How do I bust this "cold war"?

[Leeksoup]

Hi!

So me and a friend of mine decided to dust off the Civ disks and play a couple LAN games against each other. So far, I've won 3-0 (especially sweet was when I made him sign a Capitulation treaty ), but this latest game I'm having some trouble with.

Without giving the history of the entire game, let me sum up. I'm Mehmed II of the Ottomans, he's Napoleon of France. The year is 1800. We've been at each other's throats since at least 1000 BC, never actually declaring war but being hostile all the same.

We've got borders that touch each other with only one city each between the border and our capitals. He's got 12 cities, I have 5. The map screwed me- I spawned jammed into a corner of our continent, trapped between him and Isabella, while he had the entire North to expand into. Additionally, he started with Gold in his capital, and Ivory nearby, while I have had no happiness resources besides some silk. Despite this, I normally play on Monarch and he's on Noble, so I've managed to stay tied with him throughout.

I've got two vassals, as well- Isabella (who voluntarily joined me after I saved her from Shaka), and Shaka, who I forced to capitulate. Isabella is mostly useless, I've been feeding her techs that everyone else has and in return she usually sends 8-10 troops into war with me. Shaka, however, is awesome. I kept his capital and another small city, but liberated the rest back to him, enabling him to have a strong Power rating and giving me a permanent trading partner, which is important as Napoleon has used the AP to prevent me from talking to anyone else for half the game.

Napoleon has no vassals, but Charlemagne and him are BFFs.

The only other power on our continent is Genghis Khan, south of everyone and with hordes of obsolete units. He's not an issue atm.

So, how do I win this cold war? We're almost tied in tech right now, with him having Artillery over me but me having Assembly Line. Our Power ratings have been nearly twinned for generations, and although I hope Assembly Line changes that I don't have nearly enough gold to modernize my troops. He's slightly beating me in Production, but I have Shaka. Sadly, he recently used a Great Spy to infiltrate me, and has been wreaking havoc with my civics and cities since. I know he''s rul out of EPs soon, but it's annoying...

While I realize I won't get a step-by-step guide here, any general suggestions spring to mind? Thanks for reading this!

 

[cardgame]

beeline

 

[cardgame]

Find his SoDs and take the initiative in engaging them. After that just beat the living crap out of him, but beware of guerrilla collateral damage (especially if there are railroads about).

Get Artillery before you do this

 

[Brownsfan02]

get industrialization and get a bunch of tanks and marines and destroy him. since you have shaka it should be easier since shaka is good at fighting wars

 

[Jman5]

If you're that far down the tech line, you could also get some bombers and just rape his tile improvements. It's beyond annoying for him, but will be hilarious for you.

 

[Isikien]

A counter espionage mission with a spy may be worth investing in

 

[RebelYeller]

Sneak amphib attack from the sea. Raze some of his citys. Quick. Maybe use marines. that'll give ya the edge.

 

[Alki]

Time to bend over and hope and grit your teeth.

 

[diegovelasco45]

hahaha. Depends on the victory conditions... if space race is on, then attack as soon as posible, if it isn't protect yourself and go for cultural... if neither, then ecology, sdi, and nukes!!!

 

[Racsoviale]

besides what all the others have said I think you should try to buddy up with Genghis, If you could get an alliance with him, you would have more manpower against your friend.(and as far as I remember Genghis is somewhat competent at waging war, if he has enough land)

Furthermore when I play LAN with my friends I send amphibious units into his(usually) weakly defended heartland with the sole purpose of laying a big city in ruins.

admittedly this might not work on your friend, but my friends are really bad at defending coastal cities, to the point where it is warriors and archers, even in the modern age. I am trying to show them how dangerous it is to rely on an ocean as a wall against human players, but alas.

 

[Leeksoup]

Well the game is finished- and I won! XD

Genghis did me a favor by going to war with my friend (France). I may have nudged him a bit.... but anyway, he served as a very nice distraction. He wasn't actually able to do any damage to France's cities, but he bled their army... and as soon as I had Flight (thanks Jman5) I DoW'ed him. I sent two stacks in, one greater in the south to push past Rheims and Marseilles and 'liberate' Paris, one lesser in the north to draw troops away and just in general cause mayhem.

The north ground to a halt quickly as he apparently had many airships there, but I did manage to take (and raze ) Avignon. The south, meanwhile, proceeded rapidly, helped greatly by my Fighters and spies causing Revolts. Even so, I wouldn't have been able to take Paris, as he had four Machine Guns stacked there, and it was on a hill. X.X

That is, until Shaka graciously suicided his stack into them. It weakened him so much that I strolled casually in, barely losing any units. He then begged for peace, offering me both his techs (Medicine and Industrialism- no, I don't know why he didn't roll Tanks over me). I demanded a city too. He capitulated and I won the game.

Before I DoWed, Genghis had stopped fighting him. Halfway through the war France somehow managed to sic him on me, but thankfully Shaka kept him contained. I love that guy now

 

[TheDS]