We start out and I'm doing fine. When we met on the map I offered a peace treaty, don't ask me why, and kengel accepted. Because it's a duel (or that's what it's supposed to be ) I then built lots of units, mostly crusaders.

I send them over to kengel's empire, embark and have a settler building a fortress on a hill (only one square from Der Udal, size 12 city). When finished I stack the 10 or 12 crusaders with a couple of phalanxes and a diplo in the fortress. The city has no walls and is now within reach.

Then I wait and I wait and I wait and I wait. Why? Because we have a peace treaty!

MWHC: "So what? Sneak attack!"
CR: "I can't!"
MWHC: "Why not?"
CR: "I just can't, I'll feel bad about it."

MWHC: "Then cancel the peace treaty!"
CR: "Why, he hasn't given me any reason to?"
MWHC: "REASON, YOU NEED A REASON TO CANCEL THE PEACE TREATY? WIMP!"
CR (looking down in the ground): "..."

MWHC: "Why did you offer a peace treaty in the first place if you know you can't break it later?"
CR: "It seemed to be the right thing to do."
MWHC: "THE RIGHT THING TO DO??? IT'S A DUEL FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!"
CR: "Well, I'm thinking about going for Alpha Centauri now..."

So now I'm sitting back waiting for him to sneak attack me while considering going for AC. Kind of boring to ship the crusaders back and disband them, but...

But now, I must nominate you for stupidest strategy in a duel MP game.

A FRIKEN PEACE TREATY!!!!!!!!
WHAT WERE YOU THINKING??????
And please don't tell me that you traded maps with him too

WIMP. BREAK THE DAMN TREATY... KICK HIS BUTT. KILL HIM... IT'S A DUEL!

Thinking??? I just wanted to be nice to the man!

I wanted to trade maps too (not), but for some reason he declined. I don't get it, why doesn't he want to see where my cities are so he knows he can't settle there?

Any other nominees?

BTW, what is ROTFL short for?

CRoi - Now I am sure that the purported Viking attacks at Lindesfarne were really just a big fat Irish lie!!! Charles XII, he was a travelling minstrel. Gustavus Adolphus? Why he was a simple farmer and the botanical inspiration for Linius. The Vasa? That was just a scientific experiment in keel hauling!

of course ~Birdtide~ would have attacked with the Phalanxs since Crusadiere sounds like a French word!

If kengel knows you are there, fortified units in a city radius is an act of war so you are already violating the peace treaty!

BULLY!

Sten,

You're right, I didn't think of units in a fortress within the city radius as an act of war. Swear to God they were only trying to, eh..., recruit new members to my society (see above)

Your knowledge in swedish history truly is amazing. I really mean it, even though the post above is just a little bit, hm, misleading.

Is ROTFL really short for "rolling on the floor laughing" (or are you just taking advantage of my limited knowledge in chat abbreviations? )?

Superstar,

Great idea!

C'mon everybody! EVC don't be shy, Joe stop sitting all alone in the corner thinking about the jews controlling the media! Join hands, all together now:

"All we are saying, is give peace a chance..."

Peace... IT'S A STRATEGY GAME!

I'll attack when I think I can cause damage to the enemy civ. If you dont like a good war you might as well just play the AI.

Now, on the battlefield, thats where things are fun. How many big battles have you been in Ming? By big I mean 15+ units working together not in a city. My first MP attack was against Rah with 3 or 4 ships and 12+ units (carvels and knights I think, it was awhile ago). Our landmasses where some 10 sqaures away. Now, I didnt take any cities but that was a fun 5 or 6 turns. I made a couple of bad mistakes.

ROTFLMAO = Run Over Those French Lads, Measly Attack Organizer?

Oh well...

I saved the game at that point to see after the game had ended what his situation was for him to be so boastful.

His situation: 17 cities, 68 units - researching machine tools - army was mostly cavalry, musketeers, a few riflemen
and cannons with a cruiser and a couple of destroyers, ironclads and transports. Only had a few factories and no city with more than 50 shields production per turn.

My situation: 26 cities, 94 units - researching fusion power (my last tech before the future techs)- # 1 power -I had almost every modern wonder except women's suffrage which my close ally (the #2 power) had and manhattan project (hadn't been built yet). I had over 12 cities with production over 80 shields per turn.

Well, I quickly destroyed most of his fleet and sent stealth bombers to wipe out his coastal forces. My ally, who was itching to get into the war (he also found this guy's attitude considering his dire situation laughable), got his chance when his cruiser was attacked by one of this guy's cruisers.

After that it was game over. We both sent large forces against him (I had over 150 units by that time having switched to fundamentalism). After we had conquered 6-7 of his cities, he quit. (After saving it, I found out that he had more partisans left than all of his other units combined)

The other week I was playing in an MP game.
The first human civ I met, I asked (well demanded) an alliance. Early partnerships in MP can make all the differences in the world.
All he wanted was a peace treaty. Well, early peace treaties mean only a few different things to me in MP...
First, they already have an ally, and he is just coverning his butt.
Second, it's a prelude to war.
Third, the person is so far ahead, that he thinks he can win all by himself (a strange notion in an MP game)

After many demands for an alliance, the answer was no. So, I attacked his warrior with my warrior... as luck has it, my warrior won, and became a vet... (later, he bribed the warrior, but then it died to barbarians)

I assumed he had an ally, and started building boats in case I was pinned in.

Later on, I find out that a few other civs are kicking everybodies butt. And he and I were the only civs NOT in an alliance. (at that point, I could have strangled him for not accepting the original deal)

So fine, we make an alliance.
And then... HE WOULDN'T TRADE MAPS OR ANYTHING. By this point, I was tearing my hair out. All I could get out of him was "I have a plan, trust me" After that comment I reached for the malox

I'm not calling his plan "stupid", but I really expect more than that from an ally

Anybody else have some good ones?

If there are alliances early in MP and you're not in one, you are at a big disadvantage. Science leap frogs are too important. But most importantly, it gives you someone to chat with to pass the time while you're waiting for your turn. I've had some great discussions this way and helped develop some decent camaraderie. I have fond memories of typing so hard my fingers hurt to MWHC "EXPAND DAMN IT EXPAND" while the return messages would be "ATTACK ATTACK".

I guess I like being part of team when I play games. Which brings up by last point. If you're not going to go all out for an ally, i.e. trade maps, trade sciences, give money to the other when it's needed, discuss strategies and work like a team, PLEASE don't ally with me. I'd rather wait to find someone else. We do do this for fun. I can never ever remember betraying an ally. I've broken peace treaties before, but that's what they are for.

RAH

I hope that exposure to playing in other games with me will give you the experience that my word is good also. It would be very beneficial if we meet in a game and the teams aren't already decided. But I do expect full commitment among allies. Please post if you don't expect the same thing, because I would rather be dissapointed here than in game.

It has been fun watching you work. And I still believe that raging hordes is the true equalizer.

MATTHEW, PHYSICS DUDE of the HOUSE of BUBBA !!!

Well he was shocked. I never felt so guilty marching into anyones capitol in my life.Hey,he set himself up to be a sucker and I just did what I had to do to win.In a wargame,don't be surprised if you end up in a war.

His was the worst strategy of all.Trust based on a prior game's alliance.

When I play MP and take an ally I always feel like I have to be friends in later games....

It is fun to co-ordinate attacks though

One thing to add about playing, when your off exploring and you meet another MP civ, if you have a better unit do you ;-

1) Attack mercifully
2) Make peaceful first contact
3) Bully him

Even if I'm playing a duel I firstly offer peace, then depending on my situation attack or offer alliance.

What does everyone else think?

When I make a peace treaty early on I intend to keep it for quite some time, or irreconcilable differences arise. But it isn't eternal.

then if you stand off who should attack first and is it bad show to attack first?

In the duel I'm playing now, we stood off and prepared to fight. We drew a line and said not to cross it. The war started because he played with diplomats in my cities! I didn't start it!

peace, duels, EXCUSE ME. If you're in a duel, attack attack attack.

If you have a superior unit and they are not your allies, you must attack or risk being attacked back.

Never broken an alliance. (because the games usually end in concession and not destruction so it's never been down to the final two.)

RAH

The way I play is to try and find the top civ and make allies and attack anyone inbetween

What if I'm in the lead? Anybody will do!

Also, any treaty or alliance can only be applied to a single game. I got caught ince by believing that the tremendous help I gave a player in one game meant that he'd be eager to continue our diplomatic friendship. I left myself poorly defended as he was near by and he promptly kicked my arse and wiped me off the face of the planet.
He remains a good ally in one game, yet every other game is different.