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See Casus Belli
Warmongering is a game concept and mechanic in Civilization VI. It represents the diplomatic penalties acquired from engaging in wars and conquering cities.
Mechanics
The concept of warmongering describes the perceived aggression of a leader with respect to the other nations, and as such exclusively affects diplomatic relations with the AI players. Although hardly new (Civilization V: Brave New World already had quite an elaborate system), warmongering in Civilization VI is a much more subtle and well-developed mechanic.
Earning and Losing Warmongering Penalties
Warmongering penalties are represented as a negative score affecting diplomatic relations with each leader you've already met. These penalties are applied under the following circumstances:
- When you declare war. Note that you don't get a penalty if someone declares war on you!
- When you conquer a city and keep it. This penalty may be removed later at the peace negotiations.
- When you conquer a city and raze it. In this case the penalty is tripled (since this is an irreversible action).
- When you negotiate to acquire a city you've conquered after the end of a war. Penalties are applied for each city you acquire.
- When you conquer the last city of a civilization, thus wiping it out.
You'll still get warmonger penalties for conquering cities belonging to a civilization that has declared war on you, although they will be roughly 25% smaller than usual.
There is an interesting twist, related to the new leader agenda system: Gorgo's unique agenda, as well as the random leader agenda Darwinist, disregard warmonger penalties completely! For leaders with these agendas, warmongering is considered a most honorable thing, and worthy of praise, not condemnation! If you happen to have such leaders in your game, you will see no effect on your relations with them no matter how many wars you wage.
You will lose warmonger penalties under the following circumstances:
- Naturally, with the passing of time. Warmonger scores diminish by 1 per turn, starting from the turn after you acquire them, unless you do something that earns another warmonger score.
- When you liberate a city. If you conquer a city which your current adversary had previously wrested from a third party, and then choose the "Liberate" option, you will gain a positive score which will immediately reduce all warmongering penalties you currently have. Not only this, you will get a small positive score with each leader!
- When you negotiate to return a city to its original owner. Whether this happens during peace negotiations or during normal trading, the penalty you earned for conquering this particular city is refunded.
Effects of Eras
In a revolutionary way, Civilization VI ties warmongering penalties acquisition directly to the era you're in. The logic is that in the beginning of civilization everything is wild, and fighting with others is considered a matter of survival, not of aggression. Thus, during the Ancient Era there are no warmonger penalties for any of the above-mentioned actions! (Consequently, there are no bonuses either.) Starting from the Classical Era, however, warmonger penalty scores start accumulating in all cases, and they rise steadily for each subsequent era until the Industrial Era. At that point international diplomacy has evolved to such a point when launching a war without cause is considered barbaric and terrible, and everyone frowns upon it. The warmonger penalties are so huge that they don't need to rise anymore.
Effects of Casus Belli
The new Casus Belli system heavily modifies the circumstances under which penalties are applied. Depending on which Casus Belli is invoked to declare a war, all warmonger penalties are generally reduced by 25-50 percent. There are also some cases in which some or all of the penalties are completely eliminated. In the late game, it is generally advisable to launch only justified wars unless your nation is so militarily dominant it doesn't fear anything in the world.
Warmonger Penalties
The following table provides the warmonger penalties for each era (as applied when declaring a Formal War). These are base values, subject to modification according to the rules described above.
| Era | Declaring war | Capturing a city | Razing a city | Wiping out a civilization |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ancient Era | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Classical Era | 6 | 4 | ? | ? |
| Medieval Era | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Renaissance Era | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Industrial Era | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Modern Era | 24 | 12 | 55 | ? |
| Atomic Era | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Information Era | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Civilopedia Entry
Warmongering is more than just a diplomatic consequence; it can be a state of mind, considered a most honorable thing from a certain point of view. It is believed that a soldier in Napoleon's early days of conquest saw his General and Emperor's constant warmongering to be of righteous cause! There are, however, some stiff penalties for launching a non-justified, or lack of Casus Belli, war.
A player who launches into a non-Casus Belli war (see the section on Casus Belli under Diplomacy) will start to accumulate diplomatic warmongering penalties from other civilizations that player has come in contact with, on top of any war weariness already suffered. Launching a surprise war, capturing opposing civilizations' cities, razing captured cities, and using nuclear devices increases the diplomatic penalty based on what era the player is in.
The other approach is to denounce the opposing civilization first and then declare war formally. With this avenue to war, the warmonger penalties are NOT increased and there is the opportunity to use a Casus Belli to reduce those penalties. However, because you must first denounce your opponent, such a plan is "telegraphed" for the target and you will not have the advantage of surprise.