Azzaman333 reviews all 31 Civs: Egypt

[azzaman333]

EGYPT
Leader: Cleopatra
Aggression Level: 3
Favorite Government: Despotism
Shunned Government: Republic
Culture Group: Mediterranean

Trait Combo: Religious & Industrious; 7/28
Definately a weaker set of traits in C3C than PTW and Vanilla, due to the weaker Industrious trait and strengthening of republic (only 1 gov change). The traits are good for cultural victories, but arent particularly useful for anything useful. Worse for a warmongering than almost every other trait combo. Builders should be abble to make some use of them though.

Unique Unit: War Chariot; 10/31
The War Chariot is a 2.1.2 chariot replacement. It has 1 extra attack than a normal chariot. In the hands of an AI, the War Chariot is useless, literally. It will almost never be used. Humans can use the War Chariot quite well for an early rush, provided there are no jungles or mountain ranges in the way. Since it is only 20 shields, it will stay useful until knights, and is a good alternative to swords or horses. Major downsides of the War Chariot are that it can trigger a very early GA, and you need to connect horses to build it.

AI Game Play; 8/10
This is the perfect civ for an AI. As a general rule, AIs switch governments too much and dont build enough workers. They also build too many temples. Religious and Industrious combat both of these problems, and eventually lead to Egypt being a cultural powerhouse. But if Egypt has an early war, it will be in a lot more trouble later in the game, since it wont use the war chariots most of the time. AI's will waste the War Chariot 9 times out of 10.

UU & TC Blend; 0/1
The early GA from using the War Chariot contradicts the builder style play that Egypt lends itself towards, where you would want a GA Middle Ages at the earliest. Also, Egypt + Early War = Bad Idea, unless you can conquer or dominate the world quickly.
​

Total Score: 25/70 Rank: 5/7


Comments and discussion welcomed.

 

[Abegweit]

One observation: industrious workers combine well with the War Chariot.

 

[adog]

I like these reviews. Keep em coming.

 

[Desertsnow]

Egypt is still my favorite Civilization; I find it excellent for cultural games, and am able to take out a neighbor or two if I have to, if they're not too powerful yet.

 

[Fugitive Sisyphus]

Egypt is also one of my favorite civilizations and are much better IMO than most give credit for. They are the only civ to receive a 100% attack bonus for their UU. This means that you can overrun your neighbors with cheap 20 shield 2,1,2 units. With a golden age and industrious trait you can outproduce even high level AIs.

Another not well known advantage of Egypt is the fact that Egypt is a Mediterranean civ. This means that with cultural-linked starting positions that Egypt is often next to Rome and Greece (the only other two Mediterranean civs in Vanilla Civ3). Rome and Greece are both commercial and both are not industrious which means it is easy to trade for Alphabet using Masonry and quickly get to writing\philosophy\code of laws\republic. Religious trait means a quick revolution (I hate waiting nine turns) and clear sailing to victory.

 

[Desertsnow]

The Golden Age is another reason for preferring Egypt, for me. It comes a little earlier than is normally comfortable for most Civ players if you build the Pyramids, this is mitigated by putting a granary in every city; this in combination with the GA itself means you can crank out settlers and expand at an almost shocking rate.

Of course, I do love the religious trait (my second favorite Civ is Celts), for exactly the same reason, I don't like long, drawn-out revolutions.

 

[Mirc]

I don't understand. So at UU rating, 1/31 is the best, but at AI gameplay 10/10 is the best??

 

[azzaman333]

I don't understand. So at UU rating, 1/31 is the best, but at AI gameplay 10/10 is the best??

No, the higher the score (eg 31/31, 28/28) the better the UU/Traits.

 

[thetrooper]

A daring task azzaman!



Forgive me if you've explained this elsewhere - could you tell us what the 'UU & TC blend' numbers represent?

 

[Abegweit]

Agree with the trooper. A brief summary in the index thread would be good.

 

[The 777 Hoax]

I think Trait Combo is a bit low, but other than that, good review.

 

[Jazzmail]

UU & TC Blend; 0/1
The early GA from using the War Chariot contradicts the builder style play that Egypt lends itself towards, where you would want a GA Middle Ages at the earliest. Also, Egypt + Early War = Bad Idea, unless you can conquer or dominate the world quickly.

No, that doesn't make much sense too me.

That's like saying the Iroquis UU is bad, because you could, deliberately, trigger a GA too early with it.
It's not like there is much of a gap between the Wheel and Horseback techs.

You can trigger a GA with the chariot, but you simply should not be warring in the first place, when you just got the wheel. A good player will be settling towns.
Also, the chariots are not like the militia, where you have no choice but to use them when you get involved in an unfortunate war too early for your liking. You can survive easily without chariots.

 

[Lord Emsworth]

UU & TC Blend; 0/1
The early GA from using the War Chariot contradicts the builder style play that Egypt lends itself towards, where you would want a GA Middle Ages at the earliest. Also, Egypt + Early War = Bad Idea, unless you can conquer or dominate the world quickly.

Which should actually be quite easy with those 20 shield 'horsemen.'

 

[azzaman333]

Which should actually be quite easy with those 20 shield 'horsemen.'

Depending on the map.

 

[Abegweit]

If the map gets in your way, those industrious workers can soon fix things up.