Mastering the Frontier: An Introduction to Teddy Roosevelt
In the grand strategy landscape of Civilization 6, few leaders embody the spirit of their nation as robustly as Teddy Roosevelt of America. A leader playable in two distinct forms, Bull Moose and Rough Rider, Roosevelt offers pathways to victory that are as varied as the American landscape itself. This guide provides a deep, analytical dive into the strategic nuances of both personas, with a particular focus on maximizing their powerful, and often game-changing, leader abilities. We will explore how to leverage his unique strengths to dominate the early game, secure continental dominance, and achieve victory through culture, diplomacy, or force. Analysis on forums and among top players consistently highlights Roosevelt as a versatile and formidable leader, capable of adapting to a wide range of starting conditions and strategic opportunities.
The Foundation of American Power: Shared Abilities
Before delving into the specific strategies for each Roosevelt persona, it is crucial to understand the foundational abilities of the American civilization that both share. These abilities provide a versatile toolkit that can be leveraged to support any victory condition.
Founding Fathers: A Legacy of Flexibility
America’s civilization ability, Founding Fathers, is a cornerstone of its adaptability. It allows you to earn all government legacy bonuses in half the usual time. This means that the longer you stay in a particular government, the faster you accumulate powerful bonuses that persist for the rest of the game. For example, the +1 combat strength bonus for every 20 turns spent in a Monarchy can be accrued much more quickly, giving your units a critical edge in prolonged conflicts.
Furthermore, Founding Fathers grants +1 Diplomatic Favor per turn for every Wildcard slot in your current government. This synergizes beautifully with the ability’s second effect: converting all diplomatic policy slots into Wildcard slots. This provides unparalleled flexibility in your government, allowing you to slot in any type of policy card you need, whether it be military, economic, or diplomatic. This adaptability is a recurring theme in American gameplay and a key to its strength. Many professional gamers suggest that this flexibility is what makes America a top-tier civilization, as it can pivot its strategy on a dime to respond to changing circumstances.
P-51 Mustang: Dominance in the Skies
The P-51 Mustang is America’s unique unit, a Modern era fighter that replaces the standard Fighter. It boasts a significant +5 combat strength against other fighter aircraft, making it a formidable air superiority fighter. Its +2 flight range allows it to project power over a wider area, and the +50% experience gain ensures that your pilots will quickly become veterans, unlocking powerful promotions. A popular strategy is to use the P-51 Mustang to establish air dominance before launching a ground invasion, as it can effectively neutralize enemy airpower and protect your ground troops from aerial attacks. The fact that it requires no oil resources to produce is a massive logistical advantage, allowing you to field a large and powerful air force without being constrained by strategic resource limitations.
Film Studio: A Cultural Powerhouse
The Film Studio is America’s unique building, replacing the Broadcast Center. Its primary effect is to double the tourism pressure from the city it is built in towards other civilizations in the Modern era. This is a game-changing ability for a Culture Victory, as it can dramatically accelerate your tourism output in the late game. When combined with other tourism-generating improvements like National Parks and Seaside Resorts, the Film Studio can create a cultural juggernaut that is difficult to resist.
Rough Rider Teddy: Forging a Continental Empire
The Rough Rider persona of Teddy Roosevelt is a military powerhouse, designed for early continental dominance and diplomatic maneuvering. His abilities are geared towards securing your home continent and projecting power across the globe.
Roosevelt Corollary: The Big Stick Policy
The Roosevelt Corollary is the cornerstone of Rough Rider Teddy’s military might. It provides a +5 combat strength bonus to all of your units when fighting on their home continent. This is a massive advantage in the early game, allowing you to aggressively expand your borders, clear out barbarian camps with ease, and deter early aggression from your neighbors. According to the player community, this ability is what makes Rough Rider Teddy one of the strongest early-game military leaders in Civilization 6.
The second part of the Roosevelt Corollary is a diplomatic powerhouse: Envoys sent to City-States with which you have a Trade Route count as two Envoys. This allows you to quickly gain suzerainty over City-States, unlocking their unique bonuses and securing their loyalty in the World Congress. A popular strategy is to establish a trade route with a City-State and then send a single envoy to instantly become its suzerain. This can be particularly effective with City-States that provide military or economic bonuses, as they can further enhance your early-game dominance.
The Rough Rider: A Legendary Unit
The Rough Rider is Teddy’s unique unit, an Industrial era cavalry unit that replaces the Cuirassier. It has a lower maintenance cost than the Cuirassier and gains a +10 combat strength bonus when fighting on Hills. This makes it a formidable defensive unit, capable of holding key terrain against even the most determined assaults. Furthermore, the Rough Rider earns Culture from kills on its Capital’s continent, which can provide a significant boost to your civic progress. Analysis on forums shows that the Rough Rider is a versatile unit that can be used for both offense and defense, and its ability to generate Culture makes it a valuable asset for any victory condition.
Big Stick Ideology: A Diplomatic Cudgel
Teddy’s agenda, Big Stick Ideology, reflects his historical foreign policy. He likes peaceful civilizations that have a city on his home continent and dislikes civilizations who start wars on his continent. This agenda can be used to your advantage by maintaining a peaceful and defensive posture on your home continent, which will earn you the friendship of other peaceful leaders. However, the true power of this agenda lies in its hidden bonus: it grants an additional +5 Combat Strength to all units against major civilizations and City-States that have a city on your capital’s continent. This, combined with the Roosevelt Corollary, gives your units a staggering +10 combat strength bonus on your home continent, making you a virtually unstoppable military force.
Bull Moose Teddy: A Symphony of Culture and Science
The Bull Moose persona of Teddy Roosevelt offers a completely different playstyle, one focused on generating massive amounts of Culture and Science through the careful cultivation of your empire’s Appeal.
Antiquities and Parks: The Beauty of Nature
The Antiquities and Parks ability is the heart and soul of Bull Moose Teddy’s gameplay. It provides +2 Science to Breathtaking tiles adjacent to either a Natural Wonder or a Mountain, and +2 Culture to Breathtaking tiles adjacent to either a Wonder or Woods. This ability encourages you to settle your cities in areas of high natural beauty, and to carefully plan the placement of your districts and improvements to maximize the Appeal of your tiles. A popular strategy is to create “super parks” by surrounding a Natural Wonder with mountains, woods, and wonders, creating a cluster of Breathtaking tiles that generate enormous amounts of Science and Culture.
Furthermore, this ability grants +1 Appeal to all tiles in a city with a National Park. This synergizes beautifully with the first part of the ability, as it makes it easier to create Breathtaking tiles and further enhances the yields of your National Parks. Many professional gamers suggest that Bull Moose Teddy is one of the strongest Culture Victory leaders in the game, as his ability to generate massive amounts of tourism from National Parks is unmatched.
The Environmentalist Agenda
Bull Moose Teddy’s agenda is simple: he likes civilizations that embrace high Appeal territory and dislikes those with low Appeal territory. This agenda is a reflection of his love for the natural world, and it encourages you to play in a way that is both aesthetically pleasing and strategically sound. By focusing on creating a beautiful and prosperous empire, you will not only be well on your way to a Culture Victory, but you will also earn the friendship of other like-minded leaders.
Strategic Synergies and Pathways to Victory
Both of Teddy Roosevelt’s personas offer unique and powerful pathways to victory. Rough Rider Teddy is a master of the early game, capable of forging a continental empire and then leveraging his diplomatic and military might to achieve a Domination or Diplomatic Victory. Bull Moose Teddy, on the other hand, is a cultural and scientific powerhouse, capable of generating massive yields from his high-Appeal tiles and winning a Culture or Science Victory.
A key to success with either persona is to understand the synergies between their abilities and the shared American abilities. For example, Rough Rider Teddy’s ability to quickly gain suzerainty over City-States can be used to secure strategic resources and military advantages, while Bull Moose Teddy’s ability to generate massive amounts of Culture can be used to quickly unlock powerful policy cards and government types.
Conclusion: A Tale of Two Roosevelts
Teddy Roosevelt is a leader of immense depth and versatility, offering two distinct and equally compelling gameplay experiences. Whether you choose to follow the path of the Rough Rider and forge a continental empire through military might, or the path of the Bull Moose and create a cultural and scientific utopia, you will find that Roosevelt provides you with all the tools you need to achieve victory. By understanding the nuances of his abilities and the strategic synergies between them, you can unlock the full potential of this iconic American leader and lead your civilization to glory. The player community consistently ranks both Roosevelt personas as top-tier leaders, a testament to their power and flexibility. The choice is yours: will you carry a big stick, or will you speak softly and let the beauty of your lands speak for itself?