If you could change the civs....

[elprofesor]

Ah, how could I forget them? I'm ashamed of myself

Although in my defense, I'll say that they are the best UU whose advantage doesn't come from radically changing the way the base unit works

 

[fmlizard2]

Spain is awesome. I'm currently working on a big article about them for the strategy section. I consider them one of the best civs to try to beat Deity with - provided you get a re-roll or two if you really strike out on Natural Wonders.

At a worst case, you get 600 and +6 in the first half of the game. Absolute worst case, assuming you bother to explore. Take your and buy a CS ally and you basically get a free Notre Dame, plus any units, , or they provide. Powerful stuff.

Average case, you find one Natural Wonder first that is kind of at the periphery of your natural lands. You will have 1000 in the early game, +6 , and the option to settle near that tile. The weakest Natural Wonders will give you about as much as an academy, manufactory, monument, or customs house with the 2x modifier. Settling Barringer Crater, for example, is more powerful than Babylon's free academy, since you also get from it too. Plus, you know, all that .

Good case, you find GBR, El Dorado, or two NWs nearby. You will be rolling in 1400 pretty early and +6 . That lets you buy workers, settlers, tons of units, libraries for a 2 or 3 city NC start, or pretty much anything your heart desires. Two free early allies makes boosts like France's seem pretty weak. And of course, you can often settle those tiles, getting the major , , or boosts. You can be both rich and teching like mad - a recipe for victory in any circumstance.

Plus, Spain gets two pretty solid UUs in the midgame. Considering that you will have a and advantage in getting off the ground and a military advantage in the midgame, that should deliver you to a winning point by the time your UUs and UA start to dilute. And this dilution effect over time can be said about a lot of Civs.

 

[apocalypse105]

Haven't thought these through for balance but:

England: +2 movement for all naval units, +20% damage for all ranged units (naval, archers) in a golden age. (And take away the archers part if it was too much).
Spain: one gold for every hex discovered before another civ, and lax on the skilldorado bonuses.
Germany: Currently, it's 50% of getting extra gold and getting the barb when you take their camp? If so, I would change to 50% chance of getting a barb, and otherwise get extra gold.

Agree with england

I would remove ship of the line and add: red cout
A british rifleman with higher strenght(or a sort of bonus)

If I thinx about the british empire in the renaissance and industrial I thinx about the redcouts thats how their army where called and they actually had great musketeers these days

Their unique ability should be stronger sorry but just some movement points really that isn't really game breaking... I would say it should be a economic bonus because england had a great economy througought history still now... Something like extra gold income from coustal cities

And the idea of germany is actually a good idea get extra gold if you clear a encampment and 50 change of getting the barbarians to you're side.
If they would make say 100 gold you could really get a nice advantage there

 

[elprofesor]

Whenever (if ever?) the next balance patch comes, England is certainly one of the civs that will get buffed. That doesn't mean that they need a major buff though, something along the lines of cheaper ships hammerwise would be fine (and/or cheaper upgrades). They will always suffer from the problem that their naval bonus is very situational, but so does Polynesia, or the Iroquois with their different bonus for that matter.

And I am completely against the idea of removing the SotL. There are only 2 unique ships, and one of them comes in a DLC!

 

[Bamboocha]

I would remove ship of the line and add: red cout
A british rifleman with higher strenght(or a sort of bonus)

If I thinx about the british empire in the renaissance and industrial I thinx about the redcouts thats how their army where called and they actually had great musketeers these days

As far as I know, the British redcoats were nothing special, they were just the rank and file troops of the British Empire, same as any other musketmen. The only reason why they're so popular is because 'redcoat' was slang for the British in the American war of independance.

Compare this to the Royal Musketeers of France, who were not only popular, but also the crème de la crème of the French infantry. The problem with introducing redcoat is therefore that they not only have no reason to exist, but also steal away some of France's uniqueness (their superiority in infantry in the late game).

Actually, the British land army as a whole was never anything special compared to other European countries, their power has always been in their navy. Their navy was the reason why they could build such a large colonial empire that rivaled (and eventually exceeded) France and Spain, and their navy was the only thing that kept Napoleon out of the British isles. It's no more than logical that their UU should be navally based (though calling that unit "ship of the line" is kind of weird, every major European naval power had ships of the line, England was not unique in it).

IMHO the problem lies not with the fact that Englands UU is bad, but that the AI sucks at naval warfare, which IMHO should be fixed in a future patch ASAP.