Another Advanced Civ. lover here ! True, due to its length and the number of players required (5 at least, in my experience), getting a game running is murder. I only manage to pull it off once or twice a year.
Last one was two weeks ago. We had 8 players, the Western Expansion Map, the works. It was a blast ! Naturally we didn't 'finish' it but, thanks to Advanced Civ victory conditions, we were able to count points anyway and calculate everybody's rank, so no frustration.
One of the things I like the most with Advanced Civ is how easy it is to learn. As usual half the players were newbies, most of them casual gamer : none of them had any trouble learning the progressive mechanics, and they all had fun !
For frustrated Napelonic players, I recommend Phalanx's Age of Napoleon : two players, 3 hours games and very satisfying historical feel. An easy sell to casual boardgamers, also.