City Spacing Strategies in Civilization 6: A Comprehensive Guide
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So, you’re pondering the age-old question: How far apart should my cities be in Civilization 6? The short answer is: it depends. But a good rule of thumb is 4-5 tiles between city centers. This allows for optimal territory coverage, resource access, and district placement without overcrowding. Let’s dive into the nuances and strategic considerations that influence this crucial decision.
The 6-Tile Myth and Why It Doesn’t Always Work
You’ll often hear that the ideal spacing is 6 tiles, based on the fact that cities work tiles within a 3-hex radius. Theoretically, placing cities 6 tiles apart ensures maximum territorial coverage without overlap. However, in practice, this is rarely the most effective strategy.
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Overlapping Territory is Beneficial: Some overlap is good. It allows for tile trading between cities to optimize yields and district placement. You might have a fantastic mountain tile in one city’s workable range that’s perfect for a Holy Site, but your other city actually needs the faith. Trading the tile enables you to optimize city development.
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Resource Scarcity: Waiting for that perfect 6-tile placement might mean missing out on crucial strategic resources or luxury goods. A closer settlement might be necessary to secure vital resources early on.
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Defense: Closely packed cities provide mutual defense. In the event of a war, it’s easier to defend a cluster of cities than a string of isolated ones.
The Sweet Spot: 4-5 Tiles
Aiming for 4-5 tiles offers a better balance between territorial coverage, resource acquisition, and strategic flexibility. This spacing allows for:
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Efficient District Placement: Districts often benefit from adjacency bonuses, and closer cities allow you to maximize these. Sharing overlapping tiles enables cities to get adjacency bonuses from each other’s districts.
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Optimal Resource Utilization: Quickly grabbing key resources is paramount. Don’t let a perfect 6-tile distance deter you from securing iron, horses, or oil.
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Faster City Development: Closer cities can support each other with trade routes, accelerating growth and development in newly founded settlements. Use domestic trade routes to boost the basic performance of any city within your empire, especially newly established ones. Cities constructing Wonders also benefit greatly – try to connect them to your most advanced industrial city.
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Defensive Advantages: A compact empire is easier to defend. Units can quickly move between cities to respond to threats.
Key Considerations When Planning City Placement
While 4-5 tiles is a good starting point, several factors influence the optimal spacing for your cities:
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Terrain: Mountains, deserts, and oceans can restrict city placement. You might have to settle closer or farther apart than ideal based on the available land. Also Plains (Hills) are the absolute best terrain on which to place a city in Civilization 6 because they yield one more Production than any other terrain in the game when settled.
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Resources: Prioritize settling near strategic and luxury resources, even if it means deviating from the ideal spacing. Remember that settling on top of a strategic resource will give a supply of the resource, but not the yields.
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Fresh Water: Access to fresh water is crucial for early city growth. Settle near rivers, lakes, or oases whenever possible. Cities that do not yet have existing fresh water receive up to 6 Housing.
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Civ Trait and Unique Units: Some civilizations and leaders have traits or unique units that require unique placement considerations.
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Victory Condition: A domination victory might require aggressive expansion and closely packed cities for rapid troop production. A culture victory might prioritize cities near natural wonders or cultural resources.
FAQs: Mastering City Placement in Civ 6
Here are some common questions to further refine your understanding of city spacing and placement in Civilization 6:
1. Is it bad to have too many cities in Civ 6?
In summary, it is not really possible to have too many cities in Civilization 6, and players should continue to establish them freely for as long as they like.
2. Should I settle on resources Civ 6?
While settling on top of a strategic resource will net players a supply of the resource, it will not give players the yields. Unless players are very paranoid about an enemy pillaging an improvement with their strategic resource, it’s best to just settle nearby and build an improvement to get the yields.
3. What happens if a city doesn’t have fresh water Civ 6?
Cities that do not yet have existing fresh water receive up to 6 Housing.
4. Should I keep or refuse city state Civ 6?
In general, fans should almost always try to keep the cities that they capture in Civilization 6, as they are worth, at the very least, the Production associated with building a Settler.
5. How far away can you build districts Civ 6?
Each city can only build districts on tiles which are included in its own territory. You cannot place districts in other cities’ territory, even if these other cities belong to you and the tile in question is up to three tiles away from the City Center!
6. Should every city have an industrial zone Civ 6?
Industrial zones before factories are not really worth it without a good adjacency bonus. You’re basically sinking in a lot of production to get poor bonuses, if you say, build it in like a flatland city with only +1 or even worse no mines.
7. Why are hills good in Civ 6?
Hills provide defensive ground in the event of combat. Ranged units on Hills enjoy both this defensive advantage and a vantage point from which they can shoot at anything in their full range (unless there are other Hills with Woods or Rainforest on them).
8. Should you trade with your own cities in Civ 6?
Domestic trade routes are incredibly valuable in Civ 6. Use them to boost the basic performance of any city within your empire, especially newly established ones. Cities constructing Wonders also benefit greatly – try to connect them to your most advanced industrial city.
9. Is tourism important in Civ 6?
Tourism is specifically the means to the culture victory, but it also has a large impact on Ideological pressure (Freedom, Order, or Autocracy). This pressure can cause unhappiness in other civs that are following a different Ideology, and given enough unhappiness, can even cause that civ to switch to your Ideology.
10. Should I build government plaza Civ 6?
More importantly, the Government Plaza actually provides a +1.5 bonus (1 from its innate ability, 0.5 from being a district) to all adjacent districts’ yields (at least to those which benefit from adjacency bonuses). This makes it a trump card when considering placement of all such districts.
11. Is it better to build tall or wide in Civ 6?
In Civ VI, wide empires, that is, those with more cities, will always have more science output than tall empires.
12. How many cities should I have in Civ 6 by turn 50?
By the first 50 turns, players should aim to have three to five cities and units.
13. Do Amenities matter in Civ 6?
The Amenity mechanic in Civilization 6 determines whether or not a player’s city is happy. There are a lot of mechanics players need to keep track of in Civilization 6 to keep their kingdom, country, or empire strong. Amenities have a huge impact on population growth and yield outputs. Keep your citizens happy!
14. Can cities sink in Civ 6?
Tiles, improvements, districts, and resources can be destroyed and replaced by Coast tiles due to flooding. City Centers cannot be submerged.
15. What is the strongest start in Civ 6?
Being next to a natural wonder is the strongest start in Civilization 6.
Mastering the Art of City Placement: A Continuous Learning Process
Optimal city placement in Civilization 6 is a dynamic process, constantly evolving based on your surroundings, civilization, and strategic goals. There is no one-size-fits-all answer, so experiment, adapt, and learn from each game. By understanding the principles outlined above and considering the specific context of your game, you can master the art of city placement and lead your civilization to victory.
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