Terrain Types

There are many different types of terrain in the New World, each with its own peculiar advantages. At the beginning of the game you will probably arrive at a High Seas tile (or at the edge of the map). High Seas tiles (and the map edge) allow you to sail between Europe and the New World. As you approach land, the High Seas will be replaced by Ocean tiles, which produce Fish.

In the New World, you will also discover Plains, which produce a great deal of Grain, a lesser amount of Cotton, and some Ore; Grassland, on which Grain and Tobacco can be cultivated; Prairie, which are suitable for growing Grain and Cotton; Savannah, which produces Grain and Sugar; Marsh, where Grain can be cultivated and some Ore can be mined; Swamp, which yields some Grain, and small amounts of Sugar, Tobacco and Ore; Desert, which produce some Food, Cotton and Ore; as well as Tundra, where Grain can be grown, and some Ore can be mined.

Large parts of the New World are covered in forests, all of which yield varying amounts of Grain, Lumber and Furs. The Boreal Forest also produces Ore, the Mixed Forest Cotton, the Conifer Forest Tobacco, the Tropical Forest Sugar, the Rain Forest produces small amounts of Ore, Sugar and Tobacco, the Wetland Forest and the Scrub Forest yield some Ore, and the Broadleaf Forest Cotton.

The Hills produce a small amount of Grain, and can be mined for Ore and a lesser amount of Silver. The Mountains are unsuitable for agriculture, but yield some Ore and Silver. Arctic tiles are the least useful type of terrain, as they produce nothing at all. Terrain types that produce no Grain, such as the Mountains and Arctic types, can not support colonies.

Clearing or plowing a tile, and building a road require spending 20 tools. Therefore, these actions can only be carried out by units carrying at least 20 tools. You can equip your units in your colonies or in Europe.