Specific ICS Questions (IMM)

[SureYouCan]

Let me set the stage. Pangea, Immortal, Standard/Standard, Hiawatha/Washington/Askia/Ramses(only civs I play).

How often do you get Hagia Sophia? I've yet to get it. How do you get to FP when the AI sees that you have all that land and no army, declares, and now you need riflemen.

If I have an army big enough to not get declared then that means I cut into settler production and get boxed in by the AI.

How do you prevent getting double or sometimes triple declared after you horse rush and kill off your neighbor becoming an instant warmonger? That always leads to every pact getting broken the next turn followed by 2-3 different AIs suddenly deciding to settle right on my borders. >.> <.<

I can't seem to find that balance. Either I spam settlers and end up getting declared on which leads to a 100 turn war where I either beeline rifles and miss the FP or go for the FP and start losing enough units to rifles that other AIs jump in or I go half/half and my ICS runs out of space.

 

[Monthar]

Apparently I'm too stupid to give advice.

 

[pi-r8]

You can't really prevent being declared on in this game. Just try and settle in defensible locations (behind rivers or marshes is the best) and defend with horses and seige units.

I've gotten Hagia Sophia a few times but it's not necessary at all. Get the FP whenever you can, AIs give it a low priority so it's ok if you build it slowly.

I disagree with Monthar about pretty much everything he said lol.

 

[alpaca]

I disagree with Monthar about pretty much everything he said lol.

Same here. I practically never see the AI using horses, for example.

If you build your cities in a tight grid they will defend each other so you only need some minimal force.

 

[biohazard72]

All this advice is for Deity. Take them as possibly too strict for Immortal.

The only times I've had random DOWs are very early game (before you build a Horseman army - after that they should respect you) or mid-game, when you're on the warpath and they flank you. Here's how to avoid/minimize the repercussions of such an act:

1. Attack/settle towards a coast to eliminate/reduce flanking opportunities. If you're in the middle, you're in for a chore, but attack the larger threats first - they are the most likely ones to DOW.
2. Sell Open Borders only to far-off civs, and only early game (when money is more critical). Later, your empire will be large but undefended (except for your attacking army) and the AI doesn't need to see that.
3. Use City-States to protect your flanks. Pledge to protect them. They should have a few up-to-date units, which will help buy time, or prevent DOWs altogether.
4. Considering buying other AIs into your current conflict. This will not only make your current opponent flanked and easier to take, but will occupy an AI with units lying around looking to war.
5. Keep enough cash on hand to rush buy a siege unit or two if necessary.

I should also mention that I disagree with nearly everything Monthar said - although he is right to say to prioritize Colosseums and science specialists. Colosseum should be the first build in every new city, to prevent stagnation and continue growing. When he mentions to build a military unit first in new cities, I disagree - I only built 7 Horsemen total, in my first 5 cities and as soon as they were available, to take my continent (Standard, Deity). I bought the rest of my units (1 Knight, 2 Caravels, 2 Frigates).

Regarding Hagia Sophia: don't bother. It would be nice but is a luxury, which can't be afforded, as are all other wonders. FP is the only wonder you'll truly NEED (it's timing is nice, when lots of wonders are available so you should be able to grab it with a beeline). Try to capture as many others as possible. Also grab Machu Pichu if possible (I only found the time late game, probably only because of its restriction to mountain cities + luck) - it ended up being worth about 80 gpt after a very dense ICS end game, allowing me to run lots of science specialists and build nothing but science buildings while still making over 100gpt (as it turns out, my economy crashed after I won, but then recovered in around 20 turns to a good state).