Pillaging in Civilization 6 can significantly impact your game strategy, offering resources and crippling your opponents. This guide breaks down the tactics for effective pillaging, focusing on the crucial distinctions between pre-wall and post-wall pillaging phases.
Understanding Pillaging Phases
Pre-Wall Pillaging: The Wild West
- Unrestricted Pillaging: In the early game, before cities build walls, pillaging is straightforward. You can attack freely with any unit, targeting mines, farms, and other improvements with little resistance.
- Strategy: Use any unit available to pillage. The focus is on disrupting the enemy’s economy and gathering resources for your civilization.
Post-Wall Pillaging: A Tactical Shift
- Increased Difficulty: Once walls are erected, the dynamics of pillaging change drastically. Walls prioritize targets based on a specific order, making it challenging to pillage without a plan.
- Priority Targets: Walls will attack units in the following order:
- Units they can kill
- Siege units
- Ranged units
- The weakest unit available
Strategic Pillaging Post-Wall
To effectively pillage in the presence of city walls, consider the following tactics:
- Group Movement: Single-unit pillaging becomes inefficient. Instead, move in groups of at least two, ensuring the wall targets the unit you can afford to risk.
- Light Cavalry Advantage: Use light or heavy cavalry with four movements for more effective pillaging, as they are more likely to evade the walls’ attacks.
- Leveraging City-State Levies: Leveraging units from city-state levies, especially on separate continents, can provide a significant advantage due to the increased number of units at your disposal.
Advanced Pillaging Tips
- Utilizing Health and Movement: Ensure your units are strategically positioned, taking into account their health and the walls’ targeting priorities. A unit with half health can lure the wall’s fire away from a more valuable unit pillaging nearby.
- Understanding Wall Mechanics: Knowing how walls prioritize targets allows you to manipulate the battlefield. For example, introducing a ranged unit into the range of walls can protect a melee unit, allowing it to pillage effectively.
- Strategic Unit Placement: Place your units thoughtfully to maximize their pillaging potential while minimizing losses. This includes using the terrain and enemy targeting priorities to your advantage.
Conclusion
Pillaging in Civilization VI requires a blend of strategic planning and understanding of game mechanics, especially when dealing with fortified cities. By employing the tactics outlined above, players can effectively pillage, disrupt their opponents, and secure resources critical for their civilization’s success. Remember, the key to effective pillaging lies in adapting your strategy to the changing dynamics of the game, especially as cities begin to fortify.