New Civ Game Guide: Iceland (Tides of Power)

[FXS_Sar]

Forgive the late post, my fellow Civ Fanatics! Meet the newest Exploration Age civ joining Civilization VII, Iceland! This civ is coming next week(!) with the second part of Tides of Power; don't forget to scoop it for free until January 5, 2026.

Game guide here.

Get a First Listen here:

Moderator Action: Details below:

Unique Ability​

Kringla Heimsins: Receive a set amount of Culture when you discover a Natural Wonder in Distant Lands (effect scales based on game speed). Missionaries cost a set percentage more.

Attributes​

• Militaristic
• Cultural

Civic Trees​

Landnámabók

• Tier 1: Unlocks the Þingstaðr Unique Building. Unlocks the 'Drekahöfuð' Tradition. Receive a Relic every time you master a Civic.
• Tradition - Drekahöfuð: Producing a Naval Unit grants Culture equal to a set percentage of that Unit's Production cost.
• Tier 2: Þingstaðr receives increased Gold in Settlements with a Kiln. Unlocks the Reiði Guðanna Tradition.
• Tradition - Reiði Guðanna: All Buildings receive a Cultural and Production Adjacency with Volcanoes and Natural Wonders.

Hugins Drekka

• Tier 1: Naval Units can Pillage and Coastal Raid tiles within a set number of tiles. Unlocks the 'Dróttkvætt' Tradition.
• Tradition - Dróttkvætt: Coast Raiding grants Culture equal to a set percentage of the Pillaging Yield.
• Tier 2: Víkingr may Coastal Raid and Pillage for a set amount of Movement when the Víkingr is in Distant Lands (doesn't apply to Discoveries).

Væringjar

• Tier 1: Naval Units and Embark Units receive increased Movement and increased Combat Strength.
• Tier 2: Unlocks the 'Lyfsteinn' Tradition. Increased Settlement Cap.
• Tradition - Lyfsteinn: Increased Healing to Naval Units outside Friendly Territory.

Þjóðveldið

• Tier 1: Unlocks Reykjaholt Wonder. Gain a set number of Relics.

Unique Infrastructure​

Þingstaðr: Unique Building. Happiness Base. Increased Culture for each adjacent Wet, Floodplains, Volcano, or Vegetated tile. Must be built in Tundra or Grassland not adjacent to another Þingstaðr.

Unique Civilian Unit​

Saga Hero: Great Person. Trainable in Settlements with a Þingstaðr.

Possible Saga Hero Units:

• Egill Skallagrímsson: Activate on a Fleet Commander. When you defeat an enemy Unit in its Command Radius, receive Culture equal to a set percentage of the defeated Unit's Strength.
• Gísli Súrsson: Activate on a Military Unit; this Unit gains the Stealth ability: Invisible to Units that are not in an adjacent tile.
• Grettir Ásmundarson: Activate on an Army Commander. Nearby Infantry Units gain the Splash ability: enemy Units in tiles adjacent to the target also take a set percentage of that damage.
• Kjartan Óláfsson: Activate on a Pillaged tile. Gain a Relic.
• Guðrún Ósvífrsdóttir: Activate on a Commander. All units of its domain are healed fully in the Command Radius (i.e. Fleet Commander heals Naval Units, Army Commander heals Land Units, etc.).
• Hrafnkell Hallfreðsson: Activate on a Temple. Whenever you Coastal Raid, it spreads Religion to the Settlement that has been Coastal Raided. If the tile Raided is an Improvement, the Rural Religion changes; if the tile is Urban, the Urban Religion changes.
• Njáll Þorgeirsson: Activate on a Þingstaðr. Þingstaðr in this Settlement gains a set amount of Culture for each Celebration.
• Gunnarr Hámundarson: Activate on an Army or Fleet Commander in a tile with a Military Unit. This Commander gains the Order Commendation.
• Guðríðr Þorbjarnardóttir: Activate on a Naval Unit. This Unit gains increased Movement and increased Sight.
• Freydís Eiríksdóttir: Activate on a Naval Unit. This turn, Naval Units can Coastal Raid for no Movement cost.

Unique Military Unit​

Víkingr: Unique Naval Unit. Coastal Raiding grants Science equal to a set percentage the Pillaging Yield. Has increased Sight.

Associated Wonder​

Reykjaholt: Culture Base. Increased Production towards Military Units in this City for every Great Work in this City. Has a set number of Relic Slots. Must be placed in Tundra.

Starting Biases​

• Coastal
• Tundra
• Grassland

 

[Nikolai II]

Beautiful use of the hardingfele.

 

[Hellenism Salesman]

A part of me is disappointed that Iceland has been portrayed as the token Viking Civ, but there are enough traits that feel sufficiently “Icelandic” for me to approve of the design as a whole, such as the inclinations toward Volcanoes, Natural Wonders, Wet terrain, etc.

 

[Mudkip1001]

Splash... My Beloved!

I kinda like all the Great People for this civ!

I wonder if in the real world, has this ever happened? Ireland maybe idk

Really cool stuff!

 

[Weraptor]

Yeah, I hoped they would stray further from the raiding stuff.

 

[Lonecat Nekophrodite]

Finally 'Vikings'

But the wood clinkings don't seems to be correct. (it looks like this longboat is caravel built and not clinker built) and quarter rudder is missing.
What does this unit replaces?

^ Ironically this generic civilian embarkement fits the Norsemen theme better. This boat is actually called Knorr. Norsemen trade ship that's a precursor to Cog.
And clinker built texturing looks more real.

^ And this is Cog (which evolved from Norsemen Knorr). also clinker planking texture looks more pronounced.

 

[Jkchart]

A part of me is disappointed that Iceland has been portrayed as the token Viking Civ, but there are enough traits that feel sufficiently “Icelandic” for me to approve of the design as a whole, such as the inclinations toward Volcanoes, Natural Wonders, Wet terrain, etc.

i think it works because you get the legacy of the civ being a viking colony along with all of the things that make Iceland different from Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. I quite enjoy this one

 

[pjotroos]

A part of me is disappointed that Iceland has been portrayed as the token Viking Civ, but there are enough traits that feel sufficiently “Icelandic” for me to approve of the design as a whole, such as the inclinations toward Volcanoes, Natural Wonders, Wet terrain, etc.

Ditto. There is a decent chunk of flavour, but also, it's very Civ 6 Norway with the focus on coastal raiding and how it ties back to religion. Was hoping for a slightly more open theme.

More broadly, I hope the future civ packs are not as closely themed as this one was. 3 out of 4 civs are militaristic and built around naval combat & pillaging. Tonga's the only real outlier (and coincidentally, my favourite of the bunch).

 

[Jkchart]

Soooooo does Iceland have a building or does it have an improvement? I’m a little confused here, it seems like it’s actually the latter

 

[Hellenism Salesman]

I will admit I really enjoy the Saga Heroes’ effects. It seems like Firaxis looked at the boxes they wanted to check off (Cultural, Militaristic, pillage civ), and thought of every possible way to make that gameplay combination fun. I particularly like the religion spread on pillaging effect and gaining a Relic from pillaged tiles.

It feels like they compromised between a exploration, cultural Iceland civ and a raiding Viking civ, and then doubled-down on the overlap. I may disagree with the strategy they chose but I applaud them for committing to the bit. Iceland or not, this looks like a lot of fun!!!

 

[Krikkit1]

Interesting with the
Landnámabók

• Tier 1: Unlocks the Þingstaðr Unique Building. Unlocks the 'Drekahöfuð' Tradition. Receive a Relic every time you master a Civic.

Since many civic masteries already give a Relic, I assume those give Iceland 2?

or and Errata: I think the "Unique Building" is actually a "Unique Improvement"

 

[Hellenism Salesman]

I believe this is the first civ who can train unique Great People after building an improvement.

 

[Xandinho]

A part of me is disappointed that Iceland has been portrayed as the token Viking Civ, but there are enough traits that feel sufficiently “Icelandic” for me to approve of the design as a whole, such as the inclinations toward Volcanoes, Natural Wonders, Wet terrain, etc.

I'd also prefer if Iceland weren’t the classic Viking civilization. Now I think the chances of getting Norway or a raiding-focused Norse civ are very small or practically zero.

In any case, Iceland’s design looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Þingstaðr is shown as a unique building, not a unique improvement. That’s a mistake, right?

 

[Evolena]

Game guide here.

Will the other guides that need it ever be updated (Napoleon, Egypt, ...)? And if possible with an update date as that possibility has been added some time ago?

(Sorry to repeat myself... but we've got only 3 occasions per month ^^)

 

[SemiLazyGamer]

Interesting with the
Landnámabók

• Tier 1: Unlocks the Þingstaðr Unique Building. Unlocks the 'Drekahöfuð' Tradition. Receive a Relic every time you master a Civic.

Since many civic masteries already give a Relic, I assume those give Iceland 2?

or and Errata: I think the "Unique Building" is actually a "Unique Improvement"

I wouldn't be surprised if it's like the Silla, where any extra Great Works are purged from their trees.

Also, this is an excellent alternate for Blackbeard. Was thinking blue Fredrick, but he's more focused on land based fighting.

 

[Evie]

A part of me is disappointed that Iceland has been portrayed as the token Viking Civ, but there are enough traits that feel sufficiently “Icelandic” for me to approve of the design as a whole, such as the inclinations toward Volcanoes, Natural Wonders, Wet terrain, etc.

I would have liked the design so much more if the Saga Hero were instead Skald - the people who told the tale rather than the heroes bout whom the tale was. Mechanically could be the same, but thematically it would just fit better I feel.

 

[phoenixician]

"Þingstaðr: Unique Building. Happiness Base. Increased Culture for each adjacent Wet, Floodplains, Volcano, or Vegetated tile. Must be built in Tundra or Grassland not adjacent to another Þingstaðr."

I am fairly certain that this is an unique improvement. Urban tiles always cover the river.

 

[SeelingCat]

Icelandic Uniques!

Kringla Heimsins	Ability	"Circle of the World"	The first two words of the Heimskringla, a saga written in Iceland - attributed by some to the Icelandic writer Snorri Sturluson. It is a collection of sagas about Scandinavian kings and is assumed to date to the 12th century.
Landnámabók	Civic	"Book of Settlements"	A medieval Icelandic text that describes the settlement of Iceland over the course of the 9th and 10th centuries.
Hugins Drekka	Civic	"Huginn's Drink"	A kenning used to describe blood, referring to Huginn, one of the mythological ravens of Odin.
Væringjar	Civic	related to Old Norse væringi, "pledge"	Viking warriors, traders, and settlers that settled in modern-day Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, establishing the Kyivan Rus states and the city Novgorod, and serving as mercenary guards for the Byzantine Emperor.
Þjóðveldið	Civic	"the commonwealth"	The name given to the Icelandic state from c. 930 - when the Althing was established - to 1262 - when fealty was pledged to the Norwegian King. It had a "unique political system" with no executive body, but a mutually agreed upon legal/judicial code established by chieftains.
Drekahöfuð	Tradition	"dragon head"	The name for the carved dragon's head that decorated Viking longships and the source of the Icelandic civ's icon in Civ 7!
Reiði Guðanna	Tradition	"wrath of the gods"	Perhaps a reference to the destructive power of Iceland's volcanoes
Dróttkvætt	Tradition	"courtly meter"	The most prestigious meter used by skalds - a stanza with "eight half-lines, each having usually three lifts and almost invariably six syllables."
Lyfsteinn	Tradition	"medicine stone"	A "healing stone, stone of special virtue"; they were attached to sword hilts "to rub and heal the wounds with"; other accounts say they could bring the dead back to life or protect against drowining.
Saga Hero	Civilian		The protagonist of a Saga, a prose story or history. These stories were generally written in Old Norse or Icelandic and deal with such topics as Kings, feuds, saints, legends, and migrations.
Víkingr	Military	"Viking" lit. "Bay-dweller"	Scandinavian seafarers, known for being raiders, traders, and explorers - reaching as far as North Africa, the Middle East, and the Eastern North America.

Saga Heros:

Egill Skallagrímsson	c. 904-995	War poet, sorcerer, berserker, and farmer; the anti-hero of Egil's Saga.
Gísli Súrsson	within 860-980	A tragic hero "who must kill one of his brothers-in-law to avenge another brother-in-law"; focus of the Gísla saga.
Grettir Ásmundarson	11th century	A "bellicose Icelandic outlaw" who is the focus of the Grettis saga.
Kjartan Óláfsson	10-11th century	One of the main characters of the Laxdæla saga, where in Kjartan and Bolli Þorleiksson are friends torn apart by their love for Guðrún Ósvífrsdóttir.
Guðrún Ósvífrsdóttir	10-11th century	Another main character from the Laxdæla saga; she was famed for her great wisdom and beauty.
Hrafnkell Hallfreðsson	10th century	The titular character of the Hrafnkels saga, who goes from a dedicated Freyr-worshiping duelist to a defeated atheist.
Njáll Þorgeirsson	10-11th century	An Icelandic lawyer and main protagonist of the Njáls saga, which deals with blood feuds in the Icelandic Commonwealth.
Gunnarr Hámundarson	10th century	An Icelandic chieftain who appears in the Njáls saga. He is also known as Gunnar of Hlíðarend.
Guðríðr Þorbjarnardóttir	980/1019-1050	An Icelandic explorer who appears in the Vinland sagas. She co-led an expedition to Vinland, where her son was born - the first known European birth in the Americas (outside Greenland).
Freydís Eiríksdóttir	c.965 - ?	Said to be the daughter of Erik the Red and the sister of Leif Erikson. She appears in the Vinland sagas.

 

[UWHabs]

Definitely some interesting abilities from the great people. They seem like a cultural Bulgaria type, all about raiding. Should be fun.

 

[Leucarum]

Another pillaging civ... Ugh. If they're reuaing game mechanics this early in the cycle...

Great People need a rework to make them less random...

At least the culture buffs exist.

I was really hoping I'd like Iceland.

So it looks like in Tides I don't mind Tonga or Sayyida... But neither set my world on fire. Not an Xpac I'd pay money for... So very glad I didn't have to