Movement

“An army marches on its feet – but the wise general marches on roads.”

Movement is the foundation of everything in Annhexation. Exploring the map, settling new cities, repositioning armies, and launching attacks all depend on understanding how units move across the hex grid. The movement system uses an internal scale factor to handle varying terrain costs without fractions, rewarding players who plan their routes carefully and build road networks early.

Movement Points

Every unit has a base movement stat expressed in hexes per turn (e.g., a Warrior has 2 movement). Internally, the game multiplies this by a scale factor of 6 to produce the unit’s movement budget. A Warrior therefore has 12 internal movement points per turn, while a Scout with 3 movement has 18.

This scaling exists so that terrain costs, river crossings, and road bonuses can be expressed as whole numbers without rounding errors.

The Minimum Movement Rule

A unit with any movement points remaining can always move at least one hex, even if the terrain cost exceeds its remaining budget. This prevents units from becoming permanently stuck on expensive terrain. The move simply exhausts all remaining movement.

Terrain Movement Costs

Key Terrain Rules

• Forest and Hills cost double the standard rate (12 internal points), effectively halving a unit’s movement through rough terrain. A standard 2-movement unit can enter only one forest or hill hex per turn.

• Hills override terrain. If a tile is both a hill and another terrain type (e.g., grassland hills), the movement cost is 12, not 6. The hill cost takes precedence whenever it is higher than the base terrain cost.

• Mountains are impassable. No land unit can enter a mountain hex. Mountains form natural barriers that channel movement and create chokepoints.

• Roads reduce cost to 2. A road on any terrain type replaces the base movement cost with just 2 internal points. A Warrior on a road network can move 6 hexes per turn instead of 2. Roads are built by Workers and require the Wheel technology.

River Crossings

Rivers flow along hex edges, not through hex centres. When a unit crosses a river edge, the movement cost increases by +6 internal points on top of the destination terrain’s base cost. Crossing a river into plains costs 12 (6 + 6), and crossing into forest costs 18 (12 + 6).

Rivers also impose a -25% attack penalty in combat, so think twice before assaulting across a river.

Unit Type Restrictions

Different unit categories are restricted in where they can move:

Land Units

Land units (Warriors, Archers, Settlers, Workers, etc.) can move on any land terrain except mountains. They cannot enter water tiles on their own – they must embark on a naval transport to cross oceans and seas.

Workers are a special case: once Sailing is researched, Workers can enter coastal water tiles (to build Fishing Nets), but they cannot enter open ocean.

Naval Units

Naval units (Galleys, Frigates, Destroyers, Battleships, Submarines) can only move on water tiles (Coast and Ocean). They cannot enter land.

• Galleys are restricted to coastal water – they cannot enter open ocean tiles. A coastal water tile is any water tile adjacent to at least one land tile.
• All other naval units can traverse both coast and open ocean, but the player must have researched Astronomy (which grants the Ocean Navigation ability) before non-Galley ships can be built.

Air Units

Air units (Fighters, Bombers) do not move on the map in the conventional sense. They are based at cities with Airports and project power through air strikes and rebasing. See the Air Combat guide for details.

Multi-Turn Movement

For destinations beyond a single turn’s reach, you can set a move target. The unit will automatically move toward the target each turn, following the shortest available path. The pathfinder is turn-boundary-aware: it avoids routes where a unit would need to stop on an occupied tile at the end of a turn.

Multi-turn movement is cancelled if:

• The unit is attacked or enters combat.
• An obstacle blocks the path (e.g., a new enemy unit appears in the way).
• You manually issue a different command to the unit.
• The unit reaches its destination.

Embarking and Cargo

Land units cannot cross water on their own, but they can board naval vessels as cargo. To embark:

1. Move a land unit adjacent to a friendly naval unit with available cargo capacity.
2. Issue the Embark command, selecting the naval transport.
3. The land unit is loaded onto the ship and moves with it.

To disembark, the naval transport must be adjacent to a land tile. The land unit uses the Disembark command to step onto the shore.

Warning: If a transport carrying cargo is destroyed in combat, all embarked units are lost. Protect your transports.

Civilisation and Wonder Bonuses

Several civilisations and wonders modify movement:

Fortification and Sleep

• Fortify – A military unit can dig in on its current hex, gaining a +25% defence bonus. The unit remains fortified until you issue a move or attack command. Fortified units automatically wake if an enemy enters an adjacent tile.

• Sleep – Any unit can be put to sleep, skipping it during the unit cycling phase. Sleeping units do not auto-wake on enemy proximity. Use this for garrison units that you do not want to manage every turn.

Strategic Tips

1. Build roads between your cities. The movement cost reduction from 6 to 2 per hex is enormous. A connected road network lets you shift defenders between cities in a single turn instead of three.

2. Use forests and hills defensively. The +25% defence bonuses from these terrain types stack, and the high movement cost slows attacking armies. Position your defensive units on rough terrain whenever possible.

3. Mind the river. Never attack across a river if you can avoid it. The -25% attack penalty combined with the defender’s terrain bonus can turn a favourable engagement into a disaster.

4. Protect your transports. A Battleship loaded with three land units is an invasion fleet. Losing it to an enemy Submarine is a catastrophe. Always escort transports with combat ships.

5. Greek melee units are exceptional. The +1 movement bonus on all melee units gives Greece unmatched tactical flexibility. Greek Swordsmen and Knights can outmanoeuvre and flank opponents who cannot match their speed.