Movement (Civ5)

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This article outlines the rules of movement in Civilization V.

Introduction[]

Moving is the act of a unit changing its position across the map's tiles. As in every game in the Civilization series, units have Movement Points (MP), or just Movement, which determine how many hexes they can cross in 1 turn. It is generally assumed that 1 MP allows a unit to move 1 tile, but there are many exceptions - some hinder movement, while others help it. Note that all other actions (attacking, building, etc.) require the unit to have at least a fraction of an MP remaining in order to execute them. Most actions consume all of a unit's remaining MP, but there are exceptions:

Pillaging consumes only 1 Movement, after which the unit may perform another action.
Most mounted and armored units may move after attacking as long as they have Movement left.

Terrain features play a large role in determining how far the unit can actually move.

Different units have certain domains in which they naturally move:

Land units move naturally on land, but after researching the Optics technology they gain the Embarkation ability, through which they may also move on Water (see more below). This is valid for both military and civilian units.
Naval units (a.k.a. ships) can only move on water. There are no exceptions.
Air units can only move from base to base. Terrain doesn't actually matter for them; what matters is where there are available bases for them to land.

Moving on Land[]

Moving on land is generally much more difficult than moving in the sea. Many terrain features act as obstacles, as follows:

Hills - Require 2 Movement to pass.
Forests, Jungles and Marshes - Also require 2 Movement to pass. Certain civilizations' units enjoy special rules for moving through Forests and Jungles.
Rivers - End the unit's turn if crossed.
Mountains - Normally impassable, except for the Carthaginian military units under certain circumstances, and air units, as well as Helicopter Gunships.
Lakes - They count as water tiles, meaning that your units need the Embarkation ability to cross them.
Oases - Count as normal, flat terrain (normal land movement).
Natural Wonders - They are considered impassable, just like mountains.

Roads and Railroads greatly ease movement across land. Initially, Roads negate all above-mentioned movement penalties, reducing the cost of moving between hexes using a road to 0.5 Movement. Also, after you research Engineering, bridges are built automatically wherever Roads cross Rivers, allowing unhindered passage at those points. Researching Machinery reduces the cost of travelling along a road to 1/3 Movement, for an effective speed multiplier of 3x.

Railroads work much like Roads but have a variable cost depending on the unit's total Movement:

Unit Total Movement	Railroad Cost
2	0.2
3	0.3
4+	0.333333333

The end result is that railroads give no improvement over roads for fast units, but provide a "minimum speed" of 10 hexes/turn for slow units.

Helicopter Gunships are special units which are a hybrid of air units and land units; as such, they have their own movement rules. They can move through all land features as if they were flat terrain (1 Movement), and they can cross Mountains. However, they do not receive the Movement boost from Roads/Railroads. For all other purposes (including Embarkation), they are considered land units.

Moving in the Sea[]

Initially, you can't move in the sea at all. You need to research Sailing to acquire your first ships, and then Optics to allow land units to embark onto water tiles. The process of Embarkation and Disembarkation each ends the unit's move in the current turn. In the water, all Embarked units have initially only 2 Movement, regardless of how much they have on land. Their Movement increases in later eras with certain technologies.

Moving in water is much easier than on land, in the sense that there are hardly any obstacles. All water tiles take 1 Movement. For the sake of simplicity, storms and reefs aren't included in the game.

Note also that initially all ships and units can only move in water tiles marked as Coast. You need to research Astronomy to allow Embarked units to enter Ocean tiles, and also unlock the first ship capable of doing the same. Also, Astronomy and later Steam Power increase embarked units' base Movement (regardless of which unit is Embarked), allowing them to move much quicker than on land without road systems. Note that Triremes and Galleasses, and also their special substitutes, can never move onto Ocean tiles regardless of your technological advancement (unless you're playing as Polynesia).

The only obstacles in the sea are islands and Ice - the former are land tiles and subject to relevant rules, while the latter are impassable (save to Submarines and Nuclear Submarines). Atolls are reef tiles which are deemed normal water tiles, because vessels can navigate in between the reefs.

Moving in Another Civilization's Territory[]

You can't enter territory that belongs to another civilization unless you have an Open Borders treaty with them or you declare war. Once inside, your units are subject to all normal terrain penalties. However, you can use their Roads and Railroads normally if you entered peacefully.

The same rules apply to territory belonging to city-states. The difference is that you can enter it at any time, but if you aren't their friend or ally, there will be political repercussions for ending the turn in their territory.

Sight and reconnaissance[]

Main article: Sight (Civ5)

Every unit, be it military, civilian, land, naval, or air, has a certain sight range, or how far the unit can "see" on the map. Tiles that the unit can see on the map are revealed, and all they contain becomes visible (with the exception of Submarines, whose sighting is done under more special rules). That includes all tiles within the sight range in all directions from the current unit's positions, provided that they are unobstructed. For example, a unit with a sight range of 2 can see everything within 2 hexes of its current position.

Land features may obstruct sighting. A unit cannot see past a tile with an obstacle; for example, a unit with a sight range of 2 which is standing right next to a Hill will see the tile with the Hill, but not the tile(s) past the Hill. All "tall" land features, such as Hills and Mountains, obstruct visibility. Forests and Jungles also obstruct visibility, but only if they are on the same level as the unit. For example, Forests and Jungles will obstruct a unit's visibility if it's on flat terrain, but not if the unit is on a Hill. However, if the forests are found on top of another Hill, they will obstruct visibility even if the unit is itself on a Hill. Mountains always obstruct visibility, being even taller than Hills.

When in the sea, visibility is usually unobstructed unless the unit is close to an island with obstructing features on it. They will block its sight in the tiles beyond.

Mountains are interesting in terms of sighting because, despite acting as a big obstruction to sight, they themselves may be seen from an exceptional distance. Any unit, regardless of its position and level, will see any Mountain within, and up to one tile further than its usual sight range. This includes all natural wonders which are classified as Mountains, such as Uluru or Mount Sinai. This is especially useful in the early reconnaissance stage, when natural wonders are first found and subsequent bonuses gained. Use Mountain sightings to modify your early reconnaissance movement pattern so that you can avoid getting stuck and losing time bypassing big obstacles.

Sight and visibility are very important for early game ranged units. For more info, see this article. Also, certain promotions and special abilities enhance sight, which is an important strategic advantage in many circumstances.

Reconnaissance[]

This term is used to denote the revealing of the map throughout the game. When you start, the entire map is hidden with clouds, and all diplomatic entities (including other civilizations and city-states) are unknown. All players must use their units to reveal the terrain and find all these entities. A unit specifically sent out with this mission is usually known as an "Explorer." There is even a specialized unit - the Scout - whose sole purpose is to explore the map, and has special promotions to help with this.

While moving, these Explorers (or any normal unit for that matter) reveal the map tile by tile, within their sight range. This removes the cloud cover, and (as mentioned above) shows all terrain, features, and units on the tile. Note that once the unit moves away, the fog of war will cover the revealed tiles again, hiding all units, but not terrain and its features, cities, and claimed territory. Those will appear immediately upon foundation, even if none of your units is currently there to see them. New strategic resources, revealed after you have discovered the relevant technology, will also become visible in the fog of war. All other strategic changes to territory, including removal of Forests and Jungles and new improvements, will only become visible once a unit "updates" your info of the relevant tile.

There are other methods to reveal, or to maintain visibility of, locations on the map:

First, you see all hexes adjacent to your borders. (Conceptually, people are always traveling through the tiles of your territory and report what they see.) Note that obstructing features play no part here - you see all tiles without exception.
Second, all City-States you become Friends with reveal (but do not provide constant visibility of) their territory and all hexes adjacent to their borders. What's more, if you become Allies, the City-State gives you total visibility of its territory as if it belonged to your civilization.
Finally, Spies and Diplomats sent into foreign cities give you visibility within two hexes of the city itself.

Reconnaissance is an integral part of the game. First, you need to explore the map so as to find suitable locations for cities, and to meet the other diplomatic actors in the game. In order to meet any of these actors, you have to come within sight of either one of their units or one of their cities - simply seeing part of their territory is not sufficient. Meeting City-States also nets a Gold reward (and Faith reward, if the City-State is of the Religious type). Also, it is not possible to conduct any diplomatic activity with an actor you have not met. Finding natural wonders always conveys a +1 Global Happiness for your empire...and even more rewards, in special cases.

Later in the game, you should try to regularly update your info on the map, so as to know what your adversaries are up to. For example, having a unit in the right place in the right time may give you an advance warning of an impending attack when you see an army advancing towards your borders!

Air fighter units, such as the Triplane (and its upgrades), have a special Reconnaissance feature which enables them to give your civilization permanent visibility of all tiles within their operational range. This is extremely useful.

There is a late-game technology, Satellites, which instantly reveals (but does not give visibility of) the entire map.

Unit Stacking and Units as Obstacles[]

You are allowed to stack several units on the same tile, as long as they belong to different classes. They are organized as follows:

Military units - All land soldiers are counted here, including Helicopter Gunships.
Civilian units - These include Workers, Settlers, Missionaries, Inquisitors, Archaeologists, and Great People.
Naval units - They are seaborne military units, stackable with both civilian and land units (in the case of Embarkation, or in a city). The Great Admiral and the Work Boat are considered civilian units and may stack with any military vessel and any embarked military land unit, but not with an embarked land civilian unit.

So, you can stack a maximum of three units from different classes in a tile. If for some reason you happen to have more (for example, when you've just built a unit in a city that already has a garrisoned unit), the game will prompt you to move one of them before the end of the turn.

Many times, either your own units or your enemy's may act as obstacles to land or water movement. In the case of your own or allied/neutral units, you are allowed to move directly across the tile they occupy if you have sufficient Movement left to reach the far tile, and if you're able to "see" (i.e., have visibility of) it. In the case of enemies, though, you will be forced to go around.

Note that civilian units may not enter tiles occupied by other civilizations' or city-states' units, even if they are your allies. They are always forced to go around, even in your own territory, and even when they are on a road. It is unclear whether this is by design, or is a bug in the game which has remained unnoticed for such a long time. Because of it moving Religious units, Archaeologists, and Great People to distant locations may prove a real challenge.

Maneuvering around Enemy Units[]

Each military unit possesses what is known as a zone of control (often called "ZOC" for short), which extends to all tiles surrounding its immediate tile. The same is valid for cities.

When military units maneuver in enemy ZOC (move from one tile adjacent to the enemy, to another adjacent to it), they can only move one tile per turn, even if they have more Movement remaining, and that move also prevents them from attacking! This is quite realistic, since in battle a formation has to be preserved when it's threatened from one side, and can't allow to move as fast as they otherwise could. Note that when you move into or out of a ZOC, this rule doesn't apply. So for example, if one of your units is 2 tiles away and you choose to move it into a tile adjacent to an enemy, you will not use all your Movement; the same holds true if your unit is next to an enemy, and you choose to move to any tile 2 tiles away from it.

Finally, note that some fast units, such as Cavalry, may avoid the ZOC rules by moving out of and back into the ZOC, then attacking. They will need space to do that, however, and sometimes terrain and other enemies prevent such maneuvers.