Didn't know this could happen!

[el_griffador]

Playing as the Iroquois, in a war with the Incas, took a few cities- kept the ones in decent positions, razed the ones i wanted to re-site (their layout was awful- cows, wheat & rivers that were in no cities radius) so I ended up with 2 formely Inca cities, and about 5 new ones I built with my own settlers. The 2 Inca cities ended up quite deep within my borders- it was a thin strip of land, and I rushed a couple of temples to avoid a flip and expand borders. Anyways, I signed peace after acheiving my objective- securing a source of coal, which the Incas could not yet see. About 2 turns later, one of my former Inca cities flipped back to them, with its former cultural boundary intact! So now I've got a bloody big pink spot about a quarter of the way into my eastern border!
I always thought that once a captured city had expanded its boundaries under your rule, it was safe from flipping.. Anyway. it'll be easy to take back- they dont have saltpetre or horses and I have cavalry.. but still, bit annoying!

 

[Mursi lives]

A city can flip to another civ if a part of its radius is within that civ's cultural borders OR if at least one of its citizens is of the foreign civ's nationality. Since the captured cities still contain inca citizens, they can flip at any moment.

 

[Evil_Abe]

A city can flip to another civ if a part of its radius is within that civ's cultural borders OR if at least one of its citizens is of the foreign civ's nationality. Since the captured cities still contain inca citizens, they can flip at any moment.

Exactly. When you capture cities its a good idea to starve them down or build workers or settlers out of them and grow you're own population with your own citizens there. It will help with happiness too if you're in a prolonged war. Cities with foreign citizens tend to flip very easily even if the city is surrounded by your own cities.

 

[Quintillus]

I've had cities flip after accumulating hundreds of my local culture, although it is less likely then. I don't know exactly how much of a role culture plays in the formula, but if a city formerly had a lot of enemy culture, I don't start feeling that it's safely in my grasp until it has at least a hundred culture - even then, they still can flip.

Thanks Mursi for explaining that either of those is sufficient for a flip being possible.

 

[rav009]

i think it is quite real to design like that,when your city is captured ,sometimes it will also filp and give you a recruit of rifle ,surprise!

 

[Evil_Abe]

Has anyone ever left the bulk of their assault force in a newly captured city to let some of your troops heal, only to have it flipped right around and all your troops vanish! I learned my lesson after making that mistake a couple times.

 

[Pacioli]

Unfortunately, many of us if not all of us.

 

[splunge the 2nd]

I've lost an army that way. I wish I could say it only happened once. I've since learned my lesson. Is it true an AI city can't flip for 1 turn after capture? I've felt safe letting an army heal 1 turn before moving it out.

 

[ChaosArbiter]

There is a 1-turn grace period when cities can't/won't flip. Useful for healing and/or shutting down Resisters.

 

[Quintillus]

Has anyone ever left the bulk of their assault force in a newly captured city to let some of your troops heal, only to have it flipped right around and all your troops vanish! I learned my lesson after making that mistake a couple times.

On the flip side, having more troops in the captured city quells resistance faster and decreases the chance of it flipping. If I don't feel the risk of flipping is that great, I often will intentionally leave a sizable force in a city. I too have been bitten by a flip while most of my attacking force was in the city, though, so if my cultural position is disadvantageous, I do leave a skeleton crew.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

What I have to say about this is Starve and hurry, hurry Cultural buildings, defensive units, always keep at least 4 units in an enemy city, every Civ 3 player has lost an army or two by culture flipping. I think that there should be anadvantage for more advanced nations to keep enemy cities under control. It doesnt make sense that citizens used to muskets can overthrow tank garrisons

 

[TheOverseer714]

Use obsolete troops in captured cities too.

 

[Desertsnow]

Has anyone ever left the bulk of their assault force in a newly captured city to let some of your troops heal, only to have it flipped right around and all your troops vanish! I learned my lesson after making that mistake a couple times.

Yes, and yes, it is damn frustrating.

 

[Raliuven]

Has anyone ever left the bulk of their assault force in a newly captured city to let some of your troops heal, only to have it flipped right around and all your troops vanish! I learned my lesson after making that mistake a couple times.

Never had it happen.

This has to be one of the toughest decisions in the game. On lower levels you can usually get away with this. At higher levels it is almost always raze and replace. I become bolder in the age of RR. Once it is easy to move around obsolete troops and to return invading units to the site of the flipped city, it is less painful. Nothing is worse than capturing a city that sits on your invasion route, moving your army on to other objectives and then having to waste 3-5 turns returning units to recapture a flipped city. Another option is to leave combat ready units next to a city that might flip.

What would be interesting to know is how often an AI city flips to another AI. I have noticed that the AI will suddenly start moving units and workers out of a city for no appearant reason - only to have the city flip to me in a round or two. It seems to me that there might be a calculation that triggers the AI to reduce a city garrision and move out workers? Or is this just coincidence?