Units

Caravan

These new units establish International Trade Routes across the land. These routes yield Gold when used between one of your cities and any City-State or foreign city within range. With additional research, these can also be used within your empire to generate bonus Food or Production.

Caravans are a vital part of the new International Trade Route system. They appear in the city where they're trained but can be rebased to another city (much like most aircraft). Caravans create their Trade Routes from the city in which they're based, so you can train them in a high-Production area and then rebase them to an area with better trade options.

Caravans on a Trade Route assignment are not under your direct control. They run back and forth between the two cities on their route. It's important to patrol this area so enemies don't attack your Caravans. Lost Caravans have to be retrained, wasting time in your cities (not to mention the lost Gold from the route being down for a given amount of time).

Cargo Ship

Cargo Ships are the Caravans of the sea! They establish International Trade Routes over coastal and oceanic tiles. Keep at least a small navy on hand to protect your investment and watch for raiders, especially along the coast.

Caravans and Cargo Ships both uncover the fog of war along their routes, but they won't spot units or anything else that's moving through the area. You can't use them to spot or learn more about another person's cities.

These Trade Routes can be sources of Gold, Food, Production, Science, or even religious pressure. This new system is complex and exciting. Careful use of Caravans and Cargo Ships is covered in our Trade Route section, later in this guide.

Hand-Axe

Barbarians now have another weapon in their arsenal. Hand-Axe units are short-range archers that can do more damage than an Archer and withstand a heavier counterattack on the enemy's next turn. Though limited by a one-hex range, they're still a troublesome unit if your civilization is using small groups of Warriors to patrol. Make sure to improve your army and get Spearmen (or better) out to handle these primitive fools.

Archaeologist

Archaeologists are able to convert sites of antiquity into more useful parts of your empire. Send your Archaeologists into the wild and look for these special places, even outside of your borders. Once found, a site of antiquity can be converted by an Archaeologist in just several turns. Protect your investment with a single patroller, as needed.

Once the work is done, you have to choose whether to convert the site into an Artifact (which is sent to your nearest city with a slot for an Artifact) or to make the site into a Landmark. Artifacts generate Tourism, so they're very important for anyone attempting to win via a Cultural Victory. Landmarks can be worked for bonus Culture, and the amount of Culture is determined by the number of Eras that have passed since the Landmark was made.

Archaeologists are expended after they finish with an Antiquity Site. Make more of them quickly to snatch up as many of these sites as possible. Going into other people's territory to grab Antiquity Sites is possible and will not start a war. However, it does upset other nations and can hurt your relations with them. Tread carefully and try not to upset anyone that you can't afford to anger.

Bazooka

Bazookas give you a final step on the archery upgrade path. They have limited range but have enough strength to punch through targets quite effectively. They're very useful when stationed inside a Fort or a city. Beyond that, there's not too much to these guys; they're very similar to Machine Guns in functionality.

XCOM Squad

XCOM Squads can paradrop almost anywhere on the planet. They have massive range and deal incredible damage when they arrive. Use this upgraded Paratrooper to assist in late-game city sieges or for sudden engagements. Drop them behind your targets just as the rest of your force is moving in from the front. This cuts off reinforcements and reduces the time it takes to eliminate enemy armies and cities.