[Vanilla] Knock a civ down to 1-2 cities or always eradicate it?

[iwn]

War weariness promps my question. Do you guys feel that a weak civ on your borders is fine to leave alone? Or do you always eradicate them even if faced with severe war weariness?

Side question: I tried using a ceasefire over 10 turns but something like 20-30 turns later am still unable to even enter the civ's borders to resume the war. If that's not a bug why is it still prohibited?

 

[AcaMetis]

I prefer to eradicate if I can, because motherland anger in captured cities goes away if the civ is destroyed. War Weariness goes away as soon as the war ends, motherland anger stays around for a long time afterwards, so destruction is preferred.

A ceasefire has no ten turn peace treaty, you can DoW the same turn your enemy signed the ceasefire. The border issue is that the war you fought closed borders, and the game is warning you that entering their territory will trigger a war. Which you can do, nothing is stopping you from DoWing a civ that way, the warning is just there in case that isn't your intent.

 

[lymond]

I highly recommend that you play BTS which is the definitive version of Civ IV. Not sure, as I know nothing about your setup, but it may resolve this issue you are having as well.

War weariness was eased quite a bit in BTS, as it built up ridiculously fast in Vanilla and Warlords. It is still there mind you, but you don't get 500 war unhappiness after losing a couple of units ..ha.

Cease Fire gives no peace treaty as AcaMetis said. An actually Peace Treaty is ten turns. You have to Declare on the enemy again to enter their borders.

Yes, if a enemy is small or weak I may just eliminate them. Keep in mind though that the vassal mechanic was added as of the Warlords expansion, so you can capitulate enemies. BTS has all this and more.

 

[rah]

The motherland penalty is a big incentive for me to finish them off. Unless, I prepping a tech assistant or going for super quick dom victory and I'm just capping then along the way.

 

[Jivilov]

War weariness was eased quite a bit in BTS, as it built up ridiculously fast in Vanilla and Warlords. It is still there mind you, but you don't get 500 war unhappiness after losing a couple of units ..ha.

Really. In Warlords just taking 4 cities might cost you population loss from strikers. Most ironic considering the title, even more ironic that BTS tones it down. A tale of two oxymorons you might say.

 

[Hamilton321]

I think that it depends on a few things. The biggest upside to waiting is if the last few cities are remote or well-defended and you are sure that you will get a tech upgrade and better units, therefore fewer casualties, then you should make peace and wait until you research the new tech to definitively wipe them out.

 

[6K Man]

I kill them if at all possible. Motherland unhappiness, cultural pressure, vassals messing with my diplo relations, or no OB if I don't vassal them. All bad things.