What should I do?

[Graybeard]

The setting:

Regent, playing Egypt on a standard map, 3 continents. Persia is alone on a continent. Russia originally shared this continent, but they were destroyed by the Persians at the end of the Middle Ages. France, America, and the Aztecs share another continent. America is about to be eliminated by her neighbors. America started this war, presumably to obtain one of two coal resources owned by France. I am on a narrow continent immediately north of Germany who is north of Babylon. North of me there are a few cities of Germany, France, and America. I also have two cities there separated from me by the German cities.

It is now 1700, Democracy, and we are in the Industrial Age. I’m ¼ through the tech tree and perhaps 2 techs ahead of Persia. Persia is leading on score and starting to pull away. I led until she destroyed Russia. I missed all of the Ancient Age wonders, but did manage to get the Art of War, Sistine Chapel, J.S. Bach’s Cathedral, and Smiths in the Industrial Age. I’m currently building Universal Suffrage and the Theory of Evolution. Suffrage is 50/50, but I should get the TOE.

I’m currently researching Replaceable Parts. As soon as I have that, I will finish the 2 techs I need for the Hoover Dam. I have a city with a factory prebuilding this now. This is a must for me since it will trigger my Golden Age.

I have 3 luxury resources, 1 iron, and 1 saltpeter. I’m importing coal from France (it cost me 2 techs, a world map, and 150 gold). I doubled my workers and they are madly laying
rail over every square inch of my country.

I have ROPs with Germany and Babylon to keep them at bay. My border with Germany is protected by 3 riflemen in each city and 12 cavalry standing by. I have 8 other cavalry stationed elsewhere.

I’m aiming for a Space Race victory, as my lead in culture will probably not be sufficient for a win.

I’m currently in my second war with Persia. I have not been involved in any other wars. Xerxes started both of these after he demanded tribute of a tech and gold that I refused to pay. He invaded in the first war and razed one of my cities. I captured one of his on my continent. In the second, I signed Military Alliances against Persia with everyone. I did this for two reasons 1) concern that Persia would if I didn’t and 2) hope that they would do him damage (they didn’t). The alliances did cause Persia to withdraw from my coasts. All but America and Germany have now broken the alliances which have 6 turns remaining. Persia is currently bombarding my coast where I have 3 ivory resources with a single ironclad. It sank the first ironclad I sent in defense. I have 3 more ironclads racing to the area.

The problem:

The worst case scenario is that Germany will switch sides and Persia will invade in force. Replaceable parts (with infantry and artillery) is 4 turns away. Assuming that doesn’t happen and I have a source of rubber, I should survive intact.

Based on past experience, war with Germany is inevitable. I’m prepared for that and intend on taking a number of cities while still leaving Germany between Babylon and myself. Babylon is no threat, but war may also be inevitable.

Persia is the real problem. First, I’m ticked about these two ridiculous wars. I have no resources Xerxes needs. These were started merely to beat me down. Second, I know there will be more. So:

1) I can just live with it and hope to out research Persia to the space ship.
2) Build up a ground force and an air force, raze 3 of his cities, plant my own, move the bombers in and reduce his infrastructure to the stone age.

Advice or other alternatives?

 

[eyrei]

If you manage to get Universal Suffrage ( I would rush that factory and then start pre-building something else) then switch your goverment to republic. Sign ROPs with everyone but the Persians, and try to obtain as many luxuries as possible. Build Police stations and maketplaces in every major city. After this, maintain wars with Persia for as long as you can (which should be significant after doing all this), until they switch their government to communism. Sign peace treaties when war weariness get to bad. Play defense. After the peace treaty has been in effect for 10-20 turns, start picking a fight with Persia again, but make them declare war (failed spying attempts are a good way to do this). If you continue this, you will manage to hold a tech lead over Persia through the technologies required for the spaceship, because they will be in a less commerce/research oriented government.

 

[Dralix]

Something to keep in mind if you don't already know. Razing cities hurts your reputation. You mentioned that other civs broke your military alliance. That suggests to me that your reputation isn't so good. Razing more cities wont help.

I only found out recently that razing hurts reputation, so now I try not to do it. You mentioned that you have only been in two wars, so razing may not even be the cause of the broken treaties. Just something to think about.

 

[Graybeard]

Eyrei: I like the idea of managing an economic punishment for the Persians. I hadn't considered that, but I'm reasonably certain I can arrange it.

I do have marketplaces (and banks) in all of my cities. My economy is strong. I should be able to maintain war with the
Persians for many turns w/o much trouble. I recently obtained a
Regent domination victory and never left Republic. The additional luxury resources will cost, but Persia and I have almost a 2:1 ratio in score over everyone else.

Dralix: Yes, I know the problem with reputation I will have if I raze any cities. I haven't razed any in this game. Everyone has been polite to me for the whole game and they were all gracious after signing the alliances. They're back to polite now. I am concerned why they signed peace treaties with Persia early, but I'm not sure why. At this point I have to watch my back very carefully.

The point with razing was to not lose the base for my bombers due to culture flip. My plan was to punish Persia (severely). I would only do it if I no longer cared about or needed the other civs in the game.

 

[d3dash]

-Takeing a foothold in persia's continent sounds good. if you can, wipe out all roads to his capitol. that will hurt him big time.

-As for the other civs pulling out of the alliance, try to get them back into it. If you can't get a mil alliance with them, at least get a trade embargo with everyone.

-For the ironclad on Ur cost, send a cannon or a bomber down there, it won't sink it, but it will hurt it enough to make it withdraw long enough for you to get Ur ships down there.

Hope this helps

 

[Graybeard]

I took eyrei's advice and it more or less worked. However, the game turned very ugly and was quite dissatisfying in the end...

I was able to get Universal Suffrage and the Hoover Dam. Construction of the dam triggered my Golden Age and I was able to race through the rest of the Industrial Age.

France and the Aztecs finished off America. I simply defended my coasts against an endless stream of Persian iconclads. They destroyed every iconclad I sent against them, but my artillery kept them at bay and workers stationed on the coast rebuilt the infrastructure they destroyed. After about 30 turns, Persia was forced to switch to Communism. I was able to remain in a Democracy for the entire game.

While still at war with Persia, Babylon declared war against me. I formed an alliance with Germany and between us, we eliminated Babylon from our continent in 3 turns. I took 3 of their cities; Germany took the rest. Babylon agreed to peace with one remaining city on Persia's continent.

France declared war on the Aztecs and was joined by Persia. This prolonged engagement eventually forced both France and the Aztecs into Communism. As I predicted, Germany declared war against me and was joined by France. At this point I finally agreed to peace with Persia to concentrate on Germany. I took all of her cities north of me and 3 of those on our border. Persia decided to join in and declared war on Germany. This forced Germany into Communism and the research rate screeched to a halt. 10-11 turns per technology. I wasn't able to launch the spaceship until 1975.

In the end, only France, Persia, and Egypt remained standing with France and Persia both in Communism and at war.

 

[eyrei]

Originally posted by Graybeard
I took eyrei's advice and it more or less worked. However, the game turned very ugly and was quite dissatisfying in the end...

I was able to get Universal Suffrage and the Hoover Dam. Construction of the dam triggered my Golden Age and I was able to race through the rest of the Industrial Age.

France and the Aztecs finished off America. I simply defended my coasts against an endless stream of Persian iconclads. They destroyed every iconclad I sent against them, but my artillery kept them at bay and workers stationed on the coast rebuilt the infrastructure they destroyed. After about 30 turns, Persia was forced to switch to Communism. I was able to remain in a Democracy for the entire game.

While still at war with Persia, Babylon declared war against me. I formed an alliance with Germany and between us, we eliminated Babylon from our continent in 3 turns. I took 3 of their cities; Germany took the rest. Babylon agreed to peace with one remaining city on Persia's continent.

France declared war on the Aztecs and was joined by Persia. This prolonged engagement eventually forced both France and the Aztecs into Communism. As I predicted, Germany declared war against me and was joined by France. At this point I finally agreed to peace with Persia to concentrate on Germany. I took all of her cities north of me and 3 of those on our border. Persia decided to join in and declared war on Germany. This forced Germany into Communism and the research rate screeched to a halt. 10-11 turns per technology. I wasn't able to launch the spaceship until 1975.

In the end, only France, Persia, and Egypt remained standing with France and Persia both in Communism and at war.

Sorry. I forgot to mention that that strategy often results in the entire world erupting into war and communism, effectively leaving the human to do all the research, which significantly slows down the tech rate. On monarch and higher, this is one of the few ways to actually get a tech lead though.