How often do you go to war......

[web25]

After reading a lot of threads i noticed that a lot of you have a lot of land by certain times.

So what are your rules for war in any victory condition?

 

[tjs282]

The TLDR answer is, as often as necessary to win the game!

Spoiler TLDR :

My solo-games are usually played at Emperor/DG level, with Mostly-/All-Random starts (apart from size and maybe landmass-type), and then "play it as it lays", rather than re-rolling until I get a favourable start (with Rivers and Cows galore!). That does tend to mean that the VCs I pursue/achieve will tend to be those that don't need to be planned for from the start: militaristic (Domination, especially on Pan-maps, but also Continents and occasionally Archipelagos), or scientific (Space if Cont, UN if Archi), rather than cultural.

On the grounds that while the AI-Civs can be a nuisance while they still own adjoining land, but tend to suck (worse than I do!) at overseas invasions, for every game I will aim to achieve exclusive ownership of whichever land-mass I start on, ideally (long) before the end of the Industrial Age. How many turns (and how many wars) that will actually require obviously depends on multiple factors: map-size and -type, size and geography of my landmass, number/ proximity/ identity of adjacent Civs, availability of freshwater/ resources near my start, my Civ's traits and UU, etc. But in general (and since Emp/DG-AIs start with multiple free def/off units), by the time I have 2-3 additional towns placed and growing, I will already be gearing up for my first war, with the best attack-units that I can build (even if only Archers) — because I will be expecting that war to happen very soon, one way or another.

My explorers should also have gained sufficient knowledge of my immediate surroundings long before then, that I already know which direction(s) I'll need to prioritise my development/ send my forces, but I will almost certainly still be suffering from the Despot-penalty, which significantly limits the distances at which additional expansion/warfare is still going to be 'profitable' — especially while my Civ is still small, and/or I still only have foot-units. I probably won't yet be able to maintain a firm hold on territory which is a long way from my capital (say, 4th-ring distance at CxxC placement, or 4 turns' worth of foot-unit moves) — and if I'm still Despotic, any such captured towns likely won't be returning much in terms of income/shields, either. Most of my early wars will therefore be opportunistic, e.g. forced by 'Leave or declare!' demands, or (a bit later on) triggered by alliances (mine or theirs), and necessarily limited, rather than campaigns of extermination.

The first offensive war that I initiate, will therefore usually not happen until my borders meet a weaker/equal AI-Civ's borders — and its purpose will either be to obtain additional expansion-room for my own Civ, and/or specifically a Strat/Lux resource that I need/want, and estimate that I can take and hold with what I have. Such a war might be fought to capture a resource-town(s) founded in my backyard, and a long way from the parent-Civ's capital (so that by the time the AI-Civ's troops arrive, their Dear Leader is already prepared to sign peace with me).

Conversely, if I'm attacked before I was 'ready' to start a war myself (e.g. because I rebuffed a tribute-demand), I would usually just aim to fight a successful defensive action initially, to whittle down the attacking AI's excess troop-numbers to parity with my own, and then sign peace at the earliest opportunity (while also moving that AI-Leader to the top of my *hit-list!). Of course, if the pRNGods smile upon me, and I manage to kill enough enemy attack-units to tip the balance of power into my favour, then my healthy attackers might start/ continue to press forwards, in order to do as much damage as possible to the offending AI before I become unsustainably stretched — this way, the AI-Civ will be more likely to offer additional/ significant concessions for peace (such as their gold, Workers, techs, or towns).

Once I've begun to build decent fast-units (e.g. GalSwords, Horses/UU-equivalents, ACavs, Knights/UU-equivalents, or Cavs/UU-equivalents), that's when my expansion will begin in earnest, and at that point, wars will only be halted 'prematurely' (i.e. prior to the enemy AI-Civ's complete defeat!), if e.g. war-weariness or SOURs force me to do so.

 

[CKS]

I tend to go to war far to late, except for when I go to war without adequate preparation. I don't really like the warring part of civ, though, and so I wouldn't take myself as a model. You can, however, be reasonably successful at Civ3 while still being lousy at warmaking.

 

[Theov]

My most recent game was as the Dutch on a crowded earth map. Needless to say I had to fight France, England, Vikings, Austria and Germany early on to get some breathing room and before they could become powerful.
After that it is just a matter of what you need. If you need insence you fight the Arabs. If you want silks you sail to India.
To be honest, my games are almost a constant war or I am planning for the next one or improving my conquered space.

 

[Spoonwood]

In 20k games I've gone to war to get an MGL. Not when I started playing 20k games, but it did become a habit. That's about it.

In diplomatic games, I've tried to avoid wars (though there was an impressive use of war for a HoF diplomatic by Chamnix, if I recall correctly).

In spaceship games, I started out avoiding war. I think I have some records where I've avoided war also. However, the spaceship games that I feel the most proud of were two spaceship games where I warred a fair amount. If I recall correctly, I went to war after I had a standing army where I felt comfortable enough to attack and I had decent science-based infrastructure in my cities.

In some histographic games, I've gone to war after having a good standing army and having marketplaces in my cities. Though in others I've built libraries and/or universities first.

In some conquest games and domination games, as soon as I've had a good standing army and *maybe* had some marketplaces in my cities, I've gone to war. Though, in others I've built libraries and/or universities first.

I rarely, to very rarely, have ever built much infrastructure in my cities in conquest and domination games after going to war, other than structures like The Heroic Epic and The Military Academy.

I haven't warred much in 100k games.

 

[WeirdoJoker]

In spaceship games, I started out avoiding war. I think I have some records where I've avoided war also. However, the spaceship games that I feel the most proud of were two spaceship games where I warred a fair amount. If I recall correctly, I went to war after I had a standing army where I felt comfortable enough to attack and I had decent science-based infrastructure in my cities.

In most of my Spaceship games, I have had to go to war late in the game at least once because of a needed resource, even though I usually try to avoid wars in Spaceship and Cultural games.

 

[vorlon_mi]

After reading a lot of threads i noticed that a lot of you have a lot of land by certain times.

So what are your rules for war in any victory condition?

For spaceship victories, I wage war to grab resources. I'm not confident in my ability to trade for luxuries long-term, so I need to own the territory where they are. If I conquer enough territory by the start of the Industrial Age, I will probably find coal, oil, and rubber inside the land I already own. I also like to own my land mass, and want to make sure that none of my neighbors are strong enough to pose a threat to my built-up core.

For domination victories, I fight when I have an advantage, or I sense my neighbor is weak. I try to alternate wars with different neighbors. Fight AI Civ A, take a bunch of cities, sign a peace treaty for 20 turns. Fight Civ B, take a bunch of cities (and let the war weariness with Civ A subside), sign a peace treaty for 20 turns. By the time I move my forces back to the border with A, the treaty is about ready to expire and I declare after it does, protecting my trade rep for trading with overseas AIs.

 

[web25]

I go for resources also. As for territory i end my expansion when i see jungle and marsh. I let the ai work those tiles and only take them over if coal or rubber shows up.

 

[darski]

I generally play small continents maps so I do try to own my continent just cause - get your dog off my grass

Depending on who is on the other land mass, I will pick someone who needs schooling for past sins. the Inca, the Celts and the Dutch often fall into this category. I generally aim for cultural victory (though sheer size) but often get or get near to a domination victory. Warring is set to follow this path to glorious victory.

 

[Elephantium]

When demons run.

 

[Harry86]

I’m currently squashed in the middle of the Arabs, celts, Portuguese and Germans. It’s all gonna kick off soon for sure, yo.

 

[KommissarLT]

I only really go to war if I need new resources, if a certain civilization is weaker, or I'm running out of space to work with.