When to RAZE and when to KEEP?

[TrailerParkJawa]

In my last game I took 1 small city with a harbor, and 3 large cities from the Zulu. I kept the small city with a harbor because I needed that port to bring in trade.

I usually will keep a large city because my units then get the 100% defense bonus. If I had destroyed the city my guys would have been more vulnerable.

I think there are good arguements for when to raze and when to keep. In my game I had the strongest culture, and most advanced military, but my physical size and population was about 3rd place so taking cities size 8-17 really helped me out.

I did raze some of his small cities though. Especially the annoying size 1-2 cities he sticks on the edge of your empire snagging a colony or resource.

[Bill_in_PDX]

Has anyone looked in detail at the implications of a razing?

I've done it, and had it done to me (which was nice, because we made peace at the end of the turn and I rushed a settler in to reestablish the city, one tile to the left, which was an even better spot...but I digress...)

In my experience, razing has significant effect on your rep diplomatically.

[G.A]

Yup. Diplomatic effects would be nice to know...

Cause in my last game I razed a lot of cities, and then it all ended with China - the only civ, that was "polite" to me (others were annoyed to furious) to sneak attack me, and bring all the others along with alliances... And I was planning to have China as my friend... Though my foreign advisor then kept calling them all "liars and cheats"