[GS] Even MORE rankings!

[Pure24]

Okay, now this is a completely subjective ranking. Here, I am asking for which Civs you've had the most enjoyment with.

Not which one is the most OP, or best at whatever victory, just the one you really had a good time with. Whether taking yourself through a really bad dark age or from the brink of extinction, or just enjoying utter dominance from Turn 1...

What are your top five Civs which you've played?

 

[Victoria]

A fairly unique list one suspects

1. Gorgo - purely because you Play in a Spartan way...and I like playing with the hoplites, not because they are OP but because they have to be together. She just works well historically but not in an OP way. very immersive for me.

2. Victoria - late benefits make starting more of a challenge but much flexibility in how to play her, and Redcoats are so strong rushed that you can play an OP game with her... miss the museum but she feels so industrial now it is great.

3. Catherine - love the spies and the new wonder power gives a nice wonder rush flavour to the CV game that was missing. One again, not OP but flexible and the early spy allowing +6 in all combat situations is not to be underestimated.

4. Khmer - super fat city/faith player allows for a lot of later game interesting options. Domray is great now, another fun troop worth getting a corps of early.

5. Kupe - flexibility and power and such a great start, you can really take advantage of this. People say RNG can be bad but at least you have choice, I have never had to restart due to a grassland start. (Only time I restart)

 

[Leucarum]

Not in any particular order:

Alexander: Most of the domination civs don't click with me so much. But Alexander's abilities to keep pace with the AI without pushing science as heavily is amazing and I enjoy leaping into the war without end mindset he brings.

Wilfred: As the polar opposite, I also enjoy knowing exactly when I am or am not in danger of being declared on, and using that certainty to be the biggest jerk possible, forward settle everything, and then being passive aggressive about it.

Phillip: I don't normally like the religous oriented civs, but conquistadors are very, very fun units. Not the most powerful civ out there but they have a very satisfying gameplay loop.

Robert: My favourite for science, while probably not as objectively powerful as some other science civs, the emphasis on keeping your population ecstatic and snagging all the great people is fun.

Pericles: Acropoles are definitely my favourite UD and Pericles ties all their plusses together with a massive culture boost. I haven't played Greece since great writers got knocked down a notch though.

 

[Troy Bruckner]

Since I like to play a building game and avoid having to resort to war here's my list.

Mali
Russia
Pericles
Georgia
Canada
(I would have Inca on here, but they step all over themselves building wonders and districts).

 

[qadams]

Purely in terms of fun, here are my top five:

Phoenicia
Greece - with Pericles
Netherlands
Rome
Egypt

 

[Deadly Dog]

Before GS, I was a diehard Cree fan, love their basic growth potential with the Mekewaps and internal trade routes, and took them to each of the 4 victory types before we got Diplo Victory. Still love them and am trying to beat all 9 GS leaders on deity with Poundmaker but finding it hard to corner the market on either GM's or GA's like I'm used to because, well, Dido and Mansa Musa...

Suleiman is loads of fun. Ibrahim has very interesting uses and I want to play them again to see how he does in an ally's capital.

Mansa Musa also very fun and taught me finally how to use city projects (what else to build?). Gamed GP's the whole way AND built more wonders with Musa than I've ever done before. Had frivolous and ridiculous things like 2 ironclad armadas with 3 promos in the early Renaissance(All Your Coastal Base R Belong to us!)

The New Victoria was my most recent game and very successful in my goal to repeat the historical claim about the sun never setting in my empire.

Inca, nice growth civ with the ability to teleport around mountains. And finally a recon UU to get excited about.

 

[Sostratus]

Germany - do i even have to explain this one? Hansa Addiction is real. Tell your congressman to support funding for treatment for this serious disorder.
Inca - My civ5 favorite, Terrace farms + Fun AQ rules make them even more fun than before. I just love getting tons of yields.
Australia - I know their +adj from appeal is meta, but I actually just like building outback stations and getting tons of yields.
Aztec - I consider Monty's kit to be one of the most integrated mechanically, although the power level is obscene. Eagles+builder rush district is so fun.
Rome - A few civs compete for this spot, but there is something satisfying about Roman empire building.

Runners up:
Japan (tons of yield. Samurai fight with zeal!)
Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India (tons of yield and the industrial vibes omg yes.)

 

[enKage]

I like games when I can push one aspect to high level, so

Eleonor of France all about art
Indonesia naval fun
Inca for extreme easy recon conquest
Khmer relic play + district placement
Hungary no units built except Black Army approach -domination victory

Honorable mention: Alex no campuses sci vic

 

[Beaver79]

I just got the game like 3 months ago, so I haven't played every civ yet. I usually warmonger and parley that into a Science win, but to mix that up a bit I really enjoyed these 2.

Eleanor of France I believe (The one with the long hair). Putting great works and Amani with the - 2 loyalty to surrounding cities was a lot of fun. I flipped a couple of American cities and even 2 or 3 city states that I wasn't Suz of.
Khmer - Getting a religion and taking the triple base to relics belief is slightly OP. His special building give 2 relic slots and the martyr ability to missionaries. I can't remember now, but I think I had so many relics that I couldn't make any more.

 

[Pure24]

A fairly unique list one suspects

1. Gorgo - purely because you Play in a Spartan way...and I like playing with the hoplites, not because they are OP but because they have to be together. She just works well historically but not in an OP way. very immersive for me.

2. Victoria - late benefits make starting more of a challenge but much flexibility in how to play her, and Redcoats are so strong rushed that you can play an OP game with her... miss the museum but she feels so industrial now it is great.

3. Catherine - love the spies and the new wonder power gives a nice wonder rush flavour to the CV game that was missing. One again, not OP but flexible and the early spy allowing +6 in all combat situations is not to be underestimated.

4. Khmer - super fat city/faith player allows for a lot of later game interesting options. Domray is great now, another fun troop worth getting a corps of early.

5. Kupe - flexibility and power and such a great start, you can really take advantage of this. People say RNG can be bad but at least you have choice, I have never had to restart due to a grassland start. (Only time I restart)

I've had TERRIBLE luck with Vicky. My first loss was when I played as Kongo. It was in the Original Civ game before the DLC; my very first True Start Location. I didn't know what I was doing, and so didn't rush military. Arabia quickly took me out!
I bring this up because I didn't feel bitter about it. What I felt bitter about was my loss as Victoria in Rise and Fall. There I was, enjoying a Cultural game - the challenge I'd set for myself was to build Theatre Squares late (Modern Era), when GWAM were mostly taken by other Civs, and then snatching them back by using spies. I didn't mind.
And then I realised Mapuche was running away with it, and so I declared... didn't go well, because I was in a Golden Age, you see. I had to resort to nukes (also my first experience of AI hitting back at me with nukes!). In the end, I picked back up and was busy raiding Peter when... boom! I lost. Rome had just secured a Science Victory. With all my spies busy, I'd totally forgotten to pillage his Spaceports (I remember Rise and Fall AI wasn't good at repairing them either).

I gave up on Victoria. When I next tried again with her, it was post-Gathering Storm. I was rushed by my close neighbour Khmer, who had spammed Heavy Chariots. I lost the last city by loyalty, I could do nothing, but watch my loss come.
Intent on not giving up, I tried a third time only to be rushed even earlier by an even closer neighbour! The units? War Carts. I stood no chance...

The games I've enjoyed the most have involved:
- Kongo. Just a fun build. Making neighbourhoods is actually exciting with them
- Peter. A well-rounded Civ. Religious Victory with a tundra start and Yerevan is like playing on easy mode
- Macedon. I've never had as much fun warring as with Alex
- Mali. More money than you know what to do with!
- Germany. Yeah, Hansa Addiction ought to be added as a real disorder!

 

[iammaxhailme]

My favorite civs are generally ones that are heavy on infrastrucutre-based tile improvements and ways to play with terrain. So, civs like... Australia, inca, netherlands, cree, etc

 

[OmegaDestroyer]

Indonesia: I love how kampungs allow you to turn normally lackluster titles into amazing tiles. The theme is one of my favorites as well.

America: I like how versatile the civ is and, again, I'm a big fan of the music.

Cree: Love the UI (cannot remember the name), incredible trade bonuses, and, again, the music (noticing a trend?)

Inca: I greatly enjoy the terrace farms and like with Indonesia, I'm a big fan of any civ that turns a normally worthless tile into something fantastic.

Macedon: Sometimes, I just want to watch the world burn.

 

[Victoria]

I gave up on Victoria.

So sad....
I remember in the original TSL post someone saying Vicky was impossible on deity, any tiny island civ was, so I showed them how. I play about 80% vick although of late I’m trying to get all faces litten up on the HOF because you cannot talk about civs realistically until you have played them. Having a great Gandhi deity game ATM, Alex declared so I took 2 cities, Sendeok then declared with Wilhelmina against me so I too 2 cities off Sendeok and a Wilhelmina city she had taken from Sendeok I liberated. Prob push a science victory now I have had a golden then gone dark... will hit super golden next just when it’s needed most and have barely chopped a tree yet. Deity has got so soft in the latest patch.

Vicky you need to chill and encourage someone to attack you early, wipe their armies and pillage their lands then go ape as you get near redcoats.... at sea any civ can win, you do not need to be a sea civ.

When you play a lot it is really about playing with a civ you enjoy.

 

[Sostratus]

I've had TERRIBLE luck with Vicky.

I find the new Victoria to be more of a "build a decent economy with cheap harbors and iron bias" that transitions into an industrial (redcoat) rampage. It may not be by number of turns, but in terms of time spent playing, i find the industrial hits about halfway through. I think with Eleanor they would have done really well to have a Longbowman UU instead of the seadog. That might draw more folks to them.

Although 8/10 civs have no early rush bonus. So it's not like they are bad. The extra iron is really handy for sword/knight shenanigans though. It's radically different than release or vanilla england, as @Victoria can regale us about.

 

[bengalryan9]

No mention of Norway yet? A pillaging-focused game is a blast and a nice change of pace from what you normally might do.

 

[BenitoChavez]

Eleanor - France and England work about the same. I like flipping cities through GWs.
The Netherlands - Those riverside adjacencies and polders make for some super nice yields.
Japan - A bunch of half cost districts, including HS making getting religion easier. Some nice adjacencies on districts. And Samurai sound effects *shwing*.
The Ottomans - My go to domination civ.
And...I dunno...maybe Rome. Mainly because I find them interesting IRL, though those Legions are pretty awesome both in game and IRL.

 

[brasswire]

I like to play civs that are flexible and not geared towards Domination. I prefer playing taller rather than wider.
Getting bonus food, production, culture, or faith makes me happy. Music and colors also matter.
Favorites in no particular order:
- Georgia
- Kongo
- Cree
- Rome
- Inca.

 

[MisterBoomBoom]

No order needed. My most played and LOVED Civs ...the ones I inevitably go to in order to have fun.
Victoria-England
Qin Shi Huang- China
Kupe- Maori
Phillip-Spain
Trajan-Rome

My off list- rarely played get-no-respect civilizations for whatever reason (But I will supply you with one) are these: Kongo (no religion), India & Khmer (too much religion), Tamar (yeech-walls!?), America (yawn), Mapuche (one direction,one-trick pony)

 

[Victoria]

industrial (redcoat) rampage

All I do is destroy armies and pillage, normally due to them being naughty in some way.
The new production allows you to turn out redcoats in quantity and I play them as colonially as I can. The RNDY bonus allows you to settle in -20 and it’s hard to turn down a free trade route, a free redcoat and a free battleship. It’s a bit much TBH.

 

[Xandinho]

No mention of Norway yet? A pillaging-focused game is a blast and a nice change of pace from what you normally might do.

I agree. After the pillaging system was overhauled, Norway became one of the most fun civilizations to play: building a large navy to pillage coastal tiles of distant civilizations and getting bonuses while weakening them, and you can heal your ships in the neutral sea to attack them again. Only I can see fun in this?