Voi Chiến (Civ6)

The Voi Chiến is a unique ranged unit of the Vietnamese civilization in Civilization VI. It replaces the Crossbowman.
* Common abilities:
** -17 Ranged Strength against defenses and naval units.
* Special abilities:
** 
* Special traits:
**
** 
** 
** 
==Strategy==
Just in case the Vietnamese vast swathes of Woods are insufficient in slowing down enemies' advance in the Medieval Era, they also have the Voi Chiến, a unique Crossbowman. As if the Crossbowman itself is not already the heart of any Medieval battle (read more here), the Voi Chiến has its own set of bonuses, combined with Bà Triệu's leader ability, catapulting it to become an absolute menace.
The most outstanding factor of the Voi Chiến is the ability to move after attacking, reminiscent of the Camel Archer's reign of terror in Civilization V. This simple ability can have many applications, but above all, it gives the Voi Chiến the unparalleled capability to focus-fire. With a of 2, high innate mobility and extra from Bà Triệu's ability if starting in appropriate features, legions of Voi Chiến can nimbly take turn moving in and out to shoot down a city. Even wounded units can still contribute their damage and then manage to safely retreat to the backline. That is not all, a Voi Chiến can attack to earn experience, and if it is eligible for a , it can promote and heal within the same turn. 
However, Voi Chiến should pay close attention to zone of control, which forces you to stay on the same tile until the next turn, even after you carry out an attack. Losing the ability to move after attack is huge, since this is what makes this unit so fearsome. The effect of zone of control will be amplified when fighting against the Zulus, and especially Gauls, since they have high propensity to build defensible s.
As if it is not already a tall order to kill just one Voi Chiến due to their mobility, there are other factors in the Vietnamese arsenal that also play into the power of this unit. A Voi Chiến that ends it turn on a Woods or Rainforest tile outside Vietnamese territory, ignoring the fact that it will gain extra mobility next turn, can gain a massive 8 Combat Strength, elevating to 11 Combat Strength if this is a Woods or Rainforest Hills tile. Combined with the fact in Medieval Era, Vietnam is almost guaranteed to have a (since they are the only civilization in the game incentivized to put down Encampments in every city), their defense strength can reach an astonishing 51 Combat Strength, and none of these conditions are far-fetched or hard to align with one another. That does not even count if the tile the Voi Chiến is on is inside Vietnamese territory, the defense strength will reach 56. The strongest Medieval unit is the Malian Mandekalu Cavalry, with Combat Strength at 55, a Mandekalu Cavalry with no additional Combat Strength is incapable of pushing the Voi Chiến around when it is on full defense mode, and remember, this is a ranged unit. The best line for the Voi Chiến is Garrison, Incendiaries and Suppression, to maximize their damage against cities and to hinder enemy's with their presence. They are so tanky that the tier III Emplacement seems like an overkill, especially when your Voi Chiến will retreat to safe spots outside of the City Center's reach after attacking anyway.
On a side note, Garrison is an extremely overpowered for all Vietnamese ranged units, especially on defense. Normally, that grants 10 Combat Strength when the unit defends on a non-defensible specialty , and 10 Ranged Strength when attacking out of one. Considering that Vietnam has to build their specialty s on removable features and Bà Triệu's ability, a Vietnamese ranged unit gains a massive 20 Combat Strength when defending on a specialty , before taking into account possible extra Combat Strength from terrain modifiers. When attacking out of a specialty , it can gain 20 Ranged Strength if the enemy is standing on a removable feature. On offense, it is slightly weaker, but still effective. Foreign s are not built on features, and tiles with features in other empires may not be as dense as inside Vietnamese territory, so it will only gain 10 Combat Strength on defense and 10 to 15 Ranged Strength, as long as it can find a (doesn't have to be a specialty in this case) to occupy. This plays so well into the Voi Chiến's inherent tankiness and superior mobility, especially when the leader and civilization abilities are brought into the equation.
A really powerful tactic that is often employed in multiplayer games that you can use in your single player games is to spot out an open area next to the target of your conquest where there are some Woods and Rainforest tiles and put down a city right there. Next, assign a Governor, and run both Limitanei and Praetorium to hold on to this city and use it as a base to launch your attacks. Your Voi Chiến can now wage an offensive war with 6 per turn, more than enough for them to move, attack and come back, and with maximum Combat Strength on defense. This tactic allows you to start conquering before researching Medieval Faires and still be able to unlock the fullest potential of your leader ability, and there is no obvious counterplay to prevent this, since unlike Civilization V, it is impossible to remove features in neutral territory.
A bit less important, but extra is also nothing to scoff at. The idea of having a bonus is often underestimated, since most units with extra or s in the game are units with melee attacks, not the best classes to make use of this statistic. On a ranged unit like the Voi Chiến, however, it can make a difference between whether you can get your attacks in this turn or have to wait until next turn.
The best way to make use of this unit is to pre-build Archers and let them fight early to earn some s on them. Upgrading an Archer into a Voi Chiến costs 290 , as opposed to 250 when upgrading into a regular Crossbowman. It is quite pricey, especially when you are still far away from the Professional Army policy card, but the investment is definitely worth it. Vietnam's starting bias towards Woods and Rainforests means they likely will start with Plantation and Camp luxury resources that grant a lot of , so make sure if you save up when you are about to unlock Machinery. In order for a Voi Chiến rush to be successful, try to save enough to upgrade at least 3 Archers, if you want to build more, you can pick up Feudal Contract (unlocked with Feudalism), which is convenient because it is on your way to Medieval Faires. Once you have Medieval Faires, bring a few Builders with you so they can put down Woods in your territory next to the enemy city you want to conquer and use these tiles as the stepping stones for your elephants. A Voi Chiến starting on these Woods tiles will have 5 , 6 if next to a , 7 if the Logistics policy card is run, they can shoot, then move back onto those tiles to end their turn and repeat this cycle until that all cities fall like dominoes.
==Civilopedia entry==
==Gallery==
File:Civ6 Voi Chiến.png|Voi Chiến and Thành in game
File:Voi Chiến Closeup.webp|Voi Chiến closeup
File:Historic Moment Voi Chiến (Civ6).png|Historic Moment for building the Voi Chiến
Category:Units (New Frontier Pass)
Category:Vietnamese