Bribery:how to make it difficult for the damn ai?

[oz_wwjd]

I would have got a good general out if possible,but seeing I didn't have any boats yet,and the egyptians had one near Crete that option was out,said general had about 7 loyalty and was in command of the army there,or some of it at least,as I built enough urban Militia and archers,to give me a fighting chance if I was invaded, I didn't bargain on having to fight my own troops.Said general also had the virtue that raises the amount needed to bribe him by 50%,and I do need to hold on to them,as they usually are my main ship-producing centres,while I focus on having enough troops to beat back everyone else that wants a piece of me..

[Gray Beard]

Oz,

Don't worry about building an army in those provinces right off the bat.

Turn down the tax level to very low. Build Watch tower and the other basic building then a 20% agriculture improvement on Rhodes and Cypress and start with a Motte and Baily and then the 1000 florin fort and a shipyard on Crete. You have to be able to build ships and this is the fastest way.

These make the population and governor happier and so harder to bribe.

[oz_wwjd]

That's what i did do at first,but the AI would keep taking the provinces before I got that far via bribery,so I figured if I built an army on the side,at least I'd have a chance of keeping them long enough to tech them up to ship-building.

[Heidrek]

Ok, so you have a general with 7 loyalty who is a Man of Principle (+50% to bribe cost). He's commanding an army of UM and Archers?

What is the size and make up of the army he's commanding? What is his Command stat (I think this affects bribe cost of the general's unit)? Finally - are all of the units in the province in one single stack? Putting them all in one stack makes it more expensive for the enemy to bribe the stack as they have to "buy" all the units in the stack.

If you can't stop the enemy bribing his stack because the AI has money coming out his ears, split the stack up into individual units so only one can be bribed at a time per diplomat and MOVE ALL UNITS OUT OF YOUR GARRISON.

If the garrison unit gets bribed, you'll lose the province, so the easiest way to avoid this is to have no units in the castle.

Let me know how this works for you. Unless he brings in an army of diplomats so he can bribe multiple untis a turn, you should be able to keep the province safe from being bought off you.

Side issue: If money is tight, don't bother with any more archers, they are expensive to build and upkeep. Focus on more UM. These are cheap and nasty with 2 AP attack and 4 Charge so can pack a bit of offensive punch.

If the AI is styupid enough to try and bribe your units 1 at a time, your other forces will slaughter the turn coat easily.

[macsen rufus]

If you have them available at this stage of the game, it might be worth leaving an assassin on duty nearby, you might not avoid the first bribery attempt, but you should be able to get some revenge

[Brandy Blue]

Your concern is that the AI bribes troops on islands, right? Well, destroy the ports on the islands. Then his emmisaries cannot land. Tech up your islands to contribute to the economy, rather than produce soldiers, and you will not need island ports. You will need basic troop producing facilities if you want to make the garrisons stronger, but that's all. You also get a bit of money for dismantling those unnecessary ports. Later, when you figure the AI has had time to use up its excess cash, you can rebuild the ports if you want to use the islands to make troops, agents, or ships. It would be a nice touch to get rid of those AI agents some day, using assassins trained on your islands.

[oz_wwjd]

Yes,but I need said island ports to tech up for ship-building,while my other provinces concentrate on troop-building so the AI can't land troops on my islands,deleting the ports would just slow the process.