I am tired of fighting everyone by 1250

[Arkatreides]

It is 1250 and I am at war with everyone ... again. This is the fifth game so far where half way through (having started in Early) the enemies all start to gang up on me. I haven't attacked anyone apart from whoever attacked me first, but someone as soon as I start taking a few provinces, one by one my allies will sneak attack me. And, of course, obtaining a cease fire is completely impossible as well. Suddendly my huge trade empire goes down the drain and within 10 years I am in the red. My only option is to attack everyone and everything but my aim is the GA and not total domination.

I find this rather frustrating, especially because I constantly push back any attack of my enemies and they loose more than they gain, which in essence will mean than in 20 years or so they will be totally bankrupt and a complete push-over. So by 1300 the game will be over really. This is a shame as I have yet to see a game last all the way from 1087 to 1453. I CAN deal with rebellions but this just kills the game.

Maybe I am doing something wrong, but I am very passive and never attack first. If anyone has any ideas on what I might be doing wrong, I would greatly appreciate it.

[solypsist]

depends on what sort of game you've got, is it a Glorious Achievement game? if it is, remember that the other factions have their own goals, some of which you might be getting in their way.

[Arkatreides]

See, I would understand if one or two nations declared war against me, but it seems that there is a point of no return where EVERY nation goes against me and I am unable to get any ceasefire at all. And yes I am playing GA games.

[RectalDamage]

I have the same problems.

I believe that you can continue to trade with non-factional provinces. If you send in a bunch of spies, you can get revolts without pissing anybody off. This works extremely well on islands.

Another method for maximizing trade, is to eliminate an enemy, then abandon his provinces. When/if the faction respawns, I think it comes back without a diplomatic stance.

I've been able to keep my current trade flowing to 1350. I now have 1/2 a million in the bank.

[Enigma]

It is 1203 and I am doing a GA Campaign as the English. I have basically conquered all of France, Spain, I have Morocco and Tunisia, (Spanish have the rest of N Africa), Scicily, Naples and Palestine. I am at war with the Byzantines, Scicilians, Egyptians, and Spanish. Nobody is really attacking me, so I plan on staying put and just get spies, emissaries, cardinals into all my provinces and all provinces in the game. I have determined that I am just going to move through the next 50 turns or so and see what happens. My game we reaching the critical point where it was kind of getting boring when my civil war popped up. Unfortunately I easily bribed the rebels to join me and almost won a bloodless civil war. I think the point is that the game is not over until its over.

[Arkatreides]

See, I would understand if one or two nations declared war against me, but it seems that there is a point of no return where EVERY nation goes against me and I am unable to get any ceasefire at all. And yes I am playing GA games.

[Proconsul]

Well, maybe they think: That guy seems powerful, mybe he wants to conquer all of europe? Lets join our forces to defeat him!

What's what I would think, were I one of those AI players. And I wouldn't care whether you acquired your empire solely by counter-attacking!

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Confuzius says: "Do not worry that people don't know you: worry that you don't know them!"

[hawk]

Quote Originally posted by Arkatreides:


This is a shame as I have yet to see a game last all the way from 1087 to 1453.

.[/QUOTE]


Your complaining about it not lasting till the end, well in one of my previous games i managed to last all the way till the end and having lost the game...what i would like to know is there a way to switch of the time limit in the game?...because i feel it would be nice to just play the game at your own pace...of course it makes sence to have the time limit...but for hell's sake each turn is only counted as a year and not like in shogun total war in which it was broken down into seasons.

[hiver77]

"Well, maybe they think: That guy seems powerful, mybe he wants to conquer all of europe? Lets join our forces to defeat him!
What's what I would think, were I one of those AI players. And I wouldn't care whether you acquired your empire solely by counter-attacking!"

Well, OK. But what if my I have the biggest army in the world and a bordering AI only has 2-3 provinces. Attacking me means suicide. He did anyway. What kind of AI logic is that?

It just seems though that there's some sort of "trigger event" in the AI. You could have peace for decades then suddenly the AI would just flip out and a world war breaks out.

Btw, does the Egyptian EVER declare war with the Almo (or vice versa)?

[hawk]

Quote Originally posted by hiver77:

Btw, does the Egyptian EVER declare war with the Almo (or vice versa)?

[/QUOTE]


Yes they do. In my first game i was playing with the almo's and also i had a nice alliance with them for about 100 years or so, then as i was concentrating on taking over most parts of europe, the egyptian gitts broke off the alliance and took over one of my lands, however it was easily repelled the next thing the egyptians start a jihad agaist me...what a cheek i thought...anyhoo...i thought this would be no problem as i had a fairly nice large army, but i was in for a shock, it look as if the egyptians decided to send every single unit they had against my lands, they had at least 4 times the amount of units than i had, somewhere in the region of about 15000 men altogether marching towards me, and slowly they were taking my lands one by one and i had no time for building an army to counter that kind of size of an army...in a matter of 20 years they had managed to conquer 60% of my lands...i just could not believe what i was seeing...i was being polverized...the funny thing was that i was playing on easy mode...never again will trust anyone and also leave most of my lands without a decent sizable garrison.

[Jon von]

Quote Originally posted by Proconsul:
Well, maybe they think: That guy seems powerful, mybe he wants to conquer all of europe? Lets join our forces to defeat him!

I'm playing with the Byzantines and it's 1250 circa (Started in early period). I got all the homeland plus Hungary and part of North Africa.
Almohads got all the Western Europe. French, Spanish and English have been conquered. Their economic and military power is unequalled. They are going to conquer all the provinces... It would be logic that the remaining Christian forces would unite and try do stop the Muslim faction.

BUT:

- Germans and Polish still make war against themselves, while Almohads have thousand of men reay to conquer all their provinces..

- Hungarians are Almohads allies, so I can't try to attack Almohads 'cause Hungarian would immediately attack me.

- Papacy don't make and don't say a thing to try to stop the Muslims.

Is this realistic? There is a 9000 men Muslim army in Genoa and Papacy don't say a thing?

It seems AI has no long-view (is this the right word? Anyway you would understand what I mean) intelligence and I've never seen some PC players unite against a more dangerous PC player.. But when a faction becomes powerful the other players would try to counter-balance the situation through an alliance. If this doesn't happen, usually after 100-200 years of playing the games becomes boring, cause you have to fight alone against the mos powerful faction.
Bye, and sorry for my terrible English

[/QUOTE]

[hiver77]

"On the question of Almo ever declaring war on Egypt":
Quote Originally posted by hawk:

Yes they do. In my first game i was playing with the almo's and also i had a nice alliance with them for about 100 years or so, then as i was concentrating on taking over most parts of europe, the egyptian gitts broke off the alliance and took over one of my lands, however it was easily repelled the next thing the egyptians start a jihad agaist me...[/QUOTE]

I meant when the almos and egypts are both AI. It seems in my games they're always bed-buddy (not the case with Turk and Egypt).

For human player, it doesnt matter what faction you are; you could be playing the Pope and have Italy and Sicily both sneak-attack you.

[sidhe]

I never get attacked by more than one or two enemies, but then again I am never the biggest military threat either. The only thing I ever get is "most happy people" sometimes.

Also, I have seen the AI gang up on the biggest guy. In my present game the Egyptians had half the world and seemed unstoppable, but the Almohads and Novgorods (the second and third most powerful countries)got together and destroyed Egypt in less than a decade.

[Alrowan]

maybe if you took it a little slower. I find that playing slowly helps a lot. Let your enemies grow bigger than you, then you can use your allies to help you take them out.

[Warmaker]

Let your enemies grow bigger and more powerful than you? Sounds like a recipe for disaster in the long run.

Anyways, I've complained in another post about the AI breaking all alliances and destroying trade in a cheesey attempt to defeat you.

It's as irritating as the factional respawns with top of the line units in large numbers.

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There's no such thing as overkill, just ensured victory!

[s&d&r&r]

May seem a bit off subject but I have noticed that CIV III is just the same. The makers claim you can win by non violent means but the programming (or other Civs i.e. future genocide instigators) seem hell bent on attacking you regardless of how "nice" you want to be towards them. There is always some aspect of advancement creating an atmosphere provocation. MTW is a war game, why else the 3D battle mode? but the returns for your efforts in diplomacy still leave a lot to be desired.

[insolent1]

I'm playing as the french at expert on GA mode & I'm at war with 7 factions. Its 1328 & i have a bankroll of 1,250,000 & have nearly finished the tech tree only serpentine left. I have never attacked anyone(apart from english at very start) & have never broken an alliance yet its almost impossible to get ceasefires. The Mediterrian used to be full of ships now theres only 2 byzantine ships left(soon to be gone) & my 10 or so fleets. I was excommunicated for 40 years & used that time to wipe out the scilian, novorgrond, byzantine, almohad & hungarian navies. They all started attacking my ships. Its got 2 the point where they just mass large armies on my borders & attack every so often but they always retreat & I only have 1 stack in each province. The spainish are the only small threat to me & they only have 4 provinces verus my bankroll. At one stage in teh game about 1280 I had 3 crusades & 2 jihads sitting on my borders(to scarred to attack). I haven't had a battle since the early 1200's. I have no rebellions apart from teh ones I create to give my king the occassional mercy vice. I'm just bored & a bit disappointed as there is not much left to do apart from kill the pope every few years with my level 7 inquisitor. I think I will have to stop playing GA mode as all GA goals are stupid & extremely easy apart from the early crusades & it gets a bit pointless towards the end.
My game ended in early 1200's once the money started rolling in (35k a year profit)

[solypsist]

well the game is called Total War, but it would be nice to finish up a campaign without having the inevitable world war and/or big-ass faction initiates war with you and never stops ever sort of thing happen.

[Warmaker]

Well, I've been trying another Early campaign as the Byzantines and right now it's the 1360's. The situation is a bit interesting from last games. I'm the 3rd most powerful faction with the Elmoheads and Egyptians being the dominant powers and are beating each other silly. Right now, other than a very brief war with the Egyptians, I haven't had a major conflict in 100+ years. This is due to several things I believe:
- I'm not the "Top Dog"
- Number of troops at the borders are very respectable, averaging 1000 men.
-- I also have the highest tech/quality. Most of my Byz.Inf. are fully upgradded (negating that poor morale), Arbalesters kill at a distance and Arquebusiers are making their entries. This is key since the Elmoheads and Egyptians are reduced to using lower tier troops like AUM's. Seeing Saracen Infantry in an opposing army would usually be one of their few "Elite" units. Lots of spearmen/peasantry/U.Militias/Murabitin inf., etc.
- Also, I've used my agents to sow seeds of discontent far behind the opposing sides' lines. Most of their fighting is in Northern Europe and NW Africa. I send Orothodox Bishops, Spies, etc. to Ireland, France, the Arabia, Palestine, etc., anywhere far, far away. With luck, revolts start or force them to keep more troops tied back. With so many revolts and major wars with each other, it has forced both the EHeads & Egyptians to use lower-tiered troops.
- Another key thing for me was to be VERY careful with choosing alliances, making sure new alliances don't conflict with older ones.
- I send more agents to cause more havoc on the side that's "winning" to maintain some sort of Balance of Power between the 2 top factions. NEITHER one of them must gain the upper hand too long.
- Maintaining at the very least neutrality was great. It allowed my fleets to establish trade all across the Mediterranean.
- Maintaining a strong naval presence was absolutely key. In the brief war with the Egyptians they inflicted some good casualties to my navy but I had more and better ships. In the end, fighting me and the Elmohead ships was too much. Keep in mind I was never allied with the EHeads.

In essence, most of the Western World is in ruin and decay. Armies rampage back and forth, the dead are in huge numbers. The Black Death had just recently left its horrendous mark. Generals are leaving to make their own petty kingdoms. The Papacy is on the verge of falling and the Danes are miraculously holding on in Northern Europe fighting both EHead and Egyptian armies.

But, with some witty politics, warfare, and backstabbing, Byzantine lands are peaceful, wealthy, well developed, and protected by good, strong armies.

[Mr Durian]

Quote Originally posted by Warmaker:
Well, I've been trying another Early campaign as the Byzantines and right now it's the 1360's. The situation is a bit interesting from last games. I'm the 3rd most powerful faction with the Elmoheads and Egyptians being the dominant powers and are beating each other silly. Right now, other than a very brief war with the Egyptians, I haven't had a major conflict in 100+ years. This is due to several things I believe:
- I'm not the "Top Dog"
- Number of troops at the borders are very respectable, averaging 1000 men.
-- I also have the highest tech/quality. Most of my Byz.Inf. are fully upgradded (negating that poor morale), Arbalesters kill at a distance and Arquebusiers are making their entries. This is key since the Elmoheads and Egyptians are reduced to using lower tier troops like AUM's. Seeing Saracen Infantry in an opposing army would usually be one of their few "Elite" units. Lots of spearmen/peasantry/U.Militias/Murabitin inf., etc.
- Also, I've used my agents to sow seeds of discontent far behind the opposing sides' lines. Most of their fighting is in Northern Europe and NW Africa. I send Orothodox Bishops, Spies, etc. to Ireland, France, the Arabia, Palestine, etc., anywhere far, far away. With luck, revolts start or force them to keep more troops tied back. With so many revolts and major wars with each other, it has forced both the EHeads & Egyptians to use lower-tiered troops.
- Another key thing for me was to be VERY careful with choosing alliances, making sure new alliances don't conflict with older ones.
- I send more agents to cause more havoc on the side that's "winning" to maintain some sort of Balance of Power between the 2 top factions. NEITHER one of them must gain the upper hand too long.
- Maintaining at the very least neutrality was great. It allowed my fleets to establish trade all across the Mediterranean.
- Maintaining a strong naval presence was absolutely key. In the brief war with the Egyptians they inflicted some good casualties to my navy but I had more and better ships. In the end, fighting me and the Elmohead ships was too much. Keep in mind I was never allied with the EHeads.

In essence, most of the Western World is in ruin and decay. Armies rampage back and forth, the dead are in huge numbers. The Black Death had just recently left its horrendous mark. Generals are leaving to make their own petty kingdoms. The Papacy is on the verge of falling and the Danes are miraculously holding on in Northern Europe fighting both EHead and Egyptian armies.

But, with some witty politics, warfare, and backstabbing, Byzantine lands are peaceful, wealthy, well developed, and protected by good, strong armies.[/QUOTE]


Hey you're just like me. I'm playing the BYzatines and I seem to be the only stable empire. Most of the western factions are decaying and only France and ELmo are the strongest but they are having huge troubles with rebellions popping out everywhere due to my spies. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif