Movement (Civ5)

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This article considers the rules of Movement in Civilization 5.

Introduction

As in every game in the Civilization series, units have movement points, or MP Movement, which determine how far (how many tiles) they can move across terrain for 1 turn. Note that all other actions (attacking, building, etc.), in order to be executed, need for the unit to have at least a fraction of an MP remaining. Most of the actions consume remaining MP for the turn. Exceptions:

- Pillaging action only consumes 1 MP, after which the unit may perform another action.

- Most Mounted and Tank units may perform a move AFTER attacking, if they have any MP left.

Terrain features play a large role in determining how far the unit would actually go. 

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 points to pass

- Forests, Jungles and Marshes - also require 2 movement points. Certain civilizations' units enjoy special rules for moving through forests and jungles.  

- Rivers - end the unit's turn after crossed. 

- Mountains - normally impassable (the Carthaginian civilization may pass them under certain circumstances, also passable with Helicopters.

- Lakes - they count as Water tiles, meaning that your units need the Embarkation ability to cross them.

- Oasis - counts as normal, flat terrain (normal land movement).

- Natural Wonders - they are considered impassable as Mountains. I haven't tested if the exceptions to crossing Mountains also apply to Natural Wonders.

Roads and Railroads greatly ease movement across land. Initially, Roads negate all above-mentioned movement penalties, while also giving a small movement bonus to the unit using them. Also, after you research Engineering, bridges are built automatically wherever Roads cross Rivers, allowing unhindered passage at those points. After you research Machinery, the movement bonus of Roads increases.

Railroads act as even faster Roads, with the same rules applied to them.

- Helicopter movement: these are special units, who are a hybrid between Air units and Land units. They may move through all Land features as if they were flat terrain (1 MP) except as Airplanes; and they may cross Mountains. However, 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 only 2 movement points, regardless of how many they have on land.

Moving in water is much easier than on land, in the sense that there hardly are any obstacles. All water tiles take 1 movement point. 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 Deep ocean tiles, and also unlock the first ship capable of doing the same. Also, Astronomy and later Steam power increase embarked unit's movement points.

The only obstacles in the sea are islands and ice - the first ones are Land tiles, and subject to relevant rules, while the second ones are impassable (save by the Submarine units. Atols are reef tiles which are deemed normal Water tiles, because vessels can navigate in between the reefs.

Moving in other civilization's territory

You can't enter territory that belongs to another civilization AT ALL, unless you have an 'Open borders' treaty with them, or you declare War. Once inside, your units are subject to all normal terrain penalties, even if there are Roads and Railroads present. You can use those, however, if you have 'Open borders' treaty - they count as your own territory then.

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 friend or ally to them, there will be political repercussions if you end the turn on their territory.

Unit stacking. Units as obstacles

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

- Military units - all land soldiers are counted here, including the Helicopters.

- Civilians - here we have Workers, Settlers, Missionaries, Inquisitors, Archaeologists and Great People.

- Sea vessels - they are considered a second type of 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 sea civilian units, which may stack with other military vessels and Embarked military land units, but NOT with Embarked land civilian units.

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 your own, or your enemy's units 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 crossing the tile they occupy, if you have sufficient MPs left to reach the further tile. In the case of enemies, though, you will be forced to go around.

Maneuvering around enemy units. ZOC.

Each Military unit possesses what is known as 'ZOC' (Zone Of Control), 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 1 (ONE) tile per turn, even if they have more MPs 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 In or OUT of a ZOC, this rule doesn't apply. So for example, if you were 2 tiles away and choose to move to the enemy's adjacent tile, you will use all your MPs; the same if you are next to an enemy, and choose to move to any tile 2 tiles away from it.

- Note: Some fast units, such as Cavalry, may dodge the ZOC rules, by moving out and back in the ZOC, then attacking. They will need space to do that, though, and sometimes terrain and other enemies prevent such maneuvers.