Or at lest still the civ that I enjoy playing the most. Yes, lots of new civs have been introduced with powerful mechanics, BUT, Kongo got so many things right that they are still awesome.
1) You can get huge and powerful cities with Kongo like no other, especially your capital. If you fill up the capital, and you get the Bank that can hold relics and you get Mont St. Michel and you get Themed Artifacts, that's a potential +30 production alone, not to mention the food and gold, etc. And you can get +12 production (and food and gold, etc.) from Themed Artifacts in many cities. This production is huge in helping to build wonders. I've built the Eiffel Tower with Kongo in like 7 turns before, without a GP and (I don't think even a chop, tough I'm not sure about that).
2) The free Apostles are so useful. The free Apostles are such a strategic advantage that no other civ gets. Firstly, you can use them for scouting, so I always reveal the map better with Kongo than any other civ. This helps with everything else.
By using the Apostles for scouting you get better access to City-States, and better trade and relations with opponents.
You can also find more territory faster to expand into because of the Apostles. This really helps with Cultural victory because you can find those isolated places like islands to get settlers to before anyone else to claim that land and use it for tourism.
You can use the Apostles to convert Barbarians in a way that is truly effective, unlike any other civ. Since the Apostles cost you nothing, converting Barbarians are totally free units. I often will scout with Apostles that have the Convert Barbarians promotion, then find a remote island, convert all/most of the Barbarians and then use them to hold down the area while I send a Settler. No other civ can really do this so effectively.
3) Holy Districts are destroyed when you conquer a city. How many times do you conquer a city that has a Holy Cite that you don't really need and it keeps from you building a district that you do? Happens to me a lot, but not with Kongo. When you take that city, the Holy Cite is destroyed, freeing up the tile and giving you the ability to replace it with whatever you want. It's a huge advantage IMO, especially if you have taken a city and you want to make an encampment right away.
4) The UU is prefect for the civ. I prefer Classical era UUs by far. Kongo has a great UU, because its one of the faster units and its very good at taking cities. When playing Kongo I like to do some early conquest to expand in the Classical era, then settle into a peaceful game. They are setup perfect for this.
Their power curve is actually very nice. You have the chance at getting very early bonuses with them, though doesn't always happen, then their UU comes on in the Classical era, allowing you to expand and obtain security, then they really ramp up in the Medieval Era when you get Monarchy (Mont St. Michel) and their UB. This is also about the time when you will start getting lots of free Apostles and thus relics.
So you get a nice power curve from Classical into Medieval Era, and by the end of the Medieval Era, which is still fairly early, you really hit your stride, with big populations, lots of production, the relics are rolling in,
you have Apostle scouting going, you're converting Barbarians, securing new land, expanding into new territory, etc., all by late Medieval.
I just find that I really get all of these things going so well so much faster with Kongo than most any other civ. Oh, also, note that I do prioritize getting the ability to embark fairly quickly so I can send out the Apostles all over the place.
1) You can get huge and powerful cities with Kongo like no other, especially your capital. If you fill up the capital, and you get the Bank that can hold relics and you get Mont St. Michel and you get Themed Artifacts, that's a potential +30 production alone, not to mention the food and gold, etc. And you can get +12 production (and food and gold, etc.) from Themed Artifacts in many cities. This production is huge in helping to build wonders. I've built the Eiffel Tower with Kongo in like 7 turns before, without a GP and (I don't think even a chop, tough I'm not sure about that).
2) The free Apostles are so useful. The free Apostles are such a strategic advantage that no other civ gets. Firstly, you can use them for scouting, so I always reveal the map better with Kongo than any other civ. This helps with everything else.
By using the Apostles for scouting you get better access to City-States, and better trade and relations with opponents.
You can also find more territory faster to expand into because of the Apostles. This really helps with Cultural victory because you can find those isolated places like islands to get settlers to before anyone else to claim that land and use it for tourism.
You can use the Apostles to convert Barbarians in a way that is truly effective, unlike any other civ. Since the Apostles cost you nothing, converting Barbarians are totally free units. I often will scout with Apostles that have the Convert Barbarians promotion, then find a remote island, convert all/most of the Barbarians and then use them to hold down the area while I send a Settler. No other civ can really do this so effectively.
3) Holy Districts are destroyed when you conquer a city. How many times do you conquer a city that has a Holy Cite that you don't really need and it keeps from you building a district that you do? Happens to me a lot, but not with Kongo. When you take that city, the Holy Cite is destroyed, freeing up the tile and giving you the ability to replace it with whatever you want. It's a huge advantage IMO, especially if you have taken a city and you want to make an encampment right away.
4) The UU is prefect for the civ. I prefer Classical era UUs by far. Kongo has a great UU, because its one of the faster units and its very good at taking cities. When playing Kongo I like to do some early conquest to expand in the Classical era, then settle into a peaceful game. They are setup perfect for this.
Their power curve is actually very nice. You have the chance at getting very early bonuses with them, though doesn't always happen, then their UU comes on in the Classical era, allowing you to expand and obtain security, then they really ramp up in the Medieval Era when you get Monarchy (Mont St. Michel) and their UB. This is also about the time when you will start getting lots of free Apostles and thus relics.
So you get a nice power curve from Classical into Medieval Era, and by the end of the Medieval Era, which is still fairly early, you really hit your stride, with big populations, lots of production, the relics are rolling in,
you have Apostle scouting going, you're converting Barbarians, securing new land, expanding into new territory, etc., all by late Medieval.
I just find that I really get all of these things going so well so much faster with Kongo than most any other civ. Oh, also, note that I do prioritize getting the ability to embark fairly quickly so I can send out the Apostles all over the place.