This is a guide giving you the basics of how to establish a hostile takeover of an enemy city.
This act is known as Conquering. There is a difference between Conquering and Colonization. Please see the bottom of this post for more information on the difference.
After some time of looking through the forums and compiling this data I figured I'd share it and make life easier.
If you have more to add or if I have something wrong please feel free to post and share it so the Guide can be updated.
Your contribution will get you your name added next to it, and +1 rep.
So here's a step by step guide on how conquering works.
Before you get started, please make sure you have the required Culture Level. You start off at Culture Level 2, and thus are able to take 1 extra city. After that, you need 3 Culture Points to get Culture Level 3, 9 Culture Points to get Culture Level 4, and so on. Your Culture level limits how many total cities you can own.(Thanks bAdg3R)[/COLOR]
1. Build a Warehouse and level it up to 11. This is needed for the next step.
2. Build an Academy and level it up to 28. This is required so that you can research Conquest.
3. Upgrade your Warehouse 23. This is required since you need 16000 of one resource to research Conquest. Please note: You can also research Ceramics to gain an extra 2500 storage space. This will save you from having to upgrade the warehouse to 23. (Thanks Fysh)
4. Research Colony Ship and Conquest.
5. Build a Harbor and level it up to 20.
6. Build a Colony Ship. Please note: A population of 170 is required to build the Colony Ship.(Thanks Myddfai) This population is refunded either once the Ship is destroyed or you complete the Conquest. A Colony Ship is required no matter who you're conquering. Even if your target is the city right next to you.
7. Choose a target. It is advised that your target be cleared first. Send in a few military raids to clean out all his military. Please Note: While your target does not need to have a harbor, it is not advisable to attack someone with out it. Why waste a Conquer attempt on someone that isn't too advanced.
8. Attack your target and add your Colony Ship as one of the attackers. This will automatically make it a City Takeover attack. Note: While you are not required to send both a Colony Ship and Transport Boat with troops, it is highly advisable you do so. You don't want your colony ship caught in a battle on it's own.
8. A Colony Ship has a speed of 3 so, this will take a while.
9. Once your forces make it to the enemy city the battle will take place; a naval battle first(your ships against theirs so make sure you have attack ships), if they have a navy, then a land battle, if they have any units left.
10. You now occupy the city. Occupation lasts for 24 hours(12 for gamma); 26.4(13.2 for gamma) if your target has researched Democracy. During this period your army cannot be recalled. Your army is stuck there. Please note that now that there's an occupation the controller of the target city cannot do anything in the city anymore.
In order to view the status of your occupation you simply click on the Mission in your attack Sidebar.
A report will pop up with a breakdown.
11. During the 24(12 for gamma) or 26.4(13.2 for gamma) hours of occupation, any attack on the city is an attack on your occupying troops. Any support to the city is support to your occupying troops. So, if you don't feel confident enough, send more units to support your forces or ask others to help you with support.
PLEASE NOTE: If you are trying to help an ally that is being conquered DO NOT support him after his city has become Occupied since you will now be supporting the occupying army. You have to attack the city. The opposite is also true. So, if you are helping an ally conquer an enemy city DO NOT attack said city after it has been occupied since you will be attacking your ally. You have to support the city then. Attacks and support can be sent before the Colony ship hits. Just make sure that you have your timing correct. If you're helping an ally conquer and your troops will arrive after the Colony ship, send your troops as support.
ANOTHER NOTE: Once you occupy a city, you are the defender. That means if your units are attacked they will be defending. So, if you sent in nothing but offensive units they will be at a HUGE disadvantage. After the initial battle, send in defensive troops to support your conquest. Better yet, clear before sending in your Colony Ship and that way you can send in a few chariots which work as both offense and great defense.
In order to see incoming troops to the city you occupy, you must click on the mission itself in your military activity side bar and then clicking on the second tab in the open report. Here you will see any incoming troops.
Any battles that take place during the occupation will take place as if you were the controller of the city. i.e. You will have the wall on your side.
12. Finally, at the 24(12 for gamma) or 26.4(13.2 for gamma) hour mark, congratulations the city is now yours.
Questions:
* What happens to the person who had the city before it was conquered? The city is lost. If that was the only city that the player had, he must now restart.
* Is the 'Occupied' player able to see exactly what forces are occupying so he/she knows what level of assistance is required and call for help accordingly? Since the 'Occupied' player no longer has control over the city, he is not able to see what forces are occupying his city. He cannot do a thing. (Thanks Serenity)
Please NOTE: However the player will still get a report of all the support sent to the city, so while he may not be able to see the numbers directly he can use the reports. (Thanks Bijou)
* To 'relieve' the occupied city, do you just have to kill the occupying troops, or do you have to destroy the conquering/colony ship? Or both? Technically both.
The colony ship can only be destroyed after the forces defending it have been, basically operating like a Transport ship. 1 Swordsman is enough to stop it from being destroyed.
* My question relates to Gamma world. I have seen a reference to it being at double speed. Will our occupation times be 12 hours instead of 24? Since world Gamma is a x2 World that means that conquering is sped up as well. Instead of taking 24 hours, conquering on gamma world takes 12 hours.
* What happens if you send 2 colony ships? It makes no difference how many colony ships you send.
* What happens if your troops were out farming when the colony ship lands? They get into a battle when they return home.
* What would happen if you wanted to 'time' sending in supporting troops for an ally who was about to conquer a city. So his colony ship hasn't actually arrived yet but you want to send in troops to help. Would you send them as attack or support? Well this depends on how you're trying to help. You can send your troops in earlier, as an attack, to help him clear. Or, you can time them to arrive after, as support, to help him hold the city for the required time. Please Note: Grepolis does not operate on definite times. When attacking and supporting player cities time is approximate. You can see that since there's a ~ in front of the time. So, make sure you allow for that.
* What is the difference between Colonizing and Conquering? Colonizing is the act of establishing a new city at an empty plot. These are marked by a flag with an anchor on it. Conquering is the act of sending a hostile force to a player city and taking it over. Cities that have turned gray(inactive) still require to be conquered.