Two Questions for a Warmonger/Militaristic style (Germany)

[Artifex]

Two thoughts/questions. When you are warmongering in the ancient era/early game. Say as Germany using Archers then Swordsmen to clear out your continent.

Do you like to Raze Cities and rebuild your own? Or do you like to keep some of your conquered cities? Any rule of thumb? Been awhile since I played and used to be razing was the best way to go.

Also, do you like to kinda keep two leaders alive and string them along in hopes they will get tech and trade it back and forth then you can keep fighting a limited war.. making peace..taking the bribes and then rinsing and repeating..or is it best just to kill em off after ya get all their techs.

[Catt]

I usually keep the cities if they're not auto-razed. The chance of flips that early is fairly low, and the 30-shield cost of a settler is a good chunk of your early production power -- better to use AI production bonus to your advantage by "using" their settlers.

I like to keep'em alive as well. Even if they're weak enough that they represent no military threat to you, they can still play a role in tech acquisition, even if only as a "tech devaluation" tool -- If they fall hopelessly behind (even after gifting them a tech or two) then put them out of their misery. OTOH, when playing a continents or archipelago map, I have recently become aware of (and utilized) the Arrian Deception (with kudos also to Sir Ralph) -- killing off the nearby civs before contact with others so that you enter the "wider" world with both the largest, most economially advanced civ and a spotless reputation -- no one knows of your ancient age betrayals!

Catt

[Harovan]

Definitely keep the cities. I use to keep them till the AI civs get Nationalism and begin to draft like mad. Place only one defender in it and keep a bunch of attackers nearby to take it back if it flips. This is the more likely, the closer the city is to the enemy capital. Build up your own culture and poprush a library (you're scientific) in the city ASAP (after prebuilding a bit), to get some own culture in it and to raise your overall culture.

Generally, the Germans are a good civ to hit from the start. Cheap barracks, archers and spears from beginning, 1 tech apart from swordsmen. That makes a solid advantage for an ancient warmonger. Later in the game their traits are rather mediocre. The other ages see other civs dominating, like Chinese and Japanese with their good medieval UUs. The Germans get a second good chance only with their late industrial UU. So hurry up and secure a big slice of the pie in the ancient age.

Edit: Ah yes, keep the AI's alive, but only till the mid of the medieval age (Navigation), or till they cease to give you something valuable for peace. Remember, every city they build is worth 30 shields and 40 food (or even more) for a settler. So don't frown but be glad if they plopp their cities near your border. It's for your own good .

[Velociryx]

If we're talking about the Ancient era...'keep them, by all means. Nobody has sufficient cultural clout yet to run a real risk of flipping in any case.

-=Vel=-