How do you beat Isabella???

[AcaMetis]

AIs can DoW at friendly if they started plotting beforehand, or if the AP forces them into a war. And Cathy specifically can be bribed against someone she's friendly with, if she's friendly with the briber. Hence why you never trust Cathy .

What all AIs cannot do at Friendly is consider you a valid target when they start plotting war, and most AIs cannot do the same when they're Pleased. And even than AIs that can consider you a target at Pleased have a very high chance of not choosing you anyway. They can, but the odds are significantly lower.

 

[Plains-Cow]

AIs can DoW at friendly if they started plotting beforehand, or if the AP forces them into a war. And Cathy specifically can be bribed against someone she's friendly with, if she's friendly with the briber. Hence why you never trust Cathy .

What all AIs cannot do at Friendly is consider you a valid target when they start plotting war, and most AIs cannot do the same when they're Pleased. And even than AIs that can consider you a target at Pleased have a very high chance of not choosing you anyway. They can, but the odds are significantly lower.

I'm talking about general AI independent behavior. I'm aware of the AP stuff and friendly vs. friendly bribing (for a few AIs). The AI can also go from friendly to pleased, and if they're a backstab type, can DoW you like that in the turn they slip into lower relations.

I'm saying that if you see the AI at friendly with you, they will never pick you in their independent DoW processing when looking for a target to attack. It requires some shenanigans like the AP to pull them in. If they've been planning to attack you at pleased, then see if you can't get a quick trade deal and laugh as their invading force takes a tour of your empire at peace with open borders. They'll pick someone else for the next cycle if they're friendly with you.

 

[Gumbolt]

I doubt you would win space on 8 cities. You need 20 or so cities. Economies of scale and places to build ship parts.

How do you actually plan to win here?

 

[Void_nul]

I was going for a space race victory, which for the early part basically means 'tech like crazy'. I do realize I'm probably going to need a lot of cities, which is why I'm contemplating back-stabbing a civ.

 

[Plains-Cow]

I was going for a space race victory, which for the early part basically means 'tech like crazy'. I do realize I'm probably going to need a lot of cities, which is why I'm contemplating back-stabbing a civ.

The more cities you have, the faster you can tech. You will need to keep up with how the AI techs. I suggest you start learning how to win non-military victories to practice building your economy before switching to Domination wins. You need to backstab a civilization that everyone hates, or else you'll get "you declared war on our friend" problems. Not to mention they can call in other AIs to help them. It's generally a good idea to pick a "team" of AIs early on and try to get on their good side so that you can dogpile other AIs together and have a friendly bloc. This usually means picking a religion of the people who border you and starting to trade with them ASAP.