Why is Hammurabi aggressive?

[henyo10]

He isn't that aggressive in the game and by far he is the most peaceful aggressive leader, which is paradoxical.

 

[The_Big_Con]

Well, hammurabi's code does mandate the death penalty for most offenses. That's kind of aggressive.

 

[justininian II]

I've noticed that
He only made three tanks when we got stuck together on the same tiny continent (tilted axis, modern start, standard map. it can do things to you...

 

[djvandrake]

Hammy is one of the more aggressive leaders in terms of palcing cities right next to you and trying to box you into a corner. I've had him do that to me several times, and it always escalates into war.

 

[Gumbolt]

In terms of Ai i dont want to start next to Hammy is pretty high up there. The bowmen cause serious damage to axemen rushes. Although HA/chariots can still work. He can also expand cheaply. If he gets land he will become powerful. Although this can also be his downfall.

 

[Molybdeus]

I wouldn't exactly call him peaceful in real life. He was a fair conqueror, but still a conqueror.

 

[Agent327]

Hammurabi ascended to the throne as the king of a minor kingdom in the midst of a complex geopolitical situation. The powerful kingdom of Eshnunna controlled the upper Tigris River while Larsa controlled the river delta. To the east lay the kingdom of Elam. To the north, the Shamshi-Adad I was undertaking expansionistic wars,[5] although his untimely death would fragment his newly conquered Semitic empire.[6] The first few decades of Hammurabi's reign were relatively peaceful. Hammurabi used his power to undertake a series of public works, including heightening the city walls for defensive purposes, and expanding the temples.[7] In ca. 1766 BC, the powerful kingdom of Elam, which straddled important trade routes across the Zagros Mountains, invaded the Mesopotamian plain.[8] With allies among the plain states, Elam attacked and destroyed the empire of Eshnunna, destroying a number of cities and imposing its rule on portions of the plain for the first time.[9] In order to consolidate its position, Elam tried to start a war between Hammurabi's Babylonian kingdom and the kingdom of Larsa.[10] Hammurabi and the king of Larsa made an alliance when they discovered this duplicity and were able to crush the Elamites, although Larsa did not contribute greatly to the military effort.[10] Angered by Larsa's failure to come to his aid, Hammurabi turned on that southern power, thus gaining control of the entirety of the lower Mesopotamian plain by ca. 1763 BC.[11]
As Hammurabi was assisted during the war in the south by his allies from the north, the absence of soldiers in the north led to unrest.[11] Continuing his expansion, Hammurabi turned his attention northward, quelling the unrest and soon after crushing Eshnunna.[12] Next the Babylonian armies conquered the remaining northern states, including Babylon's former ally Mari, although it is possible that the 'conquest' of Mari was a surrender without any actual conflict.[13][14][15] In just a few years, Hammurabi had succeeded in uniting all of Mesopotamia under his rule.[15] Of the major city-states in the region, only Aleppo and Qatna to the west in Syria maintained their independence.[15] However, one stele of Hammurabi has been found as far north as Diyarbekir, where he claims the title "King of the Amorites".[16]


The attached maplink shows Babylon at the beginning and the end of his reign:


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Hammurabi's_Babylonia_1.svg

 

[Sic Transit Zeb]

didn't he fight the Romans forever too?

 

[Bonescorpion]

I heard he faced off against Chuck Norris too.

 

[Continental Op]

In my games Ham has always used the strategy of peaceful allying with his neigbours. He tries to get Apostolic Palace if he can, and if his neigbours are waging war with each other, he tries to force piece. He's a real scrooge, never accepting a trade that is worse for him or even as good for both you and him, no matter how friendly he is with you. As soon as he can, he seeks a defensive pact with you and everyone else. When you compete him in space race, he starts using espionage against you very aggressively, destroying your spaceship production peace after peace. That is very annoying, but I've never seen him declare on anyone (well, perhaps Monty excluded). He is dangerous though, because he has won the game by Space Race several times. Fomenting war doesn't work with him - if you can set other civs at their throats, Ham tries to be the peacemaker, and even if he can't, you can't make anyone to attack against him or him to attack anyone else.

 

[Agent327]

didn't he fight the Romans forever too?

No, that's the little village in Gaul where Asterix lives.

 

[Molybdeus]

He has probably the worst designed AI in the game. (Worst as in bizarrely unsuited to his traits and uniques, not worst as in worst performing AI, which is probably Tukogawa.) He is programmed to build wonders like he were Industrious, and doesn't go to war easily to take advantage of his traits. I wish they would either swap his traits with Bismarck to make him Industrious (which would suit his uniques, and Babylon makes historical sense as a wonder-spam city) or change his AI to be more aggressive and expansionist.

 

[Iranon]

Actually, I find AIs like Hammurabi and DeGaulle (IND but doesn't like wonders...) refreshing. No AI is even close to optimal... it's flavour over personality anyway, and those two aren't worse than average.

I think the designers erred too far in the other direction: For example, I agree with Frederick's traits but not his personality. PHI/ORG with high aggression/attack courage would have been interesting.