Persona Spotlight: Harald Hardrada (Varangian) | Civilization VI: Leader Pass

Ready the longships! The Varangian approaches. ⛵
Varangian Harald Hardrada joins the 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃, the sixth and final pack from Civilization VI: Leader Pass, on March 29, 2023.
► Get Civilization VI Anthology to play the Leader Pass on Steam and Epic at no additional cost: 2kgam.es/Civ-Anthology
► Purchase the Leader Pass on Steam: 2kgam.es/3EyrA1H
► Purchase the Leader Pass on the Epic Games Store: 2kgam.es/3OaE42X
► Join the official Civilization Newsletter and be the first to know when The Leader Pass launches: 2kgam.es/3ODNgLK
► Learn more about the Leader Pass here: 2kgam.es/3EdOYjK
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ABOUT THE LEADER PASS
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Throughout 6 DLCs that are scheduled for release between November 21, 2022 - March 2023, we will feature 12 leaders brand new to Civilization VI and 6 new takes on classic Civilization leaders.
The Leader Pass is available on Steam, Epic, Mac App Store, and iOS only. On Steam and Epic, The Leader Pass is included at no extra charge as part of Civilization VI Anthology, or can be purchased separately.
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ABOUT CIVILIZATION
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Originally created by legendary game designer Sid Meier, Civilization is a turn-based strategy game in which you attempt to build an empire to stand the test of time. Explore a new land, research technology, conquer your enemies, and go head-to-head with history’s most renowned leaders as you attempt to build the greatest civilization the world has ever known.
#CivilizationVI #Civ #LeaderPass

[@slinky6481]

For those who don't know, before he was king of Norway, Harald traveled in exile from Norway through Sweden and the Kievan Rus, and ended up leading the Varangian Guard unit in Constantinople for many years, leading them in allegedly many campaigns throughout the middle east and perhaps elsewhere on behalf of the Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantium as we know it.

[@KittenCritters]

Makes absolutely no sense for him to be in a Rulers of England pack though. He never ruled any part of England

[@leventevirag1653]

Crusaders are cool Vikings are cool CRUSADER VIKINGS!

[@AchPhoenix]

@@KittenCritters such is a cheap attempt when they didnt include denmark as a civilization

[@marcus4046]

down in the romaroi lands (romans) he got the title Bulgar Burner or Bolgara brenni.

[@awesomebearaudiobooks]

He sounds very Russian to me.

[@kerbalnaut_dirk-strider7267]

Holy hell his armor is hype! Cant wait to see his abilities! Perhaps it will have to do with overseas conquest given the section talking about how he “expanded Norwegian colonies”

[@RiverHolySitesGoBRRRRRRR]

Me personally I hope it's more religious inclined as well as super expansive and conquesting.

[@vxxiii4160]

Holy christ a Dirk Strider pfp on the year of our Lord 2023. Mad props my guy

[@samuelhenriques1079]

I am personally hoping he gets an ability where he can lend his units as mercenaries to other civs for a price

[@gammadion]

They suck. His default is better, honestly. His new ability involves levying units, and he doesn't even have the viking longship. So yeah, kind of weak sauce because it's so situation-dependent.

[@zenwhirlpool]

Harald was one of my favorite civs it's cool to see him get a rework

[@punkboy448]

not a rework, its a new leader for England

[@Ugglehjelm]

@@punkboy448 I think he still leads Norway. But since he has a conection with England, he is still in the dlc

[@farmerkade2632]

This design is leagues ahead of his old one

[@davidjacobo5637]

Its Byzantine armour

[@AMM278]

@@davidjacobo5637 the Vikings made it to Byzantium for trade by the rivers

[@czaransherin3545]

@@AMM278 Harald was a Norvegian viking not a Swedish one however in its young years he was a mercenary in Varangian Guard its leader. Later He came back to his rights to the crown of Norway but failed to take the Danish Crown. In 1066 during the Battle of Stamford Bridge he died against Harold Godwinson troops.

[@Userkaf_II]

Why can't we have William the Conqueror too.

[@Userkaf_II]

I want Normans!!

[@mrarrow8135]

Imagine if Longboats could be used to travel along rivers as a semi-aquatic unit (for historical accuracy).

[@Golemoid]

most boat units should be able to do that, they just need to change how rivers work for civ7

[@juliangermanicusaugustusro1526]

In the pictures he had this epic helmet, but even without it he still looks good.

[@finaldusk1821]

He still has the helmet, it's barely visible in his left hand. Since Harald should still have the same animations as with his old persona, he'll put the helmet on when speaking with a leader he has denounced, been denounced by, or is at war with.

[@ezrapark9992]

Prob like his original animations He has his helmet in hand, and puts it on when he goes to war

[@marcellopes7360]

The Norwegian-Byzantine Alliance

[@willhenry2001]

Love the new design

[@oursenplus1]

That's my man right there. Conquer the whole world Harald!!

[@NopeNottish]

I've been waiting for an update on Norway like forever now

[@hezhang8843]

I've waiting for this man

[@MrMuppetLover]

He'll most likely have a different agenda from his original counterpart, as with all alternate personas of base game leaders.

[@TheBatmanWhoReacts]

I can already picture the domination game 🔥

[@eliasstenman3710]

All fear the mighty mecha Hardrada! Such a cool design, but I have one nitpick: Isn’t he supposed to be older when he invaded England?

[@ThePoeSalesman514]

You’d be correct, though Harald was even younger when part of the Varangian Guard then he was when he became king of Norway.

[@eliasstenman3710]

@@ThePoeSalesman514 Oh wait, this isn’t supposed to an English Harald. I knew about his time in the Varangian Guard, but my mind was so focused on this being the “Rulers of England” pack that it didn’t even make the connection.

[@JRhapsody]

This is great.

[@Sphednnics]

Nice :)

[@Phlebas]

I'm currently in the middle of a domination game with classic Harald on a large archipelago map. Harald's abilities somewhat compliment this; longships are awesome (though I'm now in the renaissance and using caravels), and the ability to heal ships in neutral territory really helps keep the pressure up. But as much as I love the special bonus to raiding, I find it's not that worthwhile in a domination game, where the focus is more on conquest; raiding the countryside and coast of a city you're planning to capture just means you have to repair it all later. So I would really love for Varangian Harald to be more about capturing and keeping cities.

[@mediocremenace4566]

I wished that all pillaged tiles could just be repaired when I storm a city. idk call it some thing about Viking settlers, And then raiding as you conquer would be less painful.(and kinda op)

[@sophomorehat]

Harald is cool and all but I'm not sure he qualifies as a ruler of England. He pillaged a bit of the English coast and then got killed along with the rest of his army like 2 weeks into the invasion.

[@pablor.sepulveda9929]

Well, he tried

[@Userkaf_II]

I thought Harald and the rest of Norsemen that came with him were defeated at Stamford Bridge up in York along with Earl Harold's brother Tostig? Correct me if I'm wrong.

[@TheRealXartaX]

Couple of things here. First, yeah he was never a ruler of England, but he did claim the throne, which is what the video says. Secondly, that's severely understating the threat. He was doing a lot more than just "a bit of pillaging". He was about to conquer York, and was having peace talks with the city, which was about to surrender to him. He and his troops were celebrating and did not have their armor equipped when the English king ambushed them. Most of them didn't have any time to put on any protective gear etc. before battle was joined. Despite this, the Norwegians almost won the battle, and it was very close until Harald took an arrow to the neck (probably didn't help that they didn't have time to put on armor) at which point it turned in favor of the English. The reason for this is because the English king had done an insane force march north to meet them much earlier than they expected. This exhausted and weakened his troops and was probably the main reason he lost later to William (the conqueror) as on top of already being exhausted and having taken heavy losses against Harald, he had to do an equally insane forced march down south to meet William in time. It's very plausible that Harald would have become king of England had Harold Godwinson decided to engage William first. It certainly wouldn't have been William.

[@sophomorehat]

@@TheRealXartaX Ifs, maybes and almosts don’t butter any toast with me. He didn’t capture York, didn’t beat Godwinson at Stamford Bridge and wasn’t a ruler of England.

[@TheRealXartaX]

@@sophomorehat York had basically already surrendered (just the formality was left), hence why they were celebrating. Maybe read up on history if you want to comment on it.

[@jsdfsad7143]

Someone watched Vinland Saga

[@kiyoponchik]

Damn Vinland Saga 2 looking good

[@davequaschnick2559]

these leaders need to come with a giant English isles map

[@Chico76CR]

I like playing Harald on the Seven Seas map.

[@presidentelmo4516]

He is one of the main protagonists in the Netflix series Vikings Vallhalla

[@butterspread]

Would be so cool if he was a dual leader like Eleanor of Aquitaine, if not mods will fix it right up!

[@TheMetalfreak360]

Hope to see another leader for Norway, maybe Haakon 7 would be a good fit.

[@Xman-0124]

Vikings rejoice! Father Harald is getting content 🥹

[@MaSuDezender]

and i was wondering where persona from 5th pack is gone... Well thats sucks, i actually hoped more from Bluetooth.

[@eliteranger1001]

The last Great Viking

[@ianng4633]

Naval UAs are great but only if y'all fix the AI's inability to use naval units.

[@Basterdio123]

I just keep repeating the first 3 seconds and they sound like notifications lol.

[@dastef9682]

Do we get Steam achievements for the new leaders in the future? 😀

[@ericbrown8916]

Why has the animated leader a different helmet?

[@jackyoung3878]

Any update on when the leader pass will be expanded to consoles?

[@heatherkramer3139]

They are unlikely to. The group that normally does console ports for them is going throigh a lot of stuff right now and are unlikely to continue with civ ports. Theres hope that civ 7 will come to consoles after it releases if they find someone new to do the port, but cobsoles are unlikely to get any further updates to civ 6

[@jackyoung3878]

@@heatherkramer3139 thanks for the insight! I hope I will be able to play the next installment in the series, but I still have PLENTY of more games on CIV 6 in me.

[@j1r2000]

The pass is called rulers of england not rulers of the north sea or pretenders of england if you guys wanted a new norway cnut the great as a split England/Norway civ would've been more on theme

[@1Animeculture]

Canute was danish. But i digress.

[@pablor.sepulveda9929]

It's more attractive to call "rulers" rather than "almost rulers and rulers". Also, it's rulers not kings and queens of England

[@j1r2000]

@@1Animeculture Cnut the great was king of all three Denmark, England, and Norway and the agreement between Cnut's descendants were the foundation for harrold's claim

[@j1r2000]

@@pablor.sepulveda9929 Harrold still never ruled over any part of England he failed to meet every criteria

[@PyroManiac637]

I hope they add William the Conqueror if they add Harald Hardrada to the Rulers of England pack.

[@r8rgtrs]

The pack will only feature Elizabeth I, a rework of Harland, and a rework of Victoria

[@jasonsacchi]

Yes, Harald Hardrada. I’m afraid there’s only one leader left in the game.

[@WarbroJavaCo]

Sköl friends 🍻

[@IEatYourSandwiches]

Can't think of a better leader to represent a leader of England than a guy who literally never led England

[@slinky6481]

He isn't going to be a leader of England, the heck are you talking about? He attempted to take the English throne in history, but died before he could. That's all the lore thing is saying

[@grog159]

@@slinky6481 He is in the "Rulers of England" pack. Which he shouldn't be

[@TheRealXartaX]

It literally says his country is Norway, not England.

[@AlexiosTheSixth]

especially since this is a [Varangian] variant The Varangians were in Eastern Europe/Eastern Mediterranean

[@TheRealXartaX]

@@AlexiosTheSixth No they weren't? Varangians were any vikings who travelled to Constantinople to serve the Byzantine emperor for fame/money/glory. One of the most famous Varangians was Harald Hardrada (the guy in this vid), who rose to become the commander of the Varangian guard, and later returned to Norway.. The vast majority of the people serving in it were Scandinavian.

[@kma3647]

Getting rid of the Saladin hat in favor of mail is a big improvement! Hopefully, the leader bonus is interesting and fun. The LAs they've added with this pack have definitely been hit or miss, OP and brainlessly easy like Yongle, wonky to the point they feel like an exploit like Ludwig, uncreative like Wu Zetian being a carbon copy of Catherine di Medici, etc.

[@hajimerecords6100]

Обожаю вас

[@MayTheFay]

they spent the entire lipsynch budget on elizabeth

[@Koalalover70]

William would like a word with you

[@wolfgangod69]

Hey heads up can you please fix the console versions of the game it crashes everytime late-game early game before the game it loads and starts I paid for it and you know I expect it to be able to use the product I paid for

[@inspector_beyond]

I wonder what Norwegians think of his lines. I'm also interested, does Norwegian really have so many R sounds in words? He like pronounced three rolling Rs in one word.

[@modernkennnern]

This is not Norwegian, although it does resemble it ever-so-slightly. I imagine it's supposed to be some kind of old Norse?

[@Panjalin]

This is old norse. Norwegians leave half of the 'r's behind.

[@HenrikP97]

It's definitely Old Norse, but the voice actor over-enunciates the R:s quite a bit.

[@inspector_beyond]

@@modernkennnern I belive so. At least that's what Civilization wiki says. It also says that there's some parts of Icelandic in there too and some letters are mispronounced. And yet, that's kinda impressive.

[@TheScaryBox123]

Probably got an Icelandic va for him. Or Faroese. Isolated islands out there preserved the language more or less for over a thousand years.

[@LordManhattan]

*Breaking news:* Harald just attacked Nepal for not having a boat.

[@clarkycherry]

Dear developers, Why wouldn't you release leader pass for consoles? Or there is a possibility that you'd release it, but when all the leaders would be available?

[@pablor.sepulveda9929]

They mentioned so many times the issues that have to bring it into consoles is not simply porting but also gaining the corresponding licences for each platform to publish, so maybe after this pass, we'll get more information about the topic.

[@clarkycherry]

@@pablor.sepulveda9929 thank you very much for this info! Best of luck

[@MesiasMark]

Im still curious why Harald keeps referencing the pagan faith in his dialogue when irl he was a devout Christian.

[@louthegiantcookie]

I wish English Harald would have the ungrateful brother Tostig behind him acting as his hype-man.

[@davidjacobo5637]

Isn't this byzantine armour?

[@att7364]

Yes the varangian guard type!

[@MrPeterGoldman]

Nice armor and all, but that chainmail needs a coif... 😪

[@youvebeengreeked]

*PETITION to have WILLIAM of ORANGE as an ALTERNATE LEADER for both The NETHERLANDS and ENGLAND*

[@DigitalDeath88]

Guess he wasn't pillage-y enough already...

[@johnytakdeep4839]

will there be an alternative leader for Russia ? Perhaps someone from uni soviet era ?

[@etipsbellum771]

I know these new stuff are free content, but the beard have no collision on cloths which older character have model it

[@RiverHolySitesGoBRRRRRRR]

Now this is what I've been waiting for! One of the greatest viking kings to have ever lived. If he did actually won in his conquest of England, English would have been more Norse then it was French.

[@wigwig5bn371]

pls make a danish leader

[@youvebeengreeked]

*PETITION to have CHARLES / OSCAR as the ALTERNATE LEADER for both NORWAY and SWEDEN*

[@user-ge2tu8tl7h]

I ❤ 🇳🇴

[@youvebeengreeked]

*PETITION to have CNUT the GREAT as an ALTERNATE LEADER for both NORWAY and ENGLAND*

[@CMON75]

it's criminal that you charge money for this

[@tomma8105]

Love to try this content... hurry up and fix the Xbox version... especially with all your new Gamepass players. Pull your finger out Gandi

[@lumithelapphund6990]

As a Norwegian this sound Nice, but he looks very goofy💀

[@MakarovVideoChannel]

Persona 6 confirmed

[@koldrix]

Wow, can't wait to see another variant of an existing country instead of a new one!

[@etherealwavefan94]

wasn't that literally what the leader pass was about to include leaders and not new countries lol

[@big_lizhang]

Hehe +1 guy related with Russian history

[@John-el.]

Nice design , I like the greek shoulders

[@maelstrumyes3595]

Can't wait to be disappointed if his LA has no correlation to this persona

[@Dargonauts]

When are you guys going to reward your loyal players on switch ?

[@KarsMerser]

I am waiting for the Armenia faction

[@axelrobertsson9008]

All is blak

[@hueanao]

0:08 "viking"? Seriously? It's 'vikingr'. Viking was the name of the occupation itself, if you went viking you were a vikingr, similarly, if you drive you are a driver, or if you play you are a player.

[@cooaa9621]

add serbia leader

[@swedishmetalbear]

It was the Swedish vikings who were Varangian guards.. Not Norwegian vikings as far as what is known.

[@pablor.sepulveda9929]

Harald was leader of the Varangian Guard, who were basically, vikings converted to Christianity, and used by the Byzantines as mercenaries

[@andulabenjamin9633]

Nice to know History. Would be nice to know who this historical character is.

[@slinky6481]

Harald WAS a leader of the Varangian Guard - read about his history of exile from Norway and his travels east through Sweden, the Kievan Rus, and Byzantium. They didn't just choose this randomly.

[@cerdic6305]

The Varangians had people from all over the place, including many Anglo-Saxons after 1066

[@Dunkle0steus]

That is the ugliest chainmail I've ever seen. It doesn't move the way chainmail should. It looks like it was based off a shitty 80s movie prop rather than how actual armor was designed (HINT your armor shouldn't leave your throat entirely exposed!!). Plus, no one wears raw chainmail directly on their head. That's ludicrous. You wear cloth padding underneath. You really had your D team working on the art on this one.

[@Cheesblenders4all]

its not chanmail moron its byzantine lamellar

[@user-kz8wl2sn9o]

Внешне совершенно не похож на своего персонажа. Тот был блондином с более умным лицом.

[@Bill_Casey]

The animation looks really stiff, like something out of SFM

[@Chaotique0]

I was hoping for a less military oriented Harald... it seems that he will be even more 😭

[@MrSlaaneshi]

Where Russian "persona"? Bruh

[@MorrocanDarijaArab]

Sounds like a horse

[@DarkVoid-gp6qq]

Console version still doesn’t work, still crashes every 2-4 turns once late game hits, been like this for almost three years, why won’t you fix the console version. why don’t any of the devs care? I don’t even care about all the content you refuse to give us at this point, I just want the game to work. I ask all who see this to see the issue for yourself and spread the word or my voice will continue to go unheard. Please

[@messi10532]

Damn so good! But you gotta add Ukraine next time for sure!

[@slinky6481]

I've been wanting Kievan Rus for a long time. Modern Ukraine is more like an unholy Frankenstein of territory that only exists because of WWII and the Soviet Union, it wouldn't belong in this game just because the current thing is to "support" them. But adding the Kievan Rus would be a subtle way to include them, sort of.

[@user-kz8wl2sn9o]

Украина первоначально появилась только лишь в 1917 году, а в те древние времена на территории нынешней Украины простиралась Русь, даже в 16-18 веках козаки называли себя руськими, но в нынешней истории Украины их упорно назвают почему-то украинцами.

[@messi10532]

@@user-kz8wl2sn9o Русь не равно россия. россия - это московия. А настоящие потомки Киевской Руси как раз таки украинский народ. Руськие от слова русь, а не от "россия".

[@messi10532]

@@slinky6481 Ukraine can be represented as Cossacks with Bohdan Khmelnitsky. Their impact on modern history is immeasurable. They literally decided who's going to be a ruler of Eastern Europe in that period. Kyiv Rus is also good. First official borders of Ukraine appeared in 1917. Soviet Union and WWII is irrelevant on this topic

[@user-kz8wl2sn9o]

@@messi10532 вы соскакиваете с темы, говорилось о том является ли Украина хоть сколько-нибудь преемственной Руси, а не о России или Московии. Что у Украины есть от Руси? Может быть украина-это эдакая недоассимилированная поляками, окатоличенная унией территория, теперь уже больше похожая на Польшу, чем на Русь? Если в названии своего народа и страны даже стыдитесь использовать свое исконное название с корнем -рус, то каким боком Украина, отрицая исконное название может иметь отношение к Руси? Только такое, что расположилась на том месте, где десять веков назад был один из центров Руси, ее третья столица.

[@ukrainiansareproto-mesopat9235]

Probably he is the closest we will ever get to having Ukraine in game :(

[@memeboi6017]

Mods, mods, mods.

[@cerdic6305]

Please say your username is a joke

[@AndersonFerreira-tx9nr]

fix the game on xbox!

[@reallycute7603]

Lazy recycling

[@dkexpat2755]

Boooooring. Come on.