Way to tell if the Other Leader(AI) is going to attack you?

[reemul99]

Played a game last night, was having a great time playing "Sim Civ" (didn't focus ALOT on Military buildup, more on Religion and whatnot...)

I had blocked off Napolean with 2 strategic city builds at a chokepoint and was gearing up some Hefalumps and Cats when Napolean demanded some technology from me...
Looking back, that shoulda been my first clue...

So I told him where to stick it, cranked out a couple of archers and Axemen (combined with a 60% cultural defence on the 2 front line Cities), and figured I was good to go if he Declared war...

Sure enough, he declares war... nothing happens for a couple of Turns and then WHAM!!!

15+ swordsmen appear on his border and he proceeds to steam roller my sorry ass...

Question #1 - What is the typical delay in turns between when a Leader demands tribute and when he has troops running across your border?

Question #2 - Is there any way to tell if a leader is making an empty threat, or actually going to attack ya? Are some leaders more prone to attacking then others?

 

[MattJek]

Montezum usually attack without warning and without reason. In my current game he declared war on me FOUR TIMES in the ancient age

 

[nekom]

Montezum usually attack without warning and without reason. In my current game he declared war on me FOUR TIMES in the ancient age

Man will he ever. And it doesn't matter how much more powerful you are than him either, he's completely off his rocker.

I think each leader has their own war modifiers, might want to look in the xml to find out for sure.

 

[madmaven]

There are a few ways you can tell.

1) Check how that leader feels about you. I think they'll usually (always?) be furious with you before going to war. Certain leaders have much less patience than others. Tick montezuma off a little and he'll go to war with you. Other impatient leaders: Napoleon, Caesar, Alexander, Ghengis, Kubli...

2) Check the power graph and compare your power rating to the Civ in question. The Civ knows how his power stacks up vs yours and if he has an advantage he will use it.

3) Check if that Civ is amassing a lot of troops on your border. This usually happens one turn before the war and can be easy to miss (and by this time you probably can't counter it if you're not ready).

4) I've found that Civs usually react the same way I would. If a civ blocks me from expanding or grabs an essential resource, or puts a city too close to me where we will be competing for space, I go to war. The reverse is true as well.

 

[LeGrandCharle]

My 1st rule of play, especially for a Sim Civ, is to ALWAYS be prepared for War in my boarder Cities. No Matter what. The best defense is a good offense. This will help deter your bordering nations. I usually have 1 maybe 2 units in all cities except for the boarder ones (6-7 units of different types to counter whatever they toss at me).

It usually can take between 1 and 10 turns for your enemy to attack in great numbers. Montezuma will be around 1 turn because he is always ready for war, while more peaceful nations will take longer to prep.

In the early stages, you are not interested in war (since you are trying to build and grow) so the strategy is to deter the enemy from attacking or just hold the line if he does.

Another strategy that i have found to be successful is when they come demanding techs and the like, do not just send him packing, but demand monetary tribute right back. This show of power may make the other civ think twice, and if he caves in then you have crippled his ability for prolonged war. Give it a try. It has worked for me.

Deterrence and show of strength! The perception of strength, even if you are weak, is better than being thought of as weak .

My 2 cents.

 

[Mahatmajon]

I was astonished last night when Greece declared war on me. I had spread religion to them so we shared state religions (+3), had open borders for a long time ((+1) and had continued peace (I think this was +3). The only negative was that we were close together (-2) because they built 2 cities on the other side of my land.

I was COMPLETELY unprepared. We're talking 1 archer per city and maybe 2 offensive troops in my entire empire. Fortunately there wasn't much logic to his declaration of war because he only had a few Phalanxes and archers around. By the time he built up some horse archers, axemen, & swordsman I was able to switch civics to Vassalge/Police state (love those Pyramids!) and crank out some offensive troops to push him back. Upgraded archers to longbows and built some spearmen and I was never really in danger.

The 2 cities that he built on the other side of my land were in nice spots, too . I guess he just attacked because I looked weak and was exerting cultural pressure on his city but I was pretty amazed.

 

[Adam7Eight]

Alexander just declared war on me (Japan) on a large archipelago map I just started. He brought two galleys over from the other side of the map; one with two warriors, and the other with a settler and an archer. He then proceeds to unload his warriors onto my territory where they get creamed by my axeman. So, I wait and wait... and am still waiting now. That's all he brought? That's all he's going to bring? Yet, he refuses to negotiate peace while I stack up on axeman, spearmen, and swordsmen. This has to be a joke. This pointless declaring of war, especially in this type of situation just bugs the crap right out of me.

I'm also tired of these wars that the AI will start for what appears to be no other reason than to just come over and pillage your territory for a few turns. They won't attack your cities or your units. No, they'll just destroy a few roads and then be happy to sign a peace treaty. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

 

[Oggums]

Alexander is just crazy, so that doesn't surprise me.

 

[Nilrim]

This pointless declaring of war, especially in this type of situation just bugs the crap right out of me.

:

Not really, what were your cities making while the war was going on? Yep war units it slowed the advance of your Civ. In fact that is a tatic I use against a Smaller AI that seems to be making better progress against me in Sci/culture. Just have enough military for a good defense and declare war on him. You can go on making buildings etc but since the AI is SO brain dead it can't do two things at once and will switch it's entire focus to war.

 

[Adam7Eight]

Not really, what were your cities making while the war was going on? Yep war units it slowed the advance of your Civ.

As a matter of fact, no, you would be wrong in this case. At the time he declared war I had nothing to build except for military units. But that's because I'm still working on a mod for myself where I have edited the epic game speed (raising tech costs, number of turns, etc.), so early in the game I tend to have much wasted production with my cities not being able to build anything other than units. I guess that would make his declaration of war at that time even more bizarre.

 

[Vladesch]

I think they'll usually (always?) be furious with you before going to war.

Not true. In fact, Ive played a couple of games where they have been on cautious and declared war out of the blue. Caught me completely unprepared. Not sure if this is working as intended or a bug.

 

[Exavier]

Not true. In fact, Ive played a couple of games where they have been on cautious and declared war out of the blue. Caught me completely unprepared. Not sure if this is working as intended or a bug.

I have had one Pleased to me declare war on me out of the blue (Montazuma) because I denied him tribute lol

 

[Nilrim]

As a matter of fact, no, you would be wrong in this case. At the time he declared war I had nothing to build except for military units. But that's because I'm still working on a mod for myself where I have edited the epic game speed (raising tech costs, number of turns, etc.), so early in the game I tend to have much wasted production with my cities not being able to build anything other than units. I guess that would make his declaration of war at that time even more bizarre.

Keep in mind the AI will NOT adapt to your Mods. One of the reasons I am not found of Mods. The AI is dumb to start with, toss in a Mod and forget it. I play on Epic and rarly have most of my cities built all the improvments that they can. Noramly I have enough of a defence already set up that if an AI messes with me I can handle it without going into full blown war mode, but sometimes they will catch me not ready and then I hae to switch all city production to military, which sucks

 

[Ray Patterson]

The only negative was that we were close together (-2) because they built 2 cities on the other side of my land.

There's your problem. I've had Peter declare war on me in two different games despite sharing a religion, having good trade and him being much weaker then me, simply because I culture flipped his lame little cities. He actually was pleased with me before he attacked. As far as I can gather from the Leader stats, the attitude merely determines the chance a leader will attack you, though for many Friendly means 0% war I think, and furious means a 100% chance even for Gandhi, so presumably for everyone (for him Friendly is 0% already).

 

[Exavier]

Keep in mind the AI will NOT adapt to your Mods. One of the reasons I am not found of Mods. The AI is dumb to start with, toss in a Mod and forget it. I play on Epic and rarly have most of my cities built all the improvments that they can. Noramly I have enough of a defence already set up that if an AI messes with me I can handle it without going into full blown war mode, but sometimes they will catch me not ready and then I hae to switch all city production to military, which sucks

Um i have to disagree. The AI make use of about 90% of the stuff I have modded into my game. And are actually quite vengeful with it. (then again i have agressive AI enabled) Though most of my stuff is unit changes.

 

[Renata]

Cancellation of Open Borders is always a clue.

 

[reemul99]

I think Ray Patterson has a point.

I've had a 'Pleased' attack me (China).

Although it could have been that he had a defence pact with the guy that I attacked (Mongols).

But I think attitude toward you is more of a 'general' indicator of the possibility of War rather then a hard indicator (much to my surprise on a few occations -btw)

 

[PekkaM]

Monty attacking you just cannot be predicted. Oh, wait, more like this: Always expect Monty to attack you.

 

[Psyringe]

Yeah, he's Monty Mole. Always trying to dig a hole (into your defense).

 

[BeefontheBone]

If they mean it, they're likely to switch to military civics like Vassalage and Theocracy, same as you would if you were gearing up for a big war.