Quote Originally Posted by NodachiSam
I played it every day for a few weeks, stopped and gave it away to my friend. Some of the limitations seemed so frustratingly arbitrary (like not being able to make armies in the very early stages) and the game over all so inflexible.
A rather common complaint about the civ games, sometimes it feels like you're just clicking end of turn or building whatever the computer suggests. It takes a little time and some experience before you're able to really 'control' your civilizations long term evolution imo.

But about the lack of armies: I'm usually a peaceful player and I think Civ is at its best when you don't go warmongering all over the map, although that can be fun too, I usually find the slow movement speeds frustrating when making war. Galactic Civ doesn't really have this problem (or to a lesser extent) since you can upgrade your ships' engines to make them go further per turn. So if you are more into warfare than peaceful development I suggest you check that game out. (Both CIV and Gal Civ II have demos available)