TL;DR: The thirst is strong with Civ 6 with the addition of Ambiorix of Gaul

We are getting a new expansion for Civilization VI, well not quite, over the next year we have a season pass, the New Frontier Pass, which will give us several new Civilizations and Game Modes over the next year (which you can find out more information HERE). The next new Civilizations has been released so let’s dive into Gaul.

Ambiorix of Gaul Overview

Civilization Leader: Ambiorix
Civilization Capital: Aduatuca
Civilization Bonus: Hallstatt Culture Mines provide a major adjacency to all districts, Mines give a culture bomb to unowned tiles and bonus culture. Districts do not receive a bonus for being next to each other and can not be built next to the City Centre
Leader Bonus: King of the Ebrones – Building Military units gives you a culture boost, bonus to melee combats strength for neighbouring units.
Unique Unit: Gaesatae – Replaces the Warrior, Bonus to combat strength when attacking higher-tech units and district defences, costs more to build.
Unique District: Oppidum – An Industrial Zone replacement that comes earlier in the Tech Tree and can make a ranged attack. Unlocks Apprenticeship when the first is built. Major Adjacency bonus from Quarries and Strategic Resources.
Cities: Bibrax, Durocorteron, Ratumacos

This is a civilization that as the bonuses were read out, I made several interesting faces as the implications of all the bonuses washed over me. The biggest of which is how Gaul completely changes up the District game. Here we get a one-two punch of firstly not being able to build districts next to the City Centre, and then Districts not receiving adjacency from each other. Right from the start the implications are enormous, no more building the Harbour right next to the City Centre, so you might have to avoid settling on the coast. Also no Harbour, City Centre, and Commercial District triangles.  

The implications for this are huge; however, it is not all bad on this front, with Gaul getting some exciting bonuses that may make it stand out. So while districts don’t receive bonuses for being next to each other, they do get major adjacency for being next to mines. This added with the mine culture bomb gives you a real incentive to expand out quickly, and if you can get a couple of mines near each other, you could get some very powerful districts. On this front, the unique industrial Zone replacement is going to help boost that production focus from significantly earlier in the game.

While Gaul is positioning itself to be a bit of cultural/production powerhouse (which is 100% my jam) in line with other Civilizations like Australia, they are also a robust defensive civilization, which is very on-brand when you read up on Ambiorix. The fact that their Industrial Zone replacement also gets a ranged attack means that you can have that extra level of defence around your cities with a potential of three ranged attacks on a single unit if you get the placement right. I can imagine this could lead to you being able to create more chokeholds around the map like in mountainous terrain. This combined with what looks like a straight-up barbarian remover with the Warrior replacement means that your early game might be more secure than many other civilizations.

The last thing about the Gauls, what was actually the first thing we got to see, and that is Ambiorix himself. Someone at Firaxis had a good time designing this new leader with a design is very reminiscent of the notable statue of Ambiorix in Tongeren, Belgium.  Ambiorix joins the long history of leaders with exquisite facial hair and on-point eyebrow game (not quite Kristina eye roll good but in that realm). Add to this the sixpack and personality, and well, I am sure more than a few eyes got raised when he was announced.

Overall, I liked what I saw with Gaul, an industrial/culture/builder civilization is kind of my jam and add on this the ability to smash those pesky early barbarians, and I am 100% sold. However, there are some lingering questions as to how these mechanics will play with the rest of the game’s ruleset. But then that will be something that I’ll have to see through playing it.

    To learn more about the Civilization: New Frontiers Pass, you can read it all in our Features Thread.

If you want to get to know the world of Civilization 6, you can explore our Map of Civilization VI

To join in the discussion about the New Frontiers Pass, come join the fun at Civfanatics  

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

What Civs would you like to see in Civ 6 New Frontier Pass?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.