City flipping?

[Dizzy75]

Sorry if this has been posted before, but is there a thread that lays out how this technically works?

I understand there's the "XX% Persian" stat in the enemy civ's city tile, and that there's usually a rebellion when it reaches a certain %, where the city is in resistance. Does the city only flip when the percentage reaches zero? Also, it seems like putting lots of military units in the city slows down the flipping rate? Are there other factors involved?

 

[GiantRaven]

I don't think 100% population makes it flip because i've had flipped cites that still retained some of their original poopulation

 

[Dizzy75]

Is that % population? I thought it was something more vague, like "cultural influence" or something...

 

[MrCynical]

A city can only flip when the percentage of your culture is below 50%. 0% clture doesn't necessarily mean the city will flip, though there is a very high chance of it each turn. Putting military units in will reduce the chances of rebellions and flips, and for cities just below the vital 50% mark may eliminate the risks entirely. The amount of troops needed to prevent rebellion increases with size of city, and as the percentage of their culture drops still further, and it generally becomes impractical to keep a large city from rebelling like this.

 

[Dizzy75]

Interesting, thanks.

So the chance of flipping is a random check each round, not a certain outcome based on whatever variables? Are there formulas around for calculating the chance?

And so, flipping isn't a reliable way to capture cities?

 

[MrCynical]

There's a random check for the chance of a city rebelling each turn ( usually won't go above about 6%). The first time a city rebels there is a small chance (about 10%?) that it will flip completely, otherwise it just shuts down for a few turns. The second time a rebellion occurs there's about a 50-50 chance of a complete flip. The third time there's about a 90% chance of a complete flip, and I've never seen a city survive a fourth rebellion. These numbers aren't from a specific formula, just from general observation. I'm not sure if the exact formula for the chance of rebelling is known, at least I can't immediately turn it up, though it may be on the site somewhere. If you mouseover the culture bar in a city it'll tell you the chance each turn of it rebelling (though obviously you'll need a spy to see this in a foreign city). If the mouseover doesn't list a chance of rebellion, it is currently 0%.

Flipping isn't the most reliable way to capture a city, since it's a matter of chance each turn, but over the course of many turns the odds will be very in your favour. The other civ has to be lucky every turn, and you need to be lucky at most 4 times. If a city is below about 30% of its native cultre, and is large or has a weak garrison, there is a very good chance of you getting it in the next 50 turns or so. It isn't going to be as fast or certain as warfare, but it does have the advantage that you get the city peacefully, undamaged, and ready to work immediately.