What the?

[Bose]

Here's a screenshot of a game I'm playing at the moment (below). I'm China, and inside that perfectly symetrical yellow circle on the world map you will find the Persians. They also have a city at the base of that yellow arrow that looks like it's been painted by the hand of god, in the top left corner of said map.

Up the middle of the screen you will notice that there is a line of Persian workers, all making their way north, to the isolated city. Some of those are stacked and there are 21 workers all up heading to this city (which is size 4 BTW).

Now, what in the name of all things holy are they doing? Why would a size 4 city, with about 8 workable tiles, tops, need with 21 dudes in over-alls? Is there something special they can do that I don't know about?

And yes, i'm not going to grant them ROP, because I'm one of those people that get their jollies out out being mean to inaniment objects and computer game characters. Yes, I know.

Is there method in their madness, or is it a case of no-more-drugs-for-that-civ?

 

[AdHHH]

Are you saying the AI's sending 21 workers to improve the tiles around 1 lonely city? Well i suppose the AI just thinks it needs improving badly because the corruptions making it difficult to build anything, and if it can't build anything soon (presumably) it will flip to your side. I know it's stoopid, but that's AI for you

 

[dgfred]

Persia has done that to me before , I try not to let those INDUST.
devils reach their objective- they finish FAST . The problem was
those stacks of Immortals waiting nearby for a foolish move on my part . It seemed to me that many of the workers joined the target
city to make it grow quickly and the rest made sure the city was connected
to all roads around it to other civs. I was so outnumbered in military I ended
with a histograph win, I built my military enough to keep them from attacking
me and gave a couple of cities between us to other civs .

 

[Arathorn]

Just standard AI . I'm fairly certain the way workers are programmed is that there's a prioritization. If 2+ workers are already doing the thing of highest priority, no more are dispatched to that job (so they go to the next highest priority job), but if there aren't workers doing that high priority job, each worker, in turn, gets sent to that same goal (Does this sound like anybody else's job?). Thus, the string across your land.

Sounds like a good time to gain a whole lot of free slave labor to me!

Arathorn

 

[Dell19]

Its similar to how they will send a huge army to destroy one barb camp.

 

[dgfred]

I have also noticed lately the AIs seem to be using workers sometimes as a
sort of bait to lure me to attack , I am not positive that is what
they are up to but it seems if you had a war with a civ a few turns back you
would not park workers near their borders or even in their land , since
they are usually still furious with you .

 

[Dell19]

Its probably just a coincidence as those tiles on the border are likely to be the least improved since they couldn't be improved during the war and may have been pillaged at some point.

 

[zorven]

Actually, the AI is planning ahead. The Persians are about to take the offensive and acquire more cities in the north, thus they will need more workers there.

(Don't we all wish that was the case?)

 

[HalfBadger]

I'd trap them in your territory, like make a line so they can't get back, then close up the gap in the north. Then make him leave or go to war. Since they can't leave, he'll probably go to war with you, taking a rep hit, since he's the aggressor and then like Arathorn said, lots of free slave labour for you. .

Or block the southern border so none come in, then block the north border when they all have left your territory, then close the gap so none are in your territory. Then he'll have all those workers stuck up there.

 

[LLXerxes]

That might make a good SOTD!

 

[Chaos_BF1942]

Maybe they are making a conga line?


I would (like HalfBadger said) trap them, But not go to war with them have them build new workers, and if they go to war you get free workers.

 

[Dell19]

Actually, the AI is planning ahead. The Persians are about to take the offensive and acquire more cities in the north, thus they will need more workers there.

(Don't we all wish that was the case?)

That makes no sense, is the computer going to improve the enemy to death?

 

[denyd]

One other thing, there might be a resource (oil...) near that northern city and they are moving to connect it. If that's their only source and that northern city has a harbor, you'll be giving Xerxes access to tanks, planes, etc. Not a good thing to do.

 

[Milan's Warrior]

Sometimes, when all important jobs are done, the AI mooves the workers in huge groups in order to put roads on a vast area in one turn only.

 

[Gengis Khan]

I'd trap them in your territory, like make a line so they can't get back, then close up the gap in the north. Then make him leave or go to war. Since they can't leave, he'll probably go to war with you, taking a rep hit, since he's the aggressor and then like Arathorn said, lots of free slave labour for you. .

Or he'll just agree & all those units will jump out.

 

[fret]

As a warmonger, if 21 workers walked onto my patch, I would enslave the pesky blighters and start a war without a second thought, even if it meant losing a fringe city while reacting to an un-prepared conflict. On almost any level.

 

[Turner]

You can watch your workers do the same thing. Put them on a Clear Damage mission, and watch a bunch of them jump on that unconnected tile to clear the damage. Good news is, once the damage is clear you can lay down roads and move them out of there quickly.

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

I must say, that is one of the oddest things I have ever seen in Civ

 

[Bose]

As a warmonger, if 21 workers walked onto my patch, I would enslave the pesky blighters and start a war without a second thought, even if it meant losing a fringe city while reacting to an un-prepared conflict. On almost any level.

Yeah, but I'm not much of a player, and tend not to fight Persians until Cavalry... don't much like Immortals.

Even if they do join the other city the corruption will be huge, so it's be a waste...

No more drugs for that civ.

 

[zorven]

That makes no sense, is the computer going to improve the enemy to death?

No, they are going to capture some cities, then they will need workers for their new cities.