Whether it be through the power of your military, or the worth of your voice, there’s always something to find in Civilization VI. Through powerful armies both on land and at sea, a nation can destroy any force that comes against them. Due to the nature of city walls and standing armies, it’s important to know the basics of how each unit type works. Some are simple in their use such as basic melee and ranged units, but others like siege armies are more difficult to use.
Of course, besides the standing armies that can fight, Civilization VI holds a multitude of support units that can help you keep armies quick and effective. From medical units and drones to generals and supply trucks, there’s no end to the firepower that can support your units. These non-combatants will increase the method of survival necessary to not only conquer nearby cities but countries abroad as well.
Importance of Ground Armies
Ground Armies are essential twofold, firstly for an offensive purpose as well as a defensive one. As an offensive use, armies can attack enemies and scout out the outer reaches. Armies in a transient state can cover a wide amount of groups with a lot of firepower. Defensively, armies can keep barbarians and enemy forces out of your nations and deff simple garrisons. Garrisons are by far the most useful function of a defensive army as they build measures against invasion and offer an extra attack wit Protecting trade routes and builders allow armies to find use outside of simple garrisons. defensive tactics!
Large militaries with diverse units
Even in games where there isn’t a need for large military forces, at least one ranged unit per city built ensures protection against minor attacks. Your military does not need to be larger than the scope of your martial needs. Remember that large militaries will host large upkeep costs which can easily bog your empire down. Reserve armies and smaller offensive parties work best in most circumstances, especially early games. Even as a militaristic leader, the best thing you can remember as a player is that timing is key in a land war!
Basic Unit Types
Several types of land units can be found throughout Civilization Six. Due to its expensive nature, some units fit certain scenarios and conditions better than others. As a leader, it’s important to know which will be more effective than others to not lose a financial war. These units can be broken up into two main categories, military units, and support personnel. Both types will allow your armies to overwhelm and overcome any situation brought against them.
Military Units
Military units include basic melee, ranged, and scout units. These will from an early on standard help defend your nation from barbarians and scout out the surrounding area. From there faster units Include cavalry of several varieties and siege units. Being more specialized, these units are better in the hands of experienced players, or when putting their strengths directly against weaker armies! While each of these units has its unique uses for an army’s overall function, none of them can operate on their own, especially in land warfare. For mobile armies, you can supplement melee units with cavalry units that have melee potential. In both cases, you require ranged units to soften targets before they attack. Both unit types require siege weaponry to take cities and walls, making it essential to keep your armies diverse!
Defensive tactics and garrisons make for great defensive potential
Recon
Despite their general attack power is low, recon units can be quite the asset to any military warfare in question. Acting as the trailblazers for your offenses, and keeping an eye on the enemy, recon can provide you with key intelligence. Early on these units can be used in the form of scouts to take villages and find your neighbors. Into the medieval era, skirmishers allowed for harassment of other scouts as well as cavalry. Their uniqueness as rangers in the industrial age allows scouts to move over difficult terrain with ease. Finally, as Spec Ops in the modern age, recon units can serve as small assassination squads and spy removers.
As the recon class expands with your nation, there will be a need to upgrade them through small-scale conflicts or finding villages. Recon units are cheap and effective early game, though slowly diminish in purpose as cavalry becomes available. Spec ops and rangers are useful back-line combatants that can hold their own in a fight, but not for long. They should be employed in sparse quantity, taking away from more aggressive units you could acquire like cavalry or artillery.
Melee
Acting as one of the two main fighting forces of most conventional armies, melee units are durable and strong in a fight! From the beginning of the game, until its end, your nation will rely on melee soldiers as garrisons and foot soldiers in wars to come! They are both some of the strongest and slowest units in the base game, valuing group strategy and immediate response. A good use of melee units is to act as a front guard, or shield for your ranged units; and through combined arms attacking a single unit multiple times. Melee make great units against other armies, though lose their value during sieges of walled cities. For that reason, it’s important to pair melee troops with units like siege engines to maximize their effectiveness.
Being one of the first major units you’ll acquire, warriors allow you to harass neighbors and defend from barbarian attacks and are perfect for land warfare. These basic melee troops allow cities to gain extra defense through garrisons, essential for peaceful playthroughs. In the classical era swordsmen act as more aggressive melee units with added movement and damage. Man-at-arms, musket man, and line infantry act as improvements to the melee class that works especially well with siege units and ranged assets. Around this time, the use of medics and recon balloons greatly impacted the effectiveness of melee soldiers against cities. Infantry and Mechanized infantry turn standard melee troops into tankier more aggressive units that hold a great deal of mobility. At this stage, melee units closely resemble and act like cavalry, making great defensive garrisons!
Ranged
Civilization VI tends to favor ranged combat when it comes to massive engagements. For this reason, it’s important to utilize as many ranged assets as humanly possible. These mid-to-rear-line assault units are capable of attacking the enemy in coordinated volleys. These volleys are capable of wiping out cities and defenders quickly and efficiently, making them perfect for all fields of battle. Defensively, garrisoning ranged units can provide cities with additional attacks per turn against aggressors. For this reason, ranged military units should find their way into any military strategy as there are few situations where they aren’t useful.
Ranged units start as the humble slinger; a unit that will fight alongside your warriors on the front lines with their limited range but make great units for early warfare. When upgraded to archers they become more effective as back line fighters opening your army up for flanking with melee. In the medieval period, crossbowmen allowed for powerful ranged garrisons that sacrificed speed for physical damage. Field cannons and machine gunners are essential defenders as well as strong city breakers. These units are especially deadly when mixed with cavalry that can defend them from enemy attacking units, essential for effective land warfare. While machine gunners are the final state of ranged units, they are the most mobile and versatile of the group. Lines of ranged units can decimate enemies quickly, especially when guarded by cavalry or melee units. For this reason, they make perfect rear-to-center guard forces during any war!
Ranged armies
Cavalry
Cavalry is expensive, aggressive, and specialized. There are three different types of mounted units: ranged cavalry, light cavalry, and heavy cavalry. Buying ranged cavalry from barbarians will give you one of their ranged units. The light cavalry is better at scouting and harassing because they’re fast and less durable. Designed to deal damage to cities and defenders, heavy cavalry is great at melee combat. Cavalry can break enemy lines and mop up resistance in any army. Despite their speed, they’re expensive and require horses. A cavalry charge can also be broken by anti-cavalry units.
Barbarian horsemen are the only ranged cavalry units in the game, able to be acquired through trading with barbarian camps. These units are effective for ranged warfare, but die easily, becoming more of a burden beyond the medieval period. Light cavalry include horsemen, coursers, and cavalry which are key for harassment strategies. These units make great scouts but don’t deal a lot of damage for what they are. Helicopters on the other hand deal tremendous damage and act as great flanking units once acquired.
Heavy cavalry comes in the earliest forms of heavy chariots, knights, and cuirassiers. These units are expensive but effective at combating other armies when the going gets rough. Tanks and Modern armor act as powerful siege units and are great for attacking cities and armies alike. Cavalry can become overwhelming quickly, though should be used in limited demand due to its price. A cavalry army is expensive, though gets results fast; making them a catch twenty-two to any resource-heavy game.
Cavalry are fast moving deadly units
Anti-Cavalry
An army’s anti-cavalry is one of its most important assets. There are tons of cavalry units in Civilization VI, so these units will protect you from a quick hard attack. In land warfare with cavalry, anti-cavalry behaves like melee units. This bonus lets leaders use these special units in a general role without worrying about how they should be used. When mounted units appear, these anti-cavalrymen should be pulled out of melee and used to repel advances!
When dealing with armies that use mounted fighters early on, the simple spearmen and pikeman can make key defenders during a defensive war. These units become even more effective when made into a pike and shot as they become beefier as well as more mobile. AT crews and Modern AT is great garrisoned units during sieges with tanks and modern armor due to their bonuses against cavalry. Anti-Cavalry are fast and stout units that sacrifice damage for the ability to hit more times in their life! They move quickly, and can greatly interrupt the enemy if they try to break your lines!
Siege Engines
One of the most effective means of tearing down fortifications and cities is through siege engines! These weapons of war are designed specifically to break down the things that slow a campaign down. From defensive districts and city walls to barricades and minefields; siege engines are amazing for the time they save. Unfortunately, siege engines should be avoided in army versus army campaigns as they become susceptible to damage easily. These units effectively favor speed and very high damage over defensibility though make great defenders in certain cases!
When besieging cities make sure you bring a large diverse force rather than one singular type of unit
Catapults and Trebuchets are by far one of the most effective means in siege warfare for breaking early city walls. These high-damage weapons have significant range and acted like heavy cannons in a time before their existence. Beyond them, bombards and artillery are great support firepower for both city walls and defending armies. Their aggressive range and stopping power is key for speeding up the path to victory, especially during a timed game! Rocket artillery serves as some of the longest-ranged land units in the game and deals devastating damage to whatever it’s used against. These end-stage siege weapons can carry coveted nuclear devices, making them key for victory!
Giant Death Robot
Towards the end of the technological tree lies a treat for those who make it there. The ability to construct Giant Death Robots in futuristic warfare is sure to make any comic book nerd happy, as their damage is just as impressive. These effective all-purpose war machines are not only powerful but act as every class in the game simultaneously. There are few things better than these giant death robots, though in Civilization VI what else could we expect? They make both excellent aggressors as well as perfect defenders. Each being armed with disintegration cannons and missiles!
Support Units
Any military needs support units to replenish them and upgrade their mobility. Unlike conventional land warfare units, these units stay out of combat or destroy targets that can’t be destroyed by normal land units. It’s great to have support to boost your health, strength, and speed on land units, but you should use them in accordance with how you want to navigate the terrain. So long as they’re implemented correctly, short-term engagements and long-term campaigns can both benefit from support.
Support units
Support units can be found in a variety of places with bonuses to basic combat, sieging, anti-air defenses, event modes like the apocalypse, and even in secret societies! The no more coveted unit exists in the support tree, however, quite like the military engineer! These units are immensely powerful in their own right, able to advance the field of battle quickly and efficiently. From hot air balloons and drones to convoys and battering rams, they will drive your nation to victory!
Land Support
The use of land support units can greatly benefit any army no matter how diverse it is! From the use of medics and supply convoys to battering rams and siege towers, their general purpose can’t be undermined to keep warfare as oiled as possible. a well-rounded army with at least one of each of these units can keep itself running more effectively, and more fluently. Battering rams and siege towers act as a vital means of increasing damage for units during sieges. Both interact with melee and ranged units, undermining the effects of a walled city. Medics and supply convoys allow for units to heal during and after a conflict more effectively. When combined, it greatly reduces the strain on your forces during sieges and army conflicts, leading to far fewer casualties.
Siege Engine Support
The use of observation balloons and Drones can greatly increase the damage to siege engines. Generally, these units will be needed to break down walls and fortifications quickly. Damage added by Aerial support allows for siege engines to do their job swiftly, and with more range. Drones and air balloons have heightened movement which allows them to be excellent scouts outside of combat! These units should be used as much as possible during large-scale sieges and can serve recon purposes outside of sieges as a good action economy.
Anti-Air Support
Support that is key for later game interactions come in the form of anti-air guns and SAM turrets. These weapons are instrumental in countering fighter jets and bombers that might try to destroy your empire through bombing warfare. On the off chance your enemies try to counter your forces through air power, these support weapons ensure sure jets scramble off. Sam turrets act as a great way to negate the effects of air units as they can be difficult to destroy otherwise. Both offensively and defensively, these support units are essential to stop one of the quickest means of ending an empire, nuclear warheads.
Military Engineers
An army can benefit greatly from having a Military Engineer unit. They build missile silos, airstrips, and defensive structures to extend your military’s reach. Considering that, several of these are needed to build some of the more powerful structures. In order to maintain these goals, these engineers are incredibly important. No military can operate without good warfare infrastructure. So, they need to be protected since they can be sacked like other builders.
Diversified Armies
No matter how you choose to build your military, it’s important to diversify the number of units you use. A mixture of ranged and melee units, speed and defense; support and aggression, they are all required for the power to conquer the world. Though land forces will do you well, remember through combined arms, victory is guaranteed no matter what warfare you go for! There is no right or wrong answer, as trial and error are the best friends of any successful ruler. Civilization VI is a game of immense strategy and luck, so by bringing both to the table, you’re sure to succeed!
