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Game Info[]

Land trading unit.

  • Actions:
    • Establish Trade Route (Route must run over land from one city to another.)
    • Change Home City (After selecting a city and waiting a turn, allows different trade routes to be made.)
Base Range With Caravansary With Combustion With Caravansary & Combustion With Roads*
Arabia 15 22 25 37 (Range * 2) + 1
Others 10 15 20 30 (Range * 2) + 1

* Applies only if an unbroken road extends from the Caravan's home city to its destination. The maximum achievable Caravan range is 75 for Arabia and 61 for other civilizations.

Strategy[]

The Caravan is the first trading unit in the game, appearing very early in the Ancient Era. Research Animal Husbandry to unlock it, along with your first Trade route option, then build a Caravan to establish trade with your neighbors. In Brave New World, Trade Routes are essential to keep your Gold Gold balance positive.

Caravans may be based in any city, be it inland or coastal, and can establish Trade Routes with other cities on the same landmass. So don't base a Caravan on a small island - it won't be able to trade with anyone! In such cities, use a Cargo Ship instead.

Note that you may only build (or purchase) trading units if you have free Trade Route slots available.

Starting in the Atomic Era, the Caravan will have the graphic of a truck.

Be warned that the Caravan, as a civilian unit, is defenseless and will be destroyed if any hostile force raids your Trade Route! Protect it as best you can, especially from the Barbarians! They move 2 tiles at the start of each turn, regardless of the presence of roads or railroads.

Civilopedia entry[]

From time immemorial traders have used beasts of burden - from horses and mules to camels and llamas - to engage in long-range commerce. The first historical records of caravans date to around 1000 BC when camel trains brought gems, precious metals, incense and spices up the west coast of Arabia, linking India with Egypt, Phoenicia, and the Mesopotamian empires. Many caravan routes, such as the famous Silk Road from China to the Middle East, shaped history as surely as wars and beliefs. Although largely supplanted by motorized transport, pack caravans still operate across such inhospitable terrain as the fringes of the Sahara and Gobi deserts.

Unofficial custom card[]

Unit-Civilian-Caravan(content©Firaxis)

Custom homemade card featuring the Caravan.

Gallery[]

See also[]

Civilization V Units [edit]
Civilian Archaeologist BNW-onlyCaravan BNW-onlyCargo Ship BNW-onlySettlerWork BoatWorker
Land military Anti-Aircraft GunAnti-Tank GunArcher (Atlatlist GodsKings5 clearBowman1Slinger1) • ArtilleryBazooka BNW-onlyCannonCatapult (BallistaSiege Tower BNW-only) • Cavalry (Berber Cavalry BNW-onlyComanche Riders BNW-onlyCossackHussar GodsKings5 clear) • Chariot Archer (Hand-Axe BNW-onlyHorse Archer GodsKings5 clearWar ChariotWar Elephant) • Composite Bowman GodsKings5 clearCrossbowman (Chu-Ko-NuLongbowman) • Gatling Gun GodsKings5 clearGiant Death RobotGreat War Infantry GodsKings5 clear (Foreign Legion) • Helicopter GunshipHorseman (African Forest Elephant GodsKings5 clearCataphract GodsKings5 clearCompanion Cavalry) • Infantry (Pracinha) • Knight (Camel ArcherConquistador1Keshik1Mandekalu CavalryNaresuan's Elephant) • Lancer (Hakkapeliitta GodsKings5 clearSipahiWinged Hussar BNW-only) • Landship GodsKings5 clearLongswordsman (Berserker1Samurai) • Machine Gun GodsKings5 clearMarine GodsKings5 clearMechanized InfantryModern ArmorMobile SAMMusketman (JanissaryMinutemanMusketeerTercio1) • ParatrooperPikeman (Impi BNW-onlyLandsknecht) • Rifleman (Carolean GodsKings5 clearMehal Sefari GodsKings5 clearNorwegian Ski Infantry1) • Rocket ArtilleryScout (Pathfinder BNW-only) • Spearman (Battering Ram GodsKings5 clearHopliteImmortalPictish Warrior GodsKings5 clear) • Swordsman (Kris Swordsman BNW-onlyLegionMohawk Warrior) • Tank (Panzer) • Trebuchet (Hwach'a1) • Warrior (BruteJaguarMaori Warrior1) • XCOM Squad BNW-only
Naval military BattleshipCaravel (Nau BNW-onlyTurtle Ship1) • CarrierDestroyerFrigate (Ship of the Line) • Galleass (Great Galleass BNW-only) • GalleyIroncladMissile CruiserNuclear SubmarinePrivateer GodsKings5 clear (Sea Beggar GodsKings5 clear) • SubmarineTrireme (Quinquereme GodsKings5 clearDromon GodsKings5 clear)
Aircraft Atomic BombBomber (B17) • Fighter (Zero) • Great War Bomber GodsKings5 clearGuided MissileJet FighterNuclear MissileStealth BomberTriplane GodsKings5 clear
Religious Inquisitor GodsKings5 clearMissionary GodsKings5 clear
See also Great PeopleSpaceship Parts
1 Requires a DLC

GodsKings5 clear Added in the Gods & Kings expansion pack.
BNW-only Added in the Brave New World expansion pack.

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