Question: Have you ever declared war on anyone in ETW?

[hoof]

After typing my rant in my other thread, a thought occurred to me: With the AI always declaring war, has anyone ever declared war on the AI? Ever?

I think the last time I declared war on someone was in Shogun, or maybe the original Medieval Total War. Since then, the AI always has declared war and dictated the military campaign order to me. And IMO, that doesn't seem right. I bet that the game's "declare war" button could be buggy and not work, and no one would know about it! :)

[Marcus Caelius]

yes, recently i dow'd denmark.

you want to know why? As GB, my only two trading partners in europe were UP and sweden. A french fleet has been in the UP port for 65 years without ever being kicked out - this purely through faulty AI design, and a danish army was just standing in the swedish port for 30 years or more.

This cut off all my european trade, so when i realised that denmark's only province was iceland, i sailed up, declared war, stormed reykjavik, and this eliminated the danish faction and the danish army in the swedish port, allowing trade to flow to sweden worth 2500 gold per turn.

in m2tw i dow'd the aztecs.

[Prodigal]

you want to know why? As GB, my only two trading partners in europe were UP and sweden. A french fleet has been in the UP port for 65 years without ever being kicked out - this purely through faulty AI design, and a danish army was just standing in the swedish port for 30 years or more.

In answer yes, 90% of the time its triggered by the exact same thing Marcus describes.

[Onemanshow]

There is a way to avoid war with everybody. In the first campaign round, go diplomacy, talk with every small factions and ask them to become protectorate or ask an alliance. If they dont agree, use the left bottom button with the knife. Most will accept and wont declare war on you. It works with big faction too, i make peace with Prussia, Russia & denmark with this way.

[Prodigal]

There is a way to avoid war with everybody. In the first campaign round, go diplomacy, talk with every small factions and ask them to become protectorate or ask an alliance. If they dont agree, use the left bottom button with the knife. Most will accept and wont declare war on you. It works with big faction too, i make peace with Prussia, Russia & denmark with this way.

Slight flaw in that, as they descend into the mass bun fight, your alliances break or you get dragged in too. Personally not too bothered about the mindless violence, but by the time everyone is at war with everyone else, well what's left? Picking factions off, it'd be nice to face a coalition, rather than having only the MC Hammer Travelling All Stars to go up against.

[Hooahguy]

Slight flaw in that, as they descend into the mass bun fight, your alliances break or you get dragged in too. Personally not too bothered about the mindless violence, but by the time everyone is at war with everyone else, well what's left? Picking factions off, it'd be nice to face a coalition, rather than having only the MC Hammer Travelling All Stars to go up against.

you nailed it. the more alliances you have the more wars you are dragged into. thats why i have no allies and nly trade partners. this way, if theres a war i still get the benefit of the trade and i wont be dragged into a war. i have my own wars dont drag me into yours.
as for the coalitions part, its very fun when they happen. right now theres a coalition between russia and poland against me (sweden) and its helluva fight!

[Krauser]

Very rarely. If you have an ally close to an enemy, you can sometimes force them into war with your enemy. I think most times the ally will just cancel the alliance, but not always.

As far as when to DOW over just marching in, possibly DOW could be considered more polite by the AI. That is, you may be able to secure peace with them easier later on, and the other nations might see you in a better light. I don't know if this is actually in the game but it seems logical.

[hoof]

I wasn't aware you could just "march in". I assumed that effectively declared war. I haven't done that in a long time. You never get the chance in this game because someone else will start something before you're ready. In the TW series, you never get the chance to enjoy the joy of a brutal well-prepared sneak attack because someone else will declare war on you first, and they'll be enough of a threat to force you to deal with them.

Marcus, I love your comment. It's sad that you had to do that simply to play the game in the way you wanted to.

Ok then, let me amend my statement:

Has anyone ever *started* a war against the AI? This includes regular declaration of war, or starting a war through other method (like a sneak attack).

[Xipe Totec]

I have often started a war against the Mughals by invading Bengal unprovoked even when already trading with them, as GB , UP , and France in my early games. It did feel like taking candy from a baby though, conquering India. It tended to make the mid-game far too easy as India is such a cash cow. Since the recent patches 1.2 and 1.3 I have played:

Sweden , where I couldn't resist snatching unguarded mining-rich Norway from my friendly neighbour Denmark , which feels morally acceptable because as Sweden you have a natural desire to unite Scandinavia and protect your rich homeland.

In recent games as Austria , Prussia and Russia I never needed to DOW anyone, but had to keep expanding just to stop the constant pillaging by everyone I bordered.

As France I was fairly aggressive though: I dow'ed Westphalia just to shorten my border, after conquering Flanders, Holland, Hanover and Wurtemburg in a purely reactive way. Also the Iroquois, to unite Canadian provinces with Louisiana. I never went to India except for taking Ceylon from the UP who foolishly declared war on me immediately after taking Flanders from the Spanish. What a godsend! After I had taken UP's empire and Holland itself, Spain used its army which had retreated from Flanders to start pillaging around Paris, taking out my university and trade port before I could take them down. Another godsend though in the long run as I soon took over Spain's entire American empire.

In my last game as the Republic of the Marathas , I started early snatch 'n' grab wars with Mysore and Portugal so I could throw everything north at the Mughals. After conquering all of India I only fought defensive on the northern border, but I couldn't resist conquering North America with Sikhs and native American 'Indians'. Then I just had to colonise Great Britain. I could just imagine my elephant riding general writing home from Edinburgh 'It ain't half cold, Mum!'

[Elmar Bijlsma]

You know, I think I've only the once initiated hostilities, in my very first campaign as UP versus Spain as I marched on Flanders.
Otherwise, the AI is so eager to fling one AI nation under the wheels of my nation the moment I finish of another that I never needed to find an enemy. The turns during which I have had no enemies at all can be counted on one hand. *sigh*

[Hooahguy]

yup. while not often, as im trying to be as peaceful as possible, i attacked Denmark without provocation.