What do you think is the best civ to play with?

[norwegianviking]

We all know we have them and may try to deny it but everyone must admit they have at least one favorite civ. I created this to find out what is everyones favorite one.

For me it's the vikings: 2-1-0 UU bonus+Scouts+cool leader head= the best civ!

 

[Babbler]

That a matter of personal opinion, map setting perferences and playstyle.

But still, I would say Egypt (builder) and Japan (warmonger).

 

[dmanakho]

In c3c the strongest civilization would be Mayans.
I would recommend to read Ision's articles about different civilizations and their threads in War Academy

 

[lilboigod]

personally i prefer the babylonians.. maybe i'm just being n00b.. but yea.. i prefer cultural victories over military conquest anyday =D

 

[T-Money]

China. Industrious allows you to make a sprawling empire quick, and the cheap barracks=quick promotions and easier leaders is a HUGE plus for me. I tend to lean for a conquest victory or occassionally a domination victory, so this is perfect for me. Throw on top of all that the devastating ability of the Rider and you got a damn powerful warmonger civ. I dislike playing as other civs because then I always want to seek out and destroy the Chinese before they get Chivalry lol.

 

[ManOfMiracles]

Prior to C3C, Babylon was my fav since I'm a culture type. Still playing through everything in C3C so not certain although I do like the Celts.

 

[bob rulz]

The Mayans, Persians, and the Ottomans are all good. I also enjoy the Vikings, Chinese, Egyptians, and Americans, but I can adjust my playing style to play any civilization.

 

[Tomoyo]

I always liked France. The traits are perfect for a builder and the UU is very useful, especially in C3C.

And Persia, too. It means that I don't have to play against them.

 

[ForTheEmpire]

I love the French and the Persians as well. Since I don't have C3C, I miss out on the new and improved version of the musketeer, but the trait combo and the UU's timing is more than enough for me. Persia because of the Immortal and it's ability to secure games early on and of course the ever useful fast combat workers. Also the Germans. After I won a 5CCC with them on emperor, I have great new respect for their panzer, and early archers.

EDIT: Ooh, ManOfMiracles got a new avatar, very nice But what the heck, I thought you needed 300 posts for a custom avatar?

 

[Lord Parkin]

The Babylonians - they always have been. I haven't played with anyone else for a year now - maybe I should to get some variety. But then, I do really like them.

 

[T-Money]

I'm not hating on you or anything, but can you explain to me why you like the Babylonians? I hear many people say they like them, but I really don't see the appeal.

 

[BasketCase]

Two things that make the Babylonians a strong civ to play: Scientific and Religious. Cheap libraries. Cheap temples. Cheap universities. Cheap cathedrals. These are basically must-have buildings in all your cities.

Plus their UU is an archer and spearman combined into one handy dandy package.

 

[SesnOfWthr]

EDIT: Ooh, ManOfMiracles got a new avatar, very nice But what the heck, I thought you needed 300 posts for a custom avatar?

WAY OT, but TF changed it to avoid people spamming to get their three hundred. Now it's 30 days and 30 posts.

To try to keep some semblance of continuity, I'm not sure I have an absolute favorite anymore (used to be Ottos), but I can say that I don't like the Americans. For a warmonger like me, their UU just comes way too late, and I rarely build wonders.

 

[Der Sensenmann]

I'm kinda partial to the English. I generally prefer archipelago maps and English UU is perfect for ruling the seas and supporting the colonial invasions for resources that I always do. Also, England's traits make for a great cash cow of an economy.

For land maps, either China or Germany (I love Blitzkrieg wars)

 

[Chimp]

I tend to play with the Chinese a lot. Really I prefer industrious civs just because I can't stand the amounts of workers you need otherwise. I recently played as India and liked the cathedrals that were cheaper than the colosseums, and I had no idea how helpful that one extra commerce in every city could be. Especially on huge maps!

 

[ozo]

I really like Iroquois in C3C. Agricultural is probably the best trait in C3C, and Commercial helps a lot too when you get a bigger empire. The Iroquois also start with Alphabet and Pottery, IMO the two most important techs on higher difficulties since you get access to Curraghs and Granaries right away. The Mounted Warrior is a 3/1/2 beast and is as cheap as a normal horseman. All in all, I think Iroquois probably is one of the best civs in C3C.

 

[Aggie]

Cheap libraries. Cheap temples. Cheap universities. Cheap cathedrals. These are basically must-have buildings in all your cities

These buildings are not must haves. Especially cathedrals are not. They help you fight unhapiness when you don't have enough marketplaces and luxuries. And they help you with a culture win. In almost all other situations it's NOT vital and the maintenance costs should really be considered. Even temples are NOT must haves in all situations, although I understand that you want to build them as a religious civ. Libraries and Universtities are needed when you are going to self research. I admit that that will be the case in almost all games up to deity at some point, but it doesn't mean that they are vital.

Vital for me are marketplaces, courthouses, aquaducts (where needed), banks, harbors, barracks. I always want to build those.

To answer the question: My personal 'best' civ on almost al level and maps are the Iroquois. I would choose the Sumerians on deity, because normally the free tech at the start of a new age gives you a great boost. I find that I need that to keep up in the tech race at deity. At Sid the free tech doesn't help (the AI is too fast) and then money becomes important again (for tech stealing and buying). So also at Sid I like the Iroquois with the great UU that is good until it has to fight musket.

On an archipelago map I like the Byzantines or England. Seafaring is crucial for early contact, Agricultural will not work on a map without fresh water. My choice for Scientific vs Commerical is about the same as on normal maps. The Vikings are also great, mainly because of the Berzerk.

 

[-Gladiator-]

I only have the original civ3(vanilla as you call it) and i'd have to say Persians(better be them, than play against them ) and Aztecs- their JaguarWarrior is really useful for exploring and to make an early quick attack

 

[Paradigne]

Celts. I like their food bonus, and being able to change governments when I get attacked...

 

[Drakan]

IMHO, there's "no best civ". Depends upon the type of victory you seek(i.e. culture= babilonians for there traits; warmonger:china, ottomans, germans, persians), the type of map chosen (pangaea or archipielago: byzantine or english or vikings rule), the difficulty level (i.e.iroquois are great in high difficult levels because there commercial trait helps to fight off corruption; religious is almost useless because at higher levels the AI get as a bonus they are able to change goverment with only a turn's uprising), depends upon your skill (it's not the same playing English or Americans, you have to be very skilled 'cause of there traits and UU, than playing Egypt or Persia, very easy civs to play and win with) and so on.........