Annex, Puppet, or Raze?

[Abraxis]

I am having trouble figuring the best option here. Puppets always end up building way too much useless crap and costing a tone in maintenance. Annex unhappiness bonus seems unacceptable, It honestly seems like the best bet is to raze the city and build a new one on the ruins.

Anyone else find this? or does the unhappiness eventually go away?

 

[vmxa]

Not enough experience yet to make a blanket statement. Mostly, it will depend on your empire. I tend to raze.

 

[VeniceBeach]

Puppet it until you invent courthouse, which will reduce happiness effects to normal. Then if you have a little room on happiness, annex one at a time and build courthouse right away. If you are massively unhappy and poor, and the city-state doesn't have any luxury or cash resources, wither raze or don't conquer it.

 

[katay]

Unless there is a wonder in the city, Raze it. Takes too long to get a courthouse, so it would be quicker to just build a new settler and found a new city.

 

[CandleJack]

I puppeted each city on my first game and it was not pretty. Now I tend to raze most cities unless theres a wonder.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

I don't have the game yet, Is raze instant, or does it still take time?

 

[katay]

I don't have the game yet, Is raze instant, or does it still take time?

Takes time depending on the city size.

 

[gunburned]

Almost always i find myself just razing the city, unless it has some strategic importance.
Unless there is a wonder or 2 inside the city in which i require, I could capture it. It is so much more effective to raze and then found your own city. AI seems to take forever to build a courthouse, if it actual ever does, and if I Annex I will still suffer unhappiness with the courthouse.

 

[slo]

Puppet until you can afford the unhappiness, then anex with a court house....
slo

 

[spicytimothy]

yah the courthouses take forever but then if you love large empires like I do, it's hard to resist not annexing cities. Not to mention the AI nearby founded a new city as soon as I razed the first city I captured...

 

[Minmaster]

Puppet it until you invent courthouse, which will reduce happiness effects to normal. Then if you have a little room on happiness, annex one at a time and build courthouse right away. If you are massively unhappy and poor, and the city-state doesn't have any luxury or cash resources, wither raze or don't conquer it.

i noticed i can't purchase a courthouses right away but i am able to purchase other buildings... what's with that? courthouses always has to be built?

 

[Pococurante]

Yes they have to be built. I usually wait until they've built a colisseum, annex and buy a workshop, and schedule courthouse first. I also wait until my overall happiness is above twenty.

I literally just annexed eight of Gandhi's former cities and am hovering right at five happiness. (speaking of which for a pacifist he sure went way out of his way to provoke me. maybe he's actually pacifist aggressive... )

 

[Octavian II]

A good suggestion I heard is to puppet the city, then trade-post every tile. That way you get more gold, less hammers for crappy buildings, and less food for unwanted pop.

I find it useful after I have my core established and am going for domination.

 

[Malecite]

Heres my mental checklist

a) does this city have any strategic value: if yes proceed to 2, if no raze
b) is the value military or luxury, if luxury proceed to 3, if no raze
c) is my happiness level allowing me to actually own this city, if yes annex, if no puppet

The reason for b is that well... a blind codger with a cane could outplay the computer right now on the battlefield, all you should be concerned about is making them plebes happy.

 

[Kushluk]

1. Make desert.
2. Call it peace.

 

[effexop]

Think twice before annexing, because, not only the CH will take forever to build, but it will consume 5 GPT, and make your SP costs increase.
When you are close to -10 happiness, razing is the best. If you are in doubt, always puppet, as you can raze or annex later. (to raze just annex and press raze in the city screen).

The way the devs done, you are forced to raze sometimes, and the map just turns into a big wasteland dotted by a few cities, if you conquer.

 

[Becephalus]

If you raze you also lose all the borders that city established, which can be quite bad. So I typically don't do a ton of razing except for cities I don't want. Usually puppet until they build something I don't want, then annex.