Continuing the series of Renaissance Teamer FAQ style posts, I figured I'd post a quick crash course (co authored by DeyReepher, who reminds you not to knock Japan) on the pros and cons of each civ in the Ren Era.
America -- Roosevelt -- Don't pick this one.
America -- Washington -- Financial and Organized are a nice combo for a solid economy, but in a 120 turn game with a lot of combat there are far better choices. Unique unit does not come into play.
Arabia -- Saladin -- Great choice, should be in every game. Spiritual and Philosophical make Saladin the leader of choice for producing great people. The Camel Archer is a great unique unit in this particular game as it requires no resources to build. You can rush with it early and if you have horses you can trade them to a teammate in need. One of your better players should play Arabia as it takes a bit of skill to produce the correct great people while being able to properly expand your civilization.
Aztecs -- Montezuma -- Aggressive and Spiritual are nice, but you can do better.
China -- Mao Zedong -- No.
China -- Qin Shi Huang -- Not a horrible choice, as Industrious and Financial are strong traits, but there are still better choices.
Egypt -- Hatshepsut -- No War Chariot rushes available in Ren.
England -- Elizabeth -- Now, you may disagree with me here, as a month or two ago Elizabeth was an automatic choice in every game. But you can still get a Financial with Inca and a Philosophical with Saladin, and these days most games aren't lasting long enough to get to rifles and redcoats. Still a very good choice, though, but not a must have anymore.
England -- Victoria -- You're better off with Elizabeth if you're going to play England. If it's 1 leader per team instead of 1 civ per team, you're better off duping India than England.
France -- Louis XIV -- Completely useless, this guy sucks, I hate him.
France -- Napoleon -- On the other hand, Napoleon should be in every Ren teamer in the hands of one of the more skilled players. Musketeers are cheaper than knights, and properly triple upgraded with a barracks and Theocracy, they are nearly as deadly. They become outdated as attackers once Military Tradition is discovered, but are still a solid quick moving defensive unit.
Germany -- Bismarck -- Useless.
Germany -- Frederick -- Even more useless. We love our German ladder players, but these German leaders are just as bad as the American leaders in Ren.
Greece -- Alexander -- A solid choice. The Philosophical trait plays well in the Ren era, and when lacking iron but having copper, the Phalanx can hold up against a knight. Once you have a barracks and theocracy, in my opinion, triple upgraded phalanxes are better than pikes, as they are almost half as cheap as pikes and nearly as effective. Although, Dey says if you don't need the extra Phi leader, go with Japan!
Inca -- Huayna Capac -- Capac should be in just about every ren game because of his solid traits. Financial plays well in the back, Aggressive plays well on the front, and two quechas should be able to fight off those pesky early longbows.
India -- Asoka -- Play Ghandi instead, he is better, unless you are allowed 1 leader per team.
India -- Ghandi -- Should be in every Ren teamer, pretty much a no brainer. Fast Workers are probably the most overpowered unique unit in the game. One of the best players on the team should handle Ghandi for maximum effectiveness.
Japan -- Tokugawa -- Dey's favorite frontline civ. The Aggressive triple upgraded samurai can be used for some nice choking, and while their 2 first strikes are ineffective against knights, they do come into play against cavalry.
Mali -- Mansa Musa -- Not the worst choice, but you can find a better Financial civ elsewhere.
Mongolia -- Genghis Khan -- Nope.
Mongolia -- Kublai Khan -- Pass.
Persia -- Cyrus -- The butt of many Ren era jokes.
Rome -- Julius Caesar -- Not this one either.
Russia -- Catherine -- Russia is usually banned in Ren games, but if they're not, Catherine is a powerful choice. The cossack is ungodly, thus leading to the usual ban. Financial helps you get to those cossacks quicker. Creative helps you expand your borders a little quicker, but isn't really necessary if you properly spread your religion.
Russia -- Peter -- I prefer Catherine's Financial trait, but for those who like Philosophical better, Peter is nice.
Spain -- Isabella -- Spain has a great unique unit, the Conquistador, as it receives defensive bonuses and has a bonus against melee units, the usual defender against mounted units. However, Spiritual and Expansive are not the best traits for Ren games, and you are banking on getting iron and horses up early, as the Conquistador cannot be built after the discovery of Military Tradition.
That wraps up all of the available leaders, here's a quick rundown of the usefulness of their traits --
Aggressive -- Pretty powerful, as you get a quicker barracks and a free Combat I for your pikes, maces, muskets, and rifles. You also get a quicker drydocks if the game gets that far.
Creative -- Spreading your religion expands your borders, not really useful.
Expansive -- +3 health per city is nice, but then you have to deal with unhappiness ... there are better traits to choose.
Financial -- That extra commerce really helps getting your tech moving early on. Solid choice. Should have at least 1 or 2 FIN civs on your team.
Industrious -- Not too many wonders to build here, and the few that are available are usually built by Great Engineers. The quick forges are really nice though, making this a solid choice.
Organized -- The poor man's financial ... so go financial instead.
Philosophical -- Need to have at least one PHI civ on your team. Great Artists to protect your fronts are nice, a Great Engineer for Taj Mahal is really important, and extra great people can be used for golden ages.
Spiritual -- Avoiding the anarchy when changing civics is nice, but with the exception of Saladin's PHI/SPI combo, you generally don't need to swap civics all too often in a ren team game.
Just remember that even seemingly outdated units can be useful, as Dey recently got a heroic epic unit Quecha in a Ren team game:
That about does it, comment away.