[Top 10] Civ 6 Best Aggressive Civ

Are you the early aggressor or will one of these civs sweep you? 

There are many paths to victory in Civilization 6; some may choose the righteous path through religious zeal, others through diplomatic virtue and some through technological superiority.
However, honeyed words and beautiful art can feel a little...slow, and sometimes you just want to feel the strength of your sword arm.
After all, if you can't defend what you have, you're just holding it for someone else to take, and sometimes it's nice to do the taking.

10. England- Victoria

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While today much of England has been reduced to social media fodder for bored millennials and soccer moms, it was once a proud and respectable empire.
Capitalizing on coastal trade, England was a massive colonial power that used its dominance at sea to colonize and control land on every continent (minus Antarctica).
Given the best education from scholars and tacticians alike, Victoria leads England and once again shows its might as a powerful military empire with the potential to rule the world.

What makes England led by Victoria Aggressive

• England’s unique harbor, The Royal Navy Dockyard, is built in half the time and provides a bevy of bonuses including faster movement for ships.
• The Sea Dog, England’s unique privateer replacement, can capture enemy ships, adding to their expansive navy.
• The Redcoat unique unit gains massive combat strength bonuses on foreign lands and can disembark freely, making amphibious invasion an easy endeavor.
• With the “Workshop of the World” civ ability, England gains strategic resources and military engineers faster, further supplementing military domination

9. India- Chandragupta

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Being the birthplace to peaceful religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, India might seem like an oddball on this list of aggressive civs.
Enter Chandragupta; a king who took the lead of India’s armies, pushed back previous gains from Alexander the Great and expanded as far out as modern-day Afghanistan.
With territorial warfare bonuses and an army of armored war-elephants, it’s not too hard to see how Chandra “smash”.

What makes Chandragupta's India aggressive

• Chandragupta’s leader bonus “Arthashastra” gives him the ability to declare early territorial expansion wars.
• Wars of territorial expansion grant all of Chandra’s military units bonus movement and combat strength for 10 turns.
• India’s inherent “Dharma” ability grants bonus amenities for having multiple religions, giving your cities additional resistance to war weariness.
• The Varu, or “royal elephant” was the classical equivalent of a tank; this intimidating front-line unit reduces enemy combat strength, softening them up for easy trampling.

8. Sumeria

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One of the earliest known civilizations in human history, Sumeria makes the list as an appropriately early aggressor.
Led by Gilgamesh, Sumeria can cheaply levy mercenaries, deter warmongering penalties, and share XP and pillaging rewards with allies.
Whether it’s killing giant otherworldly bulls, two-headed fire-breathing birds, or just simply taking over your neighbors with mule-driven war-carts, Gilgamesh shows just how “epic” he can be.

What makes Sumeria aggressive

• The “Epic Quest” civ ability gives Sumeria a random reward for capturing barbarian camps, as well as a 50% discount to levying city-state armies.
• Gilgamesh’s leader bonus negates warmonger penalties as long as he is fighting an enemy with an ally; additionally units within 5 tiles of each other share pillage rewards and XP.
• If at war with a common enemy, Gilgamesh gains alliance points with the civ he fights with. 
• The backbone of the ancient military world, the Sumerian War-Cart is the strongest starting unit in the game, crushing all other rivals right out of the gate.

7. Mongolia

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Have you ever thought “man, I wish thousands of rapacious horsemen with bows would sweep through and devastate my country”? No? Well, too bad cuz that’s what happens.
Khan is back with all of his horses, great generals, and treacherous tactics.
Unless you’ve been living in the ancient era, you’ve probably heard about Genghis Khan and his Mongol hordes, and that their appearance means the end of your empire and the death of every man, woman, and hamster around. 

What makes Mongolia aggressive

• The Mongolian ability, Örtöö, allows the Mongols to establish trading posts with other civs immediately, granting an extra level of diplomatic visibility, and granting bonus combat strength.
• The Ordu, the unique stable replacement, grants all cavalry bonus movement points.
• The Keshig, the unique mounted archer can share movement with units in formation.
• Khan's leader bonus, “Mongol Horde” grants all cavalry class units bonus combat strength and the chance to capture other defeated cavalry units.

6. Macedon

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With a moniker to describe someone who conquered pretty much everything his army came into contact with, Alexander the Great of Macedon is a no-brainer for this list.
Alexander comes in hot primarily due to every one of his bonuses being a military one.
In addition to having not 1 but 2 unique military units, Alexander can stay at war longer, gets bonuses for capturing cities, and gets bonus science as long as he produces units.
In short, if you’re wondering why his army was unstoppable, this is why.

What makes Macedon aggressive:

• Macedon’s Hypaspist acts as both a melee and anti-cavalry unit, with additional siege and support bonuses.
• While the Hypaspists work to weaken enemy lines, the unique Hetairoi horsemen gain Great General points for finishing off enemy units.
• Macedon’s ability gives bonus points to science and culture every time you capture cities with certain districts.
• Alexander’s ability keeps troop morale up; your cities don’t incur war-weariness and capturing wonders fully heals all military units.
• Every time you produce a unit anywhere in the empire, you gain bonus science.

5. Hungary

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In a tumultuous time in Central Europe, Matthias Corvinus earned his ascension to the throne through successful military campaigns while surrounded by enemies.
Promoting based on abilities, not social statuses helped him to establish the Black Army of Hungary and stand against the Ottomans, one of the largest and most powerful empires of the time. 
As Hungary, you can use your influence to levy units, gain allies, and conquer your enemies with his legendary army.

What makes Hungary aggressive:

• As Hungary, levied armies are faster and stronger, and doing so grants additional envoys, making it easier to keep control of the city-state.
• The Black Army gains additional combat strength based on adjacent levied units.
• The Huszár, Hungary’s other unique unit gains combat strength for every active alliance, giving Hungary a consistently powerful military over the eras.

4. Aztec

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A civilization known for their brutality, war-like culture, and purported human sacrifice, it makes sense that the Aztecs capture a place on the list.

The Aztecs can utilize their Eagle warriors to make early war on their enemies, making captives out of defeated units.

Additionally, all the Aztec’s military units gain increased combat strength for attaining new luxury resources, making the taking of other civ’s empire a lucrative enterprise.

What makes the Aztecs aggressive:

• Eagle warriors have a significantly higher combat strength than the normal warriors of other civs, additionally, they turn defeated units into captives.
• After capturing enemy units and turning them into workers, the Aztecs can use enslaved workers to build districts faster.
• Each luxury resource provides additional amenities, making your cities more efficient; every improved luxury resource also provides additional combat strength to every military unit.

3. Zulu

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The Impi Warriors alone can be intimidating, and Shaka makes them nearlly unstoppable.
Much like his leadership abilities in his African homeland, Shaka reforms the primitive Impi warriors into a formidable force.
Gaining corps and armies faster than his rivals, and bonus combat strength and loyalty for all combined forces, Shaka can easily overwhelm and steamroll enemy civs before they know what hit‘em.

What makes Zulu aggressive:

• The Impi warrior can be spammed as it is cheaper to build and maintain than its pikeman counterpart, and receives bonus XP gain and flanking bonuses.
• Not only can the Zulu combine troops early, but capturing an enemy city immediately upgrades the conquering unit into a corps or army.
• The Ikanda, which replaces the encampment, can be built in half the usual time and allows you to build corps and armies without the typical need for a military academy.
• While loyalty is often a problem for keeping cities, the Zulu gain loyalty bonuses for keeping garrisoned units in a city.
• All corps and armies gain increased base combat strength; with all the military bonuses combined, it’s easy to see Shaka topping the list of military prowess.

2. Scythia

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Known as the “Killer of Cyrus” it’s no wonder this killer queen makes the list of most aggressive civs.
True to the nomadic steppe warriors of the Massagetea, Tomyris leads the Scythian cavalry armies from the front.
Amassing light cavalry like the hottest Groupon BOGO deal, you can charge your hordes of self-healing Saka Horse Archers, and rout your enemies to victory. 

What makes Scythia aggressive:

• The Saka Horse Archer unique unit requires no horses to train (somehow), making it quick and easy to field.
• Using Tomyris’ leader bonus, all units do bonus damage to wounded units as well as healing after killing a unit.
• The grease on the wheels of this military machine, Scythia gets an extra light cavalry unit for every light cavalry unit they produce, including the Saka Horse Archer.

1. The Ottomans

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If you’ve ever heard the song “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” you'd know that the Ottomans have a knack for conquest.
Stemming from a history of many empires, the Ottomans represent an amalgam of various peoples, cultures, and perhaps most importantly, military tactics.
From the Barbary Corsairs of the Mediterranean to their heavily armed Janissary musketmen, it’s easy to see how the Ottoman Empire ruled for over 600 years, even though they never did get their hats quite big enough.

What makes the Ottomans Aggressive:

• The Great Turkish Bombard, the unique Ottoman ability, gives them bonus production toward all siege units, plus bonus damage to districts.
• Any city taken over by the Ottomans gains bonus loyalty and amenities, making them easier to keep.
• The Janissary unique unit is faster to produce, stronger than the musketman, and comes with 1 free promotion.
• The Barbary Corsair is cheaper to produce, maintain and can raid coasts freely.
•  The Ottomans gain the special vizier Ibrahim, who acts as a unique governor and grants various military bonuses. 

*Note: This list was written before the Frontier Pack. While it should be noted that Gran Columbia is now the undisputed champion of domination, they are still very new and will probably need some nerfing due to their massively overpowered abilites.
As such, I am trying to not include new civs until they have been rebalanced.

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