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Army Commanders are a brand-new unit inCivilization 7. They completely change how combat works in the game compared to previous entries in the series. They are the only unit that can receive promotions - regular units no longer receive promotions - and exist between ages, the only unit to do so.
As a result, they are one of the most important and powerful units in the game. They allow for quick movement across the map, provide important combat buffs, and can even be utilized for buffing your city’s district output. This guide covers every facet of Army Commanders to help you optimize your empire.
Updated on July 21, 2025:We’ve updated this article to include more information to help you get to grips with Army Commanders in Civilization 7.
Army Commanders Overview
Here’s a brief overview of what Army Commanders are, and how they work.
Army Commanders Exist Across Ages
Army Commanders arethe only unit in the game that exists across multiple ages.For example, if you have two or three commanders during theAntiquity Age, they will reappear during the Exploration Age.
They retain promotions and experience gained across ages as well.
Commanders gain experience via units attacking, killing enemy units, and clearing independent powers or conquering settlements, within the commander’sCommand Radius.
TheCommand Radiusis indicated by the white tiles surrounding your commander. At the default level, commanders have a one tile radius.
Deploying And Assembling Armies
One of the key functions of Army Commanders is their ability tostack multiple units into one tile. At their base level, commanders can stackfour additional units into a single tile- this cuts down on micromanagement and allows you to utilize the commander’s movement buffs if you’ve gone down theManeuverpromotion tree.
Focus Fire And Coordinated Attack
Army Commanders have special abilities that allow you to eitherFocus Firewith the ranged units within the command radius, or lead aCoordinatedattack with your Infantry and Cavalry units.
Commanders can’t deal damage themselves, but they dohave acombat statand can resist some attacks from enemy units. They are precious, however, because they retain upgrades between eras - keep them safe if you may!
This provides a flat +2 combat strength for units when using this ability. This might not seem like a lot, but bonuses stack in Civilization 7, and this might provide the small advantage you need to be victorious.
Unit placement and movement is more important than ever in Civilization 7 because of the addition of Army Commanders. They allow for a lot moreskill expressionthan in previous games, and it might take a while to get used to using these powerful new unique units.
Reinforcement And Recovery Time
One of the most powerful functions of Army Commanders is theReinforce ability.This allows you to quickly transport units to an Army Commander even if they are many tiles away.
A unit just needs to be further thansix tilesfrom the Commander and have full movement speed.
The speed at which units appear in your Army Commander’s stack depends onRecovery Time- this is determined by distance to the commander and whether you have any Recovery Time promotions.
Reinforce cuts down on unit micromanagementsignificantly.You no longer need to move your soldiers manually across vast distances. This becomes even easier with the addition ofRailroadsin theModern Age.
Commanders Will Respawn
If you lose your Army Commander, they will respawn after a set number of turns determined by your current game speed.
There arefivepromotion trees for commanders:Bastion, Assault, Logistic, Maneuver, and Leadership.
Bastion Tree
The Bastion tree is all about fortification and defense.
Getting hassled by aggressive AI, but you want to try and play a more peaceful game? The Bastion treecan help you defend cities against much more powerful opponents.
Assault Tree
The Assault tree is all about aggressive play, providing plenty of buffs for units that attack within the commander’s radius.
The Assault tree is great for aggressive military players, because it will allow you the element of surprise when moving units forwards. It works great when paired with theManeuver tree, as you may swiftly move into position and deploy your units ready to attack.
Logistics Tree
The Logistics tree provides a nice balance between city utility and some interesting mechanics, like allowing units to attack through terrain.
The Logistics tree can be extremely powerful in certain situations, especially if you’re attacking anenemy army or settlement that has tricky terrain.
Maneuver Tree
The Maneuver tree is about providing your armies with movement bonuses, while also restricting the movement of your opponent’s troops.
The Maneuver tree is excellent when paired with the Assault tree.
Leadership Tree
Leadership is another versatile choice. you may grab the first promotion, Zeal, to provide a quick five percent buffs to a nearby settlement if the commander is stationed on a district.
Commendations
Commendations are powerful unlocks that can be gained by reaching the bottom of any particular promotion tree. There are five possible Commendations:Valor, Duty, Service, Merit, and Order.
You don’t need to complete theentiretree to reach the Commendation Points. You could, if you wanted to, just go down one section of the tree to reach the final upgrade, unlocking the commendation buffs.
Valor
Grants the Army Commander theSecond Windability, which allows your units to attack twice and restores movement points.
Duty
Grants the commander theHeroic Assault ability,which allows the commander to dealdirect damageto a unit within the command radius.
Service
Provides one extra movement point for land units within the command radius.
Provides an extra one tile radius for the command radius.
Order
Provides five extra combat strength for land units within the combat radius.
You can earn multiple Commendations by completing multiple skill trees.
Every Unique Army Commander
Some civiliations provide a unique Army Commander unit, across the Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern Age.
Legatus
This is theRoman Antiquity Age’sunique Army Commander. For every three commander levels the unit acquires, you can settle a new settlement. It leans heavily into Rome’s expansionist and militaristic play style.
Noyan
The Noyan is the Mongolian Exploration Age unique commander. It provides a 50 percent flanking bonus to Cavalry units within its command radius. It works very well with theKeshig,the Mongolian’s unique ranged cavalry unit.
Hazarapatis
The Hazarapatis is thePersian Antiquity Age’s uniquearmy commander. It begins with theInitiative promotion.
Mwami
The Mwami is the Bugandan Modern Age’s unique army commander. It provides an extra 50 percent yield to any pillaged tiles.
Best Commander Promotions In Civ 7
There are lots of different ways to develop your Army Commanders in Civ 7, from defensive abilities to more aggressive ones.
As standard, we like to take theInitiative Promotionas our first upgrade. This allows units to immediately attack after they are unpacked from the commander, but it also opens up some of the Combat Strength bonus promotions.
These promotions areRout, Storm, Shock Tactics, and Enfilade.These provide base Combat Strength to your units, targeting specific types of units - Ranged, Cavalry, Siege, and Infantry.
TheAssault treecombined with theManeuver treecreates very mobile armies that can be quickly shifted around the map, deploying troops to attack quickly and by surprise.
Stacking Combat Strength
Once you reach the high difficulty levels of Civ 7, like Immortal and Deity, the opposingAI’s troops have extremely high Combat Strengthbonuses added on because of the increased difficulty.
The only way to combat this is by clever micromanagement of your Army Commanders and stacking their Combat Strength bonuses with any leader or civilization bonuses you might have.
This might be a defensive tactic by taking promotions in theBastion treeor more aggressive via theAssault tree.
