Units

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Types of Units[]

Civilian units are those that have no immediate military use (can't attack) and perform a wide range of useful activities, from constructing improvements to founding cities. Civilian units are often expended after performing their duties, especially if they are Great People. Also, all civilian units can be instantly destroyed, or even captured by any enemy military unit which moves into their tile.

There are several types of military units, which are often referred to in other articles:

Land units. These are all units which are designed to act on land. Once the Fishing technology is researched, they can enter water tiles through the process of Embarkation. While embarked, land units use transport ships to move across water. In this state they can't attack (unless they attack a land tile), and are themselves very vulnerable to attack. Certain abilities can diminish this vulnerability.
Naval units or Ships. These are the units native to water tiles. They can only be built in coastal cities, and can only move on water tiles. Ranged naval units may attack units on the land, though.
Melee units. All those units which can only attack in melee - that is, units in tiles adjacent to them. They can be both land and naval. See also Melee combat.
Archery or Ranged units. All those units that have ranged attack capabilities (can fire on units from several squares distance). They can be both land and naval. See also Ranged combat.
Siege units or weapons. These are land units specifically designed to attack cities. All of them have an attack bonus against cities and a penalty against land units, except for the Hwach'a. All siege units, except Rocket Artillery, suffer a movement penalty in enemy territory and do not need to set up before attacking.
Mounted units. These are highly mobile land units, specializing in hit-and-run attacks. A common trait of theirs is the ability to move after attacking.
Gunpowder units. These are middle and late-game land units, armed with guns. They are essentially modern melee units, replacing the melee units of earlier eras.
Armored units. Late-game mobile land units. They are the practical successors of mounted units.
Air units. These are late-game units that are able to fly. These units are essentially melee units which are able to move through the air. See also Air combat.
Bomb units. These are powerful late-game units. They explode when used to attack, meaning that they can only be used once.