I am relatively new to Civ III (and Civ in general) and am still sorting out some of the finer points. One thing I have yet to figure out is with regards to conquering enemy cities. Most of the time in war-setting, when I conquer an enemy city, I am given a choice as to whether or not I want to take it or "raze it to the ground." Sometimes, however, the military advisor popup will simply tell me that we have destroyed the city without offering a choice. Anyone know what the deal is with that?

Thanks in advance!

Let me be the first to welcome you to CivFanatics.com!

In response to your question, when you or another civ conquers a size 1 city that has no culture, it is automatically destroyed. You are given the option of razing a city or keeping it if the city has culture points and/or is above size 1, IIRC (anyone else who's positive about the size thing, feel free to correct me!).

Welcome dkamionk :wavey:

elpadrino87 is correct. I think another thing that stops a town size 1 auto-razing is if the citizen is not a native of the enemy Civ you capture it from. I have seen a size 1 city with a Palace and first level expansion auto-raze. I don't know what caused that, but it makes me suspicious that there must be another factor involved as well (or maybe a bug :hmm: ).

When you have the choice whether to raze the city or not there are lots of factors to consider. Keeping the city will increase your city count, and that may increase the number of military units you can support, depending which givernment type you are in. It will also return a minimum of 1 gold per turn to your treasury. It also represents an increase in your territory, which will add to your points score and give you a mobility advantage over your enemy (you can move three times faster over your own roads than the enemy can). If it contains a Wonder, of course, you may want to keep it for the benefits of that wonder. Even if you decide you want to raze it, if it contains any other non-cultural improvements, like barracks or harbour, it may be worth capturing it and selling off the improvements, then abandoning it.

The bad news if you capture it to keep is that it could flip back to the enemy, so it is often best to keep your troops outside it to recapture it, rather than garrison them inside it, until you have pushed the enemy borders well beyond it.

Also, razing gives you workers. Conquering doesn't allow AIs to wander by and settle there.

Also, razing gives you workers.In Civ3 vanilla? I don't think I've seen that :hmm:

Capturing a city reduces its population by 1.

Razing a city gives half its population as slaves.

Example:
Capture size 5 city; pop drops to 4; razing gives 2 slaves.

PS: If you don't need the slaves any more (endgame), you may decide to capture the city, sell all its improvements for 100-200g, and then abandon it.

In Civ3 vanilla? I don't think I've seen that :hmm:I have. ;)

Alan: the city just has to be big enough... size 1 or 2 towns at least don't give any workers...

Anyone know how they come? I mean, how many citizens show up as one slave? Would be interesting to see if someone has figured that out...

Alan: the city just has to be big enough... size 1 or 2 towns at least don't give any workers...

Anyone know how they come? I mean, how many citizens show up as one slave? Would be interesting to see if someone has figured that out...Didn't you read my post above? :confused:

It gives the correct answers.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful replies. Up until now, I've pretty much tried to conquer whenever possible, (unless I was feeling particularly annoyed by a culture), but in addition to anwering my question, you've all given me more strategic choices. Regards!