Hoplite (Civ6)

Hoplite
Anti Cavalry unit of the Ancient Era
Introduced in Civilization VI
Unique to	Greek
Unique to	Greek
Replaces	Spearman
Replaces	Spearman
Unlocked by	Bronze Working
Obsoleted by	Metal Casting
Cost
Production	65
Production	65
Gold	260
Gold	260
Maint.	1
Maint.	1
Stats
Movement	2
Movement	2
Melee	28
Melee	28
Sight	2
Sight	2
Upgrade path
Upgrades to
Pikeman
Pikeman
Notes
Greek unique Ancient era unit that replaces the Spearman. +10 Combat Strength if there is at least one adjacent Hoplite unit.

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The Hoplite is a unique anti-cavalry unit of the Greek civilization in Civilization VI. It replaces the Spearman.

• Common abilities:
  • +10 Combat Strength vs. light, heavy, and ranged cavalry units.
• Special abilities:
  • +10 Combat Strength when adjacent to at least one other Hoplite.

• Special traits:
  • Higher Combat Strength (28 vs. 25).

Strategy

Through numerous buffs, both directly and indirectly, Hoplites went from being one of the worst unique units in the game to one of the best early game units. Its high Combat Strength, cheap cost and lack of a strategic resource requirement means a rush with Hoplites can be deadly.

First of all, it gains 10 Combat Strength if it is next to another Hoplite, which is a strong and easy-to-satisfy bonus. This bonus will put Hoplites at 38 Combat Strength, only 2 Combat Strength lower than a Swordsman (considering that Swordsmen gain 5 Combat Strength when fighting anti-cavalry units). However, the fact that each Swordsman costs 20 Iron with almost 1.5 times the Production cost of a Hoplite means an army of Hoplites can always beat out Swordsmen just because of sheer number and the speed at which you can train these units.

The minor buff to Hoplite's base Combat Strength (from 25 to 28), together with buffs towards anti-cavalry units, and the long list of nerfs to Swordsman and melee units in general mean now Hoplites can stand above pretty much any early game unit. Do take caution if your neighbors are either Maya, Vietnam, or Gaul, however: Maya has the Hul'che whose Ranged Strength almost rivals a Crossbowman, Vietnam is a highly defensive civilization with huge Combat Strength and Movement bonuses when you fight in their territory, and Gaul can almost instantly unlock Man-At-Arms at the same time Hoplites are available. If you are taking on these civilizations, train more Hoplites than normal, bolster their strength further with Oligarchy (which can raise the maximum Combat Strength of a Hoplite to 42, and if you play as Gorgo and slot in 4 Military cards, this Combat Strength can reach 46). Now that's power.

Civilopedia entry

Give a bunch of citizen-soldiers ten-foot iron-headed spears (called doru), put them in a tight formation shoulder-to-shoulder, and the hoplite phalanx appears. In the 8th or 7th century BC, the Greek city-states first began to raise hoplite units – composed of those “free” citizens who could afford the bronze armor and the doru – for fighting among themselves. As the Persians found out, hoplite phalanxes were pretty effective against others as well. Although enemy archers might pick off a few (most of the arrows of the time were too light to penetrate the bronzewear of the Greeks), a phalanx of hoplites could generally sweep everything from the field in front of them; the greatest threat came from exposing their flanks, or losing formation moving over rough ground. The hoplite-phalanx survived for almost 400 years, through the age of Alexander the Great still dominant, until it came up against the Roman legion, faster afoot, more flexible in formation, and more adept with their short swords once they slipped past those unwieldy spears.

Gallery

Hoplite concept art

Hoplite in game

Historic Moment for building the Hoplite

See also

• Hoplite in other games