A Guide to Playing as the Poundmaker Civilization 6 Leader

Poundmaker (Pîhtokahanapiwiyin) was a Plains Cree chief of the 19th century who fostered peace between the Cree and Canada. He is also a leader included within the Civilization 6 Rise and Fall and Gathering Storm expansions. The Poundmaker Civilization 6 leader of the Cree offers players some notable economic and productivity advantages with his leader bonus, civ ability, and unique infrastructure.

Poundmaker’s Favorable Terms Leader Bonus

Poundmaker’s Favorable Terms leader bonus gives all alliance types shared map visibility. This leader bonus gives you a +1 gold trade bonus for each Camp or Pasture in your cities. For example, a trade route sent to your city will generate +3 gold for your civilization if it has three Camps or Pastures in it. Each of your outgoing trade routes generates an additional +1 food yield thanks to the Favorable Terms bonus.

Cree’s Nîhithaw Civ Ability

The Nîhithaw civ ability for Cree grants you an additional trade route with Pottery researched. However, the most important effect of this ability is that Cree Trader units claim neutral tiles within three hexes of your civilization’s borders. Thus, sending trade routes in different directions can absorb more territory into your civilization.

Cree’s Unique Infrastructure and Unit

The Mekewap title improvement is Cree’s unique infrastructure. That is a tile improvement you can add to almost all terrain that generates at least +1 production yield and +1 housing. However, it generates +2 production yields and +2 housing with the Civil Service civic unlocked. When placed beside a luxury or bonus resource, the Mekewap generates +2 gold with Cartography researched. It also generates a + 1 food yield for two adjacent bonus resources.

Okihtcitaw is a Cree unique unit that replaces the Scout. That melee unit has a melee combat strength rating of 20, which is double that of a regular Scout. Okihtcitaw also starts with a free promotion you can activate.

Tips for Winning With the Poundmaker Civilization 6 Leader

It’s hard to say exactly what victory condition the Poundmaker Civilization 6 leader is best for because he primarily offers enhanced trade. However, playing for a scientific victory could be your best bet, as you can exploit trade to obtain scientific and production advantages. Plus, the Mekewap infrastructure can also come in handy for boosting production in cities with Spaceport districts.

First, make the most of the early game advantages of the Poundmaker Civilization 6 leader. Unlock Pottery ASAP to get an additional trade route. Then, recruit a few Okihtcitaw units with which to explore the map faster, discover tribal villages, and kill off barbarians.

Researching Pottery also enables you to add the Mekewap unique infrastructure to tiles. Add some Mekewap to flat terrain tiles in some cities to boost their production yields for Spaceport districts. Try placing them beside luxury and bonus resources when you can to generate some extra gold.

Trade must be at the heart of your strategy because Poundmaker’s leader bonus and Cree civ ability are based on trading. Build Harbors (with Lighthouses) and Commerce Hubs (with Markets) to increase your number of trade routes. Then, try sending out trade routes to cities in different directions to move more Trader units through unclaimed tiles along your civilization’s borders. Doing that will enable you to expand your civilization’s territory faster with Trader units thanks to Nîhithaw civ ability. All the trade routes you send will boost population growth with their food yield bonuses.

Select policy cards that further enhance your Cree trade routes. For example, you can boost science output for a space race victory by selecting the Market Confederation card, which gives each of your trade routes a +2 science yield boost. To increase space project production in cities with trading routes, select the Ecommerce policy for a +2 production and +5 gold yield trade route boost.

Try to establish one or two alliances when playing with the Poundmaker Civilization 6 leader to fully exploit his Favorable Terms bonus that will reveal more of the map. The shared map visibility from alliances will enable you to find more scientific city-states faster, where you can send envoys for boosting science output. Establish a Research Alliance that will generate a +2 science yield bonus for trade routes sent to your ally. Then, you can further enhance your allied trade routes by selecting the Wisselbanken policy for +2 production and +2 food trade yield increases.

Going beyond the science victory condition, Poundmaker’s Favorable Terms bonus makes a diplomatic triumph a viable alternative. Establishing more alliances will increase the amount of diplomatic favor your Cree civilization generates and reveal more of the map with shared visibility. Increasing city production through trade routes will also enable you to build the Statue of Liberty, Pagoda, and Mahabodhi Temple wonders quickly, earning you several additional diplomatic points.

Overall, the Poundmaker Civilization 6 leader is quite a versatile one, but he’s more of a generalist who lacks any big victory focus. Nevertheless, he can be a good choice for winning space races if you exploit his unique Mekewap infrastructure and trading advantages for boosting productivity and science output when combined with alliances. I secured a scientific victory in fewer turns when playing as Poundmaker than I did with Seondeok, which surprised me.