What are some of the advantages and disadvantages in razing or taking over a captured city? What factors should I consider when I make the decision? Up to now I've always just captured and waited impatiently for the city to become productive again.
Raze or install new governor
- Thread starter shadezguy
- Start date
I usually never raze. Cities take a crap load of turns to create and build and grow, razing it destroys so much potential that you could control.
The only way I would raze a city is if a civ is on another island and I have no impetus to own any of their further cities - or - if I'm losing a battle and the city is inevitably going to be taken over anyway, I might raze it - or - if I want to cripple an overly strong AI that I can't beat in conventional war - I would set up transport ships and send in suicide missions of men who would just enter a city and raze it, then die. Destroying a very powerful city with wonders or cathedrals sets someone back a lot. Imagine if someone destroyed YOUR capital.
The only way I would raze a city is if a civ is on another island and I have no impetus to own any of their further cities - or - if I'm losing a battle and the city is inevitably going to be taken over anyway, I might raze it - or - if I want to cripple an overly strong AI that I can't beat in conventional war - I would set up transport ships and send in suicide missions of men who would just enter a city and raze it, then die. Destroying a very powerful city with wonders or cathedrals sets someone back a lot. Imagine if someone destroyed YOUR capital.
KrikkitTwo
Immortal
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2004
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- 12,418
Disadvantage to keeping a city
1. Maintenance costs
2. Position (that city may be Much better if it was one or two squares over, or maybe its just too crowded)
3. can get recaptured
4. time to come out of rebellion
5. can get flipped if you hhave that option on
Advantage to taking the city
1. can't get recolonized by someone else
2. can heal your units in the meantime
3. saves the cost+time of a settler/buildings/ population growth/ tile improvement if you want to colonize that area.
Basically it depends on your win condition and strategy. Extra cities may not be particularly useful to you now, and crippling the rival is much more important
Basically if the keep v. raze balance is
Domination
Diplomacy
Space Race
Conquest
Cultural
1. Maintenance costs
2. Position (that city may be Much better if it was one or two squares over, or maybe its just too crowded)
3. can get recaptured
4. time to come out of rebellion
5. can get flipped if you hhave that option on
Advantage to taking the city
1. can't get recolonized by someone else
2. can heal your units in the meantime
3. saves the cost+time of a settler/buildings/ population growth/ tile improvement if you want to colonize that area.
Basically it depends on your win condition and strategy. Extra cities may not be particularly useful to you now, and crippling the rival is much more important
Basically if the keep v. raze balance is
Domination
Diplomacy
Space Race
Conquest
Cultural
The-Hawk
Old Original Geezer
garric said:
Hmmmm... I almost always raze.
OK, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but not much.
If I am going for conquest, I raze almost everything. A city has to have something really special (wonder, religion) to keep.
If I am going for domination, I raze most cities. If I don't, maintenance will kill me. Once I have CoL, I am more inclined to keep a city, but I've usually fought a couple of wars by then with lots of razing.
If I'm going to another victory objective, then I am probably only going to war to grab a couple of key cities (for example, for a resource). In this case, of course, I will keep the cities.
A key consideration is where you are in the game (timewise)... later in the game, captured cities are better developed and can pay their own way. If I am still warring late in a game, I will keep more cities.
The-Hawk said:Hmmmm... I almost always raze.
OK, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but not much.
If I am going for conquest, I raze almost everything. A city has to have something really special (wonder, religion) to keep.
If I am going for domination, I raze most cities. If I don't, maintenance will kill me. Once I have CoL, I am more inclined to keep a city, but I've usually fought a couple of wars by then with lots of razing.
If I'm going to another victory objective, then I am probably only going to war to grab a couple of key cities (for example, for a resource). In this case, of course, I will keep the cities.
A key consideration is where you are in the game (timewise)... later in the game, captured cities are better developed and can pay their own way. If I am still warring late in a game, I will keep more cities.
State property mate. Solves the maint. problem.
Rathelon
Prince
I usually play with 'No City Razing' option turned on. The main reason I do this is because I've had too many games where some bastage came in and captured one of my 20 population cities and razed it.
Ledneh said:
Unfortunately, you can only tell by either looking at the Top Five Cities Screen or by examining the city closely, noticing what wonders have been built.
It would be nice if you were able to tell which wonders were built where instead of having to closely examine each city in question.
drkodos
Emperor
Ledneh said:
I try to keep track ahead of time with the advisor windows (of course I almost always fail to do so
). I'm not sure that you can open the advisor screen up once you get the raze/governor option screen?I often raze cities that I should have kept because I have neglected this area.
Rathelon
Prince
You could also edit the XML to make wonders and holy shrines appear more prominently. I had thought about doing this once when I was looking through some XML files, so I could recognize the cities with the holy shrines in them easier.
KrikkitTwo
Immortal
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- 12,418
Well Shrines can only be in Holy cities, so you can easily tell where they Might be.
As for the other Wonders, the only one that is easily visible is the Pyramids.
They REALLY need to list the city the Wonder is in when you have seen that city. (saying what Wonders are in a city when you capture it would be useful too.)
As for the other Wonders, the only one that is easily visible is the Pyramids.
They REALLY need to list the city the Wonder is in when you have seen that city. (saying what Wonders are in a city when you capture it would be useful too.)
JesusOnEez
Emperor
Spies come late in the game though. They're no good if you're after the Pyramid city because some git beat you to building it by two turns. Although the Pyramid is easy to see. For a cultural victory, the Parthenon is handy for the extra GA's, but do I know what it looks like if I try and capture it?
Nope.
Rathelon
Prince
Ballisto said:
You cannot rebuild a national one, if you've already built it. If you razed a city with West Point, for example, but you'd never built West Point - then I believe you could rebuild it in that case (as long as you had met the requirements for West Point, of course).
Razing a holy city, I believe gives you a bad reputation hit with any civilization of that religion. You wouldnt be able to rebuild the holy shrine, because you destroyed that religion's holy city so there'd be no place to build it.
StrideCollosus
Chieftain
Razing a holy city gives you a -1 with just about everyone who isn't of that religion (did it the other day).
Don't know what impact it would have to relations with a civ of that religion, but can't imagine it would be good! Would the religion be dead?
Don't know what impact it would have to relations with a civ of that religion, but can't imagine it would be good! Would the religion be dead?
National wonders can be rebuild, but this could only apply for a conquered city. I build Oxford university in one city that was turning out almost 200 beakers after that. Then the AI dropped a shitload of knights/canons on me and conquered my city. I recaptured the city only to find the OU gone/destroyed. Then I was able to rebuild it in another city. So national wonders can be rebuild.
To return to the original question: shadezguy, I have a suspicion that razing cities makes an impression on the AI. To be specific, a couple of times now I've been fighting a long war with an AI enemy who won't negotiate. Then I've razed a city or two. Poof -- suddenly the AI is willing to talk peace.
I'm not sure; it might have been coincidence. But I think that while it makes them hate you (-2 on all future relations with that civilization) it also makes them respect or fear you.
Waldo
I'm not sure; it might have been coincidence. But I think that while it makes them hate you (-2 on all future relations with that civilization) it also makes them respect or fear you.
Waldo
