This may have been done a million times before, but...

[Takagi Hiro]

As of the moment, what is your favorite civ to play, and what are your reasons? It may be interesting to see how many people play a particular civ or which ones most players gravitate towards.

For me, it's got to be Greece. After many rolls, I've found they surpass my previous favorite, Denmark. Getting bonuses on kills with their UB really stacks up, similar to Denmark. Also, the extra defense from it really mitigates crime, a pesky source of unhappiness. Their UU comes early, and there's no gamble, unlike Denmark, where you would require iron for their UU. It comes with quite a punch for being unlocked after a mere two techs, making pledges to those city-states a simple affair as well as securing alliances with them. Having such power from so early in the game, mixed with their cultural affinity on kills, makes Greece my personal go-to civ. It's icing on the cake knowing you will NEVER be punished for trespassing in a city-state's territory.

So... how about you guys?

 

[thunderbird_14]

Arabia because it's the only one revolving around historic events and the fact you can pump out more great people than other players, and camel archers are amazing

But recently, Indonesia is becoming my new default. Why? The spices flow so there will be no really bad starts and it has synergy with wide play (a tactic yesterday I first used) and Kris Swordmen are amazing, too. Not to mention the candis

 

[Takagi Hiro]

Arabia because it's the only one revolving around historic events and the fact you can pump out more great people than other players, and camel archers are amazing

But recently, Indonesia is becoming my new default. Why? The spices flow so there will be no really bad starts and it has synergy with wide play (a tactic yesterday I first used) and Kris Swordmen are amazing, too. Not to mention the candis

I can agree with Arabia. They're definitely up there for me, but the fact that they feel almost locked to a Tradition start hurts them a bit.

 

[ElliotS]

I love England. Their starting spy is an amazing boon, allowing you to get tons of free techs early (in addition to disrupting your enemies) which leads into their extremely streamlined path to victory. The spy can disrupt an enemy that you can rip apart in war, and leveling dromans and galleons with the city bombardment lets you hit an INSANE power peak when you upgrade 6+ SotL with +1 range, 100% bonus damage to cities and free double attack.

Additionally the bonuses to spies greatly helps with the companion alt-victory condition and assistant of warfare: statesmanship!

You get a greatly increased chance of couping city states with your spies starting at level 2, and once they succeed they're at max level and therefore ready to rig elections at max efficiency or steal techs with a higher chance of success.

Speaking of stealing techs again, that's the best way to offset the massive tech malus you get from having a lot of cities, so it also feels very synergistic.

I also love stacking speed and sight on my boats. Getting the great lighthouse, the gold metal for the boat world congress thingy and imperialism makes me very, very happy.

 

[LukaSlovenia29]

Lately I've been playing as the Maya on Immortal, because they're the only civ I can use (at least at the moment) as a "Vanilla" Civ without any unique advantages, because I can decide to not build kunas or atlalists, and I can delete any bonus GPs.

That way, if I win the game I know I would have won it with any other civ and that I didn't with because of my civ's unique advantages.

 

[BiteInTheMark]

I love Germany, early game its like your playing a civilization without any bonuses (I didnt go into early city states accumulation) but in midgame and lategame they rock.
The key is getting Petra and Collossus. Together with Statecraft you get plenty of City States as allies, pushing science over the edge and if you build the hanse in every city, up to +50% production in every city is insane for heavy builders like me. This ables me to going to hard warfare in the lategame.
Close to Germany, the Inca. I like their special trait with hills for EVERY unit, helping workers in constructing improvements and faster scouting + warfare. The UU seems weak, but if you go to some early wars, they get so much experience and once upgraded, they rape easily enemies. Especially if you place them on mountains, making them invulnerable to melee attacks. The UI is also very nice, cause i like big cities.

 

[Enrico Swagolo]

I like playing Aztecs, Denmark, Japan, Spain and Portugal the most.

Aztecs are awesome. There's something very fun in founding THIS early thanks to the UA. Gold is almost never an issue neither, same with Production or Food. It's a bit of an easy mode tho

Denmark is pretty obvious, you only need to look to realise "they're going to be fun".

Japan is similar, but its stuff all comes later. Creating super-soldiers with 2-3 Dojotions is reallly enjoyable.

Spain is very fun to use. The Conquistadors are arguably the best UU in the game and compensate for the Mission not being super impressive anymore (after everything else in the civ was buffed, it turned from the strongest part of the civ to the weakest), the UA is helpful in getting your cities up and populous. Good for wide and brings joy.

Portugal is awesome too. Portugal with renaissance upgraded Feitorias is a gift that never stops giving as you receive super-yields for every CS-sent route - and it gets you some really cool benefits with Statecraft and Industry, especially if you got Petra and/or Colossus. Those two are almost impossible to get in the latest version tho. I like playing Portugal - I go Authority, annoy my enemies with GG/GA I am able to get easily and I do not feel like I'm particularly super-overpowered.

 

[saamohod]

I love Germany, early game its like your playing a civilization without any bonuses (I didnt go into early city states accumulation) but in midgame and lategame they rock.

Same here. Also I like to play "sciencey" civs, therefore I often choose Babylon, China or Korea.

 

[Takagi Hiro]

No Greece players, eh? Well, that's fine! This is interesting, so please, continue.

 

[tu_79]

I can't say, cause I didn't try many civs myself. I've played mostly with Polynesia, as I like peaceful games (love moai coast), and liked also Inca (GP abuse), China(WLTKD combo) and Carthage (best start ever!). I've succesfully played with Rome, Russia, Morocco and Zulus, but they were long games (fighting is tiring for me). I failed several times with Shoshone, never managed to be passive-aggressive. I tried, but didn't end, Denmark, Brazil, France, India, Indonesia, Celts and Germany before it was turned into a diplo civ. I hated Celts, their pantheon is supposed to make a difference, but it didn't work for me.

My failures were almost always Authority starts where I failed to play aggresively enough. Sometimes I got crushed so heavily that I rage-quitted, sometimes a bug stopped my progress, and a new version caused me to try another civ.

Currently trying Persia, but I can't play much time, so it's going really slow. I'm interested in playing Greece, Japan, Portugal and Egypt.

 

[Takagi Hiro]

I can't say, cause I didn't try many civs myself. I've played mostly with Polynesia, as I like peaceful games (love moai coast), and liked also Inca (GP abuse), China(WLTKD combo) and Carthage (best start ever!). I've succesfully played with Rome, Russia, Morocco and Zulus, but they were long games (fighting is tiring for me). I failed several times with Shoshone, never managed to be passive-aggressive. I tried, but didn't end, Denmark, Brazil, France, India, Indonesia, Celts and Germany before it was turned into a diplo civ. I hated Celts, their pantheon is supposed to make a difference, but it didn't work for me.

My failures were almost always Authority starts where I failed to play aggresively enough. Sometimes I got crushed so heavily that I rage-quitted, sometimes a bug stopped my progress, and a new version caused me to try another civ.

Currently trying Persia, but I can't play much time, so it's going really slow. I'm interested in playing Greece, Japan, Portugal and Egypt.

Yeah, if you pick Authority, you really have to do something with it. Definitely give Greece a try. Their early game is quite potent.

 

[Txurce]

Lately I've added the Aztecs to my Immortal rotation, which otherwise seemed to be Carthage, England and the Netherlands, all because of their naval advantages. From a narrative pov, I love to kick it into hyperdrive with England's SOTL and the Netherlands' Sea Beggar. All of these games are aimed at a Statecraft/Rationalism/Freedom Science VC, just because I find them most complete, while shooting for a World Religion-based control of the WC. This isn't as easy as Immortal, but still mostly doable with a shrine-first, fast-expand build order.

 

[Navanod]

Mongol and Indonesia for me.

Mongol, the UA is effectively a permanent UU that can kill without being killed. The UU just makes it even harder to kill those skirmishers.
Ger goes well with my border growth bonus build.

Indonesia, the music! The 3 extra luxs and guaranteed monopolies means anything that adds happiness based on luxs will work extra well (Goddess of festivals, Industry finisher) allowing expansion without too much happiness issues.
Candis also makes an otherwise very limited building (garden) a must have, even without cocao and citrus nearby.

I had not played much as Greece, but I hate facing them. The early UU when swarmed are almost unstoppable and can take cities with ease, even walled cities. I love their music as well. Can't believe the origin of the tune is an actual ancient score.
By the way, how does that Acropolis +5 culture when killing enemy units work?

 

[Dawnbringer]

I enjoy the following:
Carthage
Zulu
Greece
Byzantium
Inca

Absolute favourite is Byzantium. But if I ever don't feel like losing, it's usually Carthage/Greece.

 

[Takagi Hiro]

Mongol and Indonesia for me.

Mongol, the UA is effectively a permanent UU that can kill without being killed. The UU just makes it even harder to kill those skirmishers.
Ger goes well with my border growth bonus build.

Indonesia, the music! The 3 extra luxs and guaranteed monopolies means anything that adds happiness based on luxs will work extra well (Goddess of festivals, Industry finisher) allowing expansion without too much happiness issues.
Candis also makes an otherwise very limited building (garden) a must have, even without cocao and citrus nearby.

I had not played much as Greece, but I hate facing them. The early UU when swarmed are almost unstoppable and can take cities with ease, even walled cities. I love their music as well. Can't believe the origin of the tune is an actual ancient score.
By the way, how does that Acropolis +5 culture when killing enemy units work?

The +5 culture adds to the local culture of all cities you have one built in, meaning it does factor into border growth. That also means that if you have six of them built, for example, that's +30 culture for every unit killed. It can be quite powerful.

I enjoy the following:
Carthage
Zulu
Greece
Byzantium
Inca

Absolute favourite is Byzantium. But if I ever don't feel like losing, it's usually Carthage/Greece.

Awesome, we have a Greece player! Yeah, they're pretty darned awesome, huh? Your favorites are all very fun picks, though.

 

[pandasnail]

Note: These picks are a little outdated now, I've played less in the fall, and until recently I exclusively played Marathon, which is both meaningfully different and offers less chance to try things out.

Clear number one: Venice. I just love that they can play great at super wide Authority or super tall Tradition. I realize there's some stuff in between they aren't outstanding at, once I pick a path, its hard to pivot to like five cities maybe. But I love being able to turn every new city into like a Mercenary Depot. In a map situation where I only need maybe two armies, of course there are better civs for that, but if five full armies is what it takes, nobody is better at producing and maintaining that imo. And Coalition Wars have made a comeback, at least in my games. Haven't tried them since the unit cap reduction, that could be an issue early on. Think I'll give it a test soon.

Mongolia. Six move ranged horse units are awesome. Simple enough. Reason I have them two and not one is because I find it harder to pivot to another VC when there's a second continent or something. Not that they can't cross continent conquer, I just find the movement process for that a bit tedious. I also don't even make use of the CS intimidate power more than once a game at most.

Carthage. Used to be number one, before the lighthouse change. But the snowball start is still great. I bet the QQ can't do anything to a walled city now tho? Like I said, my opinions are outdated.

Siam. I always see them at the bottom of these lists, and I don't know why. I love the elephant, I love all the CS yields, the building is great now. What's not to like?

The Celts are my people (or close enough), so I want to put them fifth, but the massive faith reduction on founding prevents it. It's almost impossible to get the synergistic enhancer belief I'm hoping for. And the C Hall isn't as good as when GMs were OP for wide play. Greece is a great choice when playing with E&D. UA is awesome, Acropolis is awesome like you said, but I'm just not a fan of the Hoplite still. There really fun to face for sure, but for some reason I'm not keen on using them. But E&D brings back the Companion Cavalry, a unit I like very much. Five moves on a horseman is all I could ever want. I think they have something with GGs too, but I don't even care about that.

I looooove Swedish Cannons, and on Marathon, I have so much time to use them, plus on Marathon, you can get the free Public School Order tenet early enough for it to matter (its interesting how much later ideologies come on Standard speed.) So I guess they are number five for me.

 

[Takagi Hiro]

Note: These picks are a little outdated now, I've played less in the fall, and until recently I exclusively played Marathon, which is both meaningfully different and offers less chance to try things out.

Clear number one: Venice. I just love that they can play great at super wide Authority or super tall Tradition. I realize there's some stuff in between they aren't outstanding at, once I pick a path, its hard to pivot to like five cities maybe. But I love being able to turn every new city into like a Mercenary Depot. In a map situation where I only need maybe two armies, of course there are better civs for that, but if five full armies is what it takes, nobody is better at producing and maintaining that imo. And Coalition Wars have made a comeback, at least in my games. Haven't tried them since the unit cap reduction, that could be an issue early on. Think I'll give it a test soon.

Mongolia. Six move ranged horse units are awesome. Simple enough. Reason I have them two and not one is because I find it harder to pivot to another VC when there's a second continent or something. Not that they can't cross continent conquer, I just find the movement process for that a bit tedious. I also don't even make use of the CS intimidate power more than once a game at most.

Carthage. Used to be number one, before the lighthouse change. But the snowball start is still great. I bet the QQ can't do anything to a walled city now tho? Like I said, my opinions are outdated.

Siam. I always see them at the bottom of these lists, and I don't know why. I love the elephant, I love all the CS yields, the building is great now. What's not to like?

The Celts are my people (or close enough), so I want to put them fifth, but the massive faith reduction on founding prevents it. It's almost impossible to get the synergistic enhancer belief I'm hoping for. And the C Hall isn't as good as when GMs were OP for wide play. Greece is a great choice when playing with E&D. UA is awesome, Acropolis is awesome like you said, but I'm just not a fan of the Hoplite still. There really fun to face for sure, but for some reason I'm not keen on using them. But E&D brings back the Companion Cavalry, a unit I like very much. Five moves on a horseman is all I could ever want. I think they have something with GGs too, but I don't even care about that.

I looooove Swedish Cannons, and on Marathon, I have so much time to use them, plus on Marathon, you can get the free Public School Order tenet early enough for it to matter (its interesting how much later ideologies come on Standard speed.) So I guess they are number five for me.

I do admit, I miss the Companion Cavalry a great deal, but what can you do? It's them or the Hoplite, and the Hoplite won. You can still get them from a city-state, I think... but yes, they had a GG generation promotion.

 

[Horvath Broncos]

Carthage for obvious reasons but I really don't play with Dido anymore because I just always win with her.

Polynesia is awesome because of the early game exploration. I just love to settle all over a huge map with them and Moai ofcourse are great.

Incas are great because of the wacky places you can settle with them. And ofcourse logistics for the whole game is awesome.

When I want to warmonger Attila is my go to guy. Not the best warmonger but there are few things as great as beating your opponents with his/her own units.

Almost forgot my favorite atm. Progress Indonesia spamming cities everywhere. If you get also a tundra start with them it is awesome.

 

[Takagi Hiro]

I'm starting to wonder if Carthage is just too good. Most of you have all mentioned them in some way or another due to their sheer advantage.

 

[Txurce]

I'm starting to wonder if Carthage is just too good. Most of you have all mentioned them in some way or another due to their sheer advantage.

I don't think they're too good. More like, very easy.