Obtaining resources from other civs

[uanfela]

I often find myself, in the mid or late game, coveting some resource that's only available in an AI civ's territory and that the civ in question has already traded away any surplus of, with none remaining to trade to me. Of course, I could try to obtain that resource through conquest, but that may not always be desirable.

The peaceful option is to figure out what other civ they're exporting that resource to and then try to get them to break off trade relations, so that the resource becomes available for trading again. However, that's not always possible either. I've tried figuring out what other resource they're receiving in exchange for the one I'm after, and then sending spies into that other civ to sabotage all the tile improvements supplying that resource. I was assuming this would cancel the relevant trade deal between the two civs, but that didn't happen when I tried it. Are there any approaches that would work?

 

[AcaMetis]

Using spies to cancel trades like that does work, but there really is no better way to access resources long term - particularly strategic resources - than conquest. The best peaceful alternative, if available, would be rushing one of the corporations that lets you convert one resource into another - Aluminum Co to get alu from coal, or Standard Ethanol to get oil from corn, wheat or rice.

 

[a pen-dragon]

Sometimes it is worth it to trade for these resources early, even if you have to give up resources you do not have a surplus of. This blocks the AI trading away that resource to someone else, and you can renegotiate in the future.