I can agree with Burgundians being an alternate Franks, but in no WAY are the Sicilians an alternative Italians.
Yes, culturally they are the same. But the Sicilians in the game are a more infantry based with their Serjeants, and they fact that they have access to Halberdier, while Italians do not. Furthermore, the Italians are a better archer civ compared to Sicilians: the latter lacks Ring Archer Armor, while the former has a unique unit who is archer, the Genoese Crossbow, plus a unique tech that boosts their archers even further.
Not to mention, that the Italians are much better on water than Sicilians, with navy tech discount bonuses that make the Italians really perform over many other civs, even giving the Vikings a run for their money.
The Sicilians I would say are a well-rounded civ that leans slightly more to infantry, while Italians are naval and archer/gunpowder focused.
I made a post on this topic already: Future DLCs and the argument for/against NEW Civs - Age of Empires II: DE / II - Discussion - Age of Empires Forum If you like to check it out.
My thoughts on new civs: yes, add them. *But only as long as they make sense in a medieval setting, and that they fit into Age of Empires 2
The devs cannot–and should not-- make “imaginary civs” just to fulfill a “we got to represent the whole globe and all continents” agenda. I admit, that the Mississippian peoples of North America are the closest thing to adding as North American civ in medieval videogame, Age of Empires 2. But the history record about them is so meager, that there might simply not be enough archeological or literary evidence to warrant their inclusion into the game.
Same thing with African peoples not already represented: we CAN see maybe the Nubian people getting their own civ, as they were well established as a sophisticated civilization stretching back into the time of Ancient Egypt’s era of the Pharaohs … but the Zulu and Bantu peoples of Central Africa are much less-well known, and–more importantly–did not create much great cities and “empires” like many of the other African civs that already ARE in the game: Ethiopians, Berbers, Malians.
Intriguing idea, a medieval Swiss civ. Though…they are pretty much covered by the Teutons and the Burgundians civ already in the game.
As much as it would be nice to have a Polish civ in the game, I’m afraid that the Lithuanians/Slavs already represent them. The Lithuanians, due to their piety and cavalry bonuses (i.e. faster working Monasteries, and Relics boosting Knight-line and Letis), and the fact that Lithuanians get Paladin is supposed to refer to the Polish-Lithuanian union.
But also: if we were to add a Polish civ, then there would be arguments to add a Russian civ, and a Ukrainian civ (Slavs civ already represent them) and a Scottish civ, and a Welsh civ (Celts civ covers them).
This game may already be too saturated with so many civs.
Again, the Bohemians are already shown through the Teutons and the Slavs: the former has strong defensive building bonuses (higher ranged Castles, higher number of troops to garrison towers/town centers, access to Bombard Tower and Keep) and fantastic siege (Bohemia was known to be a region experiencing many siege battles, and Teutons civ have great siege, plus Ironclad Unique tech. Spirit of the Law even mentioned the fact that Teutons siege represent the Medieval Bohemians in his Teutons overview history video: The Teutons - AoE2 vs History - YouTube
And the former, the Slavs, represent ethnically, the Bohemians as the Bohemian/Czech peoples are classified as Western Slavs.
This civ I can see happening. My biggest reason for this, is because the Indian civ is the ONLY civ to have the South Asian architecture design. Having 1 more civ added also with the South Asian architecture would be nice to see.
Absolutely not. If such a civ were added, what are we going to call the regular Chinese? “North Chinese”? “Han Chinese”? Again, some civs are nice in that they represent whole swaths of people and regions.
You do not want to split the Mongols civ into all the various Mongol tribes do you? You are not going to split the Turks civ into Seljuk Turks, Ottoman Turks, Ghaznavid Turks are you?
Holy smokes…you really suggest this? The Western Roman Empire collapsed in 476 AD. The medieval ages began in 500 AD (officially), and the remnants of the WRE were absorbed by the various successor European kingdoms.
The Byzantines civ ALREADY covers any medieval Romans during the medieval age period. The Eastern Roman Empire (i.e. Byzantine Empire) were the true descendants of the Romans. Any Romans in the WRE would later become the Britons, Franks, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italians.
Let’s keep AoE2 within historical truth for the most part, please. No “what if” history.
My Conclusion:
Sure. I can get on board with adding new civs, but they must make sense, and must be unique enough from all other civs that are already in the game.
The Burgundians while, yes being in many ways an “alternate Franks civ” are not quite like the Franks. The Burgundian Knights strategy is center around making powerful cavaliers/paladins fast to overwhelm opponents in early Castle Age or early Imperial Age. Frankish Paladins are better for more post-game environments, and Burgundians Paladins are not: Burgundians LACK Bloodlines. That makes their Paladins the weakest, along with Byzantine and Celtic Paladins.
The Sicilians are not related to the Italians in terms of gameplay (culturally and linguistically-wise, yes, they are VERY related).
And, I think that only some of your civ suggestions will really be feasible enough to be added into the game. I gave you my honest opinion.
This game is a great game…but it can be a victim of its own excess. TOO many civs can make the game TOO complicated over balance concerns and bug issues, etc. etc.
EDIT: I will add that I think that the more LIKELY civs to be added, are 1 more African civ (perhaps Nubians i.e. Medieval Sudanese), 1 more Indian civ (Muguals maybe, or a southern Dravidian Indian civ) and the Georgians. I think it unlikely any more European civs will be added, as the whole continent is very VERY represented with the current civs we got.