Units

Physician

The Physician is the field hospital of an army on campaign: it does not strike, it keeps the unit beside it standing.

Cannot attack

Its attack is 0, its attack vs. city 0: the engine explicitly rejects an attack command with "this unit cannot attack", it does not resolve a fight with zero damage (Combat). Because it cannot attack, it also projects no Zone of Control — a rival walking past it does not halt.

Heals outside your territory too

Adjacent friendlies gather 1 more HP per turn; the contribution of several Physicians adds up — this is the only source of healing that also works outside your territory. A Physician travelling with an army that stays far from its home city, across the border, for a long time is that army's only source of healing (The turn cycle). Inside its city's own region, a contribution of the same kind from a Hospital stacks on top.

Does not count as a scout

Even though it is a unit that cannot attack and carries support, it does not count toward an opponent AI's scout count: a Physician in the field does not slow down its Scout production (The AI opponent).

Cost and upkeep

Its cost is 5, its upkeep 1, its defense 1 and its HP 6 — the same price as the Standard-bearer but an item even more fragile than it; keep it behind the line, not in front of it.

When to build it

After your city quota (6) is full, especially while you have an army making long campaigns across the border. An opponent AI does not put a new support unit (Physician or Standard-bearer) into production while it has one in the field (The AI opponent). The brake only looks at units in the field, not at production queues; if two of its cities build a support unit at the same time, both can be seen in the field.

The numbers on this page are read from the game’s balance tables.