Mrdarklight
Warlord
OK, I have been playing a heck of a lot of Civ lately, since the G&K expansion. I've played a lot of civs, and gotten to know how well they work pretty well. So I am just going to go through a few of the civs and talk about how good they are in the whole scheme of things.
Like most things on the internet this is just selfish bloviating, but maybe you'll find something interesting. I'm not telling you the game is bad -- I think it's a fantastic game. But there are some weirdities.
1. Really Strong Civs
I know all civs are supposed to be balanced, but I just don't see it. I can name a few civs that are just much better than average. I base this on my ability to win the game with them on Emperor level.
1. Babylon. I just finished a game with these guys. Wow. I led in science for the whole game and launched the spaceship before anyone else had even built one piece. I had to cut Rome down to size once, and went to war with Ramesses a couple of times, but still won. I had about 22 wonders in the end, but about half of those were from Rome and Ethiopia's capitals. I honestly felt like it was as easy as winning at King level.
2. China. This was my first Emperor win.
3. Inca. These guys are great. The hill bonus gives you a big advantage in skirmish warfare, allowing you to take a stand where you want to and retreat when you want to. Fighting in hills with the Inca is like having the Great Wall. It slows your enemies and lets you move freely. Their terrace farms seem like great food tiles, but they're actually good food tiles and good production tiles (they're all on hills, so they get +2 hammers). Get the right hills next to a mountain and you can grow like a weed.
4. The Huns. These guys are more situational. If you are unlucky, you won't get to use their fantastic horse archers and battering rams, but if you can, you absolutely dominate during the early game.
OK, those are the really good civs. Now for a couple of poor ones.
1. Polynesia. I really want to love this civ. I love being able to embark on ocean tiles from turn 1, and I love the idea of the maoi statues. They're a fun civ to play, but... I just can't win with them. I've tried cultural games, which should be great for them, and still lost, even to a civ that had 10 cities to my 3.
2. Sweden. Again, I can't really say they're a bad civ, but I can't win with them. The Caroleans are a lot of fun, and it's not hard to get a few CS allies, but that doesn't seem to translate to a victory.
3. Russia. I don't get these guys. You get advantages where you don't need them. So you get double strategic resources. Most of the time I don't need double resources, I have enough anyway. Other than that they seem pretty mediocre. I'll admit that I haven't played with them a lot though.
4. America. This is the civilization I want to love, but I can't even bring myself to try a game with them. Their UA's just... suck. Sorry, they do. I can't imagine I would ever save more than about 500g with their tile improvement discount, and +1 sight for land units is just meh.
Special mention: England
I like playing England a lot. Their longbows are awesome, and the +2 naval movement is great with a water map. Remember, that applies to embarked units too. 4 movement for embarked units in the Ancient Age! You move faster on water than you do on land. But again, I don't do as well with them as the really strong civs.
Like most things on the internet this is just selfish bloviating, but maybe you'll find something interesting. I'm not telling you the game is bad -- I think it's a fantastic game. But there are some weirdities.
1. Really Strong Civs
I know all civs are supposed to be balanced, but I just don't see it. I can name a few civs that are just much better than average. I base this on my ability to win the game with them on Emperor level.
1. Babylon. I just finished a game with these guys. Wow. I led in science for the whole game and launched the spaceship before anyone else had even built one piece. I had to cut Rome down to size once, and went to war with Ramesses a couple of times, but still won. I had about 22 wonders in the end, but about half of those were from Rome and Ethiopia's capitals. I honestly felt like it was as easy as winning at King level.
2. China. This was my first Emperor win.
3. Inca. These guys are great. The hill bonus gives you a big advantage in skirmish warfare, allowing you to take a stand where you want to and retreat when you want to. Fighting in hills with the Inca is like having the Great Wall. It slows your enemies and lets you move freely. Their terrace farms seem like great food tiles, but they're actually good food tiles and good production tiles (they're all on hills, so they get +2 hammers). Get the right hills next to a mountain and you can grow like a weed.
4. The Huns. These guys are more situational. If you are unlucky, you won't get to use their fantastic horse archers and battering rams, but if you can, you absolutely dominate during the early game.
OK, those are the really good civs. Now for a couple of poor ones.
1. Polynesia. I really want to love this civ. I love being able to embark on ocean tiles from turn 1, and I love the idea of the maoi statues. They're a fun civ to play, but... I just can't win with them. I've tried cultural games, which should be great for them, and still lost, even to a civ that had 10 cities to my 3.
2. Sweden. Again, I can't really say they're a bad civ, but I can't win with them. The Caroleans are a lot of fun, and it's not hard to get a few CS allies, but that doesn't seem to translate to a victory.
3. Russia. I don't get these guys. You get advantages where you don't need them. So you get double strategic resources. Most of the time I don't need double resources, I have enough anyway. Other than that they seem pretty mediocre. I'll admit that I haven't played with them a lot though.
4. America. This is the civilization I want to love, but I can't even bring myself to try a game with them. Their UA's just... suck. Sorry, they do. I can't imagine I would ever save more than about 500g with their tile improvement discount, and +1 sight for land units is just meh.
Special mention: England
I like playing England a lot. Their longbows are awesome, and the +2 naval movement is great with a water map. Remember, that applies to embarked units too. 4 movement for embarked units in the Ancient Age! You move faster on water than you do on land. But again, I don't do as well with them as the really strong civs.
