This article explains the movement rules in Civilization III.
Basic rules[]
There are two basic methods of moving units a square or two at a time: by keyboard commands or using the mouse. The keyboard method uses eight keys of the numeric keypad. The "5" key in the center is inactive; think of it as your unit's position. The keys surrounding the "5" represent the points of a compass. For example, pressing 7 sends your unit northwest, while pressing 6 sends your unit east.
The mouse method is to place your mouse cursor on the unit, then clicking and dragging in the direction you want it to travel. The cursor turns into a square highlighting the unit's potential destination, with a path leading there from the unit's current position and a number noting how many turns it will take the unit to make the trip. Release the mouse button to assign the path and make the unit move. (This is an alternative version—best suited to short paths—of the GoTo order that you use to send a unit over long distances.) You can also select a destination square, then click and hold on that square. This assigns the active unit to go to that spot.
Units can move up to the limit of their movement allowance, with a few caveats. The most important exception is that a unit can always move at least one square in a turn, regardless of the movement point cost of the terrain.
A unit with a movement allowance greater than one must compare that with the movement point cost of the terrain square you wish it to enter. The unit pays the movement point cost (subtracts the cost from its remaining allowance) for each new square it enters, until you choose to stop moving or the unit's movement allowance is used up. When a unit is unable to complete a movement order because it doesn't have any points, its movement is finished for the turn. The game then activates the next unit.
Roads and railroads speed the movement of ground units. They do this by reducing the movement point cost of the terrain. Any terrain square with a road across it costs one-third of a movement point to cross. Any terrain square with a railroad costs nothing at all to cross. Cities automatically have roads in their city squares, so entering a city square from a square with a road always costs one-third of a movement point. Once your civilization discovers Steam Power, city squares are automatically upgraded to railroads too.
Explorers have the ability and equipment to move quickly through even the most difficult terrain. In game terms, they treat all terrain as roads. This means that it normally costs them only one-third of a movement point to enter any type of terrain—regardless of the actual existence of roads. Explorers can still use railroads for faster movement.
Sailing experience accumulates with new advances. In the early days, your Galleys have a 50% chance of being lost if they end their move in a Sea or Ocean square. Once your civilization can build Caravels, however, your crews are better trained. Caravels are never lost in Sea squares, but founder 50% percent of the time in Ocean squares. The more modern your navy, the less chance of losing them at sea
Movement restrictions[]
Most of the restrictions placed on unit movement are a matter of common sense, as we mentioned earlier. We're spelling them all out here, in case you try to order a unit somewhere that seems possible and the game won't let you do it.
Ground Units[]
Ground units (all non-ship and non-air units) normally move only on land. They can cross rivers easily enough, but to traverse the wide (or narrow) oceans or even to get across lakes, they must board naval transport. In addition, some units find rough terrain impassable.
- Loading and Unloading: You can have a ship wait until it is loaded to capacity with units by clicking the Load order or pressing L. Boarding a ship uses up all a unit's movement points for the turn. If you attempt to move a naval unit into a land square that does not contain a port city, any passengers who have not already moved this turn are offered the option to disembark and make landfall. You can also order a ship to unload all its passengers by clicking the Unload order or pressing L.
- Impassable Terrain: As we mentioned earlier in this chapter, some units are prevented by their construction, weight, ungainliness, or other factors from moving across certain types of terrain. To these units, the terrain in question is impassable. The example you're most likely to encounter early in a game is Catapults; they can't travel into any Mountain or Jungle squares unless they're moving on a road.
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Ships normally move only on the ocean, although they can also sail across inland lakes. Ships cannot navigate any ground terrain in the game, including rivers, deltas, and flood plains. City squares that touch a shoreline along one side or at one corner are the only "land" squares that ships can enter — here they make port.
Air Units[]
Air units do not have or use movement points like other units. Instead, each type has an operational range. This range is not affected by terrain type; air units can cross both land and sea squares. When you give an air unit a mission, the target of the mission must be inside the unit's operational range— it cannot fly any farther. Air units on air superiority missions have a defensive range, which is half of their operational range