Problem with aggressive neighbours

[civ3conquests]

Hello
Usually i had played in the past Civ3Conquests, but a few days ago i decided to give a try the new Civ 5.
Putting aside the new ugly 3D graphics, i started the game with good location on level 2 from right to the left i dont remember the name for the difficulty,because have deleted the game of anger

As i said , i began the game with good starting location (playing with Darius of Persia), made 4 cities on rivers, won 1 war against neighbours Maya, afterthat continued with 2 more cities , founded near my west border with Ethiopia.

The problem came around 740-900 AD, when the evil Usa attacked me , according the presence of military units on my behalf.
Let's say , that i dont like to make battle units, because i hate to focus on menaging them. I prefer to work on my lands & update the cities & country overall, trying to advance only with peace..
So back on topic, in 740 year i have 3 warrior squads & attack is imminent
if i upgrade these to swordsmen, the attack will occur around 900AD

I founded my 3rd city close to them , but when i saw on diplomatic preview, there was no message , that they are angered.But later it appears notice, that they believe, i have been growing to aggressively..

I will try to recover my deleted files, using recovery software, but main general question is -
does it too fast growing of the empire affect on the neighbours & make this a war with them imminent
In other case how to prevent this happening in the beginning of the game or later on
I prefer to let them fighting each other , while i am advancing ahead peacefully

Some thought or tips..
Also how long last a war at the high difficulty levels , is there any rule ?
Could DoF with other natiions be a reason for a war ?
I need DoF with some other nations to research new technologies faster...
this is the only reason why i am using them..

At the end i noticed something curious. After i have researched Optics, i found that my scouts dont want to make embark into sea...
why ?
10x in advance, ppeepz

 

[The Pilgrim]

Expanding too quickly as much as befriending someone's enemy can make them angry. However that doesn't necessarily will result in a war. Having no military, on the other hand, will.

Wars can last anything between 2 turns to 200 turns. Each case is different. Technically you can make peace after only 7 turns, then AI will try to assess your relative power and decide on what terms it's willing to sign one. If you're stronger (check demographics screen), it will offer you goodies, if you're weaker, it'll demand goodies from you. One's goal should be the most effective warring possible, i.e. finishing the war fast and be back to building up or move on to a next victim.
To pick up embarkation promotion, units have to enter friendly territory.

 

[civ3conquests]

Having no military, on the other hand, will.
Why, is it a postulate ?

Strength = demographics ? hmm
In this case if i have many big cities , but no military , noboday will dare to attack me...lol

Technically you can make peace after only 7 turns
Yes, when i give him all my cities & all my gold, thanks

 

[The Pilgrim]

That's how AI 'thinks'. If you want to reduce neighbors' aggression and to force your own terms, you need military. Demographics screen tells you who's strong and who's weak. Of course, you can keep playing with no military, but don't be surprised to get the same results as you're getting now.

 

[civ3conquests]

OK. last question
is it worth to make DOF ?

 

[The Pilgrim]

Depends. If you want to sign a Research Agreement, then yes. It's more often than not worth to make a DoF with Sweden, because you get a bonus towards great people generation. Also a DoF can prevent AI from attacking you. The downside would be befriending someone's enemy which makes that someone angry. However, once again, this alone will unlikely result in a war if you have a deterring force. Thus if you're interested in more peaceful games, it's more yes than no. In addition, you can bribe AI to DoW each other. It's a very efficient way to cause them forgetting about you for a while.

 

[chazzycat]

At the end i noticed something curious. After i have researched Optics, i found that my scouts dont want to make embark into sea...
why ?
10x in advance, ppeepz

well that's an easy one...your units need to enter your territory to gain the embarking ability.

 

[The Pilgrim]

well that's an easy one...your units need to enter your territory to gain the embarking ability.

Don't have to enter your territory. Any AI you have open borders with or friendly or allied CS will cut it.

 

[chazzycat]

didn't know that...thanks!

 

[tni]

Having close borders, settling land close to some AI will always cause tension. Having more cities is diplomatically worse than having less.

As far as I can tell, there isn't a big advantage in having a larger army to prevent wars. (But having undefended cities will tempt the AIs, so you want an up-to-date city garrison and defensive buildings).

Unless you are facing some aggressive AI, there is usually only an initial wave of a significant amount of troops (going down to a trickle once you killed those) - you can generally hold them back with a minimal military investment.

If you have aggressive neighbors (Monty, Romans, ...), they are always at war or are planning the next one, so they must be kept busy. Either bribe them to attack someone or bribe someone else to attack them. If a neighbor dislikes you because of close borders, same thing.

I frequently have a long string of denouncements against me (including taunts because of a weak military), but they usually go to war against someone else.

If you dislike early wars, reducing the number of civs for your map size will reduce those as well (aggressive CIVs will go to war no matter what).

 

[Resipsa]

Walls, other defensive structures will deter the AI too! check out Tanabark's 4 city opening template

 

[Airey]

or settle on a hill 4 tiles away from AI's cap, take them out sooner rather than later.