Sid Meier's Civilization VI - Byzantium & Gaul Pack (DLC)

The Byzantium and Gaul Pack drops two civilizations into Civilization VI that are built for players who want their empire to have a clear identity from turn one. Byzantium, led by Basil II, fuses faith and conquest in a way the base game rarely achieves. Converting an enemy city to your religion triggers combat bonuses against that civ, which means your theological spread is not a side project but a frontline strategy. The Tagmata cavalry, the unique unit, rewards players who keep their cities loyal and their faith dominant. If you have ever wanted to treat a religious victory as the prologue to a domination sweep, Basil is built for exactly that. Gaul, led by Ambiorix, takes the opposite approach: it punishes you for settling close to city-states and rewards tight internal clustering. The Hallstatt Culture ability prevents your districts from being placed adjacent to city-states, which sounds like a debuff until you realize the production bonuses stacking from nearby mines turn your core cities into industrial monsters. This is a civilization that wants you to ignore the map's obvious expansion paths and instead optimize a compact, dense empire. The Gaesatae unique unit arrives early and hits hard with a combat bonus against districts, which opens up aggressive city-state raiding in the Classical Era if you lean into it. From a decision-depth perspective, both civs demand that you build around their mechanics rather than bolt those mechanics onto a generic empire. Byzantium asks you to sequence religion founding, missionary spread, and military timing in a way that feels like a build order. Gaul asks you to pre-plan your district placement before you even settle a second city. Neither is forgiving of autopilot play, which is exactly what a strategy specialist wants to see. The AI in standard Civ VI is not going to replicate the nuance of playing these civs optimally, but as opponents they provide reasonable pressure, especially Basil in a game where religious competition is active. Worth noting: this is a small DLC pack, not a full expansion. You get two civs, two leaders, one new scenario (The Jadwiga's Legacy scenario is not included here, that is a separate pack), and the associated unique units and buildings. There is no new map script, no new game systems, and no dramatic overhaul of existing mechanics. If you are running a modded game with something like Vox Populi or the Civilization VI Expanded mod suite, check compatibility before buying, as the unique ability interactions can produce unexpected results. For vanilla or lightly modded installs, both civs slot in cleanly. For newcomers to Civ VI: these are not the easiest civs to learn on, but the base game's in-game encyclopaedia and the Civilopedia do a solid job of explaining what each ability does. Gaul in particular can feel punishing if you do not read the tooltip for Hallstatt Culture carefully before placing your first district. That said, the forced constraints of both civs actually teach good habits. Byzantium makes you track religions on the minimap. Gaul makes you plan district adjacency early. Both are useful skills for the long game. If you are already invested in Civ VI and want two mechanically distinct civs that reward thoughtful play over stacking generic bonuses, this pack delivers solid value. If you are brand new to the game, pick up the base experience first and return here once you are comfortable with districts and religion.

Diego · Scout Team

Strategy & simulation

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