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The Ironclad is an Industrial Era naval melee unit in Civilization VI. It upgrades from the Caravel (or its replacements) and requires Coal Coal.

In the Gathering Storm expansion, the Ironclad requires 1 Coal Coal to train and 1 Coal Coal per turn to maintain.

  • Attributes:

Strategy[]

Being the first armored ship in the game, and thus a precursor to modern vessels, the Ironclad is a good upgrade from the earlier Caravel, although the difference (15 Strength Combat Strength) is not as big as in other cases. But more importantly, the Ironclad serves as a necessary stepping stone towards real modern melee ships, which become available quite a bit later. You'll need Coal Coal to be able to build Ironclads, which can be a problem, because you'll never be able to modernize your fleet if you don't get it.

The gist is that the Ironclad (and the later Destroyer) represents the only advanced naval melee units in your fleet. Without it, your ability to take coastal cities will be severely jeopardized, and is non-existent without a ground army.

Civilopedia entry[]

The best-known clash between ironclads – those steam-propelled, lumbering behemoths covered by iron or steel plating – at Hampton Roads in May 1862 AD ended in a draw. The C.S.S Virginia had earlier wreaked havoc on the Union’s traditional warships there, and while there was a lot of fighting still to come, the age of wood and sail in warfare was doomed. But the American ironclads weren’t very seaworthy, and tended to sink in open water. The British Royal Navy built the first classes of “seagoing ironclads” (actually armored, iron-hulled frigates) in the early 1860s, and soon enough they added steam-engine driven screws to the designs. Seeing how the Virginia had handled wooden warships far larger, every nation scrambled to build ironclads. The first fleet action fought on the open water between ironclads was near the island of Lissa in the Adriatic between the Austrian and Italian navies; of the 19 ironclads involved, two went to the bottom. But, like that battle, the age of the ironclad didn’t last long.

Trivia[]

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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