question about resources

[PattonTwo]

How do I find out if a neighboring civilization has iron or not?

I've explored most of their land, and didn't find any. However I don't know if they have a trade deal with anyone to get it.

Suggestions?


Obviously the goal here is to go to war with them asap if they still don't have iron as I've got Swordsmen and their lack of iron should give me a big boost.

Thanks in advance,

PattonTwo

 

[wilbill]

Shift+Ctrl+M will give you a terrain-only map so you can see if they have iron. Could be a city built on an iron deposit. Happens occasionaly.

 

[DaveMcW]

Try to sell them your iron. If you can, or if you are only missing a trade route, they don't have it. If no iron appears in the trade list they already have it.

 

[Bamspeedy]

Contact them (talk to them). If you have iron and they don't, then iron would show up under your side as being able to trade it to them (it will be greyed-out, but still visible if you can't trade it to them-lack a trade route). If you have iron and you don't see iron listed for either civ than that means they also have it. Basically the diplomacy screen only lists resources that one civ has that the other one doesn't.

Or, if you have an embassy you can investigate one of their cities and see if iron is in the upper left corner. But that costs a little money.

Use control-shift-M. The iron may be underneath a city.

 

[PattonTwo]

Thanks for the great response!

A follow up question.

If the civ in question DOES have the resource (Iron in this case), is there any way to tell who/where they are getting it from?

If so, how?

Thanks again!


PattonTwo

 

[MajorFallout]

Originally posted by wilbill
Shift+Ctrl+M will give you a terrain-only map so you can see if they have iron. Could be a city built on an iron deposit. Happens occasionaly.

You could also investigate a city via the embassy ('E' icon), choose the cheapest city on their continent/territory, obviously it needs to be linked via road/railroad. Then look at their Strategic Resources list in the upper left corner of the 'city zoom' screen - this will tell you what resources they have through all linked cities.

 

[Angmar]

I remember trying to track down French oil. ( IN the end it was me trading it to them.. DOH )

However the steps I now take.

Investigate their capital city, or a city near it that has a trade route to the city. In the top left corner you will see what resources they have in that city. If you see resource in question there they have it.

Now where are they getting it from?

Make sure you have their territory map
Take your time and visually search for the resource.
Use that great shift-control-m to view the map without cities.

If you dont see it there, then they are trading for it.

Go to your foreign advisor. Make sure that all the civs that have a valid trade route to the civ in question are in view. Go to the trade tabs and look for active trades. Hopefully they will only have an active trade with a few civs ( or even just one! ).

If they are only trading with one civ, then they are the guilty ones. If its more than one then you will want to do the landscape scouring with those civs ( or investigate a city ) , counting up their "road"ed resources. Trade with them, see how much they have available to trade, and hopefully you will be able to do some math and figure out who is trading the resource.

Iron is a key resource in the Ancient Era, you are right to pay attention to it. And DEPRIVE the enemy of it any way you can.

Good luck,

 

[superslug]

When I go to war with a civ in Ancient times that has Iron, I usually launch two fronts. Both groups comprise of offensive units and defensive units. I aim one for their Iron source and one for their capitol. Taking the Iron source and holding it is usually easier than pillaging the roads around the capitol and holding all eight squares. In any case, either will prevent them from building more swordsmen and forces those two points to be the focus of any counteroffensive. Hopefully my Spearmen and maybe Archers can hold them down while the rest of my cities make more units that eventually come in and crush them...