How many cities do you usually settle?

[Artifex1]

About how many each game? Not counting puppets or annexed.

 

[Paeanblack]

about 60-65 (I've been playing with REX+ICS lately)

It depends on what type of win I'm going for, but usually I either settle 1-3 cities or as many as will physically fit on a map.

I never annex. I have yet to encounter a situation where annexing actually was a better choice than a puppet or a raze/resettle.

 

[durannarud]

Not more than 3. If need be, I will annex a strategically placed puppet.

It's irrelevant though. It depends on your strategy. Some people build 30 and that works for them.

 

[Druin]

about 60-65

You ... are .... a .... nutcase!

Minus ICS games, I would go with 4. As a pretty strict rule, if I settle more, they are relatively less powerful than the initial 4 because I have found with 4 cities you can usually get several of every available lux resource in your area, so any more than that would be a net drain on your happiness.

Controlling those 4 allows for a science city (the capital) a production city and 2 gold cities. All of which give your empire lots of lux before the inevitable conquering spree

 

[durannarud]

I never annex. I have yet to encounter a situation where annexing actually was a better choice than a puppet or a raze/resettle.

Strategically placed city with large territory claimed around it? That would be one of them situations...

 

[Paeanblack]

Strategically placed city with large territory claimed around it? That would be one of them situations...

That's a reason to puppet, not a reason to annex

 

[stii]

Seems like early game you probably want to annex capitals otherwise they will spend forever building bad stuff over what you want. Annex when you can't raze them

 

[Druin]

I never annex. I have yet to encounter a situation where annexing actually was a better choice than a puppet or a raze/resettle.

Oh Oh! I annexed a city on a new continent in order to rush buy GDR's so I didn't have to send them slowly over the water!

If I remember correctly I later burned it down because I can't be bothered to build courthouses

 

[durannarud]

That's a reason to puppet, not a reason to annex

Strategically placed might mean you need build/purchase ships in it because its your only coastal city on that side of the continent. I would annex rather than build a new one in the same spot because it would take me too long to spread my borders.

Also, if you have a big empire, you need a big annexed production city in the territory farthest from your home base. For defense purposes.

 

[Paeanblack]

Strategically placed might mean you need build/purchase ships in it because its your only coastal city on that side of the continent. I would annex rather than build a new one in the same spot because it would take me too long to spread my borders.

Huh...I'm just not seeing it.

1) If the borders are big enough to make it prohibitively expensive to rebuy the tiles, then you have room to just drop a settler in for a new city. That lets you cash-rush immediately instead of waiting for the revolt period to end.

2) If the city is huge enough to still have significant production after halving the population, then waiting for the revolt to end is going to take almost as long as bringing in new units from far away. By the time the city has come out of revolt and actually completed production on something, haven't the reinforcements already arrived en masse?

 

[boehj]

I'm settling about 5 or 6 cities. I generally puppet two early capitals and burn everything else down.

I've tried a range from OCC to ~20 cities and the sweet spot for my playstyle is 5 or 6 cities of my own.

 

[durannarud]

Huh...I'm just not seeing it.

1) If the borders are big enough to make it prohibitively expensive to rebuy the tiles, then you have room to just drop a settler in for a new city. That lets you cash-rush immediately instead of waiting for the revolt period to end.

2) If the city is huge enough to still have significant production after halving the population, then waiting for the revolt to end is going to take almost as long as bringing in new units from far away. By the time the city has come out of revolt and actually completed production on something, haven't the reinforcements already arrived en masse?

1. I would cash-rush only once, unless in a desperate situation. Further troops would be built by the city, so an already established city with certain buildings in it would be more helpful in that regard.

2. That is if you have enough reinforcements left on your continent, or if you're not warring with someone else in a far away land. If you don't, you need that production city. It comes in handy, I assure you. Besides, it's a production city, so courthouse won't take too long to build.

I guess both techniques could work, but I find it simpler/quicker to annex the strategically necessary city, rather than spend other resources on building a new one of my own.

 

[gaiko]

As many as possible. With Meritocracy + Coliseums + (eventually) Order, the only limit on expansion is AI military resistance, the weakest part of the game at present. At Standard/Pangaea/Emperor.

Nothing nutty about it at all. I think the devs designed in the possibility of a significant amount of city spam, if not a pure ICS.

 

[uberdubersoldat]

The only downside to annexing a city is the courthouse. I've found strategically using great engineers can be very beneficial if the convenience arises. If an enemy capital is massive, with 10+ population after you capture/annex, then not razing it while keeping all of the wonders/buildings they built there far outweighs razing/settling. Taking Dehli from ghandi for example I always try to annex because he's a wonder whore, and utilizing the great engineer to speed rush construction of a court house takes this unbelievable captured gem into my economy much quicker. Razing/Settling isn't as fast because it still takes time to gain population....

 

[edcrane]

The only downside to annexing a city is the courthouse. I've found strategically using great engineers can be very beneficial if the convenience arises. If an enemy capital is massive, with 10+ population after you capture/annex, then not razing it while keeping all of the wonders/buildings they built there far outweighs razing/settling. Taking Dehli from ghandi for example I always try to annex because he's a wonder whore, and utilizing the great engineer to speed rush construction of a court house takes this unbelievable captured gem into my economy much quicker. Razing/Settling isn't as fast because it still takes time to gain population....

Seems like a waste of a GE unless there are no mines nearby. If you switch to production, the bigger cities can usually produce a courthouse in 14-15 turns, faster if you start a golden age.

 

[Druin]

The only downside to annexing a city is the courthouse. I've found strategically using great engineers can be very beneficial if the convenience arises. If an enemy capital is massive, with 10+ population after you capture/annex, then not razing it while keeping all of the wonders/buildings they built there far outweighs razing/settling. Taking Dehli from ghandi for example I always try to annex because he's a wonder whore, and utilizing the great engineer to speed rush construction of a court house takes this unbelievable captured gem into my economy much quicker. Razing/Settling isn't as fast because it still takes time to gain population....

You can't raze capitals, and if you have a Great Engineer (grats!!) I would highly suggest building one of the games many wonders, almost all of them are more benefitial than insta-building a courthouse. If the city is really amazing, you can always just annex it and not build a courthouse.

For the most part though, a city will give you all the benefits it has to offer as a puppet ... there is no difference between rushbuying in your city and rushbuying in an annexed city

 

[Dark_Jedi06]

I'm obsessed with culture and whoring Social Policies, so I usually don't found any more then 3-4 cities.

 

[Martin Alvito]

I never annex. I have yet to encounter a situation where annexing actually was a better choice than a puppet or a raze/resettle.

There are quite a few reasons:

- Water luxury. If there are Pearls or Whales, you can annex, rush buy a Work Boat, and have a null result.

- Unit depot. If you've gone heavy on the puppets, a point near the frontier for rush buys can be worthwhile. As others have pointed out, this is particularly key once you cross the ocean.

- Wonders/Parts. Sometimes, you acquire a better manufacturing site than anything you currently possess. Lumbermill spam can yield a lot of Hammers late, especially if the Forest city rolled some nice Hammer specials.

- Tempo. Remember, if you burn down that city, you're using a Settler to resettle. It's a net immediate gain for you if you leave the city as is and put that Settler somewhere else. If the city grants you a new luxury, it's often best to puppet that site for the time being. Some of those cities become desirable annexes later.

 

[Paeanblack]

- Water luxury. If there are Pearls or Whales, you can annex, rush buy a Work Boat, and have a null result.

That provides no benefits over a raze/resettle or a puppet and some forethought (having the workboat already there). This is not a question of whether an annex yields benefits, it's a question of whether an annex can yield more benefits compared to the alternatives

- Unit depot. If you've gone heavy on the puppets, a point near the frontier for rush buys can be worthwhile. As others have pointed out, this is particularly key once you cross the ocean.

Bringing a Settler with your invasion force is faster. You don't need to wait for the revolt to end.

- Wonders/Parts. Sometimes, you acquire a better manufacturing site than anything you currently possess. Lumbermill spam can yield a lot of Hammers late, especially if the Forest city rolled some nice Hammer specials.

The new site produces what, 5-10 or so more base hammers than your next best production city? It takes a very long time for that to be a net positive after building the courthouse. If you ignore the courthouse, that's one hell of a happiness hit, even for a size-10 city (5 + 1.34 * 10 = -18 unhappy) If you are playing for the long term, a raze/resettle will be a better option.

- Tempo. Remember, if you burn down that city, you're using a Settler to resettle. It's a net immediate gain for you if you leave the city as is and put that Settler somewhere else. If the city grants you a new luxury, it's often best to puppet that site for the time being. Some of those cities become desirable annexes later.

That's not a reason to annex your conquest, only to puppet.

 

[Martin Alvito]

That provides no benefits over a raze/resettle or a puppet and some forethought (having the workboat already there). This is not a question of whether an annex yields benefits, it's a question of whether an annex can yield more benefits compared to the alternatives

Suppose the following case from my last game:

- You have just wasted the second opponent. It is somewhere between turn 65 and 70. You have had The Wheel for about ten turns, and the road network leading out to your new possessions is incomplete.
- You have taken London and York. They are somewhere between fifteen and twenty-five tiles from the capital. Much of it is Rough.
- You have a bunch of terrain that the AI has developed that you cannot currently work due to insufficient pop.
- You have a Whales in London's radius. London and York are your only possessions on this coast; both are coastal.

It's pretty much a no-brainer in this situation to annex the better production site. Developed land > undeveloped land, especially post-Rationalism, and the lost time moving Settlers out there is prohibitively costly. You're better off bringing the territory online now and wasting the time/coin on the Courthouse and the 200G on the Work Boat, as compared to raze/resettling or leaving the territory fallow.

Bringing a Settler with your invasion force is faster. You don't need to wait for the revolt to end.

You could have dropped that Settler and started the Colosseum eight or ten turns ago. If you run a pure Warrior rush, then continually upgrade and attack, your armies will be a very long way from home very early on. Eventually you get the infrastructure to support raze/resettle, but in the first 80 turns it just isn't happening.

The new site produces what, 5-10 or so more base hammers than your next best production city? It takes a very long time for that to be a net positive after building the courthouse. If you ignore the courthouse, that's one hell of a happiness hit, even for a size-10 city (5 + 1.34 * 10 = -18 unhappy) If you are playing for the long term, a raze/resettle will be a better option.

If you rush a Factory in as the first thing you do, 10 base Hammers becomes 15. That gets another multiplier if Railroads are in the game, and still another if you're building Spaceship parts. It can be worthwhile to curtail your expansion as the number of turns remaining diminishes and take a mild Science hit to get a large Hammer increase.

That's not a reason to annex your conquest, only to puppet.

Yes, but the above may be reasons that you wish to annex the conquest at a later date.