Old but important question re: population

[SirGrotius]

With BI in mind (same factors as RTW, but now religion as well), what is best to:

Occupy

Enslave

or Exterminate

I'm finding it hard to generate cash flow, and I'm wondering if it's because I put my conquered cities to the sword and therefore have few people to tax.

How does one determine what to do?

Thanks

[Oaty]

Just ask yourself, Do you need this town to be populated/ do you need pop boosts in other towns/ do you have the troop power to occupy this settlement/ Do you need the cash badly/ do I need this city to grow to the next level.

when you answer those, the answer that has the highest priority should tell you what you need to do.

[Reenk Roink]

Yep, It really depends on you situation.

If you are desprately in need of some quick cash, or you have just captured an extremely large city which will have squalor and culture penalties through the roof, then exterminate.

If you capture a very large city which will have high penalties, but don't really need cash immediately, then enslave, as it distributes population to your other cities.

If you capture a small city, then occupy, and build it up.

The main factors when deciding what to do are:

Do I have a large enough garrison to keep public order for the city, and even if I do, will I be using the army to do something else?

Do I need cash fast?

Do I need my other cities to grow?

EDIT: Gah, I didn't see oaty's answer...

[Slicendice]

Exterminate always. They grow back and they have a population boom which gives a happiness bonus and increases rate at which population grows back. You also do not have to garrison as many troops there. The more troops you garrison the more per turn you pay for those troops' annual maintenance fee.

Enslaving is fine but it doesn't remove enough citizens IMO. The city may still riot due to unrest and culture shock. Better to exterminate them and move on more quickly. Also enslaving is terribly tedious. I have to go around moving generals into and out of cities and this takes a long time. Too bad the game doesn't have a little box to click to receive slaves. Putting generals into a city is just busy work and not why I play a computer game.

Occupy? Well I only occupy if I want to make sure the population is unhurt and no buildings are damaged. For instance if I go horde but then want to retake my home city and keep most of the rest of my armies? Then I occupy. There will still be unrest but since I plan on staying there awhile it doesn't matter.

As an aside: Going horde in the first turn means you get extra generals immediately as well as enough armies to defend or deter other oncoming hordes. Occupying your home city often puts you at the population limit for moving to the next level of city. In the case of Sarmatians this means you will be able to build Boshporan infantry which are essential to defeating other hordes.

[SirGrotius]

Very interesting, it does seem as though exterminating would be the most common method of expansion (as counter intuitive as it that may sound).

I can think of a few instances, however, where I might want to enslave.

Will those dispersed people keep their alien culture and religion? E.g. I take Rome as the Alemanni, will dispersing their people send Christians to my other cities or will the game just assimilate them automatically?

[Oaty]

The people don't matter the buildings do in that situation. The people in the city will follow the culture/religion that the buildings dictate. So if you are 100 percent christian in every city an you enslave a pagan town. Boom they automatically become christians in the towns they go to.