Is There a Way to Take Over City-States in Civ 6?
Yes, you can absolutely take over city-states in Civilization 6. Unlike some previous iterations of the game, Civ 6 allows you to conquer city-states through military force. This provides a viable alternative to diplomatic suzerainty, although it comes with its own set of consequences and considerations.
Conquering City-States: A Tactical Overview
Taking over a city-state is, in principle, no different than conquering any other city. You need to position your military units around the city and bombard it until its defenses are weakened. Once the city’s health is depleted, a melee unit can move in to capture it.
However, there are several factors to consider before launching an attack:
- Diplomatic Repercussions: Declaring war on and conquering a city-state will likely anger other civilizations, especially those who are currently Suzerain or have significant envoys invested in that city-state. This can lead to denouncements, war declarations, and a general deterioration of your diplomatic relationships.
- City-State Bonuses: City-states provide valuable bonuses to their Suzerain, and capturing one means losing out on those benefits. You need to weigh the advantages of conquering the city against the loss of these potential bonuses.
- Loyalty: Newly conquered cities, including former city-states, are susceptible to loyalty pressure. If the city’s loyalty drops too low, it will rebel and revert to being an independent city-state or, worse, join another civilization.
- Amenities: Conquering a city can cause amenity shortages within your empire. Make sure you have sufficient amenities to offset the unhappiness caused by the new citizens.
The Pros and Cons of Conquest
Ultimately, deciding whether or not to conquer a city-state requires careful consideration of the potential pros and cons.
Advantages of Conquest:
- Strategic Location: City-states often occupy strategically important locations that can bolster your defenses or provide access to valuable resources.
- Eliminating a Threat: A city-state that is constantly harassing your borders or converting your cities to its religion can be eliminated through conquest.
- Boosting Production/Science/Culture: Integrating a city-state with strong districts into your empire directly enhances your production, science, culture or any yield based on the city-state type.
Disadvantages of Conquest:
- Diplomatic Penalties: As mentioned earlier, conquering a city-state will negatively impact your diplomatic relationships with other civilizations.
- Loyalty Issues: Maintaining loyalty in a newly conquered city can be challenging, especially if it is far from your core cities.
- Loss of City-State Bonuses: You will lose the bonuses that the city-state provided when you were its Suzerain.
- War Weariness: Engaging in prolonged warfare to capture and hold city-states can lead to war weariness throughout your empire, reducing your production and happiness.
Strategies for Successfully Conquering City-States
If you decide to conquer a city-state, here are some strategies to maximize your chances of success and minimize the negative consequences:
- Plan Ahead: Choose your target carefully and consider the potential repercussions before launching an attack.
- Build a Strong Military: Ensure you have a sufficient number of units to overwhelm the city’s defenses.
- Manage Loyalty: Appoint a Governor with loyalty-boosting abilities, like Victor, the Castellan, or Liang, the Surveyor, to the newly conquered city. Also, utilize policies that boost loyalty in your cities.
- Boost Amenities: Construct entertainment complexes and water parks in your cities to offset any amenity shortages.
- Time Your Attack: Consider attacking during a Dark Age for your opponents as their loyalty will be weakened. Also, plan your wars for eras where strategic resources like niter and oil are readily available, allowing you to maximize your combat advantages.
- Consider a Casus Belli: While not always applicable, using a Casus Belli (like Protectorate War for protecting a city-state) can lessen the diplomatic penalties associated with declaring war.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about City-States in Civ 6
1. Can a city-state be taken over by another city-state?
No, city-states cannot conquer other city-states. They can, however, defend themselves against attacks from other civilizations.
2. What happens to the envoys invested in a city-state when it is conquered?
When a city-state is conquered, all envoys from all civilizations are removed.
3. Does conquering a city-state affect my ability to earn diplomatic victory points?
Yes, it most likely will. Conquering city-states will anger other civilizations, hindering your ability to form alliances and gain favor with them, which are crucial for earning diplomatic victory points.
4. How can I defend a city-state I am Suzerain of from being conquered?
You can declare war on the civilization attacking the city-state and use your military to defend it. You can also provide military aid directly to the city-state by moving your units into its borders.
5. Are there any specific civilizations that benefit from conquering city-states?
Certain civilizations, like Genghis Khan’s Mongolia, receive combat bonuses when fighting city-states. This makes them particularly well-suited for conquering and integrating these minor powers.
6. Can I raze a city-state after conquering it?
Yes, you can raze a city-state just like any other conquered city. However, this will incur even greater diplomatic penalties.
7. What happens to the city-state’s unique building or improvement after it is conquered?
The city-state’s unique building or improvement remains intact and continues to provide its benefits to your empire.
8. Does conquering a city-state affect my era score?
It can. Conquering a city provides era score, but it does give negative grievances with other Civs that like city states, which could set you back in other areas.
9. Can I liberate a conquered city-state?
Yes, you can liberate a conquered city-state by capturing the city from the civilization that controls it. This will restore the city-state to its independent status and earn you significant diplomatic favor.
10. How does conquering a city-state affect my tourism output?
It has no direct impact on tourism, but the loss of potential bonuses and the negative diplomatic repercussions could indirectly affect your tourism output.
11. Is it possible to conquer a city-state peacefully?
No, there is no peaceful way to take over a city-state. Conquest always requires military force.
12. Does conquering a city-state affect my Great People points?
Yes, it can indirectly. The loss of suzerain bonuses might influence your ability to earn Great People points, if the city-state provided relevant bonuses.
13. What are some good alternative strategies to conquering city-states?
Instead of conquering, consider:
- Becoming Suzerain: Invest envoys to become Suzerain and reap the benefits of their unique bonuses.
- Forming Alliances: Ally with city-states to gain military, economic, or cultural advantages.
- Using Policy Cards: Utilize policy cards that provide bonuses for being Suzerain of city-states.
- Protecting the City-States: Defending the city-states will greatly improve diplomatic relations.
14. How does the difficulty level affect my ability to conquer city-states?
On higher difficulty levels, city-states will have stronger defenses and be better defended by other civilizations, making them more challenging to conquer. Also, AI civilizations will aggressively seek to establish suzerainty, making diplomatic fallout from conquering a city state more impactful.
15. Does the game mode affect my ability to conquer city-states?
Certain game modes, like Apocalypse Mode, can drastically alter the geopolitical landscape, making conquest of city-states more or less appealing depending on the circumstances. For example, powerful natural disasters might make a strategically located city-state even more valuable. Secret Societies can unlock abilities that make loyalty more powerful.