In the grand strategy of Civilization 6, terrain is king. Mountains, the most imposing of all geographical features, dictate the flow of empires, halt invading armies, and provide sanctuary to those who settle in their shadows. They are the ultimate defensive bulwark, a natural Great Wall that even the most advanced artillery cannot breach. But what if a simple, unassuming support unit could change all that? What if the Observation Balloon, and by extension the Drone, was given the power to grant ranged units the ability to fire over these impassable peaks? This single change would not just alter a few tactical considerations; it would fundamentally rewrite the rules of warfare, diplomacy, and even city planning, turning the world of Civ 6 on its head.
The Current State of Siege: Line of Sight and Mountain Warfare
To understand the revolutionary impact of this hypothetical change, one must first appreciate the existing mechanics of ranged combat. In Civilization 6, the concept of Line of Sight (LOS) is a critical limitation for most units. An attacker must be able to “see” its target. While hills, forests, and jungles can obscure this line of sight for basic two-range units like Archers and Crossbowmen, mountains are the ultimate obstacle. They are absolute barriers, blocking both movement and attacks for all but a few specialized unit types.
According to the player community, this limitation is a cornerstone of defensive strategy. A well-placed city, nestled in a mountain range with only a single tile for access, becomes a nearly impregnable fortress. Attackers are forced into a deadly chokepoint, where the city’s own ranged strike and the defender’s units can pick them off one by one. Even the most powerful siege units, like Bombards and Artillery, are rendered useless if they cannot get a clear shot.
The Observation Balloon, available at the Flight technology, currently provides a crucial but limited advantage. Its primary function is to grant a +1 range bonus to adjacent siege-class units. This allows a Bombard, for example, to fire from three tiles away instead of two. This is a significant tactical advantage, enabling artillery to out-range city defenses and attack from a safer distance. The upgraded Drone, available with Computers, extends this benefit. However, neither unit circumvents the fundamental restriction of mountain-based line of sight. The extra range is useless if a massive mountain is in the way. This is the established meta: mountains are safe zones, the final word in defensive terrain.
A New Era of Artillery: The Strategic Implications
Allowing Observation Balloons to grant “indirect fire” over mountains would shatter this established meta. The implications would be felt across every era of the game, from the moment the first balloon takes to the sky.
Redefining “Safe” Terrain: The End of Mountain Fortresses
The most immediate and dramatic consequence would be the complete nullification of the mountain fortress strategy. Civilizations that thrive in high-altitude environments, like the Inca with their unique mountain-traversing abilities, would find their natural defenses rendered obsolete. A city completely encircled by mountains, once considered the safest possible location, would become a death trap.
Analysis on forums shows that players frequently choose city locations based on this defensive principle. A capital placed behind a mountain range is a capital protected from early rushes. With this change, an enemy could simply park an army of Crossbowmen or Bombards on the other side of the range, link them to an Observation Balloon, and rain down destruction with impunity. The defending city, unable to retaliate with its own garrison or land units, could do nothing but slowly crumble. Many professional gamers suggest that this would force a complete re-evaluation of what constitutes a “good” city spot. Coastal access and open plains for maneuverability might suddenly become far more valuable than a ring of protective peaks.
Offensive Power Projection: A Siege Revolution
Offensive strategies would undergo a seismic shift. Currently, siege warfare is often a slow, grinding affair. Armies must march methodically, clearing enemy units and securing terrain before the fragile but powerful siege weapons can be brought to the front lines. Chokepoints, fortified by forts and well-placed units, can halt an invasion for dozens of turns.
With our hypothetical change, offensive power projection becomes far more dynamic and terrifying. An attacking force could use a mountain range as a shield for its own artillery. Imagine a line of Rocket Artillery, safely positioned behind a mountain chain, supported by a Drone. They could systematically dismantle an entire enemy industrial zone, spaceport, or encampment from a position of complete safety. The defender’s land army would be forced to march all the way around the mountain range to even begin to engage the threat, by which time their key districts could be reduced to rubble. This would make “blitzkrieg” style attacks, focused on crippling an enemy’s infrastructure, far more viable and devastating.
The Indirect Fire Doctrine: New Tactical Combinations
This change would give rise to entirely new tactical doctrines centered around indirect fire. The composition of armies would change. The player community often debates the ideal ratio of melee, ranged, and cavalry units. In this new meta, the value of ranged and siege units would skyrocket. An army might consist of a core of powerful artillery (Bombards, Artillery, Rocket Artillery), a screen of anti-cavalry units to protect them, and a handful of fast-moving cavalry or aircraft to hunt down the enemy’s own Observation Balloons.
Scouting would become more critical than ever. A player would need to meticulously explore the terrain on the far side of mountain ranges, looking for hidden plateaus and valleys from which to launch their attacks. The Fog of War would become a potent weapon, concealing the true location of these artillery nests. A popular strategy would likely involve using Spec Ops units or aircraft to get vision on a target city, then using that vision to allow artillery hidden miles away behind a mountain to open fire. The concept of a “front line” would become blurred, replaced by pockets of long-range conflict across impassable terrain.
A Buff to Land-Based Powers
Civilizations with unique and powerful ranged units would see their stock rise considerably. Consider the Ottomans, whose Grand Bombards are already formidable siege weapons. With the ability to fire over mountains, their city-taking potential would become legendary. England’s iconic Redcoats, when fighting on a foreign continent, would be able to establish beachheads and project power inland with unprecedented speed, using coastal mountain ranges to support their advance.
Conversely, civilizations that rely heavily on naval power or a strong defensive position might find themselves at a disadvantage. Japan, for example, benefits from its coastal bonuses and often builds compact, defensible cities. The threat of long-range, mountain-ignoring artillery fire could force a change in this playstyle, requiring a more proactive and aggressive military posture to counter threats before they can get established.
The Ripple Effect: How It Would Change the Wider Game
The ability to fire over mountains wouldn’t just change warfare; its effects would ripple through the entire game, influencing economic decisions, diplomatic relations, and the very flow of a campaign.
Economic and Production Shifts
The strategic importance of resources required for advanced ranged units would be magnified. Niter, essential for Bombards, would become a top-priority resource to secure. A player without a reliable source of Niter would be at a severe disadvantage against an opponent who could field mountain-ignoring artillery. The same would be true for Aluminum and Uranium in the later eras for Rocket Artillery and nuclear weapons.
Production queues would also change. Observation Balloons, currently a niche support unit, would become a core component of every army. Players would likely build them in large numbers, anticipating that some would be lost to enemy action. The cost of maintaining a large, advanced artillery corps would also put a strain on a civilization’s economy, potentially leading to a greater emphasis on gold generation and commercial hubs to fund the war machine.
Diplomatic Maneuvering and Surprise Wars
The diplomatic landscape would become far more volatile. The threat of an “unblockable” artillery barrage would be a powerful tool in international relations. A civilization could mass an army behind a shared mountain border, hidden from view, and then suddenly declare a surprise war, crippling their neighbor before they even have time to react. This would make border security a much more complex issue. A player could no longer rely on a mountain range as a buffer; they would need to actively patrol their borders and maintain a standing army to deter such surprise attacks.
Grievances from border friction would likely increase, as players move units into what was previously considered neutral and inaccessible mountain territory. The entire dynamic of “buffer zones” between empires would be redrawn.
Counter-Strategies and the New Meta
Of course, for every powerful new strategy, a counter-strategy emerges. The player community is known for its ingenuity in adapting to new threats. So, how would one counter an army of mountain-ignoring artillery?
The most obvious answer is airpower. The moment Fighters and Bombers become available, their primary mission would be to establish air superiority over the mountain ranges and hunt down the vulnerable Observation Balloons and artillery pieces. A player who neglects their air force in this meta would be doing so at their peril. The strategic value of aircraft carriers would also increase, allowing for power projection against landlocked enemies who thought they were safe behind their mountains.
Another key counter would be the use of highly mobile units. Cavalry, and later Helicopters, would be essential for flanking maneuvers. A player could send a fast-moving raiding party on a long flanking march around a mountain range to strike at the enemy’s undefended artillery positions. This would create a dynamic cat-and-mouse game, with one player trying to protect their valuable siege assets while the other tries to hunt them down.
Spies would also play a crucial role. A well-placed spy could sabotage the production of key military units, disrupt industrial zones to slow the output of artillery, or even provide vision for a counter-barrage.
Community Perspectives: A Contentious but Intriguing Mod
Were this change to be proposed as a mod, analysis on forums shows it would likely be met with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Many players would relish the new strategic possibilities and the shift away from static, chokepoint-based warfare. It would reward clever positioning and long-term planning, creating more dynamic and unpredictable conflicts.
However, others would argue that it could be overpowered, devaluing the strategic importance of terrain too much. Mountains, they would contend, are supposed to be absolute barriers. Removing that function would make the map feel flatter and less interesting. A popular strategy is often to “play the map,” and this change could homogenize strategic approaches. The consensus among many professional gamers would likely be that, while fascinating, the change would need to be carefully balanced, perhaps by increasing the production cost of Observation Balloons or making them more vulnerable to interception.
Conclusion
The simple act of allowing Observation Balloons to spot for artillery over mountains would be anything but a minor tweak. It would be a paradigm shift, a fundamental alteration of the DNA of Civilization 6’s combat system. The age of the impregnable mountain fortress would end, replaced by a new era of indirect fire, strategic deception, and the primacy of airpower. Players would be forced to abandon long-held assumptions about defense, offense, and the very geography of their world. While potentially unbalancing, this hypothetical change reveals the elegant complexity of Civilization 6’s design, where a single rule can have cascading consequences that reshape the entire experience. It would transform the game from a contest of frontal assaults into a deadly, long-range chess match, where the next move could come from anywhere, even from behind the highest peaks.