A Guide to Playing as Robert the Bruce, the Civ 6 Scotland Leader in Civilization 6

Robert the Bruce was a former king of Scotland who defeated the English in the Scottish War of Independence. He is also the Civ 6 Scotland leader you can select to play as in Civilization 6 Rise and Fall or Gathering Storm. Robert the Bruce has a leader bonus, a civ ability, and unique infrastructure that offer players scientific, productivity, and cultural advantages when exploited.

Robert’s Bannockburn Leader Bonus

The Bannockburn leader bonus enables you to declare a War of Liberation with the Defensive Tactics civic unlocked. After declaring a War of Liberation, the Bannockburn bonus gives Scotland a 100% production boost for 10 turns. The leader bonus also increases all your units’ movement by +2.

The Scottish Enlightenment Civ Ability

The Scottish Enlightenment civ ability provides a +5% science and +5% production yield bonus for each city in your civilization with happy citizens. That bonus increases to +10% for those cities with ecstatic citizens. This civ ability also generates +1 great scientist and +1 great engineer points in Scotland’s happy cities.

Scotland’s Unique Unit and Infrastructure

Golf Courses are Scotland’s unique infrastructure, you can add to tiles when playing as Robert the Bruce. A Golf Course generates +2 amenities (in Gathering Storm) and +2 gold for a city. It generates +1 culture when placed beside a city center. There’s also another +1 culture yield bonus for placing a Golf Course beside an Entertainment Complex. Golf Courses generate tourism equivalent to their cultural output with Flight research.

Highlander is the unique unit for the Civ 6 Scotland leader, replacing Rangers. This unit has a +50 melee attack and 65 ranged combat strength, which makes it stronger than a standard Ranger. It also has a +5 combat bonus when placed in Hills and Woods.

Tips for Winning With the Robert the Bruce Civ 6 Scotland Leader

The Robert the Bruce Civ 6 Scotland leader is best for securing scientific victories because of the Scottish Enlightenment ability. If fully exploited in many of your cities, that civ ability can give you a notable advantage for boosting science yields and productivity for space race projects. The extra great scientist and engineer points Campus and Industrial districts generate with civ ability activated will also come in handy for winning space races.

Increasing amenities for boosting satisfaction levels in your cities must be at the heart of your strategy when playing as the Civ 6 Scotland leader. Aside from securing all luxury resources in your civilization ASAP, there are numerous other ways you can increase amenities for exploiting the Scottish Enlightenment civ ability. Select Classical Republic during the early game for a +1 amenity bonus in your cities with districts. The Classical Republic’s 15% great person points legacy bonus will also come in handy for securing more great scientists.

Build some Entertainment Districts and Water Parks for more amenities when playing as the Civ 6 Scotland leader. Try to add some Entertainment Districts and Water Parks within six tiles of your cities with Spaceport districts. Those cities will then benefit from the extended amenity bonuses of Stadium, Zoo, Aquarium, and Aquatics Center buildings built within those districts.

I also recommend adding more Commercial Hubs to your cities when playing as the Civ 6 Scotland leader because of their great merchants. Great merchants like John Spilsbury, Levi Strauss, Estee Lauder, and Helena Rubinstein give your cities more amenities when activated. Building more Commercial Hub districts and buildings will generate more great merchant points for your civilization.

To further increase amenities in your cities, add Scotland’s unique Golf Course infrastructure to them. Note, however, that this infrastructure is restricted to one tile per city. However, one Golf Course will still generate two amenities per city in Gathering Storm and also provide a handy gold yield boost.

If you choose not to play for a space race triumph with Robert the Bruce, a cultural victory is perhaps the best alternative. Firstly, because of the Golf Course tile improvement that can generate additional culture and tourism in every Scottish city that includes one. Add Golf Courses to tiles beside your city centers to ensure they generate some culture and tourism.

Secondly, because Ski Resorts and National Parks’ tile improvements for boosting tourism also synergize with the Scottish Enlightenment’s ability, as they generate amenities. So, make sure you add plenty of Ski Resorts and National Parks to your Scottish civilization for more amenities and tourism. Note that Golf Courses also raise the appeal of adjacent tiles, which can come in handy for Seaside Resort and National Park placement.

Exploiting the Scottish Enlightenment civ ability will also give some of your cities a handy production boost for building wonders of the world, which are more important for cultural victories. To further increase wonder productivity, select policy cards like Gothic Architecture, which provides a 15% production boost for Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance era wonders. If you establish a suzerain in Brussels, that will also give you a 15% production increase for all wonders.

Overall, the Robert the Bruce Civ 6 Scottish leader is a half-decent civilization for securing scientific victories and is ok for cultural players. However, he’s only good for winning space races if you can effectively exploit his Scottish Enlightenment civ ability, which can sometimes be tricky to balance with the primary requirements of building Campus, Industrial Zone, and Spaceport districts. If you can make the most of that civ ability, you can have some super-productive and scientifically enriched cities to propel your Scottish civilization beyond the solar system.