Horseman (Civ6)

Horseman
Light Cavalry unit of the Classical Era
Introduced in Civilization VI
Unlocked by	Horseback Riding
Resources
Resource	Horses
Cost
Production	80
Production	80
Gold	320
Gold	320
Maint.	2
Maint.	2
Stats
Movement	4
Movement	4
Melee	36
Melee	36
Sight	2
Sight	2
Upgrade path
Upgrades to
Courser
Courser
Black Army
Black Army
Oromo Cavalry
Oromo Cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry
Cossack
Cossack
Llanero
Llanero
Notes
Fast-moving Classical era light cavalry unit.

Back to the list of units

The Horseman is a Classical Era light cavalry unit in Civilization VI. It requires Horses.

In the Gathering Storm expansion, the Horseman can upgrade to a Courser and requires 20 Horses to train.

• Attributes:
  • First unit with a Movement of 4.
  • Ignores enemy zone of control.

Barbarian

Barbarian outposts located near Horses can spawn their own variant of the Horseman.

Strategy

The Horseman is, as usual, the first true cavalry unit in the game, available to all that don't have special earlier units (and have access to Horses, of course). It has very decent Combat Strength for its era, and its mobility conveys it great advantage on the battlefield. Just beware of anti-cavalry units, such as the Spearman - it makes up for having 11 less Combat Strength with its bonus vs. cavalry, and is also available earlier (which means that by the time the Horseman is available, players will have had enough time to raise a sizable army of Spearmen).

Use the Horseman for crushing flanking attacks, to run around the enemy formation and hit at their back, or to harass cities and pillage their improvements and Districts. (Light cavalry even has a special Promotion for pillaging.) Note, however, that Civilization VI doesn't give cavalry an inherent hit-and-run capability, so make sure your Horsemen won't be overwhelmed after attacking.

Civilopedia entry

Before the Iron Age, the role of horsemen was largely filled by light chariots, useful both for reconnaissance and in battle. Though occasionally used by commanders and couriers, the horses of the age were too small to carry much weight and were damn expensive. Around 2000 BC, however, those living in the Central Asian steppes domesticated and cultivated larger, stockier, and hardier breeds. Armed with spears, swords and eventually bows, these horsemen generally raised hell … and changed the face of warfare. Soon enough the Greeks to the west and Chinese to the east adapted mounted warriors for their own purposes, then everyone around did as well. But it was the development of the stirrup attached to a sturdy saddle that made horsemen the dominant shock weapon on the battlefield; the earliest saddles with stirrups date from c. 300 AD, and over the next four centuries the innovation spread across Asia and into Europe.

See also

• Horseman in other Civilization games