat into a rival city and on the same turn reduces the cost of an espionage mission that gets two rivals to go to war. An assassination mission or something.