User Guide

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STRATEGIC VALUE
The strategic value of a city site is a final consideration. A city square’s underlying terrain
can increase any defender’s strength when that city comes under attack. In some
circumstances, the defensive value of a particular city’s terrain might be more important
than the economic value; consider the case where a continent narrows to a bottleneck and
a rival holds the other side. Good defensive terrain (Hills, Mountains, and Jungle) is
generally poor for food production and inhibits the early growth of a city. If you need to
compromise between growth and defense, build the city on a Plains or Grassland square
with a river running through it if possible. This yields decent trade production and gains a
50 percent defense bonus.
Regardless of where a city is built, the city square is easier to defend than the same
unimproved terrain. In a city you can build the City Walls improvement, which triples the
defense factors of military units stationed there. Also, units defending a city square are
destroyed one at a time if they lose. Outside of cities, all units stacked together are
destroyed when any military unit in the stack is defeated (units in Fortresses are the only
exception; see Fortresses).
Placing some cities on the seacoast gives you access to the ocean. You can launch ship
units to explore the world and to transport your units overseas. With few coastal cities, your
sea power is inhibited.
CAPTURING CITIES
Other civilizations normally defend their cities with one or more military units (armies for
short), and sometimes with the city improvement City Walls. A defended city flies a pennant
showing its owner’s color. A walled city is surrounded by a short wall. There are two ways
to acquire enemy cities: force and subversion. If you choose force, you must destroy the
defenders by successfully attacking with your military units. Once the city is undefended,
you can move a friendly army into the city and capture it. If you prefer subversion, you
must successfully bribe dissidents in the city with your Diplomat or Spy unit (and sufficient
funds — see Diplomats & Spies for all the details on such espionage). The dissidents
capture the city for you, as their armies automatically convert to your side. Once captured,
the city becomes yours to control and manage as you would any other.
Capturing an enemy city can also lead to side benefits, such as the discovery of a new
technological advance and plundered cash to add to your coffers. Capture, however,
eliminates one point of population (unless the City Walls, which can prevent this loss, are
still standing). Therefore, when your units enter a city with only one point of population
remaining, it is destroyed instead of captured. Diplomats and Spies can incite dissidents
(see Diplomats & Spies) to capture a city without reducing its population below one.
THE BASICS
OF CITIES
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