Which religion to use

[johncross21]

In recent games I have put off religion until mid game then beelined "Divine Right" to get islam

I then spread that religion to get happiness points but I don't adopt organised religion

However I have been forced to spread another religion in the past to prevent the AI wining a diplomatic victory using the Apostolic palace

my main question is what are the disadvantages of spreading some elses religion if they are hostile. how does the increase in happiness you get compare to the penallties of fighting brothers and sisters in faith and do you end up providing income to other nations

a linked question -is how much religion for warmongering. Other than temples when necessary I avoid spending too much resource. is that the best strategy for conquest/dominaton

 

[Silence101]

However I have been forced to spread another religion in the past to prevent the AI wining a diplomatic victory using the Apostolic palace

I curious how many Civ's you had in the game. You were forced to spread another religion to prevent the AI from winning a diplomatic victory? In order for that to even be an option, every Civ has to have at least one city with the AP religion. If that was the case, then I assume you were spreading the religion to your own cities to give yourself more votes?

I would think in most cases, whether you hold the holy city or not, if you have a specific religion in most of your cities, you would probably want to adopt that religion as your state religion - most of the religious civics only apply when you have a state religion only in cities where your state religion is present. So if you're spreading the AP religion to your own cities and adopting it as your state religion (which also gives you more votes), it should put you on better diplomatic terms with other Civ's who have that state religion. Off the top of my head, the only reason I could argue not adopting a prevelent state religion is to prevent diplomatic relations from taking a hit with Civ's who don't have that state religion. (That's assuming you don't have any holy cities under your control.)

I don't know is that there is a real disadvantage of actively spreading any religion other than the time you spend building missionaries could likely be better spent building other things... post BTS anyway. Pre BTS, the Civ who controls the Holy City can see every city where that religion is present. But, since you're referencing the AP, we'll assume you mean post BTS.
EDIT: I forgot - this may be obvious, but if you're spreading a religion and another Civ controls the holy city for that religion, you could be making them money if they have the holy shrine built in that city. That could be a disadvantage to spreading it.

Religion for warmongering is used in conjunction with religious civics... again, which usually only apply in cities where your state religion is present. Building temples or other religious buildings have nothing to do with it - but I'm not completely sure that I'm understanding your question.

 

[Airefuego]

The only other disadvantage of spreading "someone else's" religion is that they get one gold per city with that religion, if they have the Shrine.

 

[Silence101]

The only other disadvantage of spreading "someone else's" religion is that they get one gold per city with that religion, if they have the Shrine.

I covered that in my edit - maybe you read it before I edited.

 

[DaveMcW]

The only other disadvantage of spreading "someone else's" religion is that they get one gold per city with that religion, if they have the Shrine.

This is an advantage, since you will have good relations and be able to trade for that gold.

 

[johncross21]

I curious how many Civ's you had in the game. You were forced to spread another religion to prevent the AI from winning a diplomatic victory? In order for that to even be an option, every Civ has to have at least one city with the AP religion. If that was the case, then I assume you were spreading the religion to your own cities to give yourself more votes?

yes indeedy. I was spreading hinduism to my own cities to deprive shaka of a diplo victory

 

[Silence101]

This is an advantage, since you will have good relations and be able to trade for that gold.

I guess that's a "glass half full" way to look at it. Nice...

yes indeedy. I was spreading hinduism to my own cities to deprive shaka of a diplo victory

So, was it just you and Shaka in the game, or was there any other Civ's?

 

[johncross21]

me, shaka, our vassals and willhiem but he was titchy

if youre interested there's a thread by jake which gives a 1775 posting which I sort of adopted

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=247300

 

[Silence101]

Oh, I think I'm beginning to get a clear picture of what you were doing. I don't think I've ever been in that situation in a real game - actively spreading the religion to you and your vassals sounds like it was probably a smart move.

Edit: It sounds like the AI did a decent job setting itself up for a diplomatic victory - you could also take your army and raze the AP city.