Mountains:

Learn how to effectively use and improve mountains in Sid Meier's Civilization VII, from their base stats to strategic improvements like mines and railroads.

Alright, let's talk about Mountains in Sid Meier's Civilization VII. These rugged terrains can be a bit tricky at first, but understanding them is key to expanding your empire efficiently.

Stats:

• Food Gain: 0. Mountains don't directly provide food, which means you'll need to look elsewhere for that crucial resource.
• Production Gain: Base production is 1. You can boost this to 2 with a Mine, and a whopping 3 if you combine it with a Railroad.
• Trade Gain: Usually 0, but a Gold Bar resource on a mountain is worth a significant 5, 6, or even 7 trade points. With a Railroad, this jumps to 9 or 10, which is super useful for researching technologies.
• Movement Cost: 3. This is quite high, so try to avoid mountains with Light Cavalry and Chariots if you can.
• Defense: +200%. If you place a Phalanx unit on a mountain, they become incredibly tough to dislodge, especially in the early game.

Early Game Strategy:

Generally, you'll want to avoid building cities directly on mountains before 1000 BC, unless you have a specific plan. It's best to wait until you have the technology for Railroads to properly exploit them. The main draw for mountains, especially early on, are the Gold Bar resources. These are fantastic for boosting your science output, though they don't help much with city food production.

Improving Mountains:

You can't really change a mountain into something else, but you can definitely improve the tiles:

• Mine: Takes 10 turns to build. I'd only bother with this if there's a Gold Bar resource on the mountain.
• Road: Takes 6 turns. Again, focus on this primarily for Gold Bar resources, as it's a significant time investment. However, if you find a cluster of mountains with valuable resources, building roads through them might be worth considering.
• Railroad: Takes 12 turns. Build this after roads, and only if you're after those precious Gold Bars. It's the ultimate way to maximize the trade value from mountain resources.

Maximum Potential:

When a mountain tile is at its best, it can provide you with 3 production points and 10 trade points, especially when a Gold Bar resource is involved and connected by a Railroad. That's a solid boost for your empire's development and research!