User Guide

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TERRAIN & MOVEMENT CONCEPTS
The game map in Civilization II is divided into small independent parts, or terrain squares, as we
mentioned in City Concepts. For simplicity, each square consists of a single type of terrain, even though the
real world is not as perfectly organized as that. To represent that some types of terrain are easy to walk across
and others require slogging through mud or hacking through thick underbrush, your units spend
movement points to enter each new square. Every unit has an ADM rating (the acronym stands for
Attack/Defense/Movement); the M, or third number in the rating, indicates how many movement points it can
spend in a turn. You can find out all about units and their ADM ratings under Military Units.
Each terrain type has its own movement point cost (and they’re all conveniently listed in the TERRAIN
CHARTS on the Poster). Your Settlers or Engineer units can improve (that is, lower) these movement point
costs by laying roads and later railroads in terrain squares (see Settlers & Engineers for the lowdown on
how they do this). When a unit moves into a new square, it pays that square’s movement point cost. If it has
any movement points — or fractions of movement points — left after moving one square, a unit can attempt
to move again until it reaches the limit of its movement points. Attacking counts as movement — that is, your
units spend movement points to attack. You can read about the details under Military Units; what you need
to know here is that a unit’s attack strength might be reduced if it has less than a full movement point
remaining at the time of combat. You’ll get a message asking if you want to continue with
the attack.
The proximity of enemy units or cities can also restrict a unit’s movement options. Units and cities have
what in military circles is called a zone of control; their influence extends into the eight squares that
immediately surround them. Your units cannot move directly from one rival’s zone of control into another’s
zone of control unless you have an alliance with the second tribe. This represents a unit’s ability to threaten
or pin down enemy troops nearby. When an enemy Legion is nearby waiting to pounce, your troops cannot
afford to expose their vulnerable flanks. The blockers don’t have to be units or cities of the same civilization.
The Movement Restriction diagram should make it clearer, so give it a look-see. Some units (such as
Diplomats, Caravans, and all air and naval units) have special abilities that allow them to ignore
these restrictions.
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