Which civ do you play as, and why?

[MyOlde]

Interesting to see which level everyone plays at. But I'm more curious as to who plays what civ and why? I keep having trouble making that decision. I want science and religion but I also love industrious and maybe commercial. What do you like?

[Harovan]

You should better make this a multiple choice poll, because many people don't stick to only one civ.

[Todd Hawks]

As it is no poll at all you are free to chose as many civs as you would like.


I always play random. Different units, different strategies every time I play and therefore more fun for me.

[Arrian]

There have been a number of threads discussing civ choice (most probably in the strategy forum), so you could search and find quite a few explanations. Due to the fact that I want to avoid doing any actual work, however, I'll restate my opinions:

My favorite civs to play are the Babylonians and Egyptians. Also strong are the Iroquois and Persians.

Babylonians: Religious/Scientific, 2/2/1 UU.

I love the Babs. 1/2 price temples & libraries, which come pretty early on, give you a huge culture advantage early, not to mention getting those city builds out of the way so you can build other things, like large groups of guys with pointy sticks. Religious, IMO, is the strongest attribute in the game, as it eliminates anarchy, and allows for the easy construction of religious buildings. Scientific is also a solid trait, particularly if you are like me and have an irresistable compulsion to out-tech the AI. The bonus tech per era, coupled with no anarchy, gives you a nice turn advantage.

Drawbacks include a weak UU, which will trigger an early golden age if you use it when it's vaguely useful. I usually don't even build them, and trigger my golden age due to wonders (GL/Colossus or GL/Sistine).

Egyptians: Religious/Industrious, 2/1/2, wheeled, req. horses, UU.

Religious, as stated above, is my choice for #1 attribute. If forced to pick a #2, I would probably go with Industrious. The worker bonus really makes a difference at the start of the game, jumpstarting your expansion and development. The extra 1/2 shields for cities and metropoli don't really make much of a difference, except maybe in an ancient/medieval wonder race. The worker bonus reasserts itself briefly once you discover steam power, as you can get your RR net build with incredible speed, with relatively few workers. After that, it's all about ease of pollution cleanup (nice, but hardly important). The UU is ok, in that it's cheap, but it's basically a horseman that can't enter Mts. or Jungle, and is obselete shockingly fast. It will also trigger an early golden age if used when it's useful. Using 1.17, I've been lucky to get one or two built before completing the G.Library and getting horsebackriding.

Iroquois: Religious/Expansionist, 3/1/2, req. horses UU.

Expansionist has been beefed up, but still isn't a favorite of mine. On large/huge maps, however, it's pretty nice to have. On small maps, it seems like a waste. With the Iroquois, though, it's all about the Mounted Warrior. 3/1/2 in the ancient era That's HUGE. Kill, destroy, burn, pillage, plunder... sure, another early golden age, but this time you've got a UU that seriously outclasses anything but hoplites.

Persians: Scientific/Industrious, 4/2/1, req. iron UU.

I think scientific is stonger when combined with religious, but it does ok with industrious. Again, good bonus to start, free tech per era. Lack of religious hurts, though. I hate playing non-religious civs. Anarchy sucks, and so does starting the game w/o the ability to build temples. The UU, however, tends to make up for it. Attack 4, ancient era. Wow. Against spearmen, Immortals do a pretty good impression of the Grim Reaper. Slow movement is the only drawback. Pretty early golden age yet again.

-Arrian

[Harovan]

Ok, if it isn't a poll, it will be hard to compare the results, anyway...

1/2 of my games I played with "my" Germans, culturally linked start positions, standard size, continents, normal clima, and France, Russia and England as pre-chosen opponents, rest either a mix of other "modern" nations, or random. I call this "modern challenge".

1/3 of my games I played with either the Egyptians, Babylonians or Greeks, pangea, warm and arid clima, either on a standard map with Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Rome, Persia, Zululand, India and China, or on a small map with the above except India and China. I call this "ancient challenge".

The rest are either experiments with other nations, or "random challenges". I never completed such a game though, mostly I break in the medieval ages.

At this time, I don't play at all, having a break after 4 months continuous playing.

[ixnay]

Well, I usually play random, but my favorite civs (i.e, the ones i've had the most success with) are the Babylonians for when I feel like a more peaceful game, and the Zulu when I feel like a more warmongering game.

[Egyptian]

When I first started playing civ3 (I've neverplayed 1 or 2) I played with a random civ. Now I ALWAYS play as Egyptian. Once you've played as an industrious civ, it's nearly impossible to go back to needing 24 turns to clear a jungle or 12 turns to mine a hill. Mines and roads in three turns are great, and allow me to focus on producing settlers instead of workers. Needing half as many workers is huge in the early game. Also, once I get steam power, my small army of workers will railroad my entire civilization in no time. And those of you who don't think quick pollution clean-up is important should remember that your city cannot use a polluted tile to produce anything.

Religous is also a great strength. One turn gov't ghanges are extremely convenient. Like fast workers, once you get used to one turn anarchy, you'll never go back. Also, being able to build a half price temple in the early game always provides me with a few culture flops from the other nearby civs.

Since becoming addicted to Egyptian, I'v tried to play a few other civs, but always go back to Egyptian.

[Worthingtons]

I play nearly all my games as Romans, for the following Reasons.


Militaristic is a HUGE advantage to me, People moan about leaders, I got EIGHTEEN in my last game which barely reached the Modern Ages, Cheap Harbours are also cool, as are frequent promotions. Commercial is also a good quality.
What attracts me most to the Romans is thier UU, Legionaires are invincable in their time, and once you take a city they can defend it.

My Stratagy is to make zillions of Warriors Ancient Era, and as soon as I Road up Iron I Upgrade to Legion's and I have a massive powerful army at my disposal. Once they have destroyed the Germans and other barbarians I am most likely in a game winning posistion.

[Spatzimaus]

Chinese.

Here's why. As Rothy pointed out, being Militaristic gives you lots of Leaders (and in general, Elite units), allowing you to rush Wonders during the Middle Ages. The cheaper price on Harbors and Barracks makes a big difference in newly-acquired territories.

Industrious is also good; more shields helps, but the bigger thing is the increased Worker speed; I bring Workers along with my front-line units (once I can make railroad, that is), allowing me to attack several cities deep in one turn. Overall, I'd rather have Religious or Scientific, but the big one is next.

The Chinese have the best Unique Unit in the game.

Rider (4/3/3 replacement for the 4/3/2 Knight)

That extra movement point makes a HUGE difference. I can attack across a border. I can do a standing attack against an adjacent enemy and still have movement points left. I can get newly-created units from the far side of my empire into battle VERY fast. 3 MP is a big improvement over 2, which makes it awkward when I have to make Tanks.

The Rider comes right at a time when offense overpowers defense, and cities won't be large enough to get large defensive bonuses. And, it upgrades to Cavalry (only change is 6 attack instead of 4) so tactics don't have to change.

Having an offensive UU means that I'll inevitably trigger my Golden Age right at the beginning of the Middle Ages, right when everyone is racing for Wonders. If your UU is defensive you have no control over when it starts. I ALWAYS get it right when I want it, and that alone has stopped me from playing any civ with a defensive UU. The best time for a Golden Age is the Middle Ages, I think, which rules out a lot of others.

So, during the Middle Ages, suddenly I'll have a Golden Age (with almost doubled production and research), a large number of very effective attacking troops (and thanks to the Golden Age I can make more, quickly), and I'll be creating a large number of Leaders. I can usually go from last to first, conquering two to three civs along the way, in 20 turns.

[Worthingtons]

Yeah, Chinese look very good also.

IMO, Here are the Civ's by Usefulness....


1. Romans
2. Persians
3. Japanese
4. Iroquis
5. Chinese
6. Aztecs
7. Egyptians
8. Babylonians
9. Greeks
10. Germans
11. French
12. Zulu's
13. Russians
14. Indians
15. Americans
16. English

[Gramphos]

I play random, and like Babylonians best.

[Jaguar]

In order ofhow how good they are
1. Chinese
2. Aztecs
3. Iroquois
4. Egyptians
5. Romans
6. Japanese
7. Babylonians
8. Persians
9. Zulus
10. Germans
11. Greeks
12. French
13. Russians
14. Americans
15. Indians
16. English

If it weren't for the great fun of using the Jaguar Warrior, I would play as the Chinese most. They are clearly, in my opinion, the strongest civ. However, I love sending the JW around destroying improvements and stuff. So I think I play as the Aztecs more.

[GeneralTacticus]

Romans. The most basic reason is that I just like the real world history of Rome, and that attracts me to playing as them. Having a good UU is a bonus (although I also much prefer 'Legions' to 'Swordsmen').

[Dis]

japanese

military and religious. I like waging war. and religious just seems convenient for me.

the aztecs have the same properties but their uu gives me too early a golden age. but I have played them as well. they are cool.

[Pius Popprasch]

I play Egyptians at the moment. Industrious and Religous are both useful traits. The War Chariot is a cheap Horseman. Unfortunately Chariots cannot pass mountains but that's not really a big problem.

Japanese are a lot of fun, too.