The Hardest Civ to play on the Large World Map?

[XxtraLarGe]

I always like to play the Large World Map, without civilizations or resources randomized. IMHO, the easiest civs to play on that map are the Americans (especially without Souix or Aztecs), Egyptians (especially in the absence of the Carthaginians or Zulus), or the Chinese (especially if there aren't Mongols). I think the Babylonians, Greeks and Romans are good challenges, as there are typically other civilizations nearby. IMHO, the hardest ones are the Japanese, English & Vikings, due to their starting positions. What do you guys think?

 

[Ali Ardavan]

Easiest/hardest depends a lot on your strategy. If you are going for conquest, being alone in Americas only delays you. If you are playing for space ship landing, being alone in Americas would be just fine.

 

[temurleng]

Easiest/hardest depends a lot on your strategy. If you are going for conquest, being alone in Americas only delays you. If you are playing for space ship landing, being alone in Americas would be just fine.

Being in America when aiming for conquest doesn't necessarily have to slow you down. You could use the time to shoot up the tech tree without even the slightest worry of getting involved in a war. The barest of defenses is all you would need. Quickly expand without competition, then pounce on an unsuspecting world.

XxtraLarGe, I like to play on a large map with standard start positions also. My favorite tribe, though, is the Zulu. You have no competition for the southern half of Africa, and if the Carthaginians and Egyptians aren't there, you have free reign to block off Africa at the Suez. Also, since most of the Civs are in the northern hemisphere, I usually have little strong competition to grab either South America, Australia, or both.
I think the three hardest tribes are the Celts, English and Japanese: all three are stuck on small islands. The first two might get unlucky enough to have to wage a war to clain the island chain from the other. Then, whoever is the victor has to either push themselves onto a crowded Europe to expand or sail all the way to the Americas. The Japanese have only a small island that, at best, can support only 2 cities. But at least they have few Asian competitiors: only the Mongols are threats to a Japanese expansion, since the Chinese and Indians don't expand much.