Harald Hardrada was the king of Norway during the 11 century and was also a distinguished member of the Varangian Guard. He was the last Viking king of Norway who attempted to invade and conquer England shortly before the Normans triumphed at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Harald Hardrada (Konge) is one of the leaders of Norway in Civilization 6 you can select to play as. He is a militaristic Viking leader proficient in the art of naval warfare in Sid Meier’s Civilization 6.
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Harald’s Unique Bonuses: Thunderbolt of the North and Knarr
Harald’s unique leader bonus is Thunderbolt of the North. This bonus reduces the production time of melee naval units by 50 percent. It also enables all your melee naval units to make coastal raids for plundering resources from the sea when playing with Harald of Norway in Civilization 6.
A Norwegian city’s production panel
Knarr is the unique civ ability for Norway in Civilization 6. This enables you to enter ocean tiles with your ships sooner by unlocking the Shipbuilding technology. It eliminates movement costs for disembarking and embarking units. Knarr also enables the healing of naval melee units in neutral territory.
Harald’s Unique Units: Berserker and Viking Longship
Harald of Norway in Civilization 6 has two unique military units for you to play with. Berserker is a unique Norwegian Medieval unit that replaces Man-at-Arms. It has a base melee attack rating of 48, but a +10 combat bonus when attacking other units increases that to 58. This unit also has an additional +5 combat strength bonus against anti-cavalry units. However, Berserker has a -5 combat strength penalty when defending against melee attacks.
Viking Longship is a unique naval unit you can deploy when playing with Harald (Konge) of Norway in Civilization 6. This is an early-game melee naval unit that replaces the Galley. The Viking Longship has a 35 melee rating and is cheaper to build than the Galley it replaces. It also has a +1 movement bonus in coastal waters and ignores enemy zones of control.
A Viking Longship unit
Harald’s Unique Infrastructure: Stave Church
Stave Church is a unique religious building for Norway in Civilization 6 that replaces the Temple. This building increases a Holy Site district’s woods adjacency bonus to 1.5 faith when built. It also provides a +1 production bonus for each coastal resource within its city’s territory.
The Stave Church
How to Win With King Harald of Norway in Civilization 6
As a leader with two unique units and bonuses that strengthen his naval military, Domination Victory is the victory condition Herald is best suited to. Naval warfare should be at the heart of your strategy when playing with Norway in Civilization 6. So, select an island-oriented map like Island Plates or Small Continents that includes more sea and coastlines for naval warfare when setting up a game. Avoid maps like Continents or Terra that will more likely restrict you to land-based warfare.
The Island Plates map selection
Try establishing all, or most, of your cities on the coastline when playing with Norway in Civilization 6. This will enable you to produce naval units in most of your settlements. Establishing settlements near many coastal resources will also enable you to boost production in cities with the unique Stave Church.
Research the Sailing and Shipbuilding technologies ASAP so you can enter ocean tiles and explore the map faster than other civilizations. Then build one or two unique Viking Longship units for map exploration. This will enable you to discover new lands for settlements before other civilizations find them, facilitating faster, peaceful early-game expansion when playing with Norway in Civilization 6.
The Sailing technology
Recruit more naval melee ships than you might usually do when playing with Norway in Civilization 6. The 50% production bonus for recruiting such ships will enable you to expand your naval military quicker than other civilizations. You can then deploy your naval melee units to attack and capture coastal cities with support from siege units. Perform coastal raids often and regularly with your Norwegian warships.
You can make your Norwegian navy even better with certain military policy cards. Select policies like Maritime Industries, Press Gangs, and International Wars to increase Norway’s naval production advantage in different eras. You can also increase yields gained from your Norwegian coastal raids by 100 percent by selecting the Total War policy.
The International Waters policy card
Make the most of the Berserker unit to further enhance your military conquests with Norway in Civilization 6 during the Medieval Era. This unit’s +10 attack bonus can give you a decisive advantage against enemies, but only when attacking. So, go on the attack with this unit as much as possible rather than let enemies attack it by fortifying it.
Science is an alternative victory condition worth going for when playing with Norway in Civilization 6. The production bonuses from coastal resources can help you make your cities more productive for building Spaceport districts and completing space race projects. Build Holy Site districts and Stave Churches in cities with more coastal resources to give them a production boost for the space race.
A Norwegian Destroyer unit and Coastal Raid option
Coastal raiding can also support your scientific victory aspirations during wars when playing with Norway in Civilization 6. Raid all science districts you along enemy coastlines to steal yields from them, boosting your research. This tactic will accelerate your science research, enabling you to unlock the required technologies for winning a space race faster.
Overall, Harald Hardrada (Konge) of Norway in Civilization 6 is one of the game’s foremost maritime powers. Utilize his naval might to crush enemies to secure a Domination Victory like a true Viking warrior. Or play for the Science Victory by coastal raiding districts for science yields and building Stave Churches to increase city productivity.
