extermination farming

[aznflea]

ive recently found out the wonders of extermination. the extermination of settlements that are culturally different from mine, from cities who have too much pop and the like. and as i exterminated a dozen or so cities, i found out that i got alot of money. now i dont just mean some piddly amount i mean 20 k perturn even thogh all my cities had under 10 000 people from extermination.

now what ive started to do is build farms to the max level and exterminate periodically once that settlement has reached max tech tree. it accelerates population growth so you dont have to send peasants around to boost pop and there is increased trade due to farming. there is around 10% pop growth in carthage and it takes 10 turns to reached 20 000 population after an extermination. after that the populaton just goes out of control and public order just goes out of hand. extermination of the settlement allowed me to get rid of all my peasants, put on yearly games and very high tax rate. on top of the initial extermination gain, this is a huge monetary bonus that gets rid of all wastes. and the good thing is you only need 1 army going around as a police force. i had 1 army of legionaires marching around my cities from sicily, carthage and egypt exterminating left and right. by the time i come back from egypt my sicilian population has grown to over 24000 due to the massive population growth from farms and markets.

this only works later on after your main cities have reached a good population.

ps. i had 300 000 gold on my last game i did this.

[Strategist]

It's not about extermination and killing people! It's about slaves dude! Enslave everyone so this helps a lot to make all your cities 24k pop! Even the ones with 1000 people inside to be able to upgrade them and make farms/trades/ports they need 2000+ pop. Also it's simply about highest farming lvl in every city! Farm can give more money than taxing! Also the good thing is by farm you get additional pop so you get additional tax income! You do one thing you earn almost double income . Interesting fact is that I had Arretium with NO garrison at all when it had around 20 000+ population! I just had some big bonuses from temples and stuff. This way you can make very low upkeep and sustain bigger army with no need of lots of garrisons. Everywhere lowest taxes highest farming is a good strategy - no need to exterminate also your generals that enslave receive good traits .

[Strattios]

YAY!!! Welcome fellow butcher! I have long used extermination as a wide spread method of devastation. Especially when I launch raids into enemy territory (usually behind or around their front lines) and I have no intention to maintain the region.

[Doctor]

Also it's simply about highest farming lvl in every city! Farm can give more money than taxing! Also the good thing is by farm you get additional pop so you get additional tax income!

That isn't a very good strategy for those farms end up causing a rapidly growing population with a massive percentage of squalor that is impossible to curve down to a more reasonable percentage. Anyway that strategy might work on lower difficulties, but the squalor would kill you hard and up.

[aznflea]

yes but the point is, when you have all your cities at 24k pop, they have less public order and you need lots of peasants to keep them in order which is costly and annoying. my philosophy is to earn money in bursts so that you can hire mercenaries like theres no tomorrow and spend however much you want. its like a second source of income.

and putting on daily games is just too costly. micromanaging taxes and frequency in every city as opposed to 1 extra army, id rather control my army once every turn rather than juggle taxes with rebellious citizens.

sorry strattios but i despise the scorched earth strategy. i conquer lands and intend on keeping them too. the extermination is all about public order. lack of public order truly makes me mad and id rather just not bother to juggle taxes.

[Scutarii]

Extermination is a good strategy in the late game when most cities are pretty high in population. In the early game it really hurts your economy...

[The Noble Lord]

Extermination is a good strategy in the late game when most cities are pretty high in population. In the early game it really hurts your economy...

That is correct. Its more of a late era strategy.


CHEERS

[Kátz]

and hey. The more guys they are the more tempting it is to exterminate them.

[Calamari]

I found another pitfall with letting a city revolt. I let Corduba revolt and then a had to face down a full stack including 8 units of full experience bull warriors. That wasn't fun.

[htismaqe]

Seems kinda cheap, purposefully letting your cities rebel so that you can exterminate the populace.

That's the one nice thing about hordes in BI and playing as the Goths. Using this "tactic" doesn't work, because letting a city rebel unleashes a horde of Ostrogoths on me.

[Strategist]

To maintain great economic in all cities if you control much simply enslave the big ones. No need for migration because it slows things down a lot and especially making army. And the good thing is the settlements cannot downgrade from lowering pop.

[Saint_jimmyz]

Dont exterminate - enslave! Remember that only cities with governers will receive slaves from slave raids. Exterminating also destroys some buildings (I think - I really dont use it much!), as well as giving your generals bad traits. Unless you like all your generals to have the "Butcher" title!

[Amaranth]

Dont exterminate - enslave! Remember that only cities with governers will receive slaves from slave raids. Exterminating also destroys some buildings (I think - I really dont use it much!), as well as giving your generals bad traits. Unless you like all your generals to have the "Butcher" title!

I actually see "Butcher" and "Bloody" titles as a gift.

But I prefer to Enslave too. It helps your economy to build better in a long run imo.
I exterminate only in these situations;

1. When I capture a large city with a different culture, far away from my capital and has a potential of rebelling in a few turns.

2. If a city rebels and kicks me out the city, I exterminate to make an example of them (rofl).

3. If I really need a money boost immediately.

4. While fighting against an enemy which I detest due to their harrasment with their spies, assasins, bribings and attacks for no reason but just to piss me off.

5. When I get bored. (I usually get bored easily...)

Like the Misfits said;

"Prime directive: Exterminate!
Whatever stands left."

[Saint_jimmyz]

Good answer - you have covered the reasons why almost everyone (except extermination farmers) exterminate settlements. I agree with you here.

[aznflea]

no but you see enslaving only removes like....1/2 of the total pop?

exterminatiopn removes 75% and thats a godsend because

A) theyre almost certain not to rebel when you blitz
B) it gives alot of short term money

early on its all about enslaving or occupation but late game when you get rhodes and a rich region, i find the need to exterminate each city as i march across the country. i cannot stand rebellion. it makes me angry. and besides, i feel like a tyrant when i exterminate.

letting them rebel so i can exterminate them kinda seems contradictory to my likes hahhaha

[Amaranth]

i feel like a tyrant when i exterminate.

Hahaha you are indeed a tyrant my friend

[aznflea]

thank you, i crank up my tax rates to very high in all cities and when they rebewl i enslave them. its fun as hell but detrimental to my economy and progress at the start.

[Saint_jimmyz]

I try and have as stable as possible a start in the campaign. I look to build up my basic economy, perhaps capturing a few rebel provinces, and build up a half-decent army of quality troops before I go to war. To be honest, I set automange taxes on, and jsut leave the AI to it.

[aznflea]

oh no you got me wrong i dont act like a retarded tyrant at the start. a tyrant NEEDS power and at the start you usually dont have that much power.

nevertheless, dont you guys think that extermination farming is a great way to make money late game? enslaving creates MORE public order problems and in the end you spend all your time scrambling peasants every where, creating arenas to satisfy those fools whod dare rebel. i bet you that the upkeep cost of peasants and putting games/races on are much higher than the missed taxes from the extermination.

[Saint_jimmyz]

Only settlements with goveners will gain from slave raids, so I remove govenors from large settlements to prevent that. Largly centralised nations prevents the distance from capital from causing a problem, as my large cities are almost always my initial cities, clsoe to my capital.