Yeah, it's pretty awesome if you take it slow and get into the story... it's really tough though on the higher difficulty levels.
Recommend starting out as the Wild Walkers your first playthrough (but you don't have to) I did one of the other ones and after I got done sorting through the debris and found what I assumed to be what was left of my dick, I tried them out.... they get a pretty good industry bonus on forest tiles and their longbows are the shit.com
That was back during the EA stuff though, and I think it's significantly less dick-stompy in the early game anyway.
It doesn't blow Civ5 away, but the races DO play very differently and require some time to really get good at them (more like AOE3 really)... combat is very much strategic and makes a big difference in how you roll, but I think I like Age of Wonders 3 overall if I had to pick.
If anyone DOES pick this up, the A number one thing you need to make sure to do is read/heed/comprehend how building out city districts works... it's make or break vital even on normal difficulty.
Bookmark this thread: http://forums.amplitude-studios.com/showthread.php?28694-Building-Big-Efficient-Cities-Borough-Streets-amp-Leveling-Districts
I almost always did the line style city expansion and it was money.