Civ Ranking - Scout Rush

Hi all,

In order to gain insights into civ strengths/weaknesses in different areas (as part of a mobile web app I'm working on), I'm trying to put the 35 civs into 4 tiers, in each of the following areas. Being a noob player myself, I would love to hear your opinion on this, in a series of 8 discussion threads:

• Scout rush
• M@A rush
• Archer rush
• Fast Castle (Knights / Boom / UU)
• Early Imp
• Post Imp
• Trash War
• Water

In this thread let's talk about Scout rush. Below is the tier list I come up with. Some questions for the sake of discussions: What do you feel about the list, especially top and bottom civs? Which is more important, strong eco or Bloodlines? As a follow-up of scout rush, does strong light cav really matter? (or we mostly go scouts into archers/knights anyway so it doesn't?)

Top Tier (A)

1. Magyars (cheaper scouts, free Forging)

2. Huns (house savings allow faster up time, faster working stable. Nice synergy with CA in Castle Age)

3. Mongols (very fast up time with hunting bonus, strong light cavs in Castle Age)

4. Franks (forager bonus, higher-HP scouts without Bloodlines. Scouts into strong Knights)

5. Slavs (strong Farm eco, slight wood savings from population room of Barracks/Stable)

Mid Tier (B)

1. Indians (cheaper villagers -> easier to keep up with villager+scout productions)

2. Khmer (fast up time without building requirements, good Farm eco)

3. Chinese (fast up time with extra starting villagers)

4. Berbers (villager speed up -> good eco. Scouts into cheaper Knights)

5. Tatars (extra food from herdables, good light cavs and nice synergy with CA in Castle Age)

6. Cumans (good Feudal eco, slightly faster scouts, light cav spam in Castle Age)

7. Britons (shepherd bonus. No bloodlines. Scouts into Archers)

8. Persians (strong eco, faster up time with faster working TC)

9. Lithuanians (+150 food at start)

10. Ethiopians (+100 food/gold when age up, but no Bloodlines)

11. Turks (free light cav upgrade)

Mid-bottom Tier (C)

1. Italians (food saving when age up to Feudal)

2. Malay (fast up time, but no Bloodlines, poor armor upgrade)

3. Bulgarians (good light cavs in Castle Age with Stirrups)

4. Malians (wood savings from buliding bonus)

5. Japanese (wood savings from buliding bonus)

6. Burmese

7. Goths

8. Portuguese

9. Saracens

10. Spanish

11. Vietnamese

Bottom Tier (D)

1. Celts (strong eco, no Bloodlines)

2. Vikings (strong eco, no Bloodlines)

3. Byzantines (no Bloodlines)

4. Koreans (no Bloodlines)

5. Teutons (no light cav upgrade, no husbandry)

Meso

Aztecs, Mayans, Incas