happiness and annexing cities

[Rynian]

Im doing well this game. I am on a continent with spain, the huns, and india. I was teching up to arty before attack with the trad method of war, but while I was renissance era, spain got angry at me for having units in my boarders and asked me for a war, I wasn't sure the penalty for delaying the war, so I obliged.

I had plenty of happiness, but after annexing her 3 cities, my happiness dipped 17 below because rebels started pillaging my capital, and I had to send some riflemen back to save it.

I am sitting on my current 6 cities nursing my happiness back to normal and EVERYONE hates me. Even my old best buddy india

I am trying to figure out what I could've done better. I had as many happiness buildings and resources I possibly could before the 3 city annex, and all 3 cities were pretty decent. Only her capital didn't have a luxary because I banned truffles before I was booted out of head of the UN oops...

Should I have ONLY taken her capital and just left her so the other civs wouldn't hate me and I wouldn't take such huge happiness penalties?

Any advice to not have this problem in the future, and keep positive happiness? With liberty there's roads, but with trad thats not an option

 

[IvorySteel]

Couple of things:

You're right in that generally speaking, you only need to take their capital, and only capture other cities if two of the three are true:

1) They have a unique luxury to counteract happiness issues.
2) It is a strong city with good growth/production that will make your empire stronger.
3) It is in a valuable position for defending against/staging an attack on another civ.

If it does not fit this criteria, then raze it, liberate it, or leave it alone.

You mentioned that you banned truffles. This is a pretty bad idea and only hurts yourself. The AI gets crazy happiness bonuses and will never be hurt by losing 4 from a luxury. Try to stop luxury bans if you can.

Finally, while Tradition is better for managing unhappiness in fewer, larger cities, there are happiness-giving social policies early in other trees that scale with cities. One in Honour gives you happiness and culture for cities with a garrison, which syncs nicely with Tradition's no-maintenance garrison policy. If you have a lot of coastal cities, then Exploration's policy of happiness for lighthouses/harbours/seaports is very powerful.

Or, you might want to turtle up, get to Industrialisation and your ideology. Ideologies give crazy happiness, whichever one you go for.

 

[mbbcam]

I would concur with what is written above. I have always found the mid game to be the hardest phase because there are so many variables to manage. There are a few techniques that can help, sometimes with a bit of luck. In my last game, an allied CS actually captured a city I had reduced to no defences, then razed it -- so no warmonger penalties or unhappiness that time. It can also be useful to immediately sell a captured city to someone -- preferable someone weak. I have also discovered that annexing at the right time may be important. You can then take control of the city and make it do what you want. A puppeted city will usually go after gold like crazy, and may build all sorts of things like caravanseries that don't get you where you want to go. Consentient's advice from another thread was to raze pretty much everything and keep moving. It seems to me, however, that if you do not win early, you may need that territory for resources like oil and aluminium. Generally, if a city has a unique lux (one that I don't have in another part of my territory), I will keep the city, annex it at a certain point, and make sure to build happiness buildings. Having CS allies or friends can be very useful for keeping happiness positive. But I find the mid game really hard. Openings are easy -- there are lots of guides on what to do. Very few guides on how to play the mid game, because there are just so many variables and synergies at work. I begin to believe that the mid game is when you discover if you have really learnt how to play, and really understand the mechanics of the game. In my case I'm still learning -- which is one reason why I've set the game to save every turn and to keep 300 turns. I can go back and play things differently. Amazing how different things can be on a second play-through.

 

[IvorySteel]

In my last game, an allied CS actually captured a city I had reduced to no defences, then razed it -- so no warmonger penalties or unhappiness that time.

The exact same thing happened to me yesterday in my current game! Very useful.

Also later on, I sold a captured American city to my buddy Isabella, who then gave it to the Ottomans in a peace deal, who then immediately razed it!

Consentient's advice from another thread was to raze pretty much everything and keep moving. It seems to me, however, that if you do not win early, you may need that territory for resources like oil and aluminium.

Definitely agree here. Nothing more frustrating than seeing oil/coal/uranium spawn just out of reach, especially when it's by a city ruins you could've kept. I am often very tempted to keep everything for that reason, as well as simple aesthetics - I hate seeing unclaimed land. I stop myself though, and instead try to keep all land under "potential territory" status. If I can claim the land through 1 or 2 citadels should a key resource spawn there, I will raze. If I can't, I should think about keeping a city there.

 

[beetle]

I had plenty of happiness, but after annexing her 3 cities, my happiness dipped 17 below...

I think the only thing you did wrong was with the timing. Don’t annex upon capture, always† pick puppet. Sometime after the first city comes out of resistance, then annex it and build (or even buy) a Courthouse. Don’t annex a second city until after the first Courthouse is done. Rinse/Repeat.

†Pick raze if the city is in a terrible location. Or if that is your preference and you know what you are doing.
†Always pick raze or annex if you have the free Courthouse tenet from Order.

 

[BlackWizard]

Nope not always. Most often you want puppet so they wont increace your coultoral treshold for nova policies

 

[beetle]

Nope not always. Most often you want puppet so they wont increace your coultoral treshold for nova policies

Yep, always. Always pick Puppet or Raze. Of course, never annexing is also a reasonable choice. Order (with the free Courthouses) is Annex or Raze. As Order, if the city is not worth Annexing, it is almost certainly weak enough to be razed.

 

[BlackWizard]

Yes usually but not always. 10 pop snow city with 30+ oil and 20 uraniumi U-235 in third ring is not worth razing but works good as a puppet espcially if you have 100 happiness and no money to buy those thirdy ring tiles and you need ythoser resources immediately and hav no time to wait to build settler and move it to that remote location. Naturallyyou are same time 1 turn from next super powerfulk social spolicy you need immediately to win and cant waitt 1 turn more. This is ofcourc cuite rare but happens from time to timew

 

[beetle]

10 pop snow city with 30+ oil and 20 uraniumi U-235 in third ring is not worth razing but works good as a puppet…

The exception that proves the rule!