What civics will you be running in your games?

[Khalid]

Survey: This seems tempting but greedy, and I'm going to be running it from Code of Laws to whatever civic I get next, at least in my first couple games. I'm going to be starting double scout, and I'd love to give them both a big XP boost early on – and though we can expect fiercer barbs than in Civ 5, we'll see if they come out swinging or if they become more of a threat after the first 15 or so turns have passed.

I like survey as well. Especially with Rome (with the monument you get Code of Laws on t7), or in situations where you clear the nearest barb camp with your warrior, which looks easy even without Discipline. Then Survey is viable until the second civic is researched.

 

[Bad_Viceroy]

My issue with survey is that while it would be nice to have a superscout that can actually catch barb scouts and deal with early barb units, scouts are meant to be scouting. Rather have a stronger warrior to tank.

 

[CaiusDrewart]

For Military policies, I like the economic ones--Conscription (-1 maintenance per unit), Levee en Masse (-2 maintenance), Retainers (+1 amenity for garrisoned unit). I don't feel like the production bonuses are really all that necessary except perhaps in the ancient and classical eras, because it's uncommon that you need more than 8-10 units with a 1UPT system. I did use the 50% off upgrades policy quite a bit, though that one should obviously only be switched on when you need it.

Economically, the doubled adjacency bonuses for Industrial zones is a must (producing districts and wonders is painfully slow nonetheless). I frequently used Serfdom (+2 charges per builder--the escalating costs make it important to get the most out of each builder) and Land Surveyors (20% off buying tiles). It's astonishing how much gold I'm spending on tiles.

As OP noted, in the later game the Rationalism policy is really good. Some things never change

In the very early game, I'd much rather play it safe with the +5 combat against barbs than try to get a superscout. Even starting off with two Scouts (which I probably will, at least on Pangea maps--meeting a city state first is so good), I think barb combat is still better.

 

[stormtrooper412]

I reckon those that focus on Production will be top priority, stuff takes AGES to build on Standard speed compared to 5