Leaders that you usually ally with/make enemies with?

I created this thread just out of curiosity to find out who, when you usually play Civ 5, you usually get along well with, or are always fighting against, or perhaps both! Feel free to provide explanations for each one but obviously you are not obligated to do so.

Just a couple comments before I post my own: Yes, I know that it is difficult to ever have a real ally in this game. I also know that people will have a lot more general enemies than allies. Not to mention that spawning on the same continent or on separate continents heavily influences individual foreign diplomacy. That's fine. I'm just looking to see who you have for each category. If Siam, just as an example, has usually been kind to you and helped you through frequent trading, but then one playthrough he backstabs you, then I would still consider him to be an Ally overall. Because it's Civ 5. There will be traitors.

Okay, now for mine:

Allies that I usually make:

Rahm (Siam)- This guy is so friendly! I think I've literally DOW'd him once. Beware though to never sign a DOF with Rahm. I did that this past game, and out of the blue Rahm's like "I'm sorry to ask for your assistance" and requests 1392 gold. Uh, no. But regardless, Siam is one of my favorite trading partners and often helps me win the game, or come close.

Gandhi (India)- You might be surprised by this. But come on! It's Gandhi! I know some of you have been exposed to temperamental Gandhi, but he's always peaceful in my playthroughs. Well with my Civ, at least.

Genghis Khan (Mongolia)- This is a shocker. To be fair, the one time we were on the same continent, we waged an epic war. But I've found that Genghis is nice to me for the majority of the game, even if he eventually backstabs me towards the end when he notices my large military.

Napoleon (France)- Napoleon's a bit moody but he's probably one of the most loyal AI's if you can get him on your side IMO

Iroqouis (Hiawatha)- This guy is actually a great neighbor sometimes. One of the friendlier Civs in the game, to me at least

Montezuma (Aztecs)- This one is also very shocking. He normally likes to go to war with any breathing object, but with me, he usually wages an early war to test my power, and then becomes my ally if he gains nothing and we share common enemies.

Neutral Civs (Haven't played enough against them, or its been too mixed):

Ramesses II (Egypt)- This guy's hard to gage. I feel like he just randomly DOW's people on other continents for no reason. Maybe he gets bored? Not usually a warmongerer in my games. Outside of his own continent, that is.

Harun Al Rashid (Arabia)- Too mixed with Harun. He's usually a good trading partner, but he's guaranteed to hate you or backstab you at some point for no good reason.

Suleiman (Ottomans)- This guy loves to fight, and he gets 10 cities in like 100 turns into the game! But I haven't played against him enough to fully consider him an enemy.

Wu Zetian (China)- Too mixed. I've had games where she's left me alone, but more often than not she wants to test her military on everybody just for laughs.

Augustus Caesar (Rome)- Haven't played against this guy enough.

Enemies

Catherine (Russia)- Everyone hates Catherine. I would be shellshocked if someone listed her as an ally on here. She is nothing but war and backstabbing. The only two things she knows how to do.

Darius I (Prussia)- See Catherine. Except the backstabbing is even worse. He's just as bad with the rapid colonization too. How does he spam so many cities so quickly? (shoutout to Suleiman here...that guy gobbles up land, even if he's not my enemy)

Elizabeth I (England)- I really think that Elizabeth is uncomfortable with longstanding peace. She also has a tendency to backstab.

Oda Nobunaga (Japan)- This guy just wants to fight wars. Fun opponent in a Domination playthrough, but terrible diplomatic peer.

Washington (America)- I always spawn next to him. He always fights early wars against me, and then becomes extinct fairly early on in the game. He may as well just DOW on sight next time we spawn close together. He loves early wars.

Greece (Alexander)- Alexander is another warmongerer. A complete idiot too. Yawn.

Askia (Songhai)- I mean the guy's holding a sword, do you expect him to be good at civil diplomacy? Smh Askia's ridiculous and usually easy prey in my games.

Germany (Bismarck)- No explanation needed. Although I do get a weird sense of joy when he sports his pouty face and says "Om nom. Raustovich!" in a really irritated voice and becomes guarded for no reason.

How about for you guys? Btw I don't have G+K or any expansions, so that's why they're obviously excluded from mine.

In my games so far....

Best buds
Gandhi - Always a good friend when he spawns. Eager to trade and make various agreements.

Isabella - First time I ran into her in any game was as Polynesia, horrified of me in the classical and middle ages but becoming close friends as time passed, entering defensive pacts and RAs throughout the ages. Every other game, we've been great trading partners but never the amazing bond we had in that Polynesia game.

Cant Stand

Theodora - Annoying, picky, arrogant expansionist... Dont like her... one bit. I dislike her so much I refuse to even play her civ.

Ramses - Ran into him on my first game. He tried to invade my Germany... I wasnt gonna have none of that. Every game, he always has something up his sleeve... always a snarl behind that grin.

Elizabeth - Picky, snobby, spoiled little brat... closest description I have for her.... Always complaining about something... always trying to pick fights with larger nations.

I love....
Kamehameha - Every game he is a total bro. I am so sad to see him in my games with random personalities, because I know he will act like a nut. The only sane AI by far.

Ramkhamhaeng - The setting is helpful. The fact he is talking in a quiet voice in his peaceful garden makes him so likeable. I like him

I hate....
Elizabeth - We are pleased to ... nope ... restart
Dido - Not only is she a backstabber, but she also sucks at running a civilization.

Allies:

Songhai- never had a war, never had an argeument, hell, we've never even denounced each other! We make defensive pacts and research agreement more than with many other sides too. Not a very trade happy guy, and doesn't go to war on my side often, but still, better is constant indiference than erratic hate. Total friendship score: 70/100

Ottomans- this guy is a bit more complicated. We usually start and end the game on good terms, but will have a fair amount of rough patches on the way. He likes to lash out when he has his jannissaries, or after i've been in a costly war. Still, he loves trade, and his war tendencies can keep my neighbors in check (or at least keep the strong ones preoccupied for a while) total friendship score: 65/100

Rome- eh, we are usually good friends and will trade luxuries on a 1 to 1 basis. However, if ceasar declares war he damn well means it, and it will ruin the allaince forever. Total friendship score: 62/100

Denmark- such a cool guy! Loves trade, doesn't mind war, and asks for reasonable peace treaties. If this guy didn't try and kill all my city states, he would be the best AI ever! Total friendship score: 85/100

Korea- the epitome of a pacifist, he does nothing but make scientific progress. Doesn't build wonders, doesn't go to war, just sits and makes innovations... Now if he ever TRADED then maybe he would get a higher score, but as it stands: 77/100

Aztecs- a tiny pathetic creature after their initial rush fails, I usually keep them alive as a steady source of friendship agreements and buffer zones between my real adversaries. Score: 75/100

France- though never more than warm in relations, we are always good trade allies and will support each other when war comes. A loyal guy who is kurt and cold: 68/100

Enemies:

England- They never liked me. Ever. All they do is denounce me and throw rude comments at me. If they weren't passive aggressive elephants in the room and actually FOUGHT, they would have been ranked lower: 19/100

Russia- Exactly England except cathrine actually fights all the time. I wish I could just exist without cathrine yelling at me, denouncing me, and then throwing 20 units at me every 15 turns: 4/100

Iroqoui- WONDER HOGGING, LAND SNATCHING, TECH LEADING, DENOUNCING, CITY STATE BUYING -BLEEP-S! If hiawatha wasn't such a wuss in the feild of combat, I'd seriously quite if knew he was in my game: 10/100

Siam- we always get off to a bad start and things only get worse from their. Only difference each game is if they becomes a wonder spamming super power or a third world hellhole in the remotes section of the globe: 34/100

Babylon- these are the nicest guys in the world. They sit quitely, don't take up a lot of space, don't fight, and make friendship if you ask. Problem is that every game. EVERY GAME, I have a political reason to kill them. Whether they have a city with two natural wonders and a luxury, control a vital canal from north to south, or Everyone hates them and I need to be part of the group, I always have to end up killing them, and that's a shame, as they really are a nice group of people: 90/100

America- these expansionist, loud mouthed, angry, dirt poor, jack booted, communist thugs always put my nerves on end. I have never met a nice freedom washington, or quite autocratic Washington, just a denounce warmoungering order hound. (note, I don't REALLY hate the order tree, just washington and his predictibility with it): 8/100

Other nations are either too diverse in there opinion of me game to game to, or are too neutral to call either way.

Friends:

Kamehameha - This guy is always really friendly with me even when I hate his guts for settling right next to me. Almost always end up with a DoF with him. And I love his leader scene.

Pachacuti - Very similar to Kamehameha. Except he usually turns into a wonder hog or gets overconfident, in which case I kindly invade his land and take all his wonders.

Bismark - Have never had him DoW on me, except for one of the very first games I played (my first Emperor game and it was a Duel map). He is always very friendly with lots of trades and RAs.

Enemies:

Isabella - I absolutely hate her guts. She is pretentious and I can't stand her ever time I see her leader scene. If she is anywhere near me in the early game, she will almost always immediately DoW me.

Dido - See above.

Siam - Another pretentious **** that loves to throw insults and is easily offended when I take some cities during a war that was started in my defense. Always an aggressive expander.

Mixed:

Hiwatha - He's about as chill as Kamehameha and is always very friendly but almost every single game I have had with him he conquers 1 or 2 civs very early and runs away within the first 150-200 turns. Frequently gets huge tech advantages and I hate his guts for it, but he's always so damn nice!

As a side note, I love to utterly stomp Genghis Khan in a war and leave him with one city, just so I can see how angry he gets every time I talk to him. Gives me a good chuckle.

After the fall patch my relationships with civs have been a lot different, especially with their increased aggression against CSs. Makes me much less inclined to be friendly with them.

It changes a lot but if I had to say:

Allies - Arabia, Byzantium, Korea, Songhai

Enemies - Everyone else

Montezuma - Good friend although we have a little war then we become friends.

Celts- They usually are my friends but sometimes i get mad at them and take them over.

Napoleon - -.- Why.. Are you trying to take me over everyone then make a city near me.

Russia - I tried becoming friends in all my games and she think because i only have one unit she can try and take me over pathetic..She turns out betraying me

Always friends with:

Greece
Songhai
Korea
Babylon
France

Always enemies with:

England
America
Russia

While it definitely varies game to game (especially depending on how I've been playing), these are pretty standard allies and enemies. I'll put them in the most common order.

Allies: Kamehameha, Askia, Darius, Nebuchadnezzar, Mongolia (which kind of surprised me), and Gandhi (if he manages to stay alive). I love when Kame is on the map; as long as I stay loyal to him, he's loyal to me.

Enemies: Caesar, Elizabeth, Catherine, Ramkahang, Wu, and Oda. Monty and Attila are annoying because of early rushes, Washington tends to crazy expand and seems to covet my lands regardless of how close we are to each other, and Ethiopia spams missionaries and GPs at me.

Mixed: William, Sejong, Bismark, Pachacuti, and Hiawatha. William and Sejong are generally pretty cool, but have gotten randomly angry/standoffish after being long term friends. Bismark can be fine, but usually has issues if I'm even one hex too close. Pachacuti and Hiawatha both are either very friendly or very... mean.

Typical Allies:

Askia- I once spawned on a continent with just him and William of Orange and we were friends for most of the game; basically until William was gone. As long as I'm willing to help him crush some skulls from time to time he seems to love me.

Attilla- Even in my most recent game wherein I spawned next to him, he and I were friends at least long enough to polish off the Mongols and Siamese. Typically, he's not close to me and when I find him I can count on him to be weak enough that I don't consider him a threat, but strong enough that he's a valuable Defensive Pact ally and skullcrushing buddy.

Catherine- This is where I start getting REALLY weird, as everyone else seems to hate her. I mean sure, she's betrayed me a few times, but she's been my BFF way more. As long as my territory isn't too close to hers she seems more than happy to trade with me.

Kamehameha- I think I've gone to war with this guy in like 15% of the games I've been in with him. He's almost always going for a peaceful strat, but he doesn't seem too peeved if I'm killing everyone other than him.

Montezuma- This guy loves you if you're willing to help him rough up the people around you, which I often am.

Washington- I rarely spawn close to him, which seems to irk him, and I'm often willing to support him diplomatically, which makes him love you.

Typical Enemies:

Alexander- If the guy's anywhere near me he goes hostile immediately, and if he's not near me he's usually so weak by the time I find him that I wouldn't want to be his ally anyway.

Maria Theresa- I hate her because she tries to omnom my city states, so even when given the option of being her friend I typically decline.

Napoleon- One of us always decides it's time to kill the other eventually.

Ramkhamhaeng- Or as I like to call him, Playdoughfaceman. I think he's the character I end up at war with most frequently. He's often competing for my city states, and when he's not doing that he's DoWing me with elephants.

Wu Zetian- I think she's the new Montezuma, really, except she's a lot more effective at warmongering than Civ IV Monty ever was.

I try not to be partial with anyone, but for some reason I always ally with (make friends with):

Thedora. I often wonder if it`s because she`s rather attractive and I find myself forgiving her more.

BlueTooth of the vikings. He`s a jolly chap.

Wu Zetian. We always get on for some reason.

The Polynesian guy. He looks like a jerk, but I always get on well with him.

The Aztecs. Fine fellows.

Catherine.

Atilla The Hun. I often get on with him surprisingly well.

Pharoah of Egypt. I don`t meet him much, but when I do, we always get on.

Ghandhi. Too nice for words. Sometimes violent.

Civs I don`t get on with.

Boudica of the Celts. I find her highly annoying.

Dido. Annoying, pretending to be nice.

That Spanish woman. Pretends to be nice then backstabs me.

Rome. Too full of itself for my tastes.

George Washington. Very preachy and annoying, then attacks me as soon as he thinks he`s strong enough. `Freedom and liberality`? yea, right.

Genghis Khan. He`s always asking for a fight, even with random personalities.

Montezuma: What is there to say. He just wants war.

I haven't yet had any problems with:

Askia
Boudicca
Harald
Theodora

I hardly ever have problems with:

Attila (but the one time he started next to me, he attacked)
Catherine
Darius
Dido - but I haven't had her in a game post-patch
Genghis
Haile Selassie (apart from the one time he backstabbed me... heh)
Kamehameha
Nebuchadnezzar
Sejong
Wu Zetian

I ALWAYS have problems with:

Alexander
Elizabeth (but that's cool, her war music is the best in the game)
Hiawatha
Isabella
Montezuma
Napoleon
Oda Nobunaga
Pachacuti (if he's on my continent, he attacks me; if he's on another continent, he runs away and gets attacked by me)
Ramesses
Ramkhamhaeng
Washington
William (he never attacks me but he never seems to like me, either)

im generally friends with most everyone. it is more based on who they are friends with or enemies with. mid-game i generally have to take a side for my allies for RAs and whatnot.

but im only wary of the irrational backstabbers. i rarely DoF the following:
Alexander, Dido, Theodora, Catherine, Napoleon, Montezuma, Attila, Bismarck and Caesar.

they regularly are a headache whereas everyone else is mostly dependent on the game for me.

Usually my best buddy is Byzantium, if they are on the map. Dido was friends with me pre-patch, but now she is not so nice...

Other buddies: Netherlands (great trading partner), Sweden, Iroquois (never had problems with them), Spain, India, Siam, Korea, Persia (only my enemy on domination wins, usually my friend), Mongolia, Russia (awkward, but Russia likes to be friends with me) and Japan/France (they are loyal friends)

Neutral civs: Arabia, Mayans (usually guarded), Egypt, Denmark, Rome, Austria, the Ottomans

Usual Enemies: China (sensitive), Aztecs (early dow), England (early denounce), England, England, (also, England), Greece (early dow), Songhai (sensitive), America (oh, look, that spot 3 tiles of your capital and 26 away from mine seems perfect to settle New York, lol), Babylon (don't know why), Ethiopia (sensitive), Polynesia (I were NEVER friends with those bastards... always getting involved on the other continent's diplo relations by turn 10), Germany (you are 70 tiles away from Berlin. Too close, must kill ya), the Huns (they are, for me, the worst backstabbers. They will dow you at least trice a game, even if they are friendly since the stone age).

Best friend :

• Askia (Songhai) : This guy always shows near me when he's in the game. Will DoW me early so i kick his butt out of my land and from this point he will be friendly till the end of the game He'll be the first to share spy reports and offer R.A.

Often friend :

• Wu Zetian (China) : Only one war with her, in a map where we started way too close to each other. She will often be warring other civs so we trade and share Spy reports.
• Isabella (Spain) : Mostly peaceful with me.

Mixed :

• Dido : Not sure if it's best to be friend or ennemy of her. She's often friendly but will ask for money all time long. Also it looks like she can backstab for no good reason even against her own good.
• Maria Theresa (Austria) : Quite friendly but she's annoying annexing City States when you loose alliance for a couple turns before completing a quest.

Mostly ennemies :

• Napoleon : It looks like he will always want some of my lands, even when we start a long distance from each other.
• Ramses : Stupid wonder crazy religious fanatic. All he can do is send me Great Prophets and denounce me when i build a wonder and he already have 5.
• Ghandi : Always hates me as a "warmongering menace" because even when going for a peaceful victory, i tend to remove a couple cities from an ennemy after they will DoW me 3 times.
• Kamehameha : Same as Ghandi but also tends to attack City States i try to ally with.

Always ennemies :

• Darius, Alexander : Both play friend until they have a large army then backstab you.
• Nabuchodonosor : Same as Darius but with a scientific edge.
• Ethiopia : Same as Darius plus he's annoying as hell Religion wise. Will always have a huge pressure and be first to found.
• Bismark : He will attack me no matter how friendly i try to be. Will keep attacking again unless i wipe him completely. Maybe i should list him as a friend thought as i can gain lots of money when he begs for peace.

Cool posts people! Good mix of leaders on both lists. Surprised that a lot of people make friends with Askia. I often find that he is generally freindly, but for example, he attacked my friendly city state for no reason. He took them over, and that was cause for war for me

KBronx17 said:

Cool posts people! Good mix of leaders on both lists. Surprised that a lot of people make friends with Askia. I often find that he is generally freindly, but for example, he attacked my friendly city state for no reason. He took them over, and that was cause for war for me

Click to expand...

Maybe I am getting lucky in circumstances, but I find if he isn't bordering me then he is always really easy to befriend. It only becomes a matter of: do I want to befriend him in regards to other civs?

The one time I remember him attacking me was because I settled a city close to his. Unrelated, but I love his peace theme/background graphics/voice acting.

Best buddies: Napoleon, William, and Isabella. It seems as long as I don't play warmonger, these guys (and Isabella) don't bother me. They trade with me and will usually go to war with the people I hate.

Mixed friendships: Genghis Khan and Washington. These two guys are my best buds only after we have gone to war. We fight, we trade blows, then we make peace. After that we may get into another war or 2 in the same game. But most of the time they are my war bribing buddies. When I play peacefully these guys are my offensive military.

Worst enemies: Catherine, Hiawatha and Neb(Babylon). Always end up in a war with these guys. Catherine is usually easy to ignore as most of my games she's too far away to matter. Or sometimes she isn't as strong as the other civs in the game. But when she's in the same continent and is expanding, she is the one I go into thousand year wars.
Hiawatha is always a jerk to me. No matter what victory condition. Always have to raze or take his capital to keep him in line.
Babylon, for whatever reason is always aggressive in my games. The walls of babylon and the bowmen make early wars not an option. He will be a problem throughout the game.

Competition: Austria, Korea and Ethiopia. These civs aren't really a threat to my survival, but a threat to my victory. Austria is obvious because she marries all the city states before I can ally with them. Korea seems to expand a lot even though the civ is more suited to be small. And Ethiopia has that religion, expansion (contrary to its attribute) and will either be ahead in culture, science, and even sometimes a warmonger. Easy to kill, but hard to overtake his tech lead if he has it.

I don't trust a single civilization in this game. They're all backstabbing warmongers the moment you get too close to their borders, or happen to have some cities they think they might want.

Then again, I play on Random Personalities usually, so that may play a role...

Allies:

America - It's been a while since Washington's shown up, but he's been friendly to me in the few games that he's appeared.

Byzantium - I haven't had any problems with Theodora. She's always ended up being a pal.

Inca - Pachy's been a good pal in every game that I'm not a warmonger, even if he does get prissy at times.

Korea - I've never had any issues with Sejong. He's always been friendly and nice to me. Except for when I bought his DLC after a steam sale ended, not knowing he wasn't in the GOTY edition.

Netherlands - Will's only been in a few games, but he's always been a really good trading partner and never got iffy with me unless I was being iffy with the entire world.

Ottomans - Suleiman's so jolly and always wants to be friends with me. It's quite confusing, because I always expect for him to be hostile to me.

Polynesia - Kamehameha's always a bro except when I'm not a bro. And that seems to be most games he shows up in.

Songhai - Reading some of these other posts has made me realize that Askia's never been mean to me. Shame he doesn't show up more often.

Neutral:

Austria - She hasn't made frequent appearances, but she's usually afraid and wants to be pals. If she ever shows up in a longer game I don't think I'll like her because she'll probably eat all the city states.

Celts - Boudicca showed up in one unfinished game. Beat me to the first religion and took some of the beliefs I wanted. Maybe if she shows up more I can judge whether or not she's mixed or an enemy.

Denmark - He's never started near me and seems to be a jolly ol' chap. Except to the nations nearby. He doesn't seem to like them so much.

Ethiopia - Mr. Selaisse doesn't want to play with me. It's the only civilization that hasn't shown up yet in any of my games.

India - Gandhi never really does anything except get picked on by other guys.

Iroquois - Hiawatha's alright, except for the one game where he got his own island and became a big runaway.

Mayans - Not too sure about Pacal yet. He's been friendly at times and a jerk at others. Stealing wonders from me is not a good way to be friends.

Persia - Darius hasn't done enough to give me a good idea on his position. He's been a runaway at some times, other times not... I can't seem to remember much about how he's acted towards me.

Rome - Augustus has been in like two games, so I can't tell much about him.

Sweden - Gustavus has only been in a few games, but he's always wanted to be pals with me so far. He's very cooperative and likes to go to wars with me, which is always welcome.

Mixed:

Arabia - There was a time when I couldn't go a game without Harun showing up... it got really annoying. He's pretty peaceful and friendly at first, but he always gets hussy in the late game and always seems to be a strong competitor for a victory.

Babylon - Sometimes he's friendly, other times he's really hostile and angry for no reason. He steals wonders from me, too, even if he's friendly.

Carthage - The one game Dido showed up, she was a true friend. This was before the Fall patch, so I don't think that will happen again.

China - Wu is either a good friend or an annoying enemy. She's also backstabbed me a few times, but every time that happens I just slap her around and she's friends again.

Germany - Bismarck can be friendly in some games, but in others he's whiny and passive aggressive.

Greece - If he's on my continent, he's going to get aggressive and uppity. If he's not on my continent, we can be friends.

Mongolia - See Greece, but add a lot more aggression.

Russia - Catherine probably shows up more than any other leader. She usually wants to be pals, but that probably won't last the entire game. Either she'll backstab me, get prissy and mean for no good reason, or surprise me and stay friendly.

Siam - Rammy's friendly at times, but more often than not he's very aggressive and whiny and a real jerk.

Spain - A similar situation to Russia, but Isabella's only been in like two games. And one of those she was initially very hostile but then out of nowhere became best pals with me. Of course, I anticipated a backstab, but it never happened and she stayed friends. Twas rather odd.

Enemies:

Aztecs - If they are in a game, then they start right next to me. Which means I can't continue that game because I probably haven't prepared for war at all.

Egypt - Hostile and/or treacherous, and he builds all of the wonders. Ramesses is not a nice fellow.

England - Lizzy gets angry at me for no reason and remains that way for the entire game. She keeps throwing insults at me and won't do anything but talk big, either.

France - Always a temporary trading partner, because it's inevitable that he will get mad at me for some dumb reason or backstab me.

Huns - No, Attila, I will not be friends with you. You're going to backstab me for the fourth time anyway.

Japan - Nobunaga is never a nice fellow. The only time we can tolerate each other is during his "we're totally friends I'm not going to betray you snicker snicker" phases or when we fight against a common enemy.