Starting war

[Daghdha]

I would like to here from the more experienced gamers about different ways to start war and their pros/cons. I recently discovered that by clicking "active" the peace treaty comes up (nice price buy with no manual that's why I'm doing this by trial n error + help from u guys). Now, if I click on peace treaty the advisor gets shakey and wonders if I really...really want no negociate this. I say Aye and then there's no turning back. AI has until now never excepted any demands from me even if I'm military superior. Good thing is, I don't seem to get a rep hit by doing this. If I instead step in on AI territory and scream "That's it" and then attack, everyone turns sour for the rest of the game. I'm sure there's a lot of other ways to "get the party going" but what is considered the proper (no rep hit) way?

 

[Scuffer]

Declare war before you have any units on their land, and you'll be fine. Make sure you are not breaking any deals, including knock-on effects from MPPs etc.
If you really annoy them, you can get them to declare on you- eg, failed spying, continuous demands.

 

[Puppeteer]

Declare war before you have any units on their land, and you'll be fine.

After declaring war, can you move units into his territory in the same turn without a rep hit? I was never clear on that one.

 

[thetrooper]

After declaring war, can you move units into his territory in the same turn without a rep hit? I was never clear on that one.

Declare war, then move your units into the enemys territory. You can do it on the same turn as long as you have no troops inside their borders when you declare.

 

[Daghdha]

So it is possible, if I wanna play the good boy, to Shaka my neighbour until he/she goes banana and declare out of pure frustration? Very useful tip Scuffer
About this peace treaty deal, when do you really want to negociate it? AFAIK it just keeps going beyond 20 turns without me doing anything, but if I have peace and want to squeeze the boy next door a bit, can I initiate a peace negociating without having to go to war if he declines my demand?