What will you do if you r behind in size??

[Veteranewbie]

Currently I was in a game in which I think I have a reasonable size of empire, so what i did i pretty much stay peaceful and build improvements. Now the bad thing is that when I finally realize how small my nation is compare to the others (till i get astronomy and go trade map), i was already behind in tech race, and military size. So this means that taking it the tough way i.e. war doesnt appear to be an option. Also, I have no resource of any kind in my territory (not yet, i wish i have rubber and oil in the future). While my neighbours have iron, saltpeter etc. so what can I do now? Should I try to keep in peace and wait til rubber and oil comes out? (nobody have iron in my whole continent)
What are your people strategy if you have a small nation?

 

[Aramazd]

set science to zero and buy techs and try to build the UN while being very nice to the AI. BTW what level are you playing

 

[Veteranewbie]

I am doing on regent, but then again, i usually play standard map, but then since i hate being so crowded, i was playing large map this time

 

[zerksees]

A screenshot might be helpful here, as would a better description of your game settings.

Being nice to the AI is good advice - you may be able to trade gold for the resources you need.

 

[JustBen]

Figure out what you need to build the best army you can. Turn off science to get the money to pay for it. Buy it from someone. Devote your entire economy to a 20-turn arms buildup. Go to town on the nearest neighbor with the most interesting resources.

This is how we do it on the high difficulty levels. I can't promise it'll work for your particular situation. I don't really know anything about it -- how close you are to Cavalry, your artillery situation, how close Cavalry is to obsolesence, how small "small" really means, blah blah blah. But it's a decent guess if you really don't think you have a chance at a Diplo or Space victory as you stand.

 

[DS_Legionary]

Haven't seen this mentioned, but maybe cultural victory is a way for this one. You said that you built stayed peaceful and built improvements. So if you think you have a reasonable amount of culture, maybe this is the way for you.

 

[PRIMEMOVER]

Too add to the previous suggestions...

Yes, turn down your science and build up gold...

Use the gold to buy techs and/or try to trade with those who have the saltpeter and iron. Without those two, you're really going to be behind when oil, rubber become available because those that have it will build an insurmountable military advantage and will subsequently use it to their advantage on you. Beginning with Warlord and even more so at higher levels, the AI is very adept in smelling blood and WILL attack you if it perceives a military advantage. That's why it's a good idea always to maintain a military presence even if you don't intend to use it.

If your main objective is to expand your borders, short of doing it culturally which may or may not be feasible (not to mention it takes longer), you have to do it militarily and it is next to impossible to do if you don't have the key strategic resources that you mentioned.

 

[Qitai]

If you can, war a far far away civ. Get MA with his neighbour(s). Let them fight. Park settlers near them. Settle on the lands that get free up due to this war. Priorities will be all the resource location. And do not be afraid of land overlap. Once you secure the resources, you can sell them or in the case of strategic resources, deprive a civ of those resources. Now, without resources, even a civ with superior tech is no match for you since they cant build any of those superior tech units.

 

[kb2tvl]

One trick I use is to start stirring up war and trouble. Depending on the age, I will MPP with the largest civ and declare war on the civ between me and the largest civ. If the largest civ is next to me then I will declare war on a civ that has trades with the largest civ. This will start isolating him. Once you have isolated him then just keep the mpp up and nabb a city here and there. Slowly, build up your army while keeping him at war. If your ally is doing too well then declare war on a civ next to him but away from you... preferably one that has a trade deal with him.

By doing this, you can score select cities with luxuries and trade with your ally that is doing all the fighting.

Once you have secured enough luxuries/resources, ally with ALL the remaining civs and destroy the biggest civ. THEN ally all the civs against the next biggest... Untill you become the biggest.

 

[Flavor Dave]

veteranewbie...what I would try to do is pick one civ from which you can snatch two cities, and defend your own. Prepare for the war, take the two cities, then ask for peace. He'll normally offer peace treaty alone. Give him the counteroffer of him giving you as many techs as you can get away with.

I've found it's a good strategy, if you start out behind, to make one neighbor your b!tch. Every 20 turns, snatch 2 cities, and take all of his science. Sooner or later he catches on, but by then, his production is so poor that you can entrench and hold him off. Meanwhile, you've picked up a bunch of techs.