11-06-2004 22:04									#1
	Pardon My Scouts Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

Attempting to achieve a winning score at each difficulty level with each available Civ before progressing to the next level, I have been forced to play the Expansionist Civs and to learn to exploit their advantages. Beyond the goody hut and contact-communication ploys that have been discussed elsewhere, I have found the scouts to be useful in another way. I have successfully used this ploy to negate the AI’s productivity bonus at the higher levels.

When Expansionist, my build queues are typically scout, warrior, settler which yields a significant number of the little buggers traipsing all over the place. Once I have found a neighboring Civ, I post some scouts along his cultural borders about one every other tile or so, particularly in the direction of resource-rich land that I want to settle. I concentrate on size 2-3 cities about to pop, and on blocking frontier roads out of the cultural bubble. If a patrolling scout can pillage a recent road not yet in the AI culture sphere, so much the better.

Inevitably, the AI settler/defender combo shows up, heading for greener pastures. My scouts-on-guard quickly maneuver to block the combo from further forward progress, usually in a triangle shape.

Scout
Settler Scout -----> This way to the resources!
Scout

The AI will attempt to sidestep, which the quick-moving scouts jump to block in their turn. The AI will waste countless turns sidestepping back and forth, until my slower-built settler finally sets up shop on the desirable squares.

I have never seen the AI give up against this ploy (although it will sometimes make a sea-borne end around the blocking scouts if possible), nor attack the defenseless scouts. It works best if you leave a possible opening rather than completely blocking access (for instance, cutting off the neck of a peninsula forces the AI to seek alternate seaborne routes, rather than wasting time heading for the ever-shifting opening).

The only downside is at the higher barbarian settings, when barb horse can disrupt your blockade. Even with defensive units as blockers instead of scouts, the barbs will ALWAYS attack your troops in favor of the settler combo.

Later in the opening, if you have established an outer ring of cities with an eye to eventually filling in the holes, the scouts can be used to occupy territory in the center of the hole, preventing AI settlers from, well, settling. They will not set up on the fringes of a hole if a better location in the center is available but temporarily blocked.

Often, the AI will stack up multiple settle-defender combos bumbling around trying to find a path to the Promised Land. It can take a significant number of scouts to keep these combos contained. The best way to follow up this tactic is with an attacker rush to kill off the defenders and harvest a horde of foreign workers.

	11-06-2004 22:16									#2
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Bah! Diagram should be:

.......Scout
Settler Scout --> Resources
.......Scout

	13-06-2004 15:09									#3
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

What an evil swine you are! Torturing those poor AIs in that way. I have to say I would regard this as "sort of" cheating, because it's sort of taking advantage of the blindness of the AI (a human player would not put up with this and would declare war). But I think it could still be a useful trick sometimes.

	14-06-2004 05:52									#4
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

Or, if you didn't want to declare war, bring a few units to go ahead and secure the path as far as necessary.

	14-06-2004 23:02									#5
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

quote: Originally posted by Solomwi Or, if you didn't want to declare war, bring a few units to go ahead and secure the path as far as necessary.

The AI will often attempt this, sometimes successfully, if it has additional units in the vicinity. In some situations, it's also possible to load the settler/defender combo onto ships to get around the mobile blockade. The AI will often do this with a second pair while I'm busy blocking the first.

In any event, this ploy is often disrupted by barbarian attack, since scouts can only see adjacent tiles, and may end up next to a barbarian warrior, or wiped out by a previously unseen barbarian horse.

	14-06-2004 23:03									#6
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

quote: Originally posted by Plotinus I have to say I would regard this as "sort of" cheating, because it's sort of taking advantage of the blindness of the AI (a human player would not put up with this and would declare war).

Not at all. A human player might not declare war for the same reason the AI does not – your settler is vulnerable to attack/loss, and you may not necessarily want an early war. I'm sure there are players who prefer to let the opponent create the city while they build up attack units that will take it later in the game.

	14-06-2004 23:09									#7
	Got spare money?

I've used similar tactics before, usually with combat units, though, and never seen the AI pull off the "trailblazer" counter. The most fun use of it is for an AI leader crossing your territory, whether you're involved in the war or not.

	16-06-2004 02:31									#8
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

What did you do with the leader?

Blocking a leader was one of the nastier trick you could pull in PTW. The AI would never disband it, but as he already had a leader, he could win a trillion elite battles without getting another

	16-06-2004 08:19									#9
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

Heh, not a damn thing. I figured it was worth 6 or so obsolete units to keep him hemmed in next to the coast. It was even worth 8 obsolete units if he happened to take an inland route.