What do you do with Mansa Musa?

[Sjaramei]

I just got a game where he had 4 civs(the ones closest to him peaceful ones, i got Ragnar and Tokugawa) between me and him, and he got a huge empire without fighting... oh and he got infantry in 1350...!

I generally have a lot of trouble with this guy unless he is close by. So what options do you use for him?

(I'm considering all out suicide and just raze cities crossmap!)

 

[johncross21]

I leave him alone he's my best trading buddy - till its just me and him left then I mash him

I do like banana's though

 

[mice]

Cripple him and then Vassalize him. Trading partner with no threat. Only trouble is he can trade away the techs I give him.

 

[svv]

Do spiritual leaders tend to emphasize researching religion techs? Do financial leaders emphasize economic techs? I love this guy because I tend to research industrial techs first, and this guy always seems to have the little religious and economic stuff I haven't bothered researching yet.

 

[Mango]

Mansa doesn't research military techs first I believe, so you can sometimes get him if you beeline to those. I know I was behind in techs in a game I'm playing right now as the Russians, but I was beelining to the techs I needed to get Cossacks. I ended up getting Nationalism and Military Tradition before him and traded for about 6-7 techs that I had skipped.

As for what I normally do with him though... usually I wait a bit and let him develop his cities, and then I take them. He usually builds lots of cottages, so if you wait till you have maces and trebs to invade him you'll end up with a ton of great science cities. Of course you could always take him earlier if you're in great position to do so.

 

[Greeneyedzombie]

I hate this guy. He always ends up on the wrong side of the world with all those other peaceloving techwhores.

 

[CapnKill]

I'm playing as him right now... having a good time His UU don't seem to be that great for very long, unless I'm just not seeing their full potential.

 

[JoeBlade]

Kill or vassalize, or at least cripple to the extent of being useless. As with HC and Elizabeth he's far too dangerous to leave alone, always a great risk of him running away with a game via space race.

Don't mind seeing MM as a neighbour in my games though: he tends to found at least one religion (great when I can't manage that myself) and keeps on trading even when gradually being pummeled into oblivion
Not during wars obviously but gladly so during peacetime or negotiations.

HC is another matter, now that I guy I really hate. He's a serious threat when not attacked early and is almost as stingy as Isabella or Montezuma towards differing religions. Unlike MM he's very opportunistic to boot. Super-best friends until he manages to build rifles a few decades before I do, yeah
Nothing worse than meeting intercontinental civs for the first time and discovering a HC juggernaut on the far side of the ocean

 

[InvisibleStalke]

I'm playing as him right now... having a good time His UU don't seem to be that great for very long, unless I'm just not seeing their full potential.

UU isn't special - it was handy to defend your stacks and captured cities. UB is pretty reasonable - you can always use more gold. But financial and spiritual are both awesome traits - he doesn't need any more help.

I like him as a vassal, but I won't go out of my way to kill him. He is pretty dependable as an ally and trading partner. I agree with the earlier poster - HC causes me a lot more trouble. The main thing to realize is that the temptation to trade with him often should be resisted. He will trade and trade - but trading too much with him will bring you to WFYABTA with everyone else and he will trade the techs you give him away.

If you do trade with him, consider trading or even giving away the tech that you trade to him to everyone else who has techs he doesn't so he can't use it for trading.

 

[Sjaramei]

So much love for Mansa

But back to topic, if i get Mansa close by me, it works out fine usually. But i've had a bad recent streak where he goes rampant if you leave him alone too much so... he must die whatever the cost!

 

[Mango]

Mansa love, no. Mansa respect? Yes.

 

[Brave Jay]

You can't ignore this extreme tech trading junkie. He would sell his mother for the right price. He can't be left alone to tech his way into space. Smash him early. I have found that even after being crippled he can still catch his economy up and lead in tech. You have to wipe him out.

 

[Gorman Truart]

I trade with him until I'm caught up, while building a coalition of the willing and a large army. Then I declare war, bribe a few friends to do the same, and Mali becomes a province in my empire.

 

[Dan Quale]

Mansa Musa is without a doubt the worst leader at defending his cities, Usually I let him do his thing, and trade with him while, i kill someone closer, so he gains a strong lead. 20-30 turns later his score is 0, enough said.

 

[futurehermit]

I like to play as him. He's good all-around: good traits, good starting techs, good uu (early rexing).

When I play vs. him, I hope that I am in a position to take him out during the medeival era (too costly going axes vs. his uu). If he's on the other continent teching happily...

 

[r_rolo1]

In my games Mansa has to die, period ( and all the financial civs too (except me, if that is the case).

 

[cabert]

I like to buddy him for a while.
Of course, I have to make it so that he's the only hindu in a buddhist/confucianist/taoist world, so he only trades with me .

 

[biggamer132]

I have a love-hate relationship with Mansa; in the first game where I had him as a neighbor, we were best buddies, and the three civs left on my continent (me as the Persians, Mansa, and George Washington) all teamed up with defensive pacts and beat up on the other continents. In my next game, he was my neighbor again, but I ended up fighting two wars against him and exiling him to one city on another continent. At the end of it, he was still pleased with me... odd.

Anyways, in my current game, he's on another continent so there isn't much contact there, but he has joined in on a couple of wars on my side.

 

[civ4legs]

He's my favourite leader... I've got a soft spot for spiritual and financial, AND his UB is awfully nice...

 

[frob2900]

When I'm going for space victory I love having him as an AI player, he's a dependable trading parter even when religions differ. When I'm going for domination/conquest he's invariably an early target if circumstances allow.

He's really fun to play with raging barbarians on. You almost never have to rebuild a fogbusting skirmisher and more often that not I get a few handy drill III skirmishers out of the deal