At the start of a playthrough in Civilization VII, you only have access to some basic military infantry units. These units can’t move very far each turn and they’re only able to engage in combat from an adjacent tile. You can also unlock the Army Commander during the first stages of the Antiquity Age, but they’re only allowed to absorb and deploy units.
After your first taste of combat, you might wonder how to unlock ranged units that other leaders have deployed against you. Ranged units are fantastic since they can attack from two tiles away, essentially allowing you to deal free damage. Well, you don’t have to wait long, but there are specific actions you need to take to unlock ranged units in Civilization VII.
Unlocking ranged military units in Civilization 7
Every playthrough of Civilization VII is going to be different based on your difficulty, game length, map type, etc. However, in all of my playthroughs, the first time I was able to unlock the first ranged unit for my military was around turn 70. Playing on the standard game length, this should be roughly 35% through the Antiquity Age. If you start from another age, then you’ll already have some ranged units unlocked.