Air combat (Civ6)

Back to the Combat article

As usual, air combat is the most thrilling type of combat in the game. Who doesn't look to the skies as the next frontier? However, air combat doesn't happen until late in the Modern Era, when civilizations have researched the Flight technology and managed to construct the necessary infrastructure to support air units.

What is an air unit?

Air units (aka 'Airplanes' or 'Aircraft') are those units native to the sky, who perform their battle functions in, or from the sky. In most cases air units actually attack ground targets, but they do it from the air. Unlike Civilization V where air attacks were considered melee, and caused retaliation damage, in Civilization VI all air attacks are Ranged (that is, the attacking plane doesn't suffer damage in return, unless Intercepted).

Air units fly freely above any type of terrain, including Mountains and Ice (which are otherwise Impassable). They are the only class of units in the game capable of doing so.

Note that the Helicopter is not an air unit! Because it has to fly much closer to the ground, the Helicopter is considered a land unit, and must Embark like any other land unit to move through water. It also cannot pass over Mountains, as in previous games.

Building air units

Air units may only be built in a special District - the Aerodrome. All but the earliest unit, the Biplane, require the Aluminum Strategic resource.

Aerodromes should be well - situated, because they are also the most important bases for airplanes. You should try to build them in cities with high Production, because airplanes are quite costly. You should also try to build them close to areas where you expect combat to occur at some point. And, of course, the Aerodrome will allow you to Airlift land units later in the game - you should think about that as well.

Bases for air units

Each air unit has to be based somewhere. You will not be able to build more units that you have space for in your bases!

Air units may be based in these places:

• City Centers: each city you have may serve as a base, but they only have 1 slot
• Aerodrome Districts: the most important base. They have 4 slots initially, and can reach 8 slots with the Hangar and Airport buildings constructed
• Aircraft Carrier: the critical naval base starts with 2 slots, but may gain more through Promotions. Note that you will absolutely need Carriers to move your airforce across oceans!
• Airstrip improvement - good strategists know that you cannot plan for every occasion. So, an imrpovised base for airplanes, the Airstrip, has been developed. This Tile Improvement can be placed anywhere, inside or outside your territory, and has 3 slots for aircraft.

Types of air units

There are two main types of air units: Fighters and Bombers.

Fighter units

Fighters' main purpose is to attack other air units, or defend against them. They have the special ability to Intercept, which allows them to automatically attack incoming aircraft.

FIghters are used differently than in Civilization V. Their operational range is considerably smaller (the Biplane has a range of only 3!); however, they may be Deployed to any tile inside this range on Patrol duty. The tile of their Patrol effectively turns into a sort of secondary base, from where they may perform Air attacks. The range for these attacks is the same as their Operational range (3, in the case of the Byplane), so effectively you can double the Fighter's Range if you want to.

Fighters deal Ranged type damage, which is effective against units, but not against cities.

Bomber units

Bomber units are dedicated to blowing anything that moves on the ground to smithereens. Their Operational range is considerably larger than Fighters, but they cannot be Deployed - they always operate from their Base.

Bombers deal Bombard type damage - effective against cities, but not against units. Bombers may also carry and deliver both types of Nukes, which makes them the first natural unit able to do this. Which is also historically correct.

Bombers may also attack Tile Improvements and Districts, as long as they are above 50% Health. With these attacks they destroy the targets, which is equal to Pillaging, but without gaining any loot.

Air Strikes

Air Strikes are the main way of aerial combat (and for Bombers - the only way). Both Fighters and Bombers may perform them from their bases (or from their Patrol location, in the case of Fighters).

Air Strikes are in fact the normal attacks of air units. You will need to select a target in the Operational range of the aircraft, and it will attack that target. While Bombers may only choose gounrd targets, however, Fighters may choose both ground targets, and enemy planes Patrolling in the air. In this second case, they will engage in the so-called 'Dogfighting'.

While performing Air Strikes, air units are vulnerable to Interception.

Interception

Interception is when an air unit gets attacked by an enemy (either another air unit, or a ground unit) while on the way to its target. Interception is actually the only way to defend against air power in Civilization VI - now that all air attacks are considered Ranged and thus no subject to retaliatory damage.

Among air units, only Fighters may Intercept, and only while they're on Patrol. Fighters cannot intercept while they're in their bases! You don't need ot give a separate order to Intercept, once you've placed a FIghter unit on Patrol - they will automatically Intercept all enemy aircraft which enter their zone of patrol. Note that enemies are prone to interception both when they attack a tile within the interception range, and when they're merely passing through it on route to their real target.

It is a wise strategy to place patrolling Fighters in strategic zones close to, or in between potential enemy bases and potential targets. This way you have a chance to intercept any attackers, and even shoot them down before they reach their target!

Every Interception does damage to the unit being intercepted. If the damage is enough, the place will be shot down; otherwise, he will still perform the attack (but suffer the damage, of course).

Nuclear and Termonuclear Strikes

Bomber units are capable of delivering your nukes to the enemy. Thanks to the new system, in which nukes are stored centrally, any Bomber may deliver any weapon you wish (as long as you have it in your inventory). The Bomber itself is unaffected by the blast, of course. However, this doesn't mean that he is invulnerable while trying to deliver the nuke! He may be Intercepted and shot down, if the enemy has sufficient capabilities. If this happens, you will lose both the Bomber and the nuke.