Never take an MPP

[piderman]

I was playing as the Russians, with the Egyptians on the top of me, and the Carthaginians to the right. I decided to destroy the Carthaginians, because I liked some expansion. So I built up an army, and agreed to an MPP with France, which was the minor country. When my army was great enough, I attacked Carthage, and some other countries, including Egypt, followed my example. Now Egypt sends some SoDs to Carthage, but they have to go through my country.

When Carthage is nearly destroyed, the major countries, among which Egypt, decide to attack France, as it was annoying them. Since I had an MPP with France, I was forced to go to war with Egypt. But they had still these SoDs in my territory. There goes my glorious victory, and I am back to zero.

Morale of the story: Never take an MPP, unless you are absolutely sure the AI isn't going to attack the other country.

 

[Mercade]

Aw, that's no fun. Indeed, you should be careful with MPP, especially when there are aggressive parties close to your ally.

 

[philippe]

I got an MPP with the germans once....
one turn before it ended the Chinese did an attack on them using modern armour while i just was buzy getting myself getting an invasion force with the chinese...oh well the learned a valuable lessons those Chinese....You are abig country but you obviuosly never haerd of the word:"artillerry"

 

[cromagnon]

You can use MPP's to your advantage, if you use them wisely. Signing an MPP with a weak country like France is not a good idea, as the AI likes to gang up on the weak civ, thereby guaranteeing your involvement on the weak side.

I used MPPs rather well in one game: China was the big bad dude, but far enough away from me that I didn't have direct borders. For no good reason (except my defense was rather weak), they sent a SoD of 30 cavalry right up to one of my cities through a Carthaginian RoP. Well, I was pretty sure that those Cav were not there to graze on the desert, so I immediately fortified that city, and signed MPP's with all three civs that did border China. In a couple of cases, I had to give them some gold to make the deal, but it was worth it. Sure enough, China attacked, I held out the city, but more importantly, China's neighbors declared war on Mao, giving me time to beef up my military.

Moral of the story, sign MPP's with strong countries when you are weak. Never agree to an MPP if they offer one eagerly.

 

[Nightfang]

I never accept MPPs offered by the AI. As a matter of fact, I hardly ever offer one. MPPs are good to have at certain times, especially if you are a small empire and can hook up with protection from a big guy. The only time I have found MPPs useful is like in the above example by cromagnon. Sometimes, just signing the MPP will make them back off, but usually they just keep on moving and attack you, activiating "Chapter 5" of your MPP.

I would much rather sign a military alliance with someone when needed, once again on my terms, not theirs.

 

[satchel]

I almost never use MPPs for exactly this reason. I want complete control over when and with whom I go to war. I will use military alliances, however ... carefully.

 

[phizuol]

I almost never use MPP but they can be useful in a few specific situations. The AI is too eager to go to war with anyone and everyone to trust them with a MPP usually though. The times I might use one is...

- If I have a small empire and a REALLY big civ wants to MPP with me and I'm rather isolated from anyone they might get in trouble with. The MPP can deter the other AIs from attacking you and even if your ally drags you into war they should be able to handle themselves just fine.

- Last night the Russians dropped 4 Cossacks on my shore. I knew the sneak attack was coming next turn so I got a MPP with her biggest neighbor and with a civ that she had a MPP with (so when she attacks me her ally attacks her instead of me.) So when she declared war she instantly was in a bad situation with no chance to have those civs ally against me.

Remember, the AI almost always invites you into a MPP because THEY feel in danger, not because they are your buddy. This means that you will almost always end up going to war if you agree to a MPP.

 

[cromagnon]

Originally posted by satchel
I almost never use MPPs for exactly this reason. I want complete control over when and with whom I go to war. I will use military alliances, however ... carefully.

Corollary: Never MPP with the Zulus; otherwise, you will be dragged into a war!

 

[Shady]

Originally posted by cromagnon

Corollary: Never MPP with the Zulus; otherwise, you will be dragged into a war!

word up

 

[Strikefang]

I learned my lesson when I signed an MPP with the Romans. Since then I've been dragged into almost constant wars. Luckily enough though, the Romans haven't dragged me into anything more serious than a few light squabbles with the English and Greeks. However they dragged me into a rather small skirmish-type war with the Persians, who seem scared to attack my captured Babylon citys (hehe).

But I'll be dead if they force me into war with Egypt again, I just finished a 140 year war with them, capturing some rubber just in time for christmas (can someone say "Panzer"? ) but now I'm in quite a spot, the Egyptions and I controling tanks, we have become the super powers of Europe/Africa/Asia and are now preparing to duke it out for control of the the whole continent. And I just hope Rome doesn't get me in a war with Russia cause of our MPP, all I need is to fight a super power in the middle of Africa and a rather weak but quite large world power to the north of Germany. Time to pump out the tech for MIs!