To be bribed or to disband, that is the question...

Carolus Rex · July 25, 2003, 06:39

Early in the game (writing is discovered, though) one of your exploring units stumbles upon a foreign diplo with its last movement point.

Would you rather disband it than let it be bribed? Early in the game even 20-30 gold counts, why not let your opponent waste it on your crappy warrior? Or does your answer depend on the type of exploring unit you risk to lose (a horse maybe), or how close the encounter is to your empire?

Carolus

Makeo · July 25, 2003, 06:50

If its early in the game i'd chance it that they couldn't afford it. Unless it was close or on a choke point. Then I'd probably disband it and try and get two units back their pretty quick.

Often in late game if i'm delivering caravans or diplos to steal tech I will offload my units from the boat and then disband the boat rather than have it bribed. Especially if i have lighthouse.

Carolus Rex · July 25, 2003, 06:56

Quote:

Originally posted by Makeo
Often in late game if i'm delivering caravans or diplos to steal tech I will offload my units from the boat and then disband the boat rather than have it bribed. Especially if i have lighthouse.

Good point!

Carolus

Hydey · July 25, 2003, 08:11

Yes I do a similar thing

rah · July 25, 2003, 08:40

Similar to Makeo, but If i'm deep in enemy territory and I know it's going to be real cheap, I'll disband it. It is not allowed in rah rules to disband while the person is bribing.

Hydey · July 25, 2003, 08:43

so you have to get in first then ?

rah · July 25, 2003, 08:48

If you time it right, you can disband it after the guy has paid the money. That we don't allow.

Hydey · July 25, 2003, 08:51

That would require actually watching the game when it is not my turn.

Don't think I will bother

-Jrabbit · July 25, 2003, 10:27

Early in the game, I take my chances. By definition, an exploring unit is at least somewhat away from your cities and thus can't hurt you directly.

Besides, the AI has it tough enough as it is...

Makeo · July 25, 2003, 10:45

The AI? What the hell has that got to do with it?

-Jrabbit · July 25, 2003, 10:53

Sorry, thought that was what Carolus posted. Went back and read the first post.

Though I stand by my "don't disband early" stance.

Ming · July 25, 2003, 13:01

It depends on the situation. if the unit is guarding a potential city site, I will disband it and pray he doesn't have a real unit around... or that I can get a paired set of units there faster... But otherwise, I let them bribe him...

War4ever · July 25, 2003, 16:29

i will let him bribe a warrior..... he can't hurt me with it...if its something better, i will disband it..

most who travel with dips can affoard to bribe at least one unit

i certainly wouldn't want it to be my archer or chariot.

i would then try to set up a trap if close to my empire

rah · July 28, 2003, 08:17

I won't want them to have a decent defensive unit to cover the dip.

Traps are one of the more fun aspect of the game. Especially when the other person walks into it.

Makeo · July 28, 2003, 09:19

which i always do. my tiremes always get ambushed. actually my early archer will blindly follow a warrior till it gets back up and kills my archer

rah · July 28, 2003, 09:25

The shadowing a settler early with a warrior. You know the settler is going to lead it back to an archer, but if you can keep one of their first few settlers from building for 8 or 9 turns, it's a big setback for them. And worth the cost of a warrior

Ming · July 28, 2003, 10:16

I agree... warriors are cheap and are meant to die. If you can delay somebody from build a city for any length of time, it was an investment well spent.

Yeah... you know on any given turn, you will uncover that unit that is waiting for you... but who cares. Maybe in that length of time, you will have moved a settler to the area that you backed his settler from, and can put the city down where he wanted to. Production well spent

rah · July 28, 2003, 13:30

Yeah, it's fun when you sneak that settler phal combo in behind the retreating settler. After your warrior has paid the supreme sacrifice, and the opponents settler marches back to settle that primo location, only to find a city there. SWEET.

Ming · July 29, 2003, 09:49

And there is nothing worse than moving some settler phal combo 8 or more squares to that "excellent" spot you found earlier, only to find somebody elses city already there... and to add insult to injury, it's already size 2

rah · July 29, 2003, 10:20

It's even worse when it's that gold 3 squares from your capital.

:) Smiley · August 6, 2003, 00:03

How cheap do units get to be bribed? Cheaper than it would be to rush buy incrementally?

Ming · August 6, 2003, 01:02

If they are far away from their captal, pretty cheap.

But the key is where they are, not what they cost.

rah · August 6, 2003, 09:19

The lowest rate is what you would pay to bribe barbs. A short distance to their cap, and a high amount of their gold can make it many times the base rate.

Ming · August 7, 2003, 12:08

But again... Location, Location, Location... Having another unit in a postion that would take you many turns to march units to could make the cost well worth it.

rah · August 7, 2003, 13:51

Yep, it always depends on the situation. If you might need every penny to rush buy HG the turn before Berz builds it, you don't waste it on a bribe.