Dylan - IMO it really depends on what you want to do with the machine. As mentioned, I purchased the Lenovo well over a year ago. When I make a purchase I try to make sure I have the latest key specs, although not maybe the top of the line stuff.. For example, the 960GTX nvidia graphics card is was the mid-range gaming gpu at that time..while the 970 and 980 were the top of the line for very serious gaming. (the difference in price point being quite substantial) The 960GTX is still great and runs most anything new quite well.
But for IV, the graphics card is not really that big a deal anyway. It's a ten year old game and gpus have come a long way since, so even new crappy gpus will run it fine. Ofc, you do multimedia stuff so you probably want a decent gpu, but it does not necessarily need to be a gaming variant.
But the point here is that I expect to use my machine for many years. I even keep some older windows machines around my place and play Civ and other stuff on them too. My Asus is about 7 or 8 years old.
I also feel that tech as kinda peaked recently in terms of gaming. I think any quality system you buy right now will last for years unless you want to do something advance in terms of new gaming. Like I don't what will happen with all this VR stuff coming out now or what the will mean tech wise, but I have no interest in it. Also, all the MMO stuff may take more resources and require upgrades over time, but don't care about that either. I think for most single player type stuff - strategies, rpgs, action, adventure, etc.,I don't see tech advancing all that much.
I mean, I've gamed for about 18 years now and have seen it evolved tremendously over that time in terms of quality of graphics and the amount of resources and storage it takes. But over the last..say..5 to 7 years, it really seems to have peaked in that regard. Oh..someday it will probably make some huge advance in technology, but if you are content like me playing the games of today or yesteryear, like Civ IV, you can use your machine for ages. I honestly don't expect to buy a new machine for many years unless it just dies, but I've never had a machine die on me.
Also, while Laptops have less flexibility than desktops in upgrading, you can always had new memory or a better harddrive.
So back to your decision. Gaming rigs are just that..they are geared for gaming. Two big factors for gaming rigs are the GPU and cooling. Games in general are very GPU intensive, and GPUs create a lot of heat, especially with certain high end games. Civ IV runs pretty hot as well. (I actually had it burn out an old Samsung laptop of mine years ago that wasn't a true gaming system). The other things you want to do with your machine will not do this..not even close. The Workstation is designed for business. While it will most likely run Civ IV fine, it is not designed for gaming. It will likely do your other stuff more than fine. So if you want an all-in-one machine, I'd lean toward a gaming rig, and make sure it gets good reviews in terms of cooling (read almost any user review on a rig and you will see them mention cooling). Laptops are not easy to cool simply due to design - cooling systems take up a lot of space. Most serious gamers use desktops which have far better cooling systems to install. But good gaming laptops will have good cooling systems built in. Both my Lenovo and Asus do quite well in this regard. By virtue of a gaming rigs generally high specs anyway, it will do all your other things quite well too. Heck, these machines I own I run my business off of among other things.
Storage, RAM and CPU are important too, so keep that in mind. Again, go with an SSD. You can buy a system generally cheaper just taking whatever cheap-o harddrive they throw in there and then look for a good deal on a Samsung EVO SSD on NewEgg or Amazon and install it yourself. Go with a minimum of 16g DDR5 RAM, but more the better. You can always upgrade it anyway.