Chilean war chief Lautaro will lead the Mapuche into battle in Civilization 6: Rise and Fall

The latest in the long line of new groups arriving in the Civilization 6: Rise and Fall expansion is the Mapuche, who fought back against Spanish colonists in Chile in a war spanning three centuries. They will be led by Lautaro, a revered warchief who escaped Spanish capture before leading a fightback from the native people.

The civilisation's unique unit will be the mounted malón raiders. In real life, these raiders would launch quick attacks to harass enemy lines and then withdraw to safety, setting up an ambush for anyone trying to counter-attack. In Rise and Fall, this translates to a combat bonus while fighting near friendly territory, and a reduced movement cost for pillaging.

Alongside the unique unit comes a unique structure—large wooden tombstones called chemamull, which were carved from a single piece of wood to resemble male or female forms. They grant culture equal to 75% of a tile’s appeal, and later in the game they'll help fuel tourism.

Last, but not least, are the two unique Mapuche abilities. Toqui grants a bonus while fighting civilizations that are already in a Golden Age, and means that any unit trained in a city with an established governor will gain more experience in combat. The second ability, Swift Hawk, is unique to Lautaro, and means that defeating a unit in enemy territory will decrease the loyalty of the city that the unit comes from.

Rise and Fall looks like its coming together nicely, and when Fraser sat down for 150 turns with it he found it to be a complex, broad expansions that improves on a lot of the systems in the base game. It's out next Thursday (February 8), and Firaxis will discuss it in detail at the PC Gamer Weekender.

Samuel Horti

Samuel Horti is a long-time freelance writer for PC Gamer based in the UK, who loves RPGs and making long lists of games he'll never have time to play.