temurleng
Another Dumb Message
For all those who love diplomacy (and those who want to learn its glorious possibilities) read on:
I love playing on a "Pacific" map that combines eastern asia and western n america. In one of my more recent games, I started in Mongolia and quickly colonized over to the coast and south. I built a sizable navy and started an island-hopping war south against the English. It took over a thousand years, starting with triremes and ending with ironclads and artillery.
The problem was that I'd been so focused on the war, I'd quickly fallen behind in techs. My economy was in shambles, but I was considered the most powerful, mostly because of all the cities I'd either captured or built in the territory I'd overrun. Ultimately, the Romans (white, in the maps below), Americans (teal) and Sioux (purple) allied against me. Concerned that my enemies would completely encircle me, I allied with the Anhuacans (Aztecs, yellow) in the year AD2075 (see map1 below), who were at war with the Romans but with noone else. They demanded that I declare war on the Romans, which I gladly did. The Romans, surprisingly, didn't drag any of their allies into the war. They paid for that: 7 years later, they were begging for peace.
Map 2 below shows the results. My main objective in the war was to push their cities out of bombing range of mine, especially my capital (the brown city in map2). All the red cities I either destroyed or was assisted in destroying by the Anhuacans. During the war, they asked me to declare war on the Vikings (dark blue, in the Pacific Northwest) which allowed me to capture their last city (the pink one, along with a Roman city that became mine) and use it to open another front on the Romans.
But here is where things got wierd: when I had met my objectives (no Roman cities in bombing range of my Siberian cities), I stopped. Caput. Map 2 shows how the war ended. The Romans lost half their population and their military was decimated. I figured I'd taught them a lesson (this game was a test to see if the AI can learn such lessons). Instead of gloating, or demanding tribute, I allowed them to build cities in the territory I'd kicked them out of.
Which you would think would be strange, since my stated objective was to keep my cities out of the range of the Roman bombers. What surprised me was that the Romans went from hating me to fearing me to loving me- even though they were the centerpiece of a grand alliance against me. The Americans tried to pick up the "We Hate The Babylonians" slack, but they were too small. What concerned me was the Americans' strong navy; I had (virtually) none.
Fast forward 100 years. Me and the Romans have happily coexisted, despite the alliances against one another. Then, a Babylonian emmisary approaches the Romans with a most unusual proposition: a large, on-the-spot cash payment for declaring war on the Americans, their allies of over 200 years. The Romans, after some hemming and hawwing, accept. The Americans promtly begin bombing Roman cities and attacking stray military units- thus driving the Romans into the Babylonians' waiting arms. The Roman-Babylonian alliance forces the Americans to request the Sioux for assitance. When the Sioux commit their forces, the Babylonians ask the Anhuancans to attack the Americans (pitting the two most powerful navies against each other).
Another 7 years, and the Americans are history. After nuking the heck outta the few American ports (to destroy their navy, and thus any chance of a rear-area attack), the Babylonians pound the remaining Americans to smithereens.
That was twenty years ago. I've conquered the few Sioux cities in Siberia. I'm making minor attacks deep into Sioux territory, mostly to eliminate the Sioux ports (again, don't want an enemy navy). I've shifted my military to the cities that run from Siberia in the north to Bangladesh in the south, just in case either the Anhuacans or the Romans declare war on me- which I don't consider likely since they both are Worshipful of me. I can now choose to break the alliance with one of the two (Ahuacan or Roman) to finish off the other. It took over 200 years, and tons of patience and self-discipline, but skillful manipulation of diplomacy allowed me to turn a game that had gone sharply against me into one where I clearly have the upper hand.
I love playing on a "Pacific" map that combines eastern asia and western n america. In one of my more recent games, I started in Mongolia and quickly colonized over to the coast and south. I built a sizable navy and started an island-hopping war south against the English. It took over a thousand years, starting with triremes and ending with ironclads and artillery.
The problem was that I'd been so focused on the war, I'd quickly fallen behind in techs. My economy was in shambles, but I was considered the most powerful, mostly because of all the cities I'd either captured or built in the territory I'd overrun. Ultimately, the Romans (white, in the maps below), Americans (teal) and Sioux (purple) allied against me. Concerned that my enemies would completely encircle me, I allied with the Anhuacans (Aztecs, yellow) in the year AD2075 (see map1 below), who were at war with the Romans but with noone else. They demanded that I declare war on the Romans, which I gladly did. The Romans, surprisingly, didn't drag any of their allies into the war. They paid for that: 7 years later, they were begging for peace.
Map 2 below shows the results. My main objective in the war was to push their cities out of bombing range of mine, especially my capital (the brown city in map2). All the red cities I either destroyed or was assisted in destroying by the Anhuacans. During the war, they asked me to declare war on the Vikings (dark blue, in the Pacific Northwest) which allowed me to capture their last city (the pink one, along with a Roman city that became mine) and use it to open another front on the Romans.
But here is where things got wierd: when I had met my objectives (no Roman cities in bombing range of my Siberian cities), I stopped. Caput. Map 2 shows how the war ended. The Romans lost half their population and their military was decimated. I figured I'd taught them a lesson (this game was a test to see if the AI can learn such lessons). Instead of gloating, or demanding tribute, I allowed them to build cities in the territory I'd kicked them out of.
Which you would think would be strange, since my stated objective was to keep my cities out of the range of the Roman bombers. What surprised me was that the Romans went from hating me to fearing me to loving me- even though they were the centerpiece of a grand alliance against me. The Americans tried to pick up the "We Hate The Babylonians" slack, but they were too small. What concerned me was the Americans' strong navy; I had (virtually) none.
Fast forward 100 years. Me and the Romans have happily coexisted, despite the alliances against one another. Then, a Babylonian emmisary approaches the Romans with a most unusual proposition: a large, on-the-spot cash payment for declaring war on the Americans, their allies of over 200 years. The Romans, after some hemming and hawwing, accept. The Americans promtly begin bombing Roman cities and attacking stray military units- thus driving the Romans into the Babylonians' waiting arms. The Roman-Babylonian alliance forces the Americans to request the Sioux for assitance. When the Sioux commit their forces, the Babylonians ask the Anhuancans to attack the Americans (pitting the two most powerful navies against each other).
Another 7 years, and the Americans are history. After nuking the heck outta the few American ports (to destroy their navy, and thus any chance of a rear-area attack), the Babylonians pound the remaining Americans to smithereens.
That was twenty years ago. I've conquered the few Sioux cities in Siberia. I'm making minor attacks deep into Sioux territory, mostly to eliminate the Sioux ports (again, don't want an enemy navy). I've shifted my military to the cities that run from Siberia in the north to Bangladesh in the south, just in case either the Anhuacans or the Romans declare war on me- which I don't consider likely since they both are Worshipful of me. I can now choose to break the alliance with one of the two (Ahuacan or Roman) to finish off the other. It took over 200 years, and tons of patience and self-discipline, but skillful manipulation of diplomacy allowed me to turn a game that had gone sharply against me into one where I clearly have the upper hand.
