Shaka (AI) = Playerbasher?

[Desert-Fox]

Every game what I play where Shaka is one of my opponents he always declares war on me, even If I have not the worst relations with him, I havent the worst military, Im not his neighbour ... he still comes through the world and declares on me. So what I see thah when he is in the game there is no point to make good relations with him, you'll still get the war.

Ragnar has also same behaivor but littlebit less. Once he declared, then lost badly then he was the best friend and voted for me to win the game.

Has someone a game when he attack only AI players and you don't get touched (unless he is in another continent and already a vassal when you meet him).

 

[L4zXX0r]

Shaka is nuts! I just played a game where I used the earth map, and shaka was in his normal starting position, I was Rome, in my normal starting position. I conquered Carthage, and most of north africa (Shaka had thebes and a city where israel might be) He tried to take my North African cities, but I was just about to grab Rifling (since I beelined it) and he still had macemen. He's got no clue!

 

[Refar]

Shaka was in near to every game i played since he first came up in warlords. And each time he was complete idiot. He does not trade, he is aggressive and he is a looser. Have anyone seen him not being at the bottom of list ???

I hate him.

But then again i remember hatig him in CivIII already, where he was a looser as well, so it seems to be kind of tradition

 

[Bhruic]

I often see him doing well. It depends on how he started tho'. He tends to beeline military techs, which can leave him quite far behind in other areas (for example, in one of my games he'd researched up to Engineering, but didn't have Code of Laws). Luckily his UB helps a little with his upkeep, so he doesn't get totally swamped.

Basically, if he manages to break out early, he can be killer. But if he gets stifled early, he's going nowhere.

Oh, and yes, I often see him attack people other than me. Not that he won't attack me, just that I'm not always his first target.

Bh

 

[L4zXX0r]

Shaka was in near to every game i played since he first came up in warlords. And each time he was complete idiot. He does not trade, he is aggressive and he is a looser. Have anyone seen him not being at the bottom of list ???

I hate him.

But then again i remember hatig him in CivIII already, where he was a looser as well, so it seems to be kind of tradition

Shaka, in my games at least, is often at the bottom, however, if he ever starts to get on a roll conquering, he doesn't stop. I've had him at the top of the heap, but he never stays there.

 

[Psyringe]

There is no specific anti-player bias - if he always attacks you first, then probably because your playing style makes him think you are the best target. Try to build a stronger military next time, that should deter him. He *will* declare war sooner or later, but this way you increase the chance that he does so on someone else.

Same goes for Ragnar. When I'm weak militarily, he always attacks me. When I'm not, he always attacks someone else. When i had a defensive pact with a mutual neighbour, he never attacked me again, but instead launched lots of futile attacks on other continents against other AIs.

 

[KMadCandy]

he's the highest among the AI in score and power in one of my current games, and has been for a long time. he had a pretty nice chunk of land to spread out on, that helped him i'm sure. he declared war once on somebody who was already at war, but it ended quickly and as far as i saw he never even sent troops to that continent. other than that he's been peaceful all the way through. the fact that he's quite ahead of the other AIs in tech is interesting, since his traits aren't geared towards sitting back and studying science. but he's done different beelines than they have, and he's traded with them. peter's even showing "+1 you have shared your technological discoveries with us" towards him, i don't think i've ever seen that modifier from one AI to another.

in this game, spain was shaka's nearest neighbor and he'd hated her ever since i converted him to my true faith and away from her heathen babble. i was actually surprised that he went 5000+ years without ever DoWg her. so i'm getting ready to declare on her, i want her resources, and then he i see that he's changed to WHEOOHRN status (i check all the time on everybody, even gandhi, i'm paranoid). he was definitely not going after me, my guess was isabella. i started my war with her as soon as i could get there, probably 4 turns after he went WHEOOHRN, so that i'd get the prizes before he did. he didn't jump in and declare on her, but even when she down to one city, on an island far away from him, he was telling me WHEOOHRN. as soon as she was completely gone, his hands were free. as long as there was any chance he could go try to beat her up tho, he was still getting ready *giggle*.

i've seen him do really well if he gets a good start, like Bh said. and i've seen screenshots/reports from other people's games where it looks like half the screen is zulu yellow .

Shaka, in my games at least, is often at the bottom, however, if he ever starts to get on a roll conquering, he doesn't stop. I've had him at the top of the heap, but he never stays there.

that's what's quite odd about this game. he's on a roll but in a builder/teching sense. he hasn't conquered anybody, never even captured a single city the entire game! well maybe a barb city or two. and i don't have random personalities on, i checked *giggle*.

 

[bonafide11]

I seem to be the only one on this forum who believes this, but I still argue that Shaka is one of the most loyal warmongers and allies to have in the game.

 

[onlysmiles]

I was just about to grab Rifling (since I beelined it) and he still had macemen. He's got no clue!

Macemen vs. rifle is a little better than impi vs. rifle, or redcoats, which is historically true. Shaka was a warlord in history and is in civ as well. I like to play with random personalities on to make single-player a little more interesting. That being said- everyone start playing multiplayer- it's a far superior experience.

 

[Nelgirith]

In all of my games, Shaka was at war with almost everyone but me It's actually funny to see all the AIs coming and asking me to go to war with Shaka

In my last game, I won the big prize of the lamest starting position ... Shaka to the East, Alexander to the North-East, Gengis to the North-West and Willem to the West. I decided to pick one warmonger and basically lick his ass Shaka won my total devotion

 

[deathr0w]

I seem to be the only one on this forum who believes this, but I still argue that Shaka is one of the most loyal warmongers and allies to have in the game.

I can relate to this.

I think that since Shaka is such a warmonger, it's pretty easy to ally him against someone else in war, resulting in positive diplomatic relations. Keep your eye on your spy ratio against him, however.

 

[snipafist]

Shaka isn't as insane as Monty or Ragnar, I'd say, but he has very little tolerance for being around a civ that isn't as militarily powerful as himself, and will often crush weaker civs. His unique building really helps him in keeping a big empire, too, so he doesn't capsize under maintenance costs as easily as the other AIs who overexpand early. This can make him really dangerous. Most Civ players don't spam units as much as the AIs do in BTS, so they often find themselves at war with Shaka, who "thinks" he is stronger than them, even if 3 macemen won't usually defeat a riflemen, he's got them outnumbered and his power graph insinuates that he's better!

 

[pi-r8]

Shaka isn't as insane as Monty or Ragnar, I'd say, but he has very little tolerance for being around a civ that isn't as militarily powerful as himself, and will often crush weaker civs. His unique building really helps him in keeping a big empire, too, so he doesn't capsize under maintenance costs as easily as the other AIs who overexpand early. This can make him really dangerous. Most Civ players don't spam units as much as the AIs do in BTS, so they often find themselves at war with Shaka, who "thinks" he is stronger than them, even if 3 macemen won't usually defeat a riflemen, he's got them outnumbered and his power graph insinuates that he's better!

God I hate that about BTS. I'm always dead last in power, even though I'm pretty sure that my infantry would be more than a match for their horde of macemen...

 

[PericlesOfAthen]

I seem to be the only one on this forum who believes this, but I still argue that Shaka is one of the most loyal warmongers and allies to have in the game.

Well I make two then. I agree with you. In every one of my games with Shaka, I've spread my religion to him and we've been best buds. He usually falls behind in tech and then I can easily bribe him to attack whomever. And he is loyal too! One game I was getting dogpiled and though he could have easily dogpiled me too he didn't and later I bribed him to help me out.

 

[Indiansmoke]

Shaka, Monty, Isabela, Ragnar & Alexander they will all declare war at some point

 

[Draknith]

i used to have the same problem with Shaka. Regardless of where I was he would find me in the game and start wars. Now however I have found him to be a great ally. I was playing a Huge Marathon game where I was able to get Shaka to adopt my religion, and soon after developing good trade relations with him he became my vassal. Now whenever I fight wars i can sit back enjoy building, send a few divisions to protect my allies, and watch as Shaka's hordes decimate the opponent.

I would just recommend that if you're having a problem with the more aggressive AI, make friends of them early game. As long as you can keep your edge on them in power, they can be a great asset to your imperialistic, empire growing needs.

 

[Indiansmoke]

i used to have the same problem with Shaka. Regardless of where I was he would find me in the game and start wars. Now however I have found him to be a great ally. I was playing a Huge Marathon game where I was able to get Shaka to adopt my religion, and soon after developing good trade relations with him he became my vassal. Now whenever I fight wars i can sit back enjoy building, send a few divisions to protect my allies, and watch as Shaka's hordes decimate the opponent.

I would just recommend that if you're having a problem with the more aggressive AI, make friends of them early game. As long as you can keep your edge on them in power, they can be a great asset to your imperialistic, empire growing needs.

Yes and if he bashes your opponents too much he will grow bigger, renounce your protection and point his hordes towards you!

You can also help him do that with gifting him military techs, so that he can bash your oponents harder!