[Micah]

Oh, and I disagree that no gens makes it harder for a lagging nation to come back, since the leading nation(s) will be able to break into wish cycling and Forge of the Ancients abuse much sooner than a lagging nation, furthering their lead. Gens do force more reliance on national units and gold though, so weaker nations do take a hit, but the solution to that is to buff the nations to get to a point of balance, which also leads to a lot more of a flavorful late game, since tart hordes and armageddon spam won't be the order of the day.