yeah, the big difference in the chinese expanding right away from the romans expanding right away is you need more turns to be able to produce another settler after producing a settler in a city. But this is made up for by having the extra pop. Plus after 5 techs the chinese get literacy, so it's just free tech fast and easy.
Yeah, any civ needs land to expand well, but the chinese adapt a little quicker to any kind of game they want to play. I don't usually horserush with the chinese anymore unless the map is just great about giving me gold and there's some weak civs next to me. It's a lot smarter just to spend 5 turns on 2 sea +1 forest, and at 3500BC you have your first archer. I actually delay this a little bit and get at a least one warrior out in two turns, sometimes more depending on who's on the map.
But general it's no more than 30 turns to Code of Laws, and I usually try to get about 4-5 cities by that time. Then expanding is on like gangbusters. Irrigation is usually easy to get with the chinese as well, then go for Code of Laws. Just depends on who is there. 14 techs are usually had before the BC ends, or right around 0 AD, then half price libraries pushes you to the modern in just a few short turns.
The Romans take skill to play, and if a rusher power civ gets a good start (which happens frequently if there are a lot of Americans, Zulu, Aztecs, Chinese, Arabs), on of your opponnets will usually have a favorable map or some luck. The Romans can usually hold their own against rushers, but it's a lot harder to claim the map if you start next to a rusher with a good start.
The problem with the Romans is it just takes time, effort, and skill to pull off a win. You won't get many early wins with them, unless you just start rocking cats, legions, or get early knights. It's usually a slow going process of expanding, defending and counterattacking fiercely, and then wonder building, starting to produce a lot of trade, and figure out how to land a deathblow. They have a lot of options, it just takes time, and if you aren't on your game, little mix ups can be costly. They typically need a longer game than most civs, and the longer your enemies live, the higher the chance is that they are gonna bring something powerful too.
But don't worry about my personal top 5. I'm not saying they suck. I really like the Spanish, and others don't agree with me on how powerful they are. That's ok, maybe they are right.
I guess you can call me a good player, but I know several players that I think are better and more consistent that me. Especially in FFA. I started on PS3, and FFA was so buggy and took forever to find a matchup, so I have more expirience in H2H, which is more about luck and just beating one player to the punch. I still have a lot to work on, and my skill varies from night to night. Some nights I just can't lose, and other nights I'm making n00b mistakes and basically just beating myself.
I wouldn't care one way or the other if Artifacts were in the game for MP or not. I think they fit the mold of what the game is trying to accomplish, providing lots of swings in momentum and stacking bonuses to keep the game intresting. Sometimes if the Zulu find the pyramid early, then it really sucks. But it's not that big a deal a lot of times if others get the artifacts. Lots of players squander what they get from them anyway.
What I want for Civ Rev 2 is just an option to have no bonuses for civs at all. Just play the game vanilla, and try your best to go from there.