traitors suck!

[Martok]

Very true. I did this a lot when I started playing - even if they never attacked me eventually I would feel I needed to attack them because I was broke from building troops.

As an aside, I've found it's a good tactic to build an army one province behind my borders and kill any emmisaries that head that way. That way I can have a ready made army to spring a suprise attack or counter-attack with, and I don't prompt my neighbor to start building armies that could stop me because he never sees mine grow.

I employ this strategy as well, although I usually don't bother trying to kill enemy spies (as they always eventually find out about my uber-army anyway). I'm a big believer in the "defense-in-depth" philosophy. I like to station large and powerful armies in my my most important territories (which I usually refer to as "hub" provinces), and then place modest garrison forces in my lesser "satellite" provinces. Finally, I also keep a few uber-armies in key coastal provinces as "rapid-response" forces, should the need arise where I need to dispatch reinforcents to an area quickly (as in case of an unexpected invasion). This is where having a strong navy tends to be really handy--even setting aside the trade income it brings in.

[Sensei Warrior]

I have been the victim of an arms race before. It seems to me if I pay attention close enough I can spot the difference. The AI seems to like to level the field even if it means to intro more men then you. It seems like it will post more men than you at a border if you have a higher ranked gen on the border or better quality troops to try to even out the disadvantage they have.

If I have any doubts I do what was posted above put a sizable army in a provence that is not on the border but borders a border provence. I hope that makes sense.