Best Civ for beginners?

[Goober]

I am just wondering what the best Civ is for learning Civ 3. I generally choose any religious Civ, and I haven't been having too much luck. Also, any newbie suggestions would be good, relating more to creating a strong empire early in the game.

Yes, there are likely tons of related threads on this topic, but I am not in the mood to dig through all those bloody pages.

 

[Krayzeenbk]

Egypt is a great civ to learn with. Religious and industrious are good bonuses for the beginner.

 

[Vancouver 2010]

Yeah, Egypt is a good newbie Civ.

 

[AngryGerbil]

Single most useful advice I can give you (and I'm sure some will disagree), have the biggest world map and sell it often.

Also, make a city that has lots of food early on (alot of times this is your capital). Build a granary in this city, it might make you cringe to wait 15-25 turns for this granary but it is worth it IMO. Once you have this granary, turn this city into a Settler factory. Settle everything. Keep settling. Settle some more, and when you're done with that, settle another city. Settle settle settle.

That's my advice.

 

[silver 2039]

Egypt,Persia, Babylon and China are good civs for begginers.
My first civ was Germany though.

 

[Sparrow3]

Don't neglect your military. If you have the biggest, baddest military on the planet, the other Civs will leave you alone. Mostly

 

[Gengis Khan]

Persia is IMHO the best "beginers" Civ. Hell, after all this time they're still my favorite............ maybe I need more practice.

 

[Goober]

Thanks guys. This does help. I generally have huge empires anyway. Egypt I did use frequently, but I have shifted to using the Celts and Indians more (religious). Also, is being Communist the best idea for a large empire? I always change to it because it allows all cities to be somewhat productive, rather then democracy.

 

[h4ppy]

Use Persia, try to hold off on killing stuff with the Immortals until the Midevil age but if you are boxed in or attacked don't be afraid to use them.

 

[Selous]

i think the greeks are the best beginners civ .. with that hopolite with 3 defence, very useful for a very long time

 

[Archer 007]

Persia is the easiest to play with from my experience.

 

[Archer 007]

Persia is the easiest to play with from my experience.

 

[Padma]

Originally posted by RealGoober
Thanks guys. This does help. I generally have huge empires anyway. Egypt I did use frequently, but I have shifted to using the Celts and Indians more (religious). Also, is being Communist the best idea for a large empire? I always change to it because it allows all cities to be somewhat productive, rather then democracy.

Communism is rarely the best choice of government in Civ3. Generally, only if you have a huge Empire, and/or are warmongering a lot in the Modern Era. (Which sounds like what you are doing. ) Most studies have shown that a Democracy, with 2 good "cores" (one around the Palace, one around the Forbiden Palace) can outproduce a Communism almost every time. But Democracy can fall if War Weariness gets too high, and if the empire stretches across multiple continents, the value of the productive core area is generally less.

 

[JustBen]

I respectfully disagree with the opinions expressed in this thread. You are all correct to point to the Industrious civs as strongest (reserving America for the more experienced players, as usual). But I don't think this is right way to go for beginning players.

More important is that each time you play, pick a new civ with 2 completely different traits. If you play your first 2-4 games with a particular trait every time, it's easy to become dependent on fast workers or 30-shield Temples. Mix it up or you'll find yourself ignoring over half the civs to choose from.

But for now, skip Expansionist. You won't "get it" till you have more experience.

 

[Scratcher]

The above suggestions of Persia, Greece, Babs and Egypt are good civs for beginners....... but they all have ancient age UU's which will most likely trigger a relatively unproductive golden Age.

I would suggest the Ottamans. This civ is industrious (worker bonus speed to help improve your territory more quickly) and scientific (cheap scientific buildings and free tech in each age). The Sipahi UU is a powerful unit and will trigger the GA at a more productive time.

However, after learning the basics of the game it is very important to play with other civs and learn how to cope with the different challanges and techniques that are required for the different civ traits, units and map conditions.

 

[Krayzeenbk]

Originally posted by JustBen
I respectfully disagree with the opinions expressed in this thread. You are all correct to point to the Industrious civs as strongest (reserving America for the more experienced players, as usual). But I don't think this is right way to go for beginning players.

More important is that each time you play, pick a new civ with 2 completely different traits. If you play your first 2-4 games with a particular trait every time, it's easy to become dependent on fast workers or 30-shield Temples. Mix it up or you'll find yourself ignoring over half the civs to choose from.

But for now, skip Expansionist. You won't "get it" till you have more experience.

I started with Expansionist civs and I don't see what the problem with doing that is on the low difficulty levels..... So much tech....