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A Great General before the Industrial Era
Game Info
A Great Person specialized in land warfare. Appears when land-based military units generate enough Great General points (by earning XP in battles against non-Barbarian opponents and XP earned from barbarian units inside your territory can add to the point count too). The number of points required increases with each successive General.
- Common abilities:
- Leadership (+15% Combat bonus to all Land units within 2 tiles.)
- Actions:
- Construct a Citadel (Great tile improvement)
- Start a Golden Age (Vanilla)
The unit is expended after performing either of these actions.
Strategy
The Great General can construct the special Citadel improvement. In order to Construct a Citadel, the Great General must either be in your territory, or on a land tile bordering your territory (even if this land tile is in another nation's territory!). The Citadel gives 100% defensive bonus to any unit occupying it and damages enemy units that finish their turn in tiles adjacent to it for 30% of their total hit points. The Great General is consumed when it builds the Citadel. In Gods & Kings and Brave New World, this ability also has similar properties to the "Cultural Bomb" ability, adding all adjacent tiles into your territory. Be warned that stealing the territory of other civilizations can cause diplomatic incidents with the leaders!
The Great General provides a 15% combat bonus to all player-owned land units within 2 tiles. The Great General is NOT consumed when he provides this bonus. It should be noted that this buff to other units does not stack if you have multiple Great Generals.
The use of Great Generals, as well as Great Admirals, is much different than that of other Great People. They usually lay dormant until a war requires their abilities, at which point they should go immediately to the battlefield or sea. If you're fighting a lot, you may find yourself with more Generals/Admirals than you need - that's the time to construct Citadels in strategic locations (either to strengthen a weak point of the battlefield, or to conquer a tile with an important resource). Strictly speaking, unless you're pursuing a total war strategy on several battlefronts, you rarely need more than one Great General and Great Admiral.
Historical Info
"Great Generals" are the supreme warriors of civilization. They create the weapons and train the soldiers. They plan the strategies to protect a civilization from its enemies, creating bold offensives, strong fortifications and cunning traps. They are the first out of the trench or onto the enemy's ship. They lead the charge into battle, carrying the fate of the people on their broad shoulders.