Tall Scorched Earth

A new strategic doctrine for empires that prefer to break their rivals rather than absorb them.

Stellaris rewards swallowing the galaxy whole. This mod adds a war option for the empire that would rather see its enemies fragment.

A new policy, Scorched Earth Tactics, adds an alternative to standard occupation:

• Empty systems you capture are razed to neutral, unclaimed space. The starbase is destroyed, and the system reverts to the wilds – yours to ignore, settle later, or leave as a buffer.
• Populated systems you capture become brand-new independent tributary states, seeded from the conquered population. They pay you, they’re locked into your sphere, but they aren’t your problem to administer.

The vanilla "absorb everything you touch" pattern is still the default. Toggle the policy on when you want to play tall, balkanize a rival, or run a punitive war that doesn’t grow your empire to ungovernable size.

1. Open the Policies tab on your empire screen.
2. Find Scorched Earth Tactics.
3. Switch from Standard Occupation to Raze & Balkanize.
4. Go to war. Your captured systems will now follow the new doctrine.

You can switch the policy on and off freely between conquests.

• Game version: Stellaris 4.3.3
• Save compatible: Yes – can be added to existing campaigns. Removing mid-campaign is not recommended.
• Conflicts: None known. Should play nicely with most overhaul and balance mods. Mods that heavily rewrite war/occupation mechanics may interact in unexpected ways.
• Ironman: Disables achievements (as with all mods).

English, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish.

Bug reports and balance feedback welcome in the comments. If something fires when it shouldn’t or doesn’t fire when it should, attaching your error.log (in Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/logs/) helps a lot.

Thanks for playing.

For bug reports, balance feedback, compatibility notes, screenshots, and mod discussion, join the First Strike Division Discord:
https://discord.gg/ZGMuVA64z5

If you enjoy my Stellaris mods and want to support future updates, you can leave a tip on Ko-fi. It is completely optional, but always appreciated:
https://ko-fi.com/excelsiorone

If you like this one, you may also want to check my other Stellaris mods:

• Establish Embassy Auto Accept – automatically accepts valid incoming embassy proposals.
• Logistical Convoys – supply convoys, pirate ambushes, and living imperial logistics.
• Post Survey Discoveries – extra discoveries and events after systems are surveyed.