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The Cuirassier is an Industrial Era heavy cavalry unit in Civilization VI: Gathering Storm. It upgrades from the Knight (or its replacements) or the Varu and requires 20 Iron Iron to train.

Strategy[]

Compared to the Cavalry that also becomes available in the Industrial Era, the Cuirassier has the same Production Production and Gold Gold maintenance costs, 2 more Strength Combat Strength, and 1 less Movement Movement. What sets it apart from the Cavalry are its resource requirements and Promotion Promotions: as a heavy cavalry unit, it's geared more towards domination than harassment. Researching Ballistics (which also unlocks the Field Cannon) before Military Science may therefore be a viable strategy for players who are more interested in capturing their enemies' cities than impeding their progress.

Civilopedia entry[]

As gunpowder weapons became more reliable and portable, the fully-armored knight on horseback became something of an anachronism, it being difficult to justify the immense cost of full armor and the course of chivalric instruction of a nobleman when he could be ignominiously smitten by a peasant with a matchlock and three days of training. Military theorists looked for other ways to provide the shock of the cavalry charge in battle, and in doing so, they created the basis for the cuirassier.

A cuirass is the armor plate that protects the chest. Although by the early modern period these were perfect protection against firearms, they still provided a measure of protection (and especially psychological protection) to the rider. Riders discarded their lances and took up the increasingly-accurate and reliable pistol, which allowed them to provide an attack at a greater range than their lances. They would attack using deep formations, allowing the front rank to fire on the enemy at range, before breaking off and allowing following ranks to attack, a method called the caracole. Over time this rolling fire was refined into a more general volley at close quarters, and the cuirassier became the next evolution of heavy cavalry in the army.

See also[]

Civilization VI Units [edit]
Civilian SettlerBuilderTraderArchaeologistSpyNaturalistRock Band GS-Only
Land military AT CrewArcher (Hul'che1Pítati Archer1) • ArtilleryBarbarian Horse ArcherBarbarian HorsemanBombardCatapultCavalry (CossackHuszár GS-OnlyLlanero1) • Courser GS-Only (Black Army GS-OnlyOromo Cavalry1) • Crossbowman (Voi Chiến1) • Crouching TigerCuirassier GS-Only (Rough RiderWinged Hussar1) • Field Cannon (Hwacha R&F-Only) • Giant Death Robot GS-OnlyHeavy ChariotHelicopterHorseman (Hetairoi1) • Infantry (Digger1) • Keshig R&F-OnlyKnight (Mandekalu Cavalry GS-OnlyMamlukTagma1) • Line Infantry (Garde ImpérialeRedcoat) • Machine GunMalón Raider R&F-OnlyMan-At-Arms (Khevsur R&F-OnlyBerserkerSamurai) • Maryannu Chariot ArcherMechanized InfantryModern ATModern ArmorMountie GS-OnlyMusketman (ConquistadorJanissary GS-Only) • Nihang1Pike and Shot (Carolean GS-Only) • Pikeman (Impi R&F-Only) • Questing Knight4Ranger (Highlander R&F-Only) • Rocket ArtillerySabum Kibittum1Saka Horse ArcherScout (Okihtcitaw R&F-Only) • Skirmisher GS-Only (Warak'aq GS-Only) • SlingerSpearman (Hoplite) • Spec Ops R&F-OnlySwordsman (Hypaspist1Immortal1LegionNgao MbebaToa GS-Only) • TankTrebuchet (Domrey1) • Vampire3VaruWar-CartWarrior MonkWarrior (Eagle WarriorGaesatae1) • Zombie5
Naval military Aircraft CarrierBattleship (Minas Geraes) • Caravel (Nau1) • DestroyerFrigate (De Zeven Provinciën R&F-OnlyJong1) • Galley (Bireme GS-OnlyViking Longship) • IroncladMissile CruiserNuclear SubmarinePrivateer (Barbary Corsair GS-OnlySea Dog) • Quadrireme (Dromon1) • Submarine (U-Boat)
Aircraft BiplaneBomberFighter (P-51 Mustang) • Jet BomberJet Fighter
Support Anti-Air GunBattering RamCultist3Drone R&F-OnlyMedicMilitary EngineerMobile SAMObservation BalloonSiege TowerSoothsayer2Supply Convoy R&F-Only
Religious ApostleGuruInquisitorMissionary
See also Great PeopleHeroes
1 Requires DLC2 Apocalypse mode only • 3 Secret Societies mode only • 4 Heroes & Legends mode only • 5 Zombie Defense mode only

R&F-Only Added in the Rise and Fall expansion pack.
GS-Only Added in the Gathering Storm expansion pack.

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