Declare war or surprise attack?

  • What area the impact of doing a surprise attack instead of declare war? I think everybody knows declaration of war is an honourable and surprise attack is condemned by the newspaper. But I want to know if there is any difference compared to doing a surprise attack game wise.

    Hope some veteran players could share knowledge on this tactic.

  • From my knowledge, the only disadvantage of surprise attack is that it lowers your reputation to a greater extent. Lower reputation can, in turn, affect AI countries' diplomatic status towards you (embargo, war).


    Personally,

    - Against AIs, I do surprise attack most of the time. I feel that in most situations, my reputation is going to be terrible anyway after invading a few AIs. So the benefit of declaring war is pretty minimal in the long run.

    - Against humans, I always do surprise attack. The element of surprise is very important in battle.

    Any sufficiently advanced tactic is indistinguishable from magic to the uninitiated.

  • Actually, I'm not sure who it was that mentioned it, but recently it was announced that there is no longer a penalty for not declaring war. Whether it's a surprise attack OR a declaration of war has no impact on your morale either way.

  • Actually, I'm not sure who it was that mentioned it, but recently it was announced that there is no longer a penalty for not declaring war. Whether it's a surprise attack OR a declaration of war has no impact on your morale either way.

    Good to know! Thanks for the clarifications

    Any sufficiently advanced tactic is indistinguishable from magic to the uninitiated.

  • Actually, I'm not sure who it was that mentioned it, but recently it was announced that there is no longer a penalty for not declaring war. Whether it's a surprise attack OR a declaration of war has no impact on your morale either way.

    I have noticed since most recent update that I am surprise attacking AI which is something I never do, I wonder if this is a change in diplomacy or global popularity mechanic, here is example I was not in province with any units , only had a fighter patrolling to see how many units were inside a fort something unknown to me triggered a Surprise attack >

    https://cdn.discordapp.com/att…9908385898496/unknown.png

    index.php?eID=image&uid=11763503&mode=2

    Embrace your true nature , enjoy games and have fun!