Civilization V's new civilization abilities and unique units, and how to use them

Civilization V: Brave New World

Civilization V: Brave New World is bringing nine brave, new civilizations to the table. We've had a look at seven of them in the recent preview build, and have compiled info on all of their unique abilities, units, and buildings. I've also thrown in my impressions as a Civ V veteran regarding how to best play as each, so you can start plotting your future world domination.

Assyria

Unique Ability: Treasures of Nineveh
Every time you capture a city, you gain a free technology that the city's owner has, and you do not. If you're completely ahead in tech, this does nothing.

Unique Unit: Siege Tower
Replacing the catapult, Siege Towers grant a bonus to attack against cities to all adjacent melee units. The tower itself can only attack cities.

Unique Building: Royal Library
Replaces the regular Library, and grants +1 Science for every citizen in the city where it's built. It also contains a slot for a Great Writing (part of the new Culture system) which, when filled, grants all units trained in the city with an xp boost.

Adviser T.J. says:
Assyria was always my biggest rival in the few games I played in the press build. Their civ ability makes it possible to spend most, if not all, of your resources on military early on, and steal your way back up the tech tree as you conquer. Taking cities is always tough in the early game, but Assyria is great at it. Once you get a Royal Library, your science scales based on population—so I would recommend taking Tradition policies, keeping your empire small and well-fed, and razing most of those cities you captured for the tech boost.

Brazil

Unique Ability: Carnival
Ain't no party like a Brazilian party. While you're in a Golden Age, you generate double Tourism (the new resource used for cultural victory) and double your chance to get a Great Artist.

Unique Unit: Pracinha
A replacement for modern Infantry, these guys build up points toward a Golden Age every time they defeat an enemy.

Unique Tile Improvement: Brazilwood Camp
Starting once you research Machinery, you can build these on any Jungle tile. They generate two Gold and, once Acoustics is researched, two Culture as well.

Adviser T.J. says:
Brazil is one of those civs that isn't going to play a whole lot differently from most in the earlier eras. Other than maximizing your happiness to produce more Golden Ages (and taking the policies that make them longer and more frequent), the best you can really do is manage your city placement to get the maximum number of Jungle tiles. If you don't start off near many, that probably means you'll want to take Liberty policies and go crazy with those settlers. From there, start preparing to become a military power once Pracinhas become available. Use them wisely while they're relevant, and once they become outdated, you can choose whether to scale back the aggression and focus on culture... or keep blazing along the warpath.

Indonesia

Unique Ability: Spice Islanders
The first three cities you found on continents other than the one you started on are immune to razing, and provide two extra, unique luxury resources.

Unique Unit: Kris Swordsman
This Swordsman replacement gains a random unit promotion the first time it is used in combat.

Unique Building: Candi
Replacing the Garden, the Candi must be built in a city on a river or lake. It grants you +2 Faith for every world religion that has at least one follower in the city.

Adviser T.J. says:
It's hard to figure out where to start with these guys. I'd consider them an advanced player's option. If you're into early conquest, tech up to Kris Swordsmen, make a lot of them, then plan your battles around the abilities they receive. Making the best use of the Candi seems tricky, since there isn't really a sure-fire way of encouraging other civs to send Missionaries your way, other than having good road systems and Open Borders treaties. Obviously, you'll want to take Liberty and Exploration policies, colonizing other continents as quick as possible. Those unique luxury resources will be hugely profitable with the new trade system.

Morocco

Unique Ability: Gateway to Africa
You generate three Gold and one Culture for every civ and city-state you have a trade route with, on top of the normal trade route income.

Unique Unit: Berber Cavalry
A replacement for standard Cavalry, you get bonuses for fighting on home turf and in Desert tiles. These bonuses stack if you're fighting on a Desert in your own territory.

Unique Tile Improvement: Kasbah
Only buildable on Desert tiles, rockin' the Kasbah will give you one each of Food, Production, and Gold.

Adviser T.J. says:
Morocco was the only playable civ in the preview build, so I spent a lot of time with them. Expanding and diversifying your trade from a central hub city (using Tradition policies) as fast as possible is hugely profitable. The new Commerce tree (which doesn't really focus on naval stuff any more—that's been moved to Exploration) is your best friend. You should almost never run out of gold or happiness, with Golden Ages being almost constant in the late game. The Kasbah is a bit of an annoyance, as Desert tiles are usually where I set aside land for Great Person improvements, and I didn't make much use of the Berber Cavalry. Picking up the Desert Folklore religious tenet early is also extremely helpful. Cultural victory is the most obvious path, but trade routes to city-states also open up easy avenues to Diplomatic dominance.

Poland

Unique Ability: Solidarity
You get a free social policy every time you advance to a new era. BOOM.

Unique Unit: Winged Hussar
Replacing the Lancer, these guys are... how best to put this? How about "straight-up boss." They're faster and more powerful than a Lancer. If they deal more damage in combat than they take, the unit they're fighting is forced back one tile. If the enemy has nowhere to run, they take extra damage and may be destroyed.

Unique Building: Ducal Stable
A more awesome version of the non-ducal Stable, building one of these will generate one Gold for every Pasture within the city limits and grant all mounted units built there 15 XP.

Adviser T.J. says:
I really like Poland. If not for the bombshell that is... one of the unannounced civs we're not allowed to talk about yet, I'd even say they're my favorite new civ. Winged Hussars might be the most fun to use military unit in the entire game (and they're up against the likes of Danish Berserkers, so that's saying something). I recommend going straight into Honor policies, banking some Great Generals, and preparing to sweep all competitors off of your starting landmass by the end of the Renaissance. At that point, you can use your incredible ability to get free social policies to pick your poison in terms of victory conditions. Continue your conquests overseas or settle down? Either way, you'll probably want to go into Rationalism, since Science is the fast-track to those free policies.

Portugal

Unique Ability: Mare Clausum
You get double to bonus gold for forming trade routes with cities that have different resources than you.

Unique Unit: Nao
A Caravel replacement with a one-time ability to execute a Trade Mission. You'll have to be adjacent to the territory of a civ or city-state you're at peace with, and the Nao will generate a one-time Gold payout that gets higher the further the ship is from your capital. It's also slightly faster than a stock Caravel.

Unique Tile Improvement: Feitoria
This one's interesting—it must be built on an empty coastal tile within the boundaries of a city-state. As long as it stands, it gives you a free copy of every resource that city-state has, even if you're at war with them.

Adviser T.J. says:
Some really interesting and fairly complicated mechanics are at work here. Like Indonesia, I'd classify them on the more advanced end of the difficulty scale. You'll want to tech up your navy and get Exploration policies as soon as possible, and generate as much gold with your Nao fleets as you can. Seek out city-states with particularly rare resources, especially ones you don't have access to, and get those Feitoria down to boost your happiness and trade income. Since gold can help you win just about any victory type, I wouldn't say Portugal is especially disposed to any given path. Science might be an interesting choice, especially since adopting the Freedom ideology now has an ability that lets you buy Spaceship parts instantly with cash.

The Zulu

Unique Ability: Iklwa
You only pay half Gold maintenance for melee units, and all military units require 25 percent less XP to earn a promotion.

Unique Unit: Impi
Replacing the Pikeman, the Impi executes a ranged spear throw before combat begins that's not quite as powerful as a same era ranged unit.

Unique Building: Ikanda
The Zulu alternative to the Barracks does everything a Barracks does, as well as granting all pre-gundpowder units built in the same city faster movement and greater combat strength.

Adviser T.J. says:
Similar to Rome, the Zulu are extremely dangerous in the early game. I always took a deep breath when I discovered they were my neighbors. Your military will be a force to be reckoned with up through the late Medieval era, and you should probably aim to have Domination victory more or less sealed up by the time you research Gunpowder. Once the world begins to tech up, you'll want to start being conservative with your units. An Impi built at the Ikanda that is upgraded all the way to an Information Age equivalent will keep all of its unique promotions, making it a hugely valuable late game fighter.

Two more civs still remain shrouded by the fog of war, but we'll have all the details just as soon as Firaxis hits that "Next Turn" button.