Top 5 Favorite Overall Civs

Top 5 CIVs I enjoy most, in random order:

(1) Korea: I loved specialist economy in CIV4, and now it is back in CIV5. Better GP improvements are also great and allow me to keep up in science during my OCC games.

(2) Inca: Superb UA, fantastic tile improvement, decent UU, nice starting bias. Probably the civ with the most effective tile yields in the game. Great for OCC, tall and wide!

(3) Egypt: Wonders are cool, so egypt deserves a spot on my list.

(4) Maya: Mediocre UA, but fantastic UB. My CIV of choise for ICS-like gameplay. Love them.

(5) Mongolia: I don't usually go to war, but when I do, I play Mongolia. I love Keshiks and Khans. Wondering if the new pillage heal change from the fall patch is a huge buff to their mobile armies...
 
My list is all over the place. I find myself playing favorites with these though (not necessarily in any particular order):

1. Egypt - My interest fell a bit with the changes made to Burial Tomb, but I still enjoy playing with them. For some reason, I always get great starts with them and I really do like beating people to wonders early game. The UU is also not bad, since horses aren't required.

2. France - I love playing a cultural game. The musketeer is o.k., nothing to write home about, but it isn't a bad unit either.

3. China - Paper maker. Cho Ku No. Great Generals. Need I say more?

4. Japan - I don't love this civ, but find myself playing it often. I usually play tactically with my units, but their bonus allows me a bit more room to go nuts.

5. Spain - I like the gamble of the wonder discovery. That can make such a massive difference in early-game. Discover a couple wonders first and you have a huge advantage. The units are also interesting.
 
In no particular order:

England

UA - Sun Never Sets: This is a great quality of life ability with a surprising number of uses. Not only does it help you get around, but it makes for quicker invasion, quicker reinforcement of your cities, and quicker retreat for wounded units. The extra spy helps you rocket through the top of the tech tree after you're done scraping the bottom for Longbowmen and the Leaning Tower.

UU1 - The Longbowman: Possibly my favorite UU, the Longbowman is just a whole lot of fun to war with. I try to keep peaceful until the middle ages, when Longbowmen scour the world with arrows before the enemy can even reach them. I sometimes wait to upgrade them, but the English Gatling Gun is like a 3rd UU, even stronger than the UU it upgraded from.

UU2 - The Ship of the Line: Longbowmen lose some of their sparkle once you have to leave your continent for conquest, and that's where the Ship of the Line comes in. Of England's 3 UU's, the Ship of the Line is my least favorite, and I love the Ship of the Line.

England is, bar-none, my favorite military Civ. As soon as the middle ages come, England keeps conquering until none are left to conquer. The game always stays interesting as England, because you get a new toy every age - first longbowmen, then two spies, then Ships of the Line, then super gatlings. Plus, I love Elizabeth I. You go, Gloriana.

Byzantium

UA - Patriarchate of Constantinople: Possibly my favorite UA, though the other civs in this list (except for England) give it a run for its money. Customizing a religion is one of my favorite parts of the game as I really like to imagine what my empire would be like, and no one does it like the Byzantines. You can do a lot of fun, creative, and powerful things with their UA - tithe/church property, itinerant preachers/religious texts, super-temples, the list goes ever-onward. I play the Byzantines a lot because I'm always thinking of how new combinations might work. For example, once I can download the new patch (curse you Macbook!), I'm excited to try the Byzantines with Interfaith Dialogue, Pilgrimage, and Holy Order.

UU1 - Dromon: Ah, the joy of having something your neighbors don't. The Dromon is nice for exploiting the honor opener, and it's great for early invasions, especially when a city is coastal and covered by rough terrain. In fact, its Byzantine brother-in-arms is optimized for the same situation.

UU2 - Cataphract: I just feel cool using the Cataphract, and they're extremely effective in early wars. Cataphracts thrive in cities that are normally tough nuts to crack. Their extra movement point lets them get into position without any trouble, and their defensive bonuses let them stay there until your dromons and your siege engines take down the city's health, when they can sweep in for the kill.

The two things that give me the biggest kick in this game are getting creative with a Civ's abilities and doing it with style. That's one of the reasons I almost never play as Egypt - their UA, UB, and UU are all tailor-made to my playstyle, but I just cannot stand the color yellow. Say what you will about Theodora, but she's the most stylin' Queen in the game. Dragon-ships, tank-knights, and a super-religion? Sold.

Korea

UA - Scholars of the Jade Hall: An awesome ability that ensures you'll have a massive tech lead if you follow the jade-brick road - go for Writing ASAP, and try to get a Library built before you construct the Great Library for 3 tech boosts from one-tech. Nebby's ingenuity has nothing on the scholars of Sejong. Plus, I love specialists and I love great people, and they're tastier than ever when they're Korean. It's also fun to do a 3- or 4-city culture game as Korea, focusing on artist specialists. It's a good way to keep up with tech as you go for Utopia -- Oppa Gangnam Style.

UU1 - Hwacha: Hwacha doin'? Oh, you know, Korean stuff I guess. I like the Hwacha well enough, but frankly I'd rather have Trebuchets. They are great defensive units, though.

UU2 - Turtle Ship: The Turtle Ship is just super cool, especially on a map with lots of water, like Small Continents or Archipelago. No coastal city within the turtle ship's reach is safe. Though I must say, the only thing better than having turtle ships is stealing them with English privateers. The English are just so good at stealing things. But I digress.

Korea is by far the strongest science Civ, but that's not why I like them. Once again, it all comes down to style. I love the flexibility of their ability. Not only do you have extremely powerful specialists (the Rationalism tree and the Statue of Liberty are musts), but you have constant opportunities to exploit it in creative ways, such as using the GG from Honor as a source of early science or with artist-scientists. Also, Sejong is definitely among my top 5 favorite kings of all time. If they ever make a Brazil civ with Dom Pedro II I will die of happiness. If they make a Brazil civ without him I will die.

The Aztec

UU - Sacrificial Captives: Grab autocracy and win a cultural victory by SACRIFICING THEM ALL TO THE GODS. No one's more metal than Monty. Or you could use the ability for peace - you need a sizable military to ensure peace with your neighbors, but a sizable military is costly. To get returns on your investment, you need to go to war. It's the eternal problem. But you don't need to go to war when you're Monty - even when all your fighting is barbarians, your military can be more than an expensive measure of protection. It can be a direct, steady, and effective exchange of gold for culture.

UU - Jaguar: The jaguar is such a great unit. I almost always build a scout first, but jaguars are exceptions to the rule. You're encouraged to build them early while you can, and that means you have a strong enough military to harass barbarians, bully city-states, and keep the homeland safe even in the early game. Hang onto them and you have an elite, mobile, self-healing army on your hands that lasts throughout the ages.

UB - Floating Gardens: Definitely one of the best UB's, the only shame is that you're screwed out of it if you don't settle on a river. The more food bonuses you can stack with it the better. Hanging Gardens are a priority, and thematic anyway.

The Aztecs are one of the best all-around Civs in the game in my opinion, and their abilities are very cohesive and very powerful. You end up with a monstrous capital and a monstrous army to beat.

My 5th choice is a tough one between France, Polynesia, Sweden, Carthage, and America. I've already ran my mouth off so I guess I'll leave the last one at that.
 
1 - Babylon-Love the science focus and their UU and UB fits my defensive non war monger style style. I play with a mod of unlimited barb exp so take out scouts and hope for one or two weapons hut (huge maps) and get em as much exp killing barbs as possible and then have em at home for my inevitable defensive wars.

2 - Carthage - Love playing them on the tiny islands map with the immediate trade route and uu. Gives you a nice gold boost to start with to buy units/buildings early.

3 - England- Again love the tiny islands map with the exploration boost from the UU and the spying advantage.

4- Greece- Miss Pericles from Civ 4 but I'll take Aleander and just push that CS advantage for all it's worth.

5- Ethiopia- I'm playing my first game as Ethiopia and finding it fits with my style well playing a small focused defensive empire with a non war monger win.
 
in order, 5 being least and 1 being most favorite.

5.America- I like going wide, and having lots of land. the bomber is sooo fun because i love late conquest.

4.Egypt. I love this civ's flavor. cant beat ancient egypt.

3. Greece. Again, LOVE the flavor. But going domination early with them is fun.

2. Russia. The massive production boost from strategics combined with massive land growth and liberty always lead to an amazing late game.

1. Germany. For some weird reason, whenever i play with these guys, I DOMINATE EVERYTHING. I suspect it has to do with the combo of UA and landsnecht allowing me to rapidly expand (liberty germany is beast) during middle ages unopposed, leading to an insane panzer rush later. Also, the war theme is my fav music in the game.
 
1. Spain
I love This Civ UA plus its Rennaisance Era UU . Allowing me to Conquer 3 Empires In Renaissance Era

2. France
France UA is awesome Allowing me to adapt Liberty Policy Tree for 90 turns or less and also i don't need to build shrine first when I found Cities. its UU are the most Powerful Unit of their class, Musketeer and Foreign Legion.

3. Japan
Japan UA Fit Well if you want Domination Type Victory. I just remember last time, i got a warrior who is been attacked by 3 brutes; my warrior got only 10 or 15 health and still being attacked by this Barbarian brutes but then My Warrior still stand tall and Proud Defeating those brutes while defending. japan's UU; samurai and Zero are Also the Best Unit of their Class.

4. Sweden
I don't like Sweden UA id on't found it useful but its Carolean who got March promotion is the the best Rifleman for long march fight and also its Hakkapelita.

5. Polynesia
Polynesia's UA is awesome I could upgrade my scout to Archer while its still carrying its ignore Terrain cost Promotion, because of the reason that I'm the only one who could explore the other island on the early game. making the vulnerable archer to powerful counter-attack unit. And its Maori Warrior, i could kill two brutes or warrior without healing my unit.
 
One thing About Korea..
I love Korea's UA +2 science from great tile improvement?...wow damn awesome excellent for science Victory. but its 2 UU.. In my opinion they are crap!!

1. Hwacha? this is useless I've got a Long swordsman, a Crossbowman and a Knight ; no one could Attack or Siege my City with this..but Hwacha I Couldn't Capture City with this, this would be an Expensive Conquest for my Long swordsman and Crossbowman.

2. Turtle Ship? Another crap. You must wait for your Frigate or Privateer First before you could Explore the Seas.

overall Korean UU are good for Defending City only.

Anyway its just may opinion ...Peace out!!!
 
One thing About Korea..
I love Korea's UA +2 science from great tile improvement?...wow damn awesome excellent for science Victory. but its 2 UU.. In my opinion they are crap!!

1. Hwacha? this is useless I've got a Long swordsman, a Crossbowman and a Knight ; no one could Attack or Siege my City with this..but Hwacha I Couldn't Capture City with this, this would be an Expensive Conquest for my Long swordsman and Crossbowman.

2. Turtle Ship? Another crap. You must wait for your Frigate or Privateer First before you could Explore the Seas.

overall Korean UU are good for Defending City only.

Anyway its just may opinion ...Peace out!!!

That's the whole point of Korea. If you want to warmonger than you probably need to pick another civ. Korea is still great for expanding as the Hwach'a arrives at a madly convenient time. I agree the Turtle Ship isn't the best - half the time you won't need to use it and when you don't need to use it you want to be exploring, but it's still strong and you won't have to worry about surprise naval attacks
 
I personally enjoy civs that aren't too specialized towards a particular victory, though I guess every civ is best played in particular way... Anyhow my list is in no particular order and I would probably named different civs on another day ;)

Russia: More production and strategic resources is always nice!

Egypt: I love building wonders and war chariot is pretty nice early unit.

England: Nice bonuses and longbowman has been my favorite unit as long Civs have had UUs.

Ethiopia: I'm usually behind the AI in number of cities so a very useful bonus.

Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar just looks so :mad: Oh and GS are cool to I guess.
 
One thing I've never understood is why Polynesia/Kamehameha is so polarizing. People who love him (like me) really love him, but a lot of other people will list him as the only civ they hate.

I keep trying to figure out why people would find Polynesia boring to play. The UA allows you to explore and get ruins faster than anyone else; the UU is a little weak, but does look cool, and is useful with promotions; the UI looks awesome and requires careful planning to exploit, which is a fun challenge; colors and icon decent; music awesome.

I don't get the hate.

did you try to play as other civ?
and polynesia as enemy civ?

will if you do the way polynesia denouced really sucks and also ghandi...
i want to break their face.:lol:
 
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