Civilization 6 Gran Colombia: Simón Bolívar leader bonuses, unique units and buildings detailed

Gran Colombia is one of the first two new Civilizations added to Civ 6 as part of the New Frontier pass. Entirely new to the Civ series, Gran Colombia's leader is Simón Bolívar, who brings some useful new units and bonuses to the game.

Here on this page we'll be detailing all the essential info about Simón Bolívar and his Gran Colombian civilization, including all of the unique units, buildings, and bonuses he brings. For more like this, it's worth taking a look at our guide to Maya and Lady Six Sky, who was introduced at the same time.

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Civ 6 Gran Colombia: Simón Bolívar's bonuses, unique units and buildings explained

Simón Bolívar is an entirely military-focused leader of Gran Columbia. Here's a rundown of the key info about his new Civ before we get into some playstyle tips below.

Simón Bolívar Unique Ability: Campaña Admirable

  • Earn a Commandante Generale, a unique Great General unit, every the game enters a new era.

Gran Colombia Unique Ability: Ejército Patriota

  • +1 Movement to all units.
  • Promoting a unit does not end that units turn.

Gran Colombia Unique Unit: Commandante Generale

  • A special type of Great Person unique to Bolívar.
  • Each has a unique ability, as well as a passive and a retire ability.

Gran Colombia Unique Unit: Llanero

  • Industrial Era unique unit the replaces the Cavalry unit, with low maintenance cost.
  • +4 Combat Strength for every adjacent Llanero.
  • If a Commandante Generale activates its retire ability within range, the Llanero fully heals.

Gran Colombia Unique Building: Hacienda

  • Unique building constructed by builder unit, can only be built on Plains, Plains Hills, Grassland, and Grassland Hills.
  • Provides +2 Gold, +1 Production and +1 Housing.
  • +1 Food for every two adjacent Plantations. Replacement Parts increases this to +1 Food for every one adjacent Plantation.
  • +1 Production for every two adjacent Haciendas. Rapid Deployment increases this to +1 Production for every one adjacent Hacienda.

Tips for playing as Gran Colombia with Simón Bolívar in Civ 6

Simón Bolívar's Gran Colombia civilization is centred entirely around military success, with the support of the additional resources gained by his unique Haciendas.

Open, grassy areas are what you should be looking for, allowing you to stack up a number of Haciendas either next to each other or any Plantations you can make nearby.

Early on, you should look to rush the Irrigation technology to unlock Plantations. Get as many Haciendas and Plantations up and running as you can, and then focus on building a strong, Cavalry-heavy military.

Tactically, you want to make the most of Simón Bolívar's various adjacency bonuses. Get a nice horde of Llaneros up and running as soon as you can, and keep a Commandante Generale nearby. Together they should be very hard to kill, especially as your Generale can retire to fully heal all of the nearby Llaneros if you get caught out.

Keeping your cavalry alive for as long as possible should be the backbone of your strategy. Stacking their adjacency bonuses alongside the fact that they can get the free heal from a Promotion without sacrificing an action, and maybe a rush for the Oligarchy policy (more detail in our Civ 6 Governments and Policies list) to make the most of the extra experience, should make for a proper rolling cavalry frontline that's very hard to stop on your way to Domination Victory!

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