War - Late game, Gilgamesh, Warmongers

[varus]

Playing as Gilgamesh, it seems as if I should be able to war my allies' enemies without any warmonger trouble.

However, when I capture a city, both options still present me with the "egregious" warmonger penalty.

How does this warmonger penalty work on the city by city basis? Is it separate from a general warmonger penalty you get for declaring war? What's the exact benefit of Gilgamesh in all this?

Lastly, is it even remotely possible to wage war in the middle to late games and still have any friends? I was rather hoping to enjoy the combat with modern units, but it almost seems like war with anyone just guarantees war with everyone.

 

[Paramecium]

It seems to me, that you can avoid to be hated by anyone, if you manage to get 1-3 AIs as friends and later allies over the course of the game and try to stay with them, always instantly refreshing the friendship and alliance when possible. It seems, that some AIs get the negative warmonger modifier for you, but others not. And most importantly, there status during the alliance seems not to change, so if you refresh your alliance, use a casus belli or even a joint war (best with Gilgamesh) and try to settle things before the alliance is running out.

If you and your friends are strong enough, you just dont have to care about the other AIs. At least it was the case for me on King and Emperor, I will try Immortal soon and will have a look if that will work too.