Protective (Civ4)

"Protective" is one of the leader traits, introduced in the Warlords and Beyond the Sword expansion packs. With Protective leaders the Archery and Gunpowder Units receive Drill I and City Garrison I automatically. Protective leaders also get double production speeds for the Walls and Castle.

The following leaders are Protective:

• Charlemagne ( Holy Roman)
• Churchill ( English)
• Gilgamesh ( Sumerian)
• Mao Zedong ( Chinese)
• Qin Shi Huang ( Chinese)
• Saladin ( Arabian)
• Sitting Bull ( Native American)
• Tokugawa ( Japanese)
• Wang Kon ( Korean)

Strategy

The Protective trait is generally more effective in the early game, where cheaper Castles and Walls are helpful to build a fast defense in the event of war, and highly promoted Archers and Longbowmen help prevent early attacks.

In the mid-game, gunpowder units are used both in offense and defense. Drill I can be quite useful for offense (as it can lead directly into promotions such as Pinch), while City Garrison I means no matter which gunpowder units take a city, they can keep it defended.

In the late-game, however, the Protective trait becomes weaker as combat diversifies, your quick-building buildings are obsolete and the trait doesn't help you with late-game victories.

So, to make the best use of the Protective trait, it may be a good idea to keep defensive early on and launch an attack in the Renaissance, or in the Medieval era if the civilization you're running has a capable unique unit for the time.

See also

• Protective in other games