destroying enemy cities

[ReichMaster420]

recently ive found my self using this dirty tactic which can be cheap, but effective on settlements/factions im not ready to occupy

i start storming unguarded enemy land after they have launched a mass attack on one of my cities, possibly taking itit

i then capture a couple their cities and exterminate the populace ,destroy every building, if i have catapults, destroying the entire frontal walls during siege, then leave for the settlements to be taken by independents

after trying to use destroyed settlements as bargaining chips ive realized it doesnt work too well, i guess the enemy doesnt want to buy the crumbs back from us, but they eventually reoccupy

with artillery i can cripple an enemies country and econonmy drastically within 1 or 2 turns, with very little casualties on my behalf

rome on the otherhand will buy the ashes back, theiralso the richest faction in my campaign
so i declared a jihad, completely destroying rome with artillery,kill the pope and papal infantry, and selling them whatever ashes are left for all their
worth

rome is 'pathetic' in power now, but make a good free loan

anyone else do similar, or have any thoughts about this?

[Roshak]

I would advise that you should do this ONLY when you have a stable empire. Doing this too early would result in a lot of lost territory, and putting you in a less powerful position to dominate.

[qc_howard]

It is always satisfying to wipe out an opposing city, particularly if the owning faction has been a thorn in your side! Personally I will always leave some cities relatively intact after I take them, normally for strategic reasons or if the city generates a lot of revenue, like Constantinople.

[Kratos]

I prefere to occupy the cities and castles i capure as long as they are possible to hold on to. Sometimes, however, this is indeed a useful tactic since it weakens your enemy and creates a buffer zone of rebels between you and your enemy.

[GoldenMayc]

Playing as Hungary, I had from Zagreb to Constantinople and a bit of Turkey.

Pope called a crusade on Jerusalem, which I joined, took the city easily and sacked it. Sold it to the Papal States, then took my full stack high-experience army that had just completed the crusade on a walk around the middle east sacking every poorly defended city i found and selling the remains on to my allies (Papal States, Poland, HRE, Milan) depending upon who was richest at the time...they pay everything they've got for a peice of the Holy Land.

Sacking gained me plenty enough to support the army in the middle east and pay for the top end economy stuff (3200+) in Budapest and Constantinople, and selling the cities improved my relations with allies and actually weakened them initially (this is good, they were too powerful to be on my borders) as the cities they gained were often well in the red for order and surrounded by Egyptian armies.

Continued this campaign till i got bored of the pathetic Hungarian infantry (about 20turns later), by which time I'd destroyed Byzantium, most of the Turks, most of Egypt, Milan and I attacked Venice and Sicily, were both excommunicated but then i destroyed Rome, killed the pope and got my own Cardinal elected as the next pope - instant reconciliation for both me and Milan.

So there is a point to destroying enemy cities...especially if theyre big, poorly defended and you've got rich allies

[Snoopy]

Actually, this tactic can save the day in certain situations.

Once I was Venice, and both Milan and Byzantines were ganging up on me. I was losing horribly.

Then, I built a small force of cavalry. I sent it the Constaninople. I captured the city, and, using hired monster guns, I blew the walls up. I looted everything, leaving nothing standing, then I just left. The Byzantines were later crushed by the Turks.

I tryed the same tactic on Milan and Genoa. It worked so well, that Milan was driven out of Burgundy and killed.

However, this only works on rich cities. Find the richest enemy city, loot it completely, and they will most likely crumble.

[Kahn]

I prefere to occupy the cities and castles i capure as long as they are possible to hold on to. Sometimes, however, this is indeed a useful tactic since it weakens your enemy and creates a buffer zone of rebels between you and your enemy.

This is some super good advice. Having a single rebel country in between you and another faction that's trying to take your head can mean many turns of worry-free growth and development.