Diplomatic issues

from Stardock Forums
Hi Guys,

I am new to this forum, and have just finished my 3rd game. :D It was on normal difficulty, large map, and won through technology. From my limited experience, it seems when AI manages to become the most powerful race, it behaves in a really quite warmongering manner (the Torians & Altarians both experienced this same phenomenon). It frequently attacks and eliminates the weakest major race, and the minor races, often soon after they appear. AI also breaks peace treaties with great regularity (don't they get penalties for doing that, or any nasty war-exhaustion factors?). >:(

My question is, having developed into a top class power with a great economy, but not much of a fleet, how do I stop/slow down this rampage? I have tried giving big financial assistance, war-related techs, and a small fleet of dreadnoughts to the victims, but nothing helped, and they all died a terrible death. Are there any diplomatic moves I could try, that can effectively maintain peace or a reasonable balance of power?

In my game, the Torians just got way too big as a result of all these conquests (and my inability to help those poor folks). At the end, this forced me into building a substantial fleet, and much tough campaigning against the Torians... which can only be poor strategy. :notsure:

Thanks. Btw, anyone thought about how to build a fleet, the mix of ships... so on?

Roy

~SDC~
2,546 views 12 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
Welcome to the forum, Roy.

Yes, the weakest race usually finds itself buried under a flurry of war declarations. The Galciv universe is a rather brutal one. Unless you get a bunch of good alignment AIs who are trading with each other.

There are currently no penalties for breaking treaties. We are currently discussing this issue in the Galactic Forum.

It is not easier to support a weaker race if it is too disparate in power compared to its aggressor. What I could suggest is to bribe a number of races to attack simultaneously.

A reasonably strong fleet is always a good idea even if you are planning to play a peaceful game. War can come upon you in a most unexpected way.

Capital ships should form the core of your fleet. I practice a mobile defense - no defenders orbiting my planets.I usually have a mix of capital ships and AMMs, no slow defensive ships for me. By the mid, late game, I would use the obsolete starfighters and corvettes as raiders or as markers for enemy starbases.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
buy out the stronger AI's military bases (those sitting on military resources) this is usually the reason why the smaller empires get hammered militarily. You can even give some of them to the weaker AI to bolster them if the starbase is far enough from the aggressor that they probably wont attack it.

~SDC~
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
Frigates are invariably the mainstay of my fleet. Gosh I love Frigates. Combine with War Party, Grav Accelerators, Eyes of the Universe, and some stat-boosting, and you dominate. I take down Battleships very regularly. 2 games ago I took out a Dreadnaught. Big reason I like them, though, is they take down Battleaxes in orbit and unenhanced Starbases early in the game. Once you've cleaned out an AI of all his starships, he usually sues for peace on pretty good terms. That usually puts the AI in their place.
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
If you want to prevent a race to bully too many people, destabilize them (I mean put the slider to the max, which will cost a lot of money). It may be cheaper to build a fleet and give strategically positionned ships to those you want to help.
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
The easiest way for me to keep peace was paying the race that declared the war to stop it right after they declared it. That not only helps you to let your Trade-Routes alive, no, in one game the prior foes even became friends and it ended in a big alliance!
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
In previous versions of the AI, an undefended system drew invaders like magnets. Therefore two principles: 1) ALWAYS keep at least a Defender in orbit; 2) lay a trap by taking ships out of orbit of some world but scattering the approaches with AMMs or similar and vaporizing the Transports that come out of the woodwork to invade it.

The AI in the later GalCiv is much better about escorting its Transports, but a human can still outmaneuver it.


~SDC~
Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
I tend to keep Transports in orbit a lot. Those deter AI Transports almost as well as Defenders. Zero maintenance, and lets you shuffle around population.

Actually, I encourage AI Transports all I can. That's so kind of him to depopulate his planets for me. Muahahahahaha.... And all it takes is a Corvette to blow them away. By the time Combat Transports come out I've got Frigates, and now I get to blow away 5 billion a whack. :D But those 5 billion died for a good cause--they gave my Frigate a little experience.
Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top
Roy,

Some quick ideas for slowing down the pace of DOW's:

1. When available, build Combat TR's as system defenders. They are very low cost, have respectable HP's and a DF of 8! This is better thananything before a DN. Plus, you can embark populace from a system which gets overcrowded.

2. Markissimo41 is correct (#2) - buy (or target) the AI's military resource SB's. Each one can be worth up to a 68% bonus to its military rating (AF + DF). Acquiring or eliminating them will change the military graph rating far quicker than taking over systems or destroying any number of ships.

3. Unlike Civ3, breaking alliances results in relatively small penalties in GalCiv - usually only a downgrading of relations by two levels (Ally ---> Warm), which can be easily made up after peace by establishing a trade route or gifting a Trade Good.

4. Once a certain superiority of power is reached, it is nearly impossible to save a losing Empire. The best thing to do is gift them a planet in a corner of your Empire. Their relations towards their enemy will be maintained, giving you a possible ally in future conflicts, and you can establish safe trade routes with them.

5. Fight an economic, not a military, war. By this, I mean target your ememy's trade routes and SB infrastructure. If you take, but cannot hold, a system (it was either surrendered to you by a losing Empire, traded as part of a prior peace deal, etc.), do not be afraid to destroy all its social improvements and re-embark your troops. I successfully pursued one war with nothing more than 3xDN's and 31xCombat TR's, going from system to system, invading using the low-cost invasion types that caused infrastructure destruction, and re-embarking, leaving behind a vacant world. After 80+% of its worlds were ethnically cleansed, the AI sued for peace, having lost almost all of its manufacturing capacity.

Welcome to the GalCiv universe, and I wish you great success!

~SDC~
Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top
Is it just me, or is blowing up 5 billion aliens about the best thing in the game?
End of quote


Well, there is using a terror star to take out upwards of 200 billion at a time if you hit a good system... but at some point the volume of the murder gives one pause, even in a game.
Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top
Transports have maint 2 in 1.05 and combat transports are 6 now.
Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top
I usually play with ungodly diplomacy bonuses and leave all but my best systems undefended. If someone declares war on me they will almost always agree to a peace treaty with no further bribery needed! This has worked very well for me playing at normal difficulty, but after I finish my current game I'm going to crank the intelligence up and see how I do then.