When Do You Go To War?

[Stravinski]

I usualy go to war whenever expansion of my empire is needed. Waging war in the ancient age is very effective, when you are fast enough and the opposing civ hasn't yet discovered the secret of writing. It will, I believe, not damage your reputation that much. An early war provides you with a significant larger empire than AI civs.

 

[Mikal]

Haven't heard it mentioned but early on in order to stop AI expansion, I'll war with them when I have either swords or horsemen until I reach a chokepoint, thereupon I'm free to expand into the space I've just cleared.

 

[German Panzers]

I wait until I have modern equipment. Becaus eif you get the oil and rubber before any other country, you can build the tanks and the marines. Using tanks and marines against infrantry and rifleman will get you the victory.

 

[TheDS]

I mostly don't DOW other Civs. I prefer to build and expand into all available territory. As a consequence, I am generally weak at the beginning, though I also generally have far more cities and territory. My tech is usually decent, but I've also been checking out 0-science; that is, let the AI develop techs, and then I'll buy it from them if I can.

I had a real problem doing this though; I didn't even have enough units for a minimal defense, and the enemy would DOW me, and others would join in. So lately I've made sure to have no less than 1 defender per city (even if he's not always stationed there) and so long as I have built more cities, I will also have enough units to preclude an attack.

If there is some little schmuck that's useless, I'll amass a small army and wipe him out. And if I am attacked, I generally am the one to live to see the end of it, though I have made deals now and then because I was tired of fighting and falling behind in my construction.

 

[mauiduck]

Oil and Rubber are two strategic resources that are high on my list as well. I try to be in a position to strike into territories that have them before the other civs realize they are there (e.g. haven't reached the tech level yet). On the note of tech I buy from the AI a bit but have noticed that you could be giving a leg up to a future adversary. My new trick is to sell a tech to another nation that is way behind (a militarily useless one IMHO like Printing Press) for big bucks every turn. I have also found that if you do this that other civ wants teams up with you bad ASAP. Case, in point, sold Printing Press to Brits at 20 gold per turn ( I was researching Electricity at the time). I had to make a switch in government so as soon as I went to Anarchy I delcared war on Russia to grab some cities with coal and iron for Iron Works and to clear a buffer so that the communism wouldn't turn my soon-to-be Fascist cities back to Russian ones (I created a Fascist government model that is very objective -- just as many cons as there are pros for a militaristic society). Before the tech sale, the Brits would have nothing to do with any kjind of alliance against the Russians b ut as soon as I made the deal and declared the war the Brits came up and offered to join a MDP, and a Trade Embargo on top of that. I guess you can buy friends when you need them although that pesky British knight in Finland could dash Germany's plans in Scandanvia.

 

[captain walrus]

I usually play somewhere around the Monarch level and start wars when I'm angry at someone. But on other difficulty levels I usually start wars differently. On Deity , I start the second I find someone to attack and on Chietain I fight as many as I can as soon I have cavalry and riflemen and they still are medieval.

 

[rjgo]

i do it whenever someone p!ss's me off.

shalom

rjgo

 

[CozMark]

I play as Persia/Rome so I can get a powerful offensive unit early (Immortals/Legionary) then provoke a war with the largest civ closest to me in the ancient age. The key to all of this is NEVER trading my maps. It pisses off the other civs and, more importantly, if the enemy doesn't know anything about you and you know the lay of their terrain, you have a distinct advantage over them, ie build a few horsemen and take out their iron, horses, and luxuries. I know where they will attack and build up my army on their border. This way, I usually double the size of my empire to the optimum number of cities (corruption stays low). I concentrate on culture to capture the other civs border cities and amassing a fortune so I can upgrade my military, build improvements, and buying techs (science is set at 20%).
Later in the game, after I get rifleman, it gets real easy to provoke my neighbors again because I'm the Big Dog on the planet and everyone wants to screw with me, so I make 'em pay for their insolence. Before I go to war I build a settler in my largest cities and then slash and burn my way through enemy territory. If the city is a money maker (lots of river/coastal squares, resources, trade goods) I keep it. If it's not I raze it and plant a settler. Any left over settlers join my new settlements.

 

[BCLG100]

i go to war as soon as i have a new militry tech advancemnt e.g. tank, cavalry, modern armour so on so they will be easier to defeat

 

[infanta]

ho hum, guess im a real war monger then cause my typical build order is barracks/archer/settler (i play zulus so i start with archers)

once the new settler trundles away i start attacking with the archer (building new ones whilst pop increases for next settler)

usually ive destroyed 2-3 civs fore we hit middle ages and quite often games over by late middle ages/ early industrial

 

[Ozymandius]

I normally play as the Egyptians, build three or four warriors who roam into four directions. I hit a goodie hut with my first warrior, get upgraded to elite when attacked by the barbarians, find the first neighbour, "oops am I in your territory?" then smack. right between the eyes and the first extra city is yours 80% of the time. If you declare war you will find an enemy warrior replaced by spearman or worse. Your enemy will remain weak for life and will trade another settlement for peace. I like to kill off the Japanese and Romans early.

I usually attack those expansionist scouts to prevent them from getting all the goodie huts.

I always make peace before they can take a city back.

 

[UofAzKid]

I think I am with Infanta on this one. I guess I just like bullying the other countries. Currently I am playing on Monarch. Almost scared to go higher than that at this point.

Usually I go to war as soon as I find a new civ only in the Ancient Era. I like to try to crush the expansionist because they tend to have tons of techs. After I start gaining alot of speed, they usually ask for peace and I accept only if they give me all of their techs that I don't have. And then...I declare war on them again. I'm evil. It works for me though. Usually on a good run I can take out 2-3 civs. The last game I played I took out 4 before the ancient era was over!!! After that, I try not to go into war because I use Democracy to build up infrastructure in my cities. Then I go to war again using communism in the modern ages.

 

[Sullla]

Wow - you guys are vicious! I'm glad none of you are in control of a nation...

I almost never start a war myself. It is a myth that an early war is needed to win on higher difficulty levels. It helps, but you can actually play peacefully and win even on Deity, responding only to threats made against you. I did it in last month's GOTM and so did Zachriel and Sirian, if I remember correctly. The only time I would ever start a war on my own would be if:

1) There wasn't enough land to build a core of cities in the starting location.
2) There was a long history of bad blood between my civ and another and I was trying to take them out before they started another war with me.
3) I am playing the GOTM and trying to get a high score.

But regardless, I would never use the "ROP rape" tactic to take out another civ's cities; it's highly exploitative if you ask me. The era for a war? There is no era, it's all situational. If I have to fight with longbows, I'll do it (and I was doing so in a game yesterday ). You can win a war at any point in time in the game by using your forces intelligently.

 

[ApocalypseKurtz]

I usually go after cavalry, make a peace treaty, go again after getting tanks, and again after getting moder armor. But I will go earlier if necessary to gain land/resources.

 

[Arrian]

Most of my fighting is done in the ancient era with horsemen and swordsmen... perhaps finishing things off with Samurai. Then I may pick a fight with Cavalry.

I pre-build a large army in the ancient era by building large numbers of chariots and some warriors, and then upgrading them (I shoot for 20-25 horsemen, and around 10 swordsmen). Then I lay waste to anything in reach.

-Arrian