Elizabeth I is one of the newest editions to the Civilization VI landscape. She empowers England with her potent trade routes, and dedication to mastering the seas! Using her ability to get a Great Admiral early by owning two trade routes. It becomes apparent that she is willing to conquer her enemies through cannon and sail! As an empire built through its wealth and military engineering, Elizabeth works hand and hand with her people in order to create a grand industrial empire. While Elizabeth herself is one of the newest additions to the country in her current state, she has down points. Remember her strength lies in her people, so the better they are industrially, the stronger England becomes!
The English are, in effect one of the most potent nations offered in Civilization VI. With four choices of leaders, packed full of powerful female role models, England is a powerful military and political force. As the Workshop Of The World, this nation masters industry and sea no matter who you choose. While Eleanor of Aquitaine and Victoria are great at political prowess, Elizabeth offers significantly sharper teeth. Either getting the specialized Sea Dog, or the Red Coat, this nation can wage war on land or at sea depending on the queen you choose!
Leader Basics – Elizabeth I
When it comes to the way Elizabeth I handles her nation, she enjoys trading empires, and maritime superiority. It can’t be understated that she is a queen who holds strong political favor as well as military numbers to protect herself. Gaining Grand Admirals with two trade routes allows her to quickly rule the seas, and explore the world at large. She is suited better to maps with water to exploit, and other nations nearby she can trade with. Finally, Elizabeth, as an English ruler has exceptional technological might regarding warfare. Having access to military engineers that are far more potent due to mining bonuses.
Drake’s Legacy
What makes Elizabeth I one of the most powerful commerce leaders available to England is her Drake’s Legacy leader bonus. Once you acquire your first Great Admiral, give your nation two extra trade routes. Additionally, trade routes gain three extra gold for every specialty district in its origin city. This can be a potent means of not only financing the military you’ll need to protect your nation but also empowering the people who owe loyalty to you. Finally, plundering other trade routes has a 100% yield bonus as Elizabeth I for aggressive trade halting.
Leader Strategy – Trade Empire
Elizabeth I’s best strategy is to run a trade empire with naval vessels as protection for them. You’ll be able to use Sea Dogs as escorts for intercontinental relations, as well as keep your empire thriving with specialty districts. To maximize her abilities build cities with as many districts as possible before moving on to a new city, and always build trade routes inside them. Commerce centers and markets can be a great way of exploiting her bonuses when it comes to gold production. It’s important to remember that empires that focus on gold production are essentially able to complete any objective with pure capital. In this way, Elizabeth I thrived, being one of the richest leaders in Civilization VI.
Elizabeth I
Leader Religion – Protestantism
One of the flavor pieces for Elizabeth I’s lore is that she is Protestant by religion, allowing her people to gain extra bonuses with meeting houses. Though these buildings are not specific to Protestantism, they serve to act as the focal point of the religion itself. Religion does not affect what you choose, but for a true start, it adds just a bit more immersion to her background. Due to these religious ties, Elizabeth I will have a better time negotiating trade with other Protestant leaders, allowing for a great alliance of diplomatic nations early on!
Leader Agenda – Trade Agreements
Due to the fact that Elizabeth I is the queen of trading, she has an agenda that likewise helps with these ambitions. She will naturally strive to have as many trading routes as possible, attempting to make as many trading agreements as possible. Once these have been accomplished she can often be seen building up these alliances for mutual wealth. On the flip side of this, however, she does not tolerate other trading empires who fail to send their trade convoys in her direction. For this reason, she is a fairly easygoing leader but despises isolationism.
Special units – Enhanced Great Admirals
One of the important aspects of Elizabeth I’s power is her ability to exploit the Great Admiral. Any time she acquires her first Great Admiral, she will get two trade routes to accompany them. This allows her empire to expand very quickly early on as a trading expedition. Otherwise, she lacks any specific units under her own banner; the Sea Dog is a unique unit of England itself. Though she lacks these unique units off the bat, her ability to enhance the effects of the Great Admiral ensures that she will be a viable choice for any maritime playthrough!
Great Admirals and Harbors
Country Basics – English
The English are one of the central powers of Europe, seated as an industrial and naval empire. While preferring a nuanced and diplomatic approach to the world, England has zero issues commanding by the sword! Steeped with resources, and surrounded by water, England holds the ability to protect itself from many threats, while amassing giant armies. As the workshop of the world, England can be a mighty ally, and a violent enemy to behold! Through their specialized dockyards and unique sea dog units, England can explore the world like no other!
Other Leader Variants – Queens of England
There are three famous queens from history available for play when choosing England. Victoria may be picked in both the Age of Empire and in the Age of Steam; being two variants in herself. Elanor of Quaitaine provides an English variant that is strong for diplomatic playthroughs. Elizabeth I serves as the third available member of the English monarchy. All three of these individuals are powerful figures in women’s history, and accomplished a showcase of England’s might through diplomacy, and war! Each offers players a different approach, with unique bonuses, units, and resources for England to try. No matter which you pick, you will bring the glory of the crown to your enemies and create an empire!
Civilization Abilities
English offers two unique abilities. These are the British Museums and Workshops of the World. Both are unique in the way that they offer bonuses that are not common to most other civilizations in Europe. These equate to being able to hold more artifacts, as well as building more archaeologists! This is great for culture playthroughs, and can provide the user with a vast amount of tourism! Workshop of the World allows iron and coal mines to produce extra resources. Additionally, production for military engineers is doubled, and they have two extra building charges. Finally, this ability grants a bonus to industrial zone production, and grants ten strategic stockpiles per harbor you hold!
England’s Civilization Bonuses
Unique Units – Sea Dog
The unique unit offered to England comes in the form of Sea Dogs. Fast, agile, and hard-hitting, these ranged naval units are perfect for any occasion. One of the best assets of Sea Dogs is their ability to capture enemy units; allowing for a large naval military to be acquired quickly. While this ability does not work on barbarians, it is notable that they ignore zones of control and are able to be invisible to most units. These unique units have a range of two and work best for ambush bombardments rather than frontal engagements. Make sure to always capture enemy vessels in order to replenish a conquering force depleted by armed engagements.
Seadogs will replace the Privateer unit and are unlocked by mercantilism. These units have a production cost of 280 and a gold cost of 1120. The upkeep is four gold per turn. However, these units have some key advantages. With a movement of four and a melee of 40, they are great for harassment. With a ranged strength of 55, they are perfect for bombardments and softening targets. Fortunately, they are not made obsolete until Telecommunications, making them perfect for long-term merchant empires! Getting these ships early requires good culture build-ups, but pays off in the long run as they can easily decimate most ships in their class!
Any English run needs to include the Royal Navy Dockyards. It’s hard to replicate in other nations because it’s the unique infrastructure of the civilization. You can turn your empire into a global powerhouse with a lower production cost and increased movement speed per turn! Additionally, these dockyards produce more gold and food per citizen than traditional harbors, both domestically and internationally. The Royal Dock Yards unlock the ability to build lighthouses, shipyards, and seaports, as well as the Harbor Shipping project!
Royal Navy Dockyards
These unique pieces of infrastructure require England to acquire Celestial Navigation as a civic, allowing them to build the standard harbor. They give great admiral points per turn, as well as general income when adjacent to coastal and district tiles. Additionally, these dockyards add another trade route to your overall capacity, making England a merchant empire! For each Royal Dock Yard, you need 27 production points, and the yield scales with the number of citizens! In order for your nation to maintain adequate trade with itself and its neighbors, every coastal city should have this infrastructure.
Location Bonuses – England
Due to the nature of the body of water around it, England is able to maintain protection from land units. As well as providing a good sense of isolation from the rest of the world, it’s also good for shipping and harbors. As a result, there’s usually a lot of fishing and general resources to be acquired through the seas. Throughout history, England has enjoyed these natural protections as a way to hold a seat of power in the world. You can do the same in Civilization VI by exploiting these seas.
Leader Strategy – Merchant Queen
One of the most important aspects of Elizabeth I is that she’s a potent naval leader. That being said, you can use her skills in conjunction with England’s unique Royal Navy Dockyards to build a lot of long-term trade deals. With a powerful fleet and shipping lanes, you’ll be able to control the world as Policemen of the seas, and explorers of the mysterious! Only question is, where will these forces be most useful as your empire falls into place over the tumultuous seas of change?
Rulers of England Showcase
Strengths – Maritime Merchants
Elizabeth I’s true strength lies in her ability to maintain a powerful maritime empire. If you create as many Sea Dogs and Royal Navy Dockyards as possible, you’ll be able to exploit more merchant routes. Keeping these trade routes open will allow you to fund the upkeep of these ships and defend yourself and your allies. Keep a fair amount of ships for defensive and offensive purposes, since it can take a while to travel from one ocean to another. This creates a great opportunity for making as many coastal cities as possible to maximize ship production!
Weaknesses – Expensive Entourage
Though the English are one of the most well-oiled naval machines available to you in Civilization VI, they are far from cheap to fund. You can’t expand your empire early on with an elite military force because it’s expensive. Without trading, England falls apart quickly, so you’ll always have to pick between new routes and other vital resource building. She also lacks specific infrastructure or units that are hers, underwhelming her compared to other English queens.
Military Tactics
When it comes to wielding the military banners of England, Elizabeth I does so through overwhelming bombardments. Using the special nature of Seadogs, England can capture ships and break their motherland against overwhelming odds. This can be achieved by ambushing enemy troops and amassing these troops before sending them back to their native harbors. By using these ranged bombardments through seadogs, you’ll be able to break any engagement quickly, devouring whatever remains. Setting up as many coastal defenses as possible will improve your odds of defense as time goes on.
Sea Dog vs Missile Carrier Stats
Trading/ Politics
When trading and interacting in the political world, remember Elizabeth I’s nation has some of the most powerful trading bonuses. By upgrading your harbor, you gain powerful trade routes, and her civilization offers the workshop of the world to their allies. Fuel is expensive in this nation, so you’ll need as many trading routes as possible to buy and sell goods. Don’t be afraid to expand your efforts in order to make sure you thrive. In the scope of the global markets, England can dominate through goods, and through shipping lanes; so use them to their utmost advantage!
Merchant Queen
Elizabeth I offers players a chance to dominate a game through commerce and naval exploration; something that goes to show the depth of Civilization VI’s core mechanics. It’s not just a matter of ruling the world when playing English; it is a matter of understanding the global markets at hand. No matter the mode you play in, or the start you’re given, Elizabeth I gives a sense of wonderment and pride to the English people. Taking root as a great Queen of history, Elizabeth I leads her people to victory! No matter if it is through sails, or through trade; may the banner of England wave for all to see.
