How To Get The Most Out of Peace Treaties

[Lukelbs]

This is the first time I'm seriously going for a Domination victory. I'm playing on Emperor as Shakah and I paid Suleiman to start a war with my neighbor so I could sneak attack him and I had Edrine and Istanbul in less then 25 turns leaving his last city in ruins. I destroyed almost all of his resources and his army is depleted to nothing.

So I'm thinking it's time to discuss peace and of course I want more then just peace I want money too! This cheap dummy wont take any offers that aren't free when it seems like he should be giving me everything.

Is there something I'm missing?

 

[Chum]

This is the first time I'm seriously going for a Domination victory. I'm playing on Emperor as Shakah and I paid Suleiman to start a war with my neighbor so I could sneak attack him and I had Edrine and Istanbul in less then 25 turns leaving his last city in ruins. I destroyed almost all of his resources and his army is depleted to nothing.

So I'm thinking it's time to discuss peace and of course I want more then just peace I want money too! This cheap dummy wont take any offers that aren't free when it seems like he should be giving me everything.

Is there something I'm missing?

If you reduce them to their last city, they won't give you anything else.

The biggest peace deals come BEFORE you take the capital, and sometimes after if they still have a large empire.

Think of it this way - the bigger the empire, the more they are inclined to offer to save it. If they have nothing left to give, they'll just fight you for it all.

 

[Lukelbs]

If you reduce them to their last city, they won't give you anything else.

The biggest peace deals come BEFORE you take the capital, and sometimes after if they still have a large empire.

Think of it this way - the bigger the empire, the more they are inclined to offer to save it. If they have nothing left to give, they'll just fight you for it all.

That makes sense.

Thanks!

 

[phillipwyllie]

Kill all their units whilst only capturing their cap(if at all).

 

[Sclb]

Also do not take cities in their peace deal, if they offer cities, just substitute them with all their gpt and gold and luxuries.

 

[beetle]

Keep in mind that the AI adjusts what they will offer for peace during their turn.

The biggest peace deals come BEFORE you take the capital, and sometimes after if they still have a large empire.

I feel like the best opportunity is the turn I take the cap. (1) I have their best city. (2) Eliminates the chance they might recapture the cap. (3) Peace offer at the beginning of the turn where the cap is under siege is usually pretty good.

That said, capturing the cap might be 10+ turns off. So taking an earlier peace offer can actually accelerate conquest. Or maybe you are just looking for a good peace deal.

 

[The Disciple]

Yep, you're missing something. They are pissed as all hell and aren't going to be reasoned with. A ransom only has meaning if there is an asset worth protecting. If you've already taken everything, they have no motive to pay ransom - they're going to be pretty angry, and will probably just fight to the last man. Even if there was peace, they would never trust you. If they ever got the opportunity to stab you in the back - they would... At least, that's what I'd do if I were in their position.

What would I recommend for a peace treaty? Give back all the cities which you conquered. The AI would usually gratefully accept this offer and go back to being friends. You might squeeze some luxuries and gold out of this deal. If the AI is of the war mongering variety, they will usually not attack you again.

The real bonus here is that you get to rid yourself of some major unhappiness. The cities you gave back will have lost 50% pop. and 50% buildings. So it is going to be some time before they get their economy back in shape. Your get to have your war, you've asserted your dominance, you've neutered their economy, your troops get some really good XP, and don't have to deal with all that unhappiness at the end. Then you can focus your attention on enemy #1 instead of spending several turns mopping up after your war.

 

[beetle]

What would I recommend for a peace treaty? Give back all the cities which you conquered. The AI would usually gratefully accept this offer and go back to being friends. You might squeeze some luxuries and gold out of this deal.

That would be a nice improvement. It is quite arbitrary that only one side can put anything on the table. But apparently the developers cannot program the AI to deal, so there is no option for it. Maybe to avoid exploits?

I can offer an example from a recent DCL game. Between wars, I offer to trade Spain back Madrid for my expo that she conquered. She would have none of it. So I DOW her and beat on her until she gives up my expo for peace. Very predictable, but so disappointing...

 

[Callonia]

That would be a nice improvement. It is quite arbitrary that only one side can put anything on the table. But apparently the developers cannot program the AI to deal, so there is no option for it. Maybe to avoid exploits?

I can offer an example from a recent DCL game. Between wars, I offer to trade Spain back Madrid for my expo that she conquered. She would have none of it. So I DOW her and beat on her until she gives up my expo for peace. Very predictable, but so disappointing...

She's Isabella, she doesn't deal with infidels. She slays them or dies trying. Unless you're a good friend of whatever religion of her's.

 

[beetle]

^^I do not any AI would have traded back my expo for their cap. They just do not have the programming to be able to tell that the player is offering them a decent trade.

 

[Zulose]

Also do not take cities in their peace deal, if they offer cities, just substitute them with all their gpt and gold and luxuries.

I had a situation where I'd just ripped the throat out of Persia who offered me two cities for peace, pops 19 and 6. I said yes. Taking those cities sent me down to -20 happiness but I instantly gave them to Indonesia so I was back in the yellow and he was really unhappy which crippled him for when I invaded him next. Situational obvs cos it depends where the cities are and whether he can take the happiness hit, but BNW tells you how happy your opponents are on the culture screen.