When someone declares war, don't they usually attack?

UWHabs

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So, what's the most pathetic invasion force you've had to fight off from a neighbour. Not counting when playing on earth as the French, and the Chinese random declare on you. I mean, borders touching, war declaration by a neighbour after going into WHEOOHN, how pathetic did they take you for?

My current game, I'm trying to make the jump to emperor with Darius. Made my initial immortal rush of Izzy (I had about 10-12 immortals, ready in 2 batches. She figured 3 archers between her 2 cities would be enough. I now have stonehenge and a religious holy city), then rexed. Now, i have Justinian next to me who just went into WHEOOHN. He's only cautious with me, I'm his most annoying neighbour, so obviously, I know he'll declare war on me. I start building and whipping some catapults, macemen, and whatever to fight him off. Right on sched, a few turns later, he declares war and walks in with his invasion force. That might SoD I had to fend off? 3 horse archers.

Okay, that's just the guys he has on his border. I see a few catapults and axemen wandering around in his territory. But did he send anyone else in? Nope. Just the 3 horse archers. I still bribe Mansa Musa into war, and in a couple turns when I get engineering, will start my counter-assault. I even have my espionage ramped up against him, so I can see almost all of his cities, and I can't see more than 2-3 guys per city. Sure, he's used a couple spies to detroy a pasture and a plantation, but I expected something from him.

So, was this the most pathetic invasion force someone came at you with? Had anyone else in your games decide to declare war on you for pretty much no reason at all?
 
I was playing a game on pangaea where everyone was the same religion EXCEPT Charlemagne. He just finished a war against the Mayans and I'd been pissing him off getting negatives for close borders, not trading, religion, not helping in war etc etc. Eventually he declares on me and I only say 1 catapult and 1 crossbowman, I got everyone else on the map to go to war on him and very shortly he was someone elses vassal.
 
They do that quite often.

Announce war for no particular reason:

Send just a few guys, who forget what they were sent for (Shaka once sent 1 impi, maybe he already had a war going?)

And conversely, send everybody like my civ's existence mortally offends them.

March across the continent (past easier targets)to settle an old score that only they know exists.

Continue attacking a certain city long past the point of sanity (perhaps 'cause it feels so good when it stops?)
 
The most logical answer to that would be that the AI was bribed into war against you. It's the same way as when you are being asked to join a war and you agree to it, but as a fake one.
 
This happens all the time, its one of the reasons the AI is so poor at this game. I especially love it when an AI on the other side of the world DoWs. 20 some turns later, some puny stack with a Cat and 2 Swords hobbles in.
 
In a archipelago game, Izzy declared on me and attacked with a single chariot. From a galley. At a hilled, walled city with CG longbows.

Granted, the city was founded because it was a natural choke point for any sort of naval invasion, once I noticed the good Christian girl went into "We have enough..." with me as her worst enemy and she gave me enough time to pump out a settler, walls and defenders, but it was still comical.

I never finished that game, I should have saved it - that city was perfect a meat grinder for Isabella. It was a throwaway city in any other scenario, but with the layout, the city was impossible to pass without astronomy which Bella would not get for sometime in that game. With engineering coming online, a garrisoned castle and fleet of frigates would make passing that city literally impossible - a perfect redoubt beyond which my warrior-defended GLH city lay. :D
 
Yeah that happens on occasion. Makes up for the times when an AI sends wave after wave of SoD's, or you get an intercontinental invasion that captures a coastal city.
 
Any DOW right when the AI gets Astronomy - I've seen it before where someone on another continent will send a galleon nearby, and there's nothing on it, or at least, nothing unloads. What's the point of that. It should be in the code that AI's can't DOW from another continent until they have at least 5 galleons built.
 
1 Chariot.

I killed the rest of Charlemagne's forces inside his borders. ;)
 
Often when this happens its because the declaring AI was bribed into the war and has no intention of actually attacking you besides opportunistically. Its a win win situation for them especially if you are getting dogpiled and they know there is no immediate threat. They get a free tech about 50 gold pillaging your fishing boats and 5 gold for peace all without losing a unit.
 
Often when this happens its because the declaring AI was bribed into the war and has no intention of actually attacking you besides opportunistically. Its a win win situation for them especially if you are getting dogpiled and they know there is no immediate threat. They get a free tech about 50 gold pillaging your fishing boats and 5 gold for peace all without losing a unit.
Which is something Human players do often as well, at least I do. I will join a fake war, for the diplo and potential of 100 gold for peace later without even making the slightest "war" move.
 
ghandi declares war, sends no units, i take one marginal city, he caps.
 
Any DOW right when the AI gets Astronomy - I've seen it before where someone on another continent will send a galleon nearby, and there's nothing on it, or at least, nothing unloads. What's the point of that. It should be in the code that AI's can't DOW from another continent until they have at least 5 galleons built.

Or for that matter, demanding tribute from another continent without having Astronomy.
 
Sometimes I think the AI is trying to copy my trick of declaring and whacking the enemy offensive stack before going on offense.
 
I've had most of these situations happen as well-- weak attack force, or having an AI without Astronomy declare war from another continent. (Maybe they think they still have those unsinkable Galleys from Civ2?) I don't play Inland Sea any more without world wrap to prevent the "declare war from across the world" problem, because it happened so often. And so on.

But has anyone had the pleasure of spotting a SoD before it gets to a weak city? It's happened to me a couple times. Once Ragnar, on some kind of snaky continents map, marched a decent stack through literally three other AIs to get to a canal city. I had a Scout poking around my neighbor (Brennus?), eying him up for an invasion force, when I saw a bunch of Cats and Phants belonging to Ragnar headed my way. With about 8-10 turns to whip up a good defense force (Pikes and Crossbows), Ragnar's expedition came to a sticky end. Very satisfying.
 
I've had most of these situations happen as well-- weak attack force, or having an AI without Astronomy declare war from another continent. (Maybe they think they still have those unsinkable Galleys from Civ2?) I don't play Inland Sea any more without world wrap to prevent the "declare war from across the world" problem, because it happened so often. And so on.

But has anyone had the pleasure of spotting a SoD before it gets to a weak city? It's happened to me a couple times. Once Ragnar, on some kind of snaky continents map, marched a decent stack through literally three other AIs to get to a canal city. I had a Scout poking around my neighbor (Brennus?), eying him up for an invasion force, when I saw a bunch of Cats and Phants belonging to Ragnar headed my way. With about 8-10 turns to whip up a good defense force (Pikes and Crossbows), Ragnar's expedition came to a sticky end. Very satisfying.

I heavily scout my land mass for exactly that reason. Obsolete units that aren't needed as MPs go scouting, fanning out in likely avenues of approach, prancing around with eyes wide open, taking notes.
 
I'm ahead about a zillion to one vs the AI civs on the neighboring continent (no coastal tiles connecting, so we'll have to wait for Astronomy to get trade or to send troops/settlers across).

I'm Confucian and about 10 turns after I meet Buddhist Saladin, he declares war on me. He doesn't even have Compass, so I don't know what he thinks he's going to do to me with the DoW.
 
I've had most of these situations happen as well-- weak attack force, or having an AI without Astronomy declare war from another continent. (Maybe they think they still have those unsinkable Galleys from Civ2?) I don't play Inland Sea any more without world wrap to prevent the "declare war from across the world" problem, because it happened so often. And so on.

But has anyone had the pleasure of spotting a SoD before it gets to a weak city? It's happened to me a couple times. Once Ragnar, on some kind of snaky continents map, marched a decent stack through literally three other AIs to get to a canal city. I had a Scout poking around my neighbor (Brennus?), eying him up for an invasion force, when I saw a bunch of Cats and Phants belonging to Ragnar headed my way. With about 8-10 turns to whip up a good defense force (Pikes and Crossbows), Ragnar's expedition came to a sticky end. Very satisfying.

I had this in my last game except it was a naval stack. I'd conquered half the world early early [as pericles], but since the entire continent was mine, I had all my troops massed in one coastal city ready to expand. Toku was trying to beat me to the punch, it was after astronomy but before rails, so I knew moving my troops would have still been too late. Fortunately for me, I'd been raiding the other continent's coast with privateers which were now relatively well promoted and itching for meaningful battle. Toku didn't have chemistry, and I spot the stack of galleons and caravels [as stack protectors????] and start throwing my privateers at them. For some reason, unpromoted caravels were the first targets in the stack before the str 4 galleons, but it didn't matter. I always left my privateers in a formation of a line hedging them away from my coast, increasing the length of their journey and consequently their pain. My privateers were taxed to exaustion, but I got most of them up to combat IV. Toku got 2 galleons and one caravel back to port, and should he have ever gotten to within 4 squares of my coast, I had a couple frigates and Ships of the Line to finish him off. It was the first time I'd seen a naval battle truly decide a war, even if the war was only under the 'skull and crossbones' banner.
 
@ SlyGuy

I believe there is a provision in naval combat to have unloaded naval vessels defend before loaded naval vessels.
 
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