Which civilization are you going to play?

[AmazonQueen]

All of them but the Spanish and Dutch were my favourites
My usual play style as the Spanish used to be sail until I found the Incas or Aztecs, found 1st colony, send in the missionaries, then follow up with the troops
Pity they didn't add the Portugese this time around

 

[Lubricus]

I'll start by playing the Dutch. They have an interesting history, and the advantages in having a better ship and stable prices made them highly enjoyable in the original game. The French were nice, but the value of Indian allies was too low in the original. If the Indians are more interesting this time around, I might play as the French a lot. England used to be fun, because of their high number of immigrant, but the Dutch economy usually meant I could offset that advantage by buying the colonists I needed. The Spanish were never my cup of tea - I don't enjoy senseless slaughter that much.

Edit: I hope the modding tools are good enough for me to add a few civs. I want to play as Denmark-Norway and Portugal, at the very least, and maybe even try my hand at a seriously underpowered Courland.

 

[akadyer]

duch were my favourites, better prices for longer and on small maps the economy means alot more,

 

[Kathandrion]

I used to go for a population rush with the English, because of the 48 colony limit, and there would normally be enough land to stay out of trouble from the other Europeans long enough to build up a bit, which would be the penalty for such expansionism.

The French AI worked in a similar way, but with such a scattergun approach, having lots of little colonies all over the place is not as efficient as lots of little colonies all grouped together. Playing as them, I thought that native interaction was underpowered to do to much with it. All I really got was a bit more peace to build some colonies. I wonder how they'll balance it now.

Also the Dutch are good, for their starting ship and steady prices. Eventually the market swamps, but you hold an edge for long enough. However, is it me or do the Dutch withdraw from the New World about 3/4 of the time when you don't play as them?

The Spanish can still play a normal game - yes you get your dragoons, and pinch all the gold from the Aztecs and Incas, but then you use the veteran dragoons on the other Europeans while using all that money to boost the colonies. Of course, this is a bit dependent on how many cities the advanced Indians have!

 

[TheMulattoMaker]

Edit: I hope the modding tools are good enough for me to add a few civs. I want to play as Denmark-Norway and Portugal, at the very least, and maybe even try my hand at a seriously underpowered Courland.

I never heard of Courland before a few days ago, wandering around this forum. As someone who considers himself rather knowledgeable of history and geography, it bothered me that there was something I didn't know, so I Wikipedia'd it. (I'm American, and we tend to be rather ignorant of European regions. I had never heard of Kosovo until shortly before they sent me there.)

Courland looks like it'd be interesting to try and play. Kind of like a One City Challenge for Colonization. "Here, make a colony at Tobago. That's all you get. Now try not to get overrun by the other Europeans."

 

[jediliz]

95% of the time when I played/play the old game, I play the English. Why? Because of immigration. If the natives can't teach my colonists a certain skill, then I hope for the immigrant for that skill.

 

[TheMulattoMaker]

95% of the time when I played/play the old game, I play the English. Why? Because of immigration. If the natives can't teach my colonists a certain skill, then I hope for the immigrant for that skill.

The trouble with that, though, is a lot of the skills the Indians taught couldn't be found in Europe, period. But as anyone but the Spanish you could find a village somewhere who would be willing to teach your colonists.

Shoot, even the Spanish, as long as it wasn't one of the tribes you were in the process of eradicating...

 

[DogBoy]

It's funny that the English got 50% of the vote in the poll, but less than 50% actually wrote they would play the English first.

As for me, I always played the English. The Dutch didn't seem that good because the object of the game (for me at least) was to refuse every tax demand by the King. That made the good unable to be traded in the old world. So the Dutch bonus didn't matter. The Spanish just never fit my play style because you spent so much time killing the natives you didn't focus on building your cities. The French bonus didn't suit my play style because I always needed to carve out a little bit of land before I could build an army and grab more land. So the peacefulness of the French wasn't good for me. The English were the best due to all the immigrants. That allowed my cities to grow so fast up to the 225 limit and declare independence earlier.

 

[Huayna Capac357]

La France! Just because J'aime la France! Vive la France!

 

[C~G]

As for me, I always played the English. The Dutch didn't seem that good because the object of the game (for me at least) was to refuse every tax demand by the King. That made the good unable to be traded in the old world. So the Dutch bonus didn't matter. The Spanish just never fit my play style because you spent so much time killing the natives you didn't focus on building your cities. The French bonus didn't suit my play style because I always needed to carve out a little bit of land before I could build an army and grab more land. So the peacefulness of the French wasn't good for me. The English were the best due to all the immigrants. That allowed my cities to grow so fast up to the 225 limit and declare independence earlier.

Sometimes it isn't about which faction fits your strategy and gives you the biggest chance to win early and often but which faction gives the challenge that comes along when trying fit your strategy and style of play to the advantages/disadvantages it gives.

Personally I enjoyed played all of them and I'm looking forward to that not only each nation but each leader would give bit different gaming experience and maybe some mod will also add more nations (especially Portugal) to the game and create more diversity of styles to choose from.

 

[ynard]

Dutch - since I loved to reap the profits of strong European markets w/o dropping prices.

English were (and probably still are) good for their immigration bonus, but I rarely played with Spanish and never with the French. Taking out native's capitals was enough diplomacy for me!

 

[Volum]

Spain probably, the final score isnt that importent to me as long as i get to burn everything.......What?

 

[Lord Shadow]

Spain, mostly due to San Martín.

Since I'm pretty peaceful most of the time, the Spanish 'kill all indians' orientation might not be the best choice, but it's the first time I see a historical Argentinian figure (and with a major role) in a game. I guess I'm just excited about that.

 

[Ace of Gold]

French because I love when the Natives give you gifts every turn and they will do whatever you say

There all my puppets

 

[lionheart]

Well, I'm Dutch, so that probably settles the first game I'll play.. I hope they'll show some leaderheads before the game is released: Stuyvesant has a face you don't forget easily, so I hope they tried to remake him as accurately as possible (plus, it would be interesting to see if he could be modded into CivIV)

Besides the Dutch, I think the French might suit my style a little more than the Spanish, but perhaps the English would be an interesting choice too. I doubt I'll play the Spanish much, but if I feel particularly bloodthirsty, I might try them..

 

[Trooper5445]

I'm definitely going to play as the French. More out of being a Francophilic than anything else.

 

[Jan H]

I hate to admit it, but the Dutch were my favourites as well.

I also agree they should have added the Portugese this time...

 

[HuronKing]

I liked playing as the Dutch in the original, and I liked playing as the relative underdog against larger and historically more powerful empires.

 

[De Lorimier]

France of course! My cities are not in civilization, but when I play colonization I get to found Québec, Montréal, Trois-Rivières, ect. Then I'm happy.

 

[Hyronymus]

I am Dutch so there is little room for choice .