Spain- Have good hand infantry and cavalry available, and are flexible early in the game due to their faster Home City shipments. The Spanish explorer can train War Dogs since the Discovery Age, when soldiers are not trainable. Their unique units are the Rodelero, Lancer and Missionary.British- Build Manors, which are 35% more expensive than normal houses, but spawn one free settler each upon construction, instead of the usual houses; this speeds up early game construction and gathering. Their military is more focused on the later game, with a stronger economy in the early game. Their unique units are the Longbowman, which boast the longest range in the game, and Rocket.
French- Train Coureurs des bois, stronger villagers which may eventually double as infantry. This civilization can have many shipments related to Natives, and so it is the strongest at forging native alliances. The French train the strongest cavalry unit of the game, the Cuirassier. Their unique units are the Cuirassier and the Coureur des Bois.
Portuguese- Receive a free covered wagon on each age advancement, which can build a free town center. This civilization has extra exploring facilities, such as the option of shipping additional explorers and the "spyglass" ability which can reveal unexplored territory. They have a balanced military, which is supplemented by a strong navy. Their unique units are the Cassador and Organ gun.
Dutch- Settlers cost coin instead of food, making them dependent on this resource from the very start of the game; this disadvantage is, however, countered with the revenue produced by Banks, coin-generating buildings unique to the Dutch. Their unique units are the Envoy, Ruyter and Fluyt.
Russians- Train numerous units in groups, speeding up production—especially early in the game. This gives them the capacity to overwhelm other players with their large armies, which are supplemented by the low cost of their military and, for the most basic units, a weaker army unless strenght in numbers. Their unique units are the Strelet, Cossack and Oprichnik.
Germans- Represent all of the Central European kingdoms of the time and start out with settler wagons instead of the normal European settlers. The German Home City ships settler wagons which are equivalent to two regular settlers. Their military develops steadily because Uhlan cavalry are given as a bonus along with most shipments. Also, the Germans can ship mercenaries sooner than any other civilization. Their unique units are the Doppelsoldner, Uhlan, War Wagon and Settler Wagon.
Ottoman- Economy is slow but constant, due to the fact that settlers are continually produced automatically at no cost but have the disadvantage of having limited settler production. The Ottoman military makes heavy use of artillery units, many of them unique, such as the Great Bombard, the most powerful artillery unit in the game. The Ottomans lack light infantry: the only infantry they can train is the Janissary, a more powerful type of musketeer. Their unique units are the Janissary, Abus Gun, Spahi, Great Bombard, Galley and Imam. The Ottomans specialize in early game combat because of their quick gain in economy.
Iroquois- War Chief boosts hitpoints of nearby units, have Travois, which can build most buildings for free. They start with one Travois. They also have a unique Founder Dance in the fire pit which spawns Travois. They also receive a Travois or two on each age advancement. Entire army is unique, most ranks are filled with Tomahawks and Forest Prowler infantry.
Sioux- War Chief boosts speed of nearby units, starts with 200 population slots automatically, but cannot build walls. Have unique Teepees, to provide a little health bonus and damage bonus to nearby, friendly units. Very nomadic civ that can move very freely with very few structures. Horse heavy units include Axe Riders and Rifle Riders. Dog Soldiers are powerful cavarly trained at a firepit ceremony.
Aztecs- War Chief bonus doubles experience gained in combat by nearby units, have warrior priests that can heal or firepit dance. They start with one Warrior Priest. Very good at farming and fishing. War canoes can control water very well and with priests available early they can thrive economically. They only train infantry units, but have several warriors and knights filling specific combat roles.
India- This civilization has no villager cards at the Home City, but they receive one villager with almost every shipment. All villagers that are not shipped from the Home City cost wood instead of food. Villagers are also not allowed to harvest livestock for food, but instead can build a structure called a Sacred Field which will generate experience points whenever livestock are tasked to it. Sepoys, Gurkha and Rajputs are the primary infantry units, and India has several types of camel and elephant cavalry. Both of India's monks ride atop elephants and can heal other units from the start of the game.
China- The Chinese get only one monk along with a disciple at the start of the game, the monk is the only 'explorer unit' who can train military units (trains disciples) during the "discovery age" and has the largest attack points compared to any other monk or explorer. The Chinese have a higher population limit than all the other civilizations; up to 220 population points, rather than the usual 200. Additionally, their military units are trained in blocks, much like the Russians, except that each block trains two different unit types in Banner Armies.
Japan- This civilization has the Daimyo and Shogun units. Japanese villagers cannot gather food via herding or hunting, but can build shrines near huntable and herdable animals to gain a slow trickle of food, wood, or coin. The shrines also act as houses, supporting 10 population units. They have the unique ability to ship most cards twice. They can field a very strong army consisting of Yumi archers, Ashigaru musketeers and flaming arrow siege units, and of course Samurai.
