Game Info[]
Tank unit of the Modern Era. Upgrades from the Cavalry. Requires 
Oil.
- Common abilities:
- Can Move After Attacking
- No Defensive Terrain Bonuses
Strategy[]
The Landship is the first tank in the game - a heavily armored vehicle armed with short-range cannons whose powerful engines move its bulky form with surprising speed and maneuverability, rivaling a cavalry unit. Its development heralds the end of the horse on the battlefield, because the new machine can better perform all that the mounted units could, while also being capable of attacking cities with the same efficiency as units on the battlefield. Earlier units' anti-cavalry weapons prove completely useless against the heavy armor of the Landship, as do most hand-held guns and even Machine Guns. This makes the Landship very effective against ranged units and siege weapons, as well as solitary and unsupported infantry. Still, like cavalry, these tanks can't use defensive terrain features and can do nothing against air power or long-range bombardment, so don't get overconfident. Also, remember that the Landship's engines need Oil to move the massive vehicle around.
Just as the Landship represents a transition from mounted units to armored units, the "Bonus vs Mounted" ability does not increase the damage that other units do to it (as it is replaced by the "Bonus vs Armored" ability). Dedicated anti-cavalry units will no longer be useful once players begin to field Landships, so they should be upgraded to Anti-Tank Guns as quickly as possible.
Civilopedia entry[]
Conceptualized by British engineers during World War I as a solution to the constant stalemates afforded by the proliferation of trench warfare, the tank grew to become a crucial component of land-based warfare. Although the earliest tank designs proved to be cumbersome, both allied and opposition forces experimented with tank concepts throughout the war. Reliability, weight, and maneuverability were all major hurdles overcome only through continued trial and error.
Trivia[]
- The Landship depicted in Civilization V is the British Mark IV tank. They were officially called Landships but given the codename 'tank' to pretend that they were water storage tanks to confuse enemy spies.
- Tanks proved ineffective in their first attacks because they were very prone to being bogged down. Subsequent assaults refined combined operations with infantry and artillery and they became far more effective.
- The crew inside the tank were very miserable because there was nearly no way to keep themselves cool due to the immense heat of early combustion engines.
- The early WW1 tanks were classified between "male" and "female" tanks. "Male" tanks carried only large cannons for use against fortifications and other tanks, while "female" tanks defended the "male" tanks against infantry with an armament of machine guns.
See also[]
- Landship (Civ5)/Empires of the Smoky Skies
- Landship in other games
