[BTS] Need help choosing peaceful or militaristic strategy

[Phoenix Master]

I just got beaten by Justinian I of Byzantium. I knew this was going to happen because he had the largest empire. The three other civs on the continent all became his vassals near the end of the game and he declared war on me with a huge stack of tanks and some other units. I was playing on noble difficulty, normal speed, on a large continents map, and I was playing as Darius I of Persia. One of my major problems is I am always scared to go to war with other civs because I am afraid I will lose the game. Before he declared war on me, I was doing really well. I had completed the Apollo Program, SS Life Support, and the SS Docking Bay. Is it better to go to war in the early game and take a risk rather than get decimated later on. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[antimony]

At Noble difficulty, you should be able to stay ahead of the AI technologically from an early point, leaving you the option to expand via war when you run out of space, or stay peaceful and progress towards e.g. a space victory, while using diplomacy (e.g. giving away / cheaply selling old techs, adopting their favorite religion or civic, using techs to bribe AIs to go to war against each other instead of against you, etc.). You should also use something like the BUG or BUFFY mod that shows a red fist when an AI is plotting war, you can then scout their territory to see if they are building up units on your border, and react appropriately before the war declaration comes. Hopefully you are far enough in tech. that a much smaller force of better units can repel their invasion.

 

[Gumbolt]

Can we see the save please. Come late game Noble AI will feel harder as on a large map they could have 15+ cities.

 

[Tecumseh1]

The AI gets bigger bonuses for everything as the game goes on. So it's important to slow them down with conquest or better teching earlier in the game and build an advantage. And yes war is the easiest way to win consistently at the game. Some AIs get very strong later in the game so you have to kill the beast early.

 

[Gumbolt]

This is not his first attempt at Civ 4. Worth reading previous threads to understand where his game is at.

 

[pigswill]

As a general comment don't be afraid of going to war, AI aren't that good at fighting wars. Playing as Persia starting with Immortals and carrying on with HAs will get you pretty far. Specific comments need a save.

 

[6K Man]

Militaristic is almost always better at levels below Immortal. If you focus on just building units from a base of 3-4 cities you can outproduce any AI.