[Mylon]

I always love a bit of RPG elements thrown in. It gives a form of continuity to link one game to the next. Even better is if you loose to the AI, you have a stronger race to try next time. It also allows players to discover new possibilities with their race otherwise totally too expensive and without modding.

As to avoid munchkinism... The players can already cheat anyway by modding their own game. I suggested scaling AIs to compete for those that want a challenge, and there's always the option of making the AI harder or giving them more resources to compensate, too.