Macedonian (Civ6)

The Macedonian people represent a civilization in Civilization VI. They are led by Alexander, under whom their default colors are gray and yellow. They are available with the Persia and Macedon Civilization & Scenario Pack, which was released on March 28, 2017.
The Macedonians' civilization ability is Hellenistic Fusion, which provides them with boosts based on the kinds of s present in the cities they capture. Their unique unit is the Hypaspist (which replaces the Swordsman), and their unique building is the Basilikoi Paides (which replaces the Barracks).
== Strategy ==
Starting bias: None
Throughout the history of the Civilization franchise, whenever you see Alexander as a leader, you'd better expect he will lead his people into an endless war. In Civilization VI, there is no difference; Macedon under Alexander will charge into conflicts and never look back.
=== Hellenistic Fusion ===
The Macedonian civilization ability highlights the importance of war. This is a decent civilization ability, but there is just not much strategy you can plan around it, since it relies on what s other empires build, not on you. Your job is to go to war and conquer their cities, which is what you want to do as Alexander anyway, regardless of whether this ability exists or not. Often, early wars are quite costly, since you have to dedicate to build an army, thus leaving you lagging behind in terms of and . Hellenistic Fusion alleviates these limitations, allowing Macedon to start waging wars really early without any hesitation. Of course, an or a is relatively equal in value, but considering that you constantly need to upgrade your units to gain an edge in combat, you most likely want to target cities with Encampments and Campuses. The Basilikoi Paides also helps you earn extra just by putting troops on the field as well.
Although there is little you can do to control what s other empires would be building, sometimes certain civilizations would gear towards some s more than others. Out of the 4 s, Hojo Tokimune can build 3 of them at half cost, so Japan may want to erect those quite early. Korea with their early Seowon is guaranteed to give you s when you conquer their cities, just like how Greece is likely to reward you with s thanks to the Acropolis. Depending on these insights and the fact that you will start your conquest very early, you should target these civilizations first, giving time to other late-game oriented civilizations to develop what you need.
The and you receive will belong to the earliest era where you still have techs and civics whose boosts haven't been triggered yet. For example, if you are in the Medieval Era but still have a few techs/civics in the Classical Era whose boosts haven't been triggered, the and you receive will be Classical. Techs/civics of different cost in the same era have the same chance of being given for free. If you truly want to be make the most out of this ability, try to complete all boosts of the previous era before capturing cities, so the boosts you receive will belong to the next era, which are more expensive in terms of and , and also harder to trigger. 
Each in a city will only give you the appropriate boost once. For example, you manage to capture a Korean city with a Seowon in it, that Seowon will give you a free . Afterwards, the city flips independent and back under Korea's control, when they build an Encampment. Now, if you manage to capture that city again, you will still gain 1 from the newly-constructed Encampment, but the Seowon will not grant you an additional , since it already did before. This mechanic is in place to prevent Free City exploits where Macedon used to be able to gain an unlimited number of s and s when they keep letting their cities flip independent and reconquer them. 
=== To the World's End ===
==== Immune to war weariness ====
To simplify what war weariness is, basically, after every battle your units fight (regardless of whether they initiate the battle or not) and for each unit of yours die, you will accumulate war weariness points. Enough war weariness points will turn into negative that will affect newly captured cities and cities near the sites of the battles/deaths. Every player with an aggressive playstyle knows how annoying, sometimes devastating, war weariness can get. Newly captured cities with negative receive an additional layer of negative Loyalty, so holding onto them is even harder than normal. Too much war weariness can spread negative to cities founded by you, making them less productive and giving you a difficult time maintaining the war machine. 
Alexander's ability truly makes the Macedonian troops terrifying, especially in long, drawn out wars, as Macedonian cities under Alexander do not incur war weariness. He can, therefore, delay the Loyalty flipping of conquered cities for quite a bit longer, while keep his home cities content. This is also great because your enemies suffer from war weariness just like normal, so the longer the war goes, the more likely it will be in your favor. The Basilikoi Paides can keep pumping out military units so you can always keep up technologically, whereas your opponents will struggle to keep their cities at productive levels. Also, since you are incentivized to produce more military units than needed thanks to the earned, feel free to send those units you don't need to their death, as you don't incur any war weariness from these sacrifices. Be careful not to give the enemies to much free experience though, make sure you use those units to focus fire one target if possible. 
==== All units heal fully when capturing a wonder ====
Whenever you capture a city with a wonder inside, all Macedon units will be fully healed, regardless of where they are on the map, including religious units. This is helpful for two major reasons. One, you don't need to waste time healing your units before moving to the next target. Two, cities with wonders will be incredibly hard to be recaptured by the original owner once you take them. Later in the game when your army is large enough to be divided to create a multiple prong attack, you can attack many cities at once, and save the ones with wonders to be captured whenever your army is in need of healing support.
==== against you decay twice as fast ====
Interestingly enough, although this is part of Alexander's agenda, it still works against you in multiplayer games or single player games where Alexander is controlled by human players. Any committed Alexander decays twice as fast. As a warmonger, you don't care too much about generating against other people, but having their against you decaying faster means you are less likely to take advantage of foreign transgressions to take their cities without repercussions. This makes Macedon exceptionally terrible at the diplomatic game, as the penalty resulted from excessive will always be sky high. Think of it this way: the transgressions you make will be remembered, but the transgressions others commit against you will be quickly forgotten, so you more or less cannot justify your retaliation. However, only decay during peace, so if you stay at war permanently against someone, they cannot benefit from this.
=== Hypaspist ===
Although the Hypaspist wields a spear, it's not an anti-cavalry unit: it's a melee unit that functions best when adjacent to other friendly units or attacking a district. The Hypaspist often has to live in the shadow of the Hetairoi, considering how powerful the other unit is, but it is still an above average unit. It sports 38 Combat Strength, slightly higher than the standard Swordsman, with only a marginal cost increase (10 ). The best part about the Hypaspist is that it only requires 5 to be trained, a quarter that of a Swordsman, meaning Macedon can still quickly churn out quite a few Hypaspists when only having one source. Even better, Magnus' Black Marketeer promotion gives a further 80% discount on strategic resources, meaning that the city with Magnus in can produce Hypaspists for only 1 , combine that with a Basilikoi Paides, and you have a military and scientific powerhouse. With 38 base Combat Strength, 4 Combat Strength from Oligarchy, 5 Combat Strength from a (which Macedon is overwhelmingly likely to have thanks to all the Encampments, Basilikoi Paides, and Hetairoi), and 5 Combat Strength when fighting a , you are looking at a Swordsman that can fight defensible s at 52 Combat Strength. A mixed force of Hypaspists and Hetairoi will prove very difficult for other civilizations to fight off in the early stages of the game, as they are well-equipped to fight against both units and s alike.
The Hypaspist's increased support bonus means they benefit more from support, but they are not better at providing such bonuses for other units. For example, a Hypaspist and a friendly Warrior both flank an enemy unit to form a triangle; when attacked, the Hypaspist will receive a +3 Combat Strength support bonus from the Warrior but the Warrior will still receive only a +2 Combat Strength support bonus from the Hypaspist.
With the introduction of the Man-At-Arms in the April 2021 Update, the prowess of the Swordsman and its replacements gets significantly reduced. Although the Hypaspist is no exception, its power level does not get hit as hard as the Toa's. You can still have a meaningful domination rush with this unit in combination with the Hetairoi, thanks to its 75% requirement discount, allowing you to churn out Hypaspists a lot faster than your opponents can build Men-At-Arms. Remember that Combat Strength of defenses depends on the highest Combat Strength of a unit you have built, so the moment the first enemy Man-At-Arms is built, the Hypaspist will be worse at besieging s; however, thanks to the ability to earn s quickly, the innate extra Combat Strength compared to the Swordsman, the potential number advantage coupled with extra support bonus, the Hypaspist won't struggle too much against Men-At-Arms.
=== Hetairoi ===
Alexander brings another domination vessel to Macedon, arguably even more powerful than the Hypaspist, the Hetairoi. Unlike the Horseman it replaces, the Hetairoi is classified as a heavy cavalry unit, which means they can be upgraded into Knights. allowing them to stay relevant for much longer, and equipped with a line much more suited for conquest. Also, they start with a free , so you can choose either Charge (which increases damage against fortified defenders), or Barding (which increases defense against ranged attacks). Generally, since you will have a lot of Hetairoi for the purpose of domination, it is a good idea to mix and match the s, but it is worth noting that Marauding is a strong tier II that can increase damage output against defensible s, if those s have a garrison unit, and Marauding requires Charge.
With the Hetairoi, Macedon is also incredible at grabbing s. Each kill performed by a Hetairoi results in 5 points, on top of the fact that Macedon already loves building Encampments more than a normal Domination civilization, since they have a strong replacement for the Barracks that can be used for , the Basilikoi Paides. Hetairoi also benefit twice as much from s compared to other units. Besides the normal 5 Combat Strength and 1 , a Hetairoi also receives 5 extra Combat Strength when attacking a unit adjacent to a Macedonian . This is the awkward part, since the bonus doesn't function in the way the in-game tooltip describes. If the Hetairoi and the share the same hex, this shouldn't be a problem, since the Hetairoi's attacks are melee. However, if the stands behind the Hetairoi, and the Hetairoi attacks a unit in the front, since that enemy unit is not flanked by the , the Hetairoi only receives 5 Combat Strength from being near the , but cannot activate its special bonus. Note that this special bonus of the Hetairoi can be activated by any , not necessarily a Classical one. Therefore, a Hetairoi can receive 5 Combat Strength when attacking a unit flanked by a Medieval , but, as expected, will not receive the normal 5 Combat Strength and 1 from standing within 2-tile of that Medieval .
Overall, the Hetairoi is an incredibly powerful unit, and they will form the heart of the Macedonian army. With a potential Combat Strength of 46, by far the highest in the Classical Era, 5 , a free starting with boosted experience gained from the Basilikoi Paides, this unit can be a nightmare to defend against. Also, in Gathering Storm, the Hetairoi uses , instead of like other heavy cavalry units, which is great since it won't compete against the contemporary Hypaspist in the same resource pool.
=== Basilikoi Paides ===
The Basilikoi Paides provides all the same benefits as a Barracks, but it also affects Hetairoi and yields equal to 25% of a unit's cost when it is trained. That's already better than the Science on offer from Campus Research Grants, aside from the lack of points. Still, while district projects have relatively few ways to boost Production towards them (the main one being Hong Kong's Suzerainty bonus), there are quite a lot of powerful boosts to military unit production. Here are some key examples:
* The God of the Forge Pantheon belief offers +25% Production towards Ancient and Classical Era units.
* The Great Admirals Themistocles and Chester Nimitz grant +20% Production towards naval ranged and naval raider units respectively when retired.
* The Statue of Zeus offers 50% more Production towards anti-cavalry units.
* Agoge, Feudal Contract, Grande Armée and Military First all offer +50% Production towards melee, ranged and anti-cavalry units of specific Eras.
* Strategic Air Force offers +50% Production towards all air units.
* Maritime Industries, Press Gangs and International Waters all offer +100% Production towards all naval units except Aircraft Carriers. Letters of Marque offers an additional +100% Production towards naval raider units.
* Patriotic War offers +100% Production towards the Supply Convoy, Observation Balloon, Anti-Air Gun, Drone, and Mobile SAM.
* Militaristic city-states grant Production bonuses towards units in certain buildings.
* The Warlord's Throne grants +20% Production towards all military units for 5 turns after capturing an enemy city.
* The To Arms! Dedication grants +15% Production towards all military units during the Age.
* Adopting Fascism grants +50% Production towards all military units.
For example, consider training a Quadrireme in a city with a Basilikoi Paides. If you slot Maritime Industries, grab God of the Forge, and recruit Themistocles, you'll have an additive 145% Production bonus toward it, which equates to 145% more Science for your Production. This Quadrireme will net you 73.5 Science - almost half of a Classical Era technology, and 61.25 Science per 100 Production, a little more than 4 times more than Campus Research Grants!
This offers Macedon an odd but powerful tool granting potentially tremendous Science output without too much investment in scientific infrastructure at all. The same Production focus that this strategy requires is, incidentally, also needed to get a quick Spaceport and rapidly finish your space missions to win a Science Victory. Or you could use your advanced technology to dominate even faster- who could blame you?
Note that the Basilikoi Paides only grants upon units being produced. Purchasing, either with or , does not count.
=== Victory Types ===
It is quite clear that the entire toolkit of Macedon points towards war- declare it nonstop and never look back. A Domination Victory as Alexander is quite simple, as there is not a lot of true counter strategies that can be thrown back once his march starts. However, as detailed, the Basilikoi Paides also offers an unorthodox, surprisingly effective Science Victory tool.
=== Counter Strategy ===
Against Alexander, research Masonry and Archery quickly, as you will need the extra defense to repel him. Alexander does not gain war weariness, so don't expect him to want to surrender on his own. You'll need to build an army of your own and push him back. In fact, a little warmongering of your own may save you from the clutches of an AI Alexander, who loves warmongers.
== Civilopedia entry ==
== Cities ==
== Citizens ==
Males 	Females 	Modern males	Modern females
Aeropus 	Adea 	Argyris 	Chrysanthi
Agathocles	Arsinoe 	Eleftherios 	Dimitra
Alcetas 	Berenice 	Haris 	Evdokia
Balacrus 	Cynane 	Ioannis 	Kyveli
Caranus 	Europa 	Omiros 	Melpomeni
Crateuas 	Gygaea 	Prokopis 	Nefeli
Koinos 	Nicaea 	Stephanos 	Paraskevi
Lysimachus	Philinna 	Thanasis 	Polyxeni
Orested 	Phthia 	Tryfon 	Theofania
Tryimmas 	Stratonice	Zinon 	Zinovia
== Trivia ==
* The Macedonian civilization's symbol is the Vergina Sun, a historical symbol of Macedonian royalty.
* The Macedonian civilization ability references the spread of ancient Greek culture and religion to conquered peoples, especially through Alexander the Great's conquests.
* Macedon is also playable in the Conquests of Alexander scenario.
==Soundtrack==
== Gallery ==
File:Hypaspist in-game (Civ6).jpg|The Hypaspist, Macedon's unique unit
File:Hetairoi in-game (Civ6).jpg|The Hetairoi, Alexander's unique unit
File:Basilikoi Paides in-game (Civ6).jpg|The Basilikoi Paides, Macedon's unique building
File:Macedonian capital.JPG|Macedonian capital in Medieval Era
== Videos ==
thumb|center|300px|First Look: Macedon
== Related achievements ==
== See also ==
* Macedonian in other games
== External links ==
* https://civilization.com/news/entries/civilization-vi-alexander-the-great-leads-macedon
ru:Македония (Civ6)
Category:Macedonian