Immortal and AI Agression

[CivPiv]

Perhaps I am just getting bad map rolls but the first two games I have attempted on Immortal have left me scratching my head. The first game I got a turn 23 DoW from the Songhai. At that point I just laughed and figured my capital was spawned within "aggro range" of a warmonger. So I rerolled another map and I once again had a capital 12 tiles from mine, this time the Aztecs. However this time around I didn't get an early turn DoW. I was setting up my iron rush which was delayed 8 turns due to how things were arranged and I get a turn 58 DoW from the Ottomans. It was a "back stab" diplo move according to the text. The turn he arrived at my doorstep I had 6 swords and swiftly crushed his army. I then look down and see the Aztecs, the intended target of my early rush, were setting up for an attack, so to end my turn I make peace with the Ottomans and begin to reposition. Come turn 65 I get an Aztec "back stab" DoW. This was not unexpected since we were placed very closely. As I am capturing the border city I had planned for all along I noticed France is sneaking a catapult, spearman, two warriors and an archer into my capitol. I Immediately make peace with the Aztec, begin to reposition my army and then trade everything I own to France for a huge lump of gold. Lo and behold that very turn (78) France DoWs me. I take out the catapult, spearman and archer and he retreats. His army is still larger and it continues to scout my land, but my line of swords seems to be enough of a deterrent that he never actually attacked me. At this point I decide I need to do something I hate and completely wipe out an civ (Aztecs) early so I can have more room to breath. Well, come turn 95 the Ottomans DoW me again, pulling the same "scout but don't attack" crap that France is. Then come turn 102 I see the Aztecs marshaling an army and preparing to attack. All the while Babylon is sitting pretty all by its lonesome opening up a huge tech lead. FWIW I settled my second city in the direction of the Aztecs at around turn 55 and I settled my third city in the direction of the Aztec city I captured around turn 85. Also, I never made a DoW and all the civs were either "Friendly" or "AT WAR!" with nothing in between (Neutral/Hostile).

My question is, are all Immortal games this bloody this early? I know I can survive 3v1 combat but I can't afford to lose those potential RA's, especially when a civ is running away early.

Update: After a break I took another crack at it and got another unprovoked DoW at turn 32 from the Inca who were about 12 tiles away.
Update: Realized the above reroll was somehow on Emperor so I rerolled again and wound up within 11 tiles of Germany, Russia and Rome and got a turn 22 axe rush from Germany while my warriors were about 8 turns away scouting...

 

[mike678]

I don't usually get more then 1 person attacking me within the first 100 turns. I usually try to trade my extra resources to people who are on the fence with me to persuade them to become friendly. In that game it just seems like you were stuck in the middle of some of the more aggressive civs.

 

[pwoz]

You'll get some starts where you are the pinata. You'll get some where they all wail away on each other and ignore you for a while.

 

[chazzycat]

it's pretty random and you'll get some more peaceful starts. Distance to opponents and opponents' personalities are the two big factors.

That being said, it is fairly common to have an early war or two. It's not the end of the world - warrior rushes are pretty easy to defend, and could possibly leave the AI vulnerable to counter-attack.

 

[CivPiv]

Yeah, I went ahead and played through the early Inca rush to see if I got dog-piled again or not. At turn 100 I had to wipe the Inca off the map after they started sending settlers my direction en masse. Thankfully one fell victim to barbs and the other was pinned down by my attack force until I DoW'd and captured them. I managed to pull off a GL Iron Rush (If you can call two swords a rush ) and I have opened a surprising tech lead already. I guess I am just getting some strangely unlucky rolls with mediocre starts and early rushes.

 

[NotSure]

My question is, are all Immortal games this bloody this early?

This is my experience. You start in the hole diplomatically and you'll have a weaker military in those early turns. It's pretty automatic. Last game I fought five AI (most was three at a time) on a large continent without declaring once. 3 on 1 muggings are way more common than peaceful starts.

 

[The_Quasar]

Most are... sometimes, however, you have a more sheltered start, but it's not the average.

If you've weathered the storm, and are teching ahead, you should do well, but you will probably find your army is well behind others, I usually do... but having a small up to date army is preferable to having a large out of date one.

Usually the initial wars put you back even more in tech, and it can be a struggle to get back to parity... sometimes you never do, so domination, and better use of forces, is the only way to win. LOL, just don't let Gandhi, or the more aggressive AIs, play with nukes!