I'm sure most of you have noticed by now that cities you conquer are weirdly reduced to zero population. This is probably a bug or a big oversight, but even if the city gets reduced to half I think it is a bad idea, as the defender takes a big hit for possibly a very minor unit positioning error.

Here is my proposition of how conquering cities should work for both the attacker and the defender:

Cities that are conquered lose zero population and come with two options when taken over: Raze or Subjugate (you will have the option to view the city screen before choosing either one)

Razing the city will reduce the population by 5 per unit (not individual figures) present in the city, and grant an ammount of gildar equal to 1 per 2 population as well as 5 gildar per building (the number of buildings destroyed per turn is determined by how long it would take to raze the whole city with the given force). While the city is being razed it produces (and costs) nothing and should the units leave the city, the razing will stop. Each turn the militia has a chance(based on their ability to succeed) to revolt and attack the occupying force. Units lost this way reduce the population and do not contribute to gildar from razing. Should they be successful, or no forces occupy the city, or the defender retakes the city, it will revert back to ownership of the defender with militia in place.

Subjugating the city will halt all growth in the empire for a period of time equal to 1/2 the cities population divided by the empire's prestige. During this time the city will produce nothing and each turn the militia has a chance to revolt (also based on their chance to succeed, but lower than razing). Units lost this way reduce the total population of the city (and potentially the time it takes to subjugate). Maintenance must be paid on all buildings present in the city during this time. Should the defender retake the city, before this time is over it will immediately revert ownership with no loss to production with militia in place. The population ratio will forever change and future subjugation attempts will be appropriately shorter.

Subjugating Multiple Cities will split prestige equally among the affected cities, increasing the above time

Conquered Aftereffects in the city will occur for a set period of time (possibly different by map size) of 20 turns. During this time the city will suffer an additional 20 unrest and militia will not be available. Growth is halted during this phase (but does not subtract from the prestige of other cities). Should the defender retake the city at this point he/she will also suffer these effects until the reverse ammount of time has passed. EI: Attacker takes city for 17 turns, defender needs to hold it for 17 (but only takes it for 10), the attacker retakes the city and now has to hold it for 13 more turns (20-17+10). Holding the city does not require units to be present.

Fully Subjugated Cities have their unrest penalty removed, a full regiment of militia restored and force the previous defender to go through the same process to re-acquire or raze the city (though probably much easier given the ratio of population).

Addressing potential querks:

Razing your own cities for gildar profit should either be impossible (you cannot raze your own cities) or come with a hefty -permanent- prestige penalty.

Build queues are greyed out while razing or subjugating a city, preventing the player from demolishing buildings

Razed buildings are selected from the farthest congruitious location, working their way inward.

Multiple races vying for control: If a third conquerer attempts to raze or subjugate a city with more than one population type, population from each side is reduced by an ammount of each according to their current ratio. The ending ratio to subjugate the city must always be 50% of the conquering empire's population

Same races vying for control: In a game where you have more than one of the same faction, this can be handled either by 'instant take-overs' or by attributing a unique race to the player(s) regardless of faction.

Growth of a conquered city increases by only the conquering empire's race.

Hopefully I covered everything (coffee helps!) Let me know what you think.