Is Arming Weak Nations Surrounding a SuperPower a Bad Idea?

[Emperor550]

In my current game I am the Germans, and control all of Europe, Mid East, and most of Northern Europe. Anyways India on the other side controls most of North America and some of South. At the top of Canada, they have pushed Greece almost to the sea. Splitting the Greece Empire into two. I dont want India getting too strong, but I dont want to get into a full war with India mostly becuase I dont want any more territory. So a few turns ago I decided to arm the Greeks. I ended up giving them electricity, replacable parts, and rubber just so they could make infantry. (I'm not worried about them attacking me cause I'm in the Modern Ages with Modern Infantry and Panzers). So finally to my question what do you think I just do?

a)Keep arming Greece so they might be able to actually gain some land in a war with India.
b)You've done enough just relax.
c)You've done enough for Greece and should now arm the other weak nations around India.
d)Arm Greece and then sign a mutual protection with them. (I dont want to go to war, but I'm pretty sure I would win. Plus I already have aircraft carriers and loaded transports in the region.)
e)What are you crazy!! You better load over and not give them anything. Its there fault for being so weak!

 

[Speaker]

Depends on the victory type you are going for, but it never hurts to weaken the other superpower. I would give the other weak nations anything they need to help keep India in check.

 

[patmcq]

If you're significantly more advanced than the other nations in that region, it might be a good idea to develop all of the nations around India to a point that they can hold their own in a war and get military alliances in return. Once the whole world is at war with India, you can mover your troops in to grab a few key resources and then sue for peace. This should give you a decent staging point for possible future expansion on that continent, as well as slowing down your largest competitor. You could then proceed to build the spaceship or something while everyone else is distracted. Do whatever satisfies your goals.

 

[redhulkz]

Originally posted by Speaker
Depends on the victory type you are going for, but it never hurts to weaken the other superpower. I would give the other weak nations anything they need to help keep India in check.

yup i always been generous to weak civs.

but AI civs dont have the slightly common sense, weak civs rather go to war with human superpower civ just for sake of conquer one city.

sometimes being generous to weak civ, the stupid AI dont know and dont appreciate. they sign embargos against you example. they encourage me to be nasty to them

 

[eriador]

I think that if you have the superior tech lead then you should arm up all the other nations near India so they aren't so much of a pushover any longer. Maybe they will even go to war and take a few cities back.

This may backlash against you if those same civs decide to trade the same techs you gave them to India to keep them peaceful and off their back (or give them to India by being threatened), but if you are far ahead in the tech tree then it shouldn't hurt you for a while.

 

[Zcylen]

is not a bad idea, actually I do it all the time.
In my current game am arming the japanese and the romans, they're neighbors of my most hated enemy:England

since Im #1 and England is #2 Im giving the weak countries all they need.

but dont give them the techs so easy, first demand MPP after they accept then give the techs.
In my case we're in different continents and I control the oceans so I dont fear a counter attack from the english

 

[MummyMan]

I usually give them resources if they need it, i'm more stingy with tech

 

[Knowze Gungk]

I'm really stingy with techs too, make a weak civ more advanced than their superpower neighbor, That SP'll just buy the techs. Now the threat's even bigger.
But I'll bring the weak civ up to speed with the SP no sweat.

 

[Azik Blaze]

The U.S. CIA gave arms to the Mujahadeen to fight off Russia in Afganistan in the '80's, it proved very successful. Also, there are other ways you can profit from these wars, read this post: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=46626

 

[steviejay]

Originally posted by Emperor550
a)Keep arming Greece so they might be able to actually gain some land in a war with India.

Give them as much as you think is necessary but leave out the techs that ain't useful (like Atomic Theory) so you can trade these with him/her later for a profit.

In my game I gave the Egyptians tanks so that they could help me take on the Koreans and the Indians and by the time they were both destroyed the Egyptians had loads of tanks but I had Modern Armour and MI so I then destroyed the Egyptians with "relative" ease

 

[Gunnar Thor]

I constantly arm small nations. In my current solo game I'm Korea on a single small continent and France, Japan and Russia are on another continent (Spain and Carthage have been eliminated). France is the biggest of the bunch and decided to declare war on Japan, a war that would normally have wiped Japan out as they were the smallest civ with six or so cities.

I gave Japan Replacable parts, rubber and 1000 gold. They've held out for fifty or sixty turns now against France's calvary and have weakened them by a great deal, even if they only have three cities left now and all are size five or so. I still have excellent relations with all the world and France and Japan are gracious towards me.

I've got tanks, bombers and mechanized infantry now. I'm invading in three turns.

 

[cavemanf16]

I try to arm small nations as much as possible if I'm trying to weaken a 'leader' civ. I find it's easier to wage war when you've got at least on AI on your side, and even easier to beat up on everyone if you keep the most powerful civ's "at bay." Then again, there is something to be said for eliminating the smaller civs first to gain more power for the ultimate battle against the other superpower. Only problem is, usually the other superpower declares war on you before you're ready to go to war with them after conquering all those far spread weak civs.

 

[wargasm23]

i say destroy everyone and everything

 

[Emperor550]

Originally posted by Azik Blaze
The U.S. CIA gave arms to the Mujahadeen to fight off Russia in Afganistan in the '80's, it proved very successful. Also, there are other ways you can profit from these wars, read this post: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=46626

But it didnt help when the US was invading Afghanistan in 2001....

 

[nullspace]

I'd be careful giving away any tech that you don't want India to have. AI's love to trade. That tech could go from Greece to India as payment for luxuries, techs, or even just money. India might even threaten Greece and get the tech in tribute. And if they're at war, Greece might give away the tech to make peace. Giving luxuries and strategic resources is safer because they can't be given away. But I wouldn't count on a smaller civ making any progress against a larger one, no matter what you give them.

 

[cromagnon]

I've tried doing this, but with very little success. The two outcomes I've seen usually are either a) superpower steamrolls the weaker civs regardless of my help, and gets those techs from them; b) weaker civs gang up on one weak civ (beating up on the omega wolf).

 

[Azik Blaze]

Originally posted by Emperor550


But it didnt help when the US was invading Afghanistan in 2001....

A classic case of the dog biting the hand that feeds? Or is something else going on? With it being common-knowledge that bin Laden is a "former CIA asset" the whole thing smells kinda fishy. I'm beginning to believe this isn't about terrorism, there's just too many 'coincidental' evidence for this to be a coincidence.

 

[Hygro]

Azik, that's bit offtopic, but whatever.

As for arming the civ, if they are really far behind I would give them an important defensive tech (like replacable parts), the rubber like you did, and,

LOTS OF GOLD (If they are not despot/communism)

GIve gpt and lump sum, so they have a positive budget and can hurry their factories and by stuff from other civs. This will make them more powerful emmensly, and can lead them to winning an otherwise impossible war.

Sadly, I've only begun expiramenting with the gold aspect of beefing up the 'omega wolf' so I cant truly speak from experience, however I have noticed how poorly the beefed omega wolf functions without the gold (selling units/improvements and then building new units really slowly, starving, etc.)

edit: Azik, I just red your strategy article, and now I KNOW my gold statement works. That article taught me a lot.

 

[Arrian]

The one danger you run into when attempting to prop up weak civs is that they might get their asses handed to them by a stonger AI civ despite your aid, and during the course of such a war the trade connection may be cut, and your reputation will be blackened. That can be irritating if you care about your rep.

I've protected small civs from strong ones, but usually more directly: I get a ROP and use units to block or slow down incoming troops from the stronger AI civ.

-Arrian

 

[nickmandler]

I have the same sort of problem every once in a while. What do I do? I drop off 8 infantry and surround their capital with a right-of-passage. They don't complain, and the enemy can't take them out. If you have more, surround a few cities, give them gold until you see a good def. unit in each city, and back off when the time is right. If you have a ton of gold, bribe or buy an Indian captured city and sell it back to the Greeks. That'll work well.