Best Civilization

[behindblueeyes]

In your opinion, what is the overall best civilization in every aspect?

 

[WarlordMatt]

I would have to say the Persians, I love any civ (with the execption of the Babs) with a Scientific advantage. They also have an exellent special unit, the Immortals, that is almost as good as a medieval knight.

BTW, there have probably been many threads about the best civ on this forum before.

 

[Cartouche Bee]

No Civ is best in every aspect. Some are better for each individual play style though. Don't know which I favor though for a HOF game. Maybe the Japanese for a fairly well timed golden age.

 

[WarlordMatt]

The Japs have got to be 2nd place for me, Samarai kick ass.

 

[God]

I'd say the best is either Egypt, closely followed by Japan. Behind them are the Persians, then the Aztecs, and so on.

 

[Exile_Ian]

I voted Egyptian mainly because they suit my current style of play.

Their religious trait has the benefits of cheap appeasement of citizens (reduced cost of temples etc.), and the ability to swithc governements with long periods of anarchy.

Their commercial trait provides for excellent monetary benefits - especially later in the game.

The UU though is fairly weak. I rarely am ready to go to war in the early stages of the game, so the War Chariot is fairly useless. I tend to prefer to build defensive units anyway.

Now I've moved up to Monarchy and Emperor levels, I've opted for a more pacifist/expansionist/cultural strategy. Therefore I want to concentrate on defense, commerce, and expansion. Egyptians just seem to have the best all-round fit for that style.

Now when I was playing more aggressively - it was the Russians and their Cossacks that I preferred! But that's another story ....

 

[sappling]

The English kick butt. I usually crank out about 300 Man O' Wars and the world is mine.

I also really like the Indians because Gandi is all wrinkled and shriveled up, like a raisen. Elephants can take out tanks and mech infantry with ease.

Seriously, I enjoy playing all the different civs for variety. Those who only play one civ every game are really missing out.

 

[Sabotage]

I like playing as the Chinese. The reasons for this being the Industrious ablility which means public works are completed faster and extra shields. With replacable parts, my workers work like lightening laying rails and erecting mines...

I also like the Militaristic trait, leaders are very important especially when you play on anything above Warlord, so the extra likeliness to get a Great Leader is much appreciated.

 

[pompeynunn]

Originally posted by WarlordMatt
I would have to say the Persians, I love any civ (with the execption of the Babs) with a Scientific advantage. They also have an exellent special unit, the Immortals, that is almost as good as a medieval knight.

BTW, there have probably been many threads about the best civ on this forum before.

Yes, but its interesting to see how people have changed their opinions. I always thought that the Egyptian civ was miles better than any of the others (the combination of religious and industrious seems to work well, even if the UU isn't the best), but this view didn't seem to be shared by others initially. Now I notice in the latest poll that they are leading.

The Germans, on the other hand, used to be the 'civ of choice', but now don't seem to be as well supported.

I suspect this has something to do with the difficulty levels. On higher levels, keeping your people happy becomes more important, so the religious civs have an advantage there. On lower levels, military expansion is probably more important, so militaristic civs become more important. Of course, most people start off on easier levels then work their way up, and start to realise the important aspects of religion (I foolishly started on Deity, and quickly realised the benefits of religion - and me an atheist as well!).

But the most interesting thing about these polls, is the fairly even spread of the votes, which suggest that Firaxis did a good job in balancing the different civs (shock, horror, somebody praising Firaxis - whatever next!).

 

[bobgote]

The Persians are the best.
The persians have the best unique unit. Also through trade, you can get pottery and ceremonial burial early and so can research Iron Working first!!1 If you are persians and start with/near a a source of iron, you will dominate.

I don't think anyone argues with the Industrious trait. Scientific is handy because you can build Libraries cheap which expand borders. Religious is good, i would go egyptians if they had a better unique unit. The one they have is one of the most useless. Get a horseman, it's better.

 

[allhailIndia]

Originally posted by sappling
The English kick butt. I usually crank out about 300 Man O' Wars and the world is mine.

I also really like the Indians because Gandi is all wrinkled and shriveled up, like a raisen. Elephants can take out tanks and mech infantry with ease.

Intriguing reason, but I concur with you

Elephants come at the right time for a GA

 

[amadeus]

Chinese for me -- militaristic and industrious. Nothing like being able to organize a big military and benefit from industry as well.

 

['Copter Pilot]

Egyptians. I don't even think the UU is too shabby. Early GA in an early war, and your cities keep breeding those cheap war chariots like rabbits. No problems with fresh troop supplies.

 

[Higher Game]

The Eygptian UU is just plain garbage. The Babalonians beat all other civs, easily. Religious AND scientific means cheap cathedrals and universities. The bowman is available at the start. It can defeat barbarians like a spearman, but can fight as well as an archer. Because it doesn't require any resources, it is an excellent unit. I don't want an early horseman that can't go through hills or forests.

An early Golden Age is bad for Babylon, but the bowman doesn't go obsolete as quickly as that stupid war chariot. Persia is a nice civ, but I would choose Babylon for being religious. I still can't get used to cathedrals requiring 160 shields for non-religious civs. And a 1 turn revolution to republic would mean an earlier Golden Age than the Persians. Unless you want your Golden Age while you are still in despotism, the Persians have to go through a longer anarchy than the Babylonians.

Really, you get the same benefit as industrious if you just make more workers than you normally would. I really thought Rome and Greece would score higher, their UU's have the best defence for the ancient world...

 

[Higher Game]

OMG, the French have NO VOTES? As of this posting, no one has voted for France. I remember when people were crazy about industrious/commercial. Things are getting weird.

 

[Creepster]

It really depends on what level you are playing and what your object is (how you want to win the game). That is why I like the GOTM and the tournament; you get to see the unique advantages of each civ.

I have the most fun with the Romans, mainly because they are great to attack with early in the game and have a great defensive value, but changing governments later in the game is a drag. I usually play on Emperor or Diety level, and loosing all production for 6 or 7 turns can be a killer. Lately I have been favoring religious civs so I can avoid the anarchy.

 

[Catt]

Originally posted by 'Copter Pilot
Egyptians. I don't even think the UU is too shabby. Early GA in an early war, and your cities keep breeding those cheap war chariots like rabbits. No problems with fresh troop supplies.

Originally posted by 'Copter Pilot
The Eygptian UU is just plain garbage ( . . . . ) An early Golden Age is bad for Babylon, but the bowman doesn't go obsolete as quickly as that stupid war chariot.

First, the "best" civilization depends hugely on the difficulty level / map / opponents / victory conditions.

That being said, and all else being equal, I like the Egyptians and Japanese for building / warmongering style. On levels at Regent or lower, I also like the Chinese, but the religious trait becomes more important on Monarch and above.

As to the Egyptian UU -- I've posted this elsewhere, but will repeat it here. I really like the UU precisely because it is not terribly useful. I like to time my GA for when I have an empire full of productive cities up and running. The Egyptian UU allows me to do this because, since it is relatively weak, I don't feel compelled to use it. I just make a few and save them for the middle ages when I'll use them to take out a longbowman or a wounded sworsman / knight. If I have the opportunity to build immortals / legionnaires / bowman, etc. I feel compelled use them while they still are a dominant unit -- which usually means a despot-based, too-early GA.

(probably not surprising that my other favorite civs have middle age based UUs ).

 

[LKendter]

I don't think you can ever declare 1 civ the best.
Everything is relevant to your game plans, and how to win the game. Also, play style can be a big factor.


I can't believe Egypt is #1

Persia doing well isn't a surprise. The UU is AWESOME. You really can't defend well against them until Rifleman.


Some of the trailers like Aztec / Zulu don't surprise me. Since fast units lost the auto-retreat ability in 1.17, there UU are not that strong. Theyc have a problem of tripping WAY to early of a GA.


I am surpirsed India is doing this bad. I love entering the MA with guaranteed Chivalry units NOT needing resources.

 

[Higher Game]

Units with auto retreat will become more popular in multiplayer, and the "uber" units like the immortal will die off. If you are invading enemy territory, they have 3x your mobility because of the road advantage. After railroads, they have an incredible advantage in flexibility.

Pounding an AI with immortals will work, but in multiplayer you can see them coming a mile away and prepare for them. Regular swordsmen will beat them because of that road advantage. Because of this, that pathetic War Chariot's retreat ability actually gives it some merit. It's really a shame they become obsolete so quickly. I would give them an additional defence point because they are just so far behind mounted warriors in usefullness.

 

[damunzy]

Japs, IMHO. But the Persians, from what I hear are damn good with their UU.....

The retreat ability has been lessened a lot in the recent patches because of the chance they might not be able to retreat...I was constantly losing Iriqous Mounted Warriors the time I played them...more than the supposed % of retreat said I should of.