Your favorite Civ to play with and why

[Softly]

Not asking which one you think is most powerful, but rather which one you've had the most fun playing as. For me it has to be Arabia. They are not the strongest civ, but the madrassa is my favorite building in the game. Get 6 envoys with a couple of scientific city states, slot in the natural philosophy policy card (doubles campus adj.) and you will be generating a disgusting amount of science and faith per turn. I won a science victory with them the other week, was generating over 450+ science and 450+ faith a turn and I only had 5 cities. Highly recommend every try a turtle science victory with Arabia.

 

[Arent11]

Not asking which one you think is most powerful, but rather which one you've had the most fun playing as. For me it has to be Arabia. They are not the strongest civ, but the madrassa is my favorite building in the game. Get 6 envoys with a couple of scientific city states, slot in the natural philosophy policy card (doubles campus adj.) and you will be generating a disgusting amount of science and faith per turn. I won a science victory with them the other week, was generating over 450+ science and 450+ faith a turn and I only had 5 cities. Highly recommend every try a turtle science victory with Arabia.

Actually I'm a bit at a loss. I would really have liked to have some basic "core civs" that have just straightforward +5 combat or +1 science for campus or something similar. All those conditional traits should have come later, for "special" civs that advocate a "special" playstyle.

So, to answer your questions: It's difficult. Usually I like to play straightforward civs like Gilgamesh, simply because they don't interfere with my playstyle.

 

[trev1972]

Ive played mostly as england (i always tend to do that since civ 1!)
But i had fun as australia on the built in tsl, the tile yields were insane and the production when the ai declared war on me in addition to those yields was crazy

 

[Rosty K]

I've had at least one game with every leader so far.

Most fun was probably with Norway and Indonesia. I like the 'turtling' playstyle, and the versatility of their navy lets you play peaceful, but be able to swiftly punish anyone who dares to declare war on you (well, provided they have something on the coast). Well, Norway was also fun because I was able to utilize their abilities to pull a 'Religious Blitz' - I watched for who's about to get a religion and shipped my religious units to them in advance to convert them on the turn they founded a religion. Managed to eliminate 3 religions this way.

I must admit that playing as Alexander was also a kind of fun, although quite different Too much clicking though, and on a huge map (which I prefer) this tends to get very boring after you conquer 2 or 3 opponents...

 

[UWHabs]

I don't have a favorite. Honestly every civ has some neat stuff with them, that none play the same. I think in most cases I like district placement and optimization, so in some ways I enjoy the civs that can really go crazy there. Germany and Japan are fun to see how many districts you can pack next to each other to get the best bonuses. Russia can be a lot of fun if you happen to have a tundra natural wonder (not that they have a direct edge to holy site adjacency, but just happens that you're more likely to get Aurora). I had one game (that I failed since the AI rushed me and killed me), but due to a map glitch I started right next to one of the natural wonders, so I think before turn 20 I had a Lavra that was giving me +11 faith per turn.

On the other hand, powerful units are fun too, so I still enjoy a good Monty/Gilgamesh/Tomyris game too sometimes.

I think France is the only civ that I haven't completed a game with (don't have the DLC either). Although I do want to try the true spy-heavy game with her sometime to see how that can play out.

 

[Spudsie74]

For me, I like taking a random Civ. Playing at King, I can enjoy using the different features of each civilization, and try different strategies (I also use a random map). If I want to play a 'tighter,' (more competitive) game, I'd go with Persia or Sparta (at Emperor), and play flat out to win. The extra culture, and UU's for both are a big plus in advancing past neighboring civ's. Greece's extra wildcard policy gives it a lot of flexability, while Persia's Immortals are a major aid to rapid expansion. I'd have to give kudos to Rome, Australia, Azetec, and Polish cultures, too. Gilgamesh and Tommrys are a bit too restrictive, IMO. They are so powerful, I just tend to buldoze my way through. Not as many interesting decisions...particularly Gilgamesh, who can build Zig's on rivers to get insane science/culture buffs. Just personal preference...the game has room for many different approaches.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

England, Indonesia, and Persia are my favorites. I like England's naval focus and archaeology. I like Indonesia's naval focus and tourism from improvements. And I like Persia's tourism from improvements.

I like going for a cultural victory, and these cultural angles appeal to me.

 

[Art Morte]

1. Japan. I like the fact their districts get an additional adjacency bonus for being next to each other, makes it feel rewarding finding a good place to lump a few districts together. I also like their unique building, the improved factory, as I usually try to get to Industrialization quickly to build a couple of factories. Also halved production time for encampment and theater districts is neat.

2. Rome. Free monuments are super nice as I normally purchase them in every city I found, as long as I've got the gold, so they leave me with lots of gold for other things. The Bath's +2 extra housing and +1 amenity are really sweet as well, as you're always capped by housing anyway.

3. Russia. The land-grab ability is just wild.

 

[AmtrakQuebec]

I play so much that my favourite varies because I just plain get bored after awhile, so I try new ones. At first, I loved playing as Bapu... his Stepwells make settling virtually anywhere viable, plus I love ephelants, the great Rome killers!

Then I went through a phase of playing Australia quite a bit... the Outback stations are completley OP in the mid to later game and of course in MP, the 100% production when attacked is killer!

Lately, I've been playing Guitarja, especially on Fractal or Island maps. The faith bonus, plus the ability to buy naval vessels with that added faith, is so much fun... I love playing possum and waiting for someone like Victoria to attack me in MP and then instanty raising a massive navy to wipe them out

I've also had stages where I played quite a bit of Pericles (primarily for the extra civic slot and bonuses from City States) and Saladman because of the cheap religious buildings and the associated extra bonuses from said buildings.

My next binge is probably going to be Khmer since again, I luvz me some ephelants and the religous buildings are also interesting...

 

[liv]

Norway by a mile if on island plates. All the decisions at the beginning of the game are different. Build a builder first probably. Start researching sailing. And that plundering is just fun

 

[Archon_Wing]

I prefer Germany for the district flexibility, Arabia for the chance of doing religion, and Greece (Gorgo) for the easy culture.

 

[Scaramanga]

Spain; for the adventure of finding another continent and taking it to the heathen.

 

[Rosty K]

Norway by a mile if on island plates. All the decisions at the beginning of the game are different. Build a builder first probably. Start researching sailing. And that plundering is just fun

Why builder first?

 

[liv]

Why builder first?

as soon as I get sailing a builder can swim and find out what the neigbourhood is like long before that first ship is ready. Usually it is very safe that early

 

[Rosty K]

Uh, didn't think of it...

 

[Peserwin]

England, Indonesia, and Persia are my favorites. I like England's naval focus and archaeology. I like Indonesia's naval focus and tourism from improvements. And I like Persia's tourism from improvements.

I like going for a cultural victory, and these cultural angles appeal to me.

Tourism from improvements with Indonesia? How?

 

[Noble Zarkon]

Well, Norway was also fun because I was able to utilize their abilities to pull a 'Religious Blitz' - I watched for who's about to get a religion and shipped my religious units to them in advance to convert them on the turn they founded a religion. Managed to eliminate 3 religions this way.

That is awesome

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Tourism from improvements with Indonesia? How?

The Kampungs produce Tourism equal to their food yield after Flight. I have no idea what this is supposed to represent (foodie tourism?), but it can be really huge if you've been plonking them down every possible place.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

1. Australia- Outback Stations and Land Down under are amazing. Plus space race production bonuses for liberating cities or having others declare war on me.
2. Macedon- For obvious reasons.
3. China- Easily build the pyramids and then get Serfdom for 7 charge builders.

 

[Victoria]

England because they have real bad start positions often and nothing good early to compensate. This makes the beginning of the game more challenging and often longer and if struggling by mid game you can look forward to redcoats/Pax Brittanica combo... in essence the game is interesting for longer.