User blog:Papermaniac/analysis and suggestions on posiblenew civilizations for Age of Empires II part 1 European civs

In this new blog series i will analize all the posibilities for posible new civlizations for AOE II, previously I made a blog series about unused posible bonuses for AOE II. here i will post my personal opinions on each of the candidates and i will also give some ideas on how to repreesent these factions. I will try to base everything on historical documentation in order to try to be impartial on my analisis. Feel free to give your toughts on the comment section

The first question we must ask is which are the parameters for a culture to be in AOEII. of course there are some obvious ones; the first is that the culture/civiization in question must have been developing and existing beteween the fall of rome and the year 1600. The second parameter is that the culture must be an organized civilization and not just a small neolithic tribe; there are some posible civilizations that still had neolithic technology but were developed and big enough to be considered as AOE II candidates but we will discuss them later when their turn comes out. the Third parameter is to have participated on wars and expansionism remember the game name is " Age of Empires" and finally the fourth parameter is that we must know at least part of the history of the civilization candidate, because that will be needed for campaigns and AI names and the bonus selecction of that civilization.

I will divide these blogposts by continent and region and in the cases a civilization were present at more than one region i will mark it with a "*". I will also rate each civilization in a scale from 1 to 5 in how likely is that civilization to be featured on a DLC.

Europe part 1 Iberian Peninsula

During middle ages the Iberian Peninsula was a battlefield, currently the following civilizations represent military factions relevant for the Iberian peninsula: 1 Goths, Berbers, Saracens, Franks, Byzantines, Spanish and Portuguese. However the Iberian peninsula can still offer more, the current Spanish faction is mostly inspired by Castille-Leon leaving the possibility of a splitting there, and there were also some other factions that existed in the early middle ages and the fall of rome and here is a list of strong candidates for AOE II that were present or relevant in the Iberian peninsula: 1 the Vandals, 2 The Alans ( which mixed with the vandals so maybe Alans and Vandals must be the same Civilization on game) 3 the Suebi, 4 the Basques (kingdom of Navarre) 5 The Aragonese. I personally ommit Asturias because these two reasons 1 Asturias was the last stronghold of the visigoths in the peninsula and 2 you can see them as the seed of Spain and Portugal so you can A consider them goths or B consider Asturias Dark and feudal Age Spanish or Portugese.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rV7K8hQPo4

1 The Vandals & Alans *

The Vandals were one of the most relevant germanic tribes that invaded the Roman Empire; they started as a minor group that became more and more important as they migrated to the Iberian Peninsula and later to North Africa, They started to mix up with the Alans ( Another group of barbarians that came from Iran in Asia and started to migrate to Europe) in the Iberian Peninsula, Both Groups have a long story of conflict with the Huns and the Goths. The Story of the Vandal invations is pretty well documented and unlike other germanic groups that invaded the Roman Empire they became excelent sailors and were enabled to invade several islands on the Mediterranean like Sicily, Corsica, the Balearic Islands and Sardinia and of course they used their Naval skills to take over North Africa. The Vandals unlike most groups that converted to Roman Catholicism, they instead converted into the Arrianism which was an early split of Christianity and they were very devote to it.

The Vandals ravaged Rome and sacked it, to the point that the name "vandalism" is now synonimous with property destruction. Considering all of these traits if the Vandals & Alans ever appear in AOE II this civilization may have bonuses for Infantry against buildings in a different way than the goths; bonuses for their navy, posibly a bonus for their demolition ships since there was a battle Vandals won against byzantines in which they used a small group of incendiary untripulated boats against the byzantine navy,and perhaps here we can have the only central european civilization ( that architechture may fit well with them considering their origins) with acces to Camel Riders as they Conquered North Africa and mixed up with the Alans which came from Central Asia, they may also have to get a bonus for monks or something related to religion since they were Arianism zealots. For its campaign they should be based on Geiseric (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaiseric) which was the responsible of taking africa and Sacking Rome. for its wonder they saddly didn't make any relevan landmark, but in this case we may assigate a " sacked or ruined" landmark like in the case of Huns and Cumans , and a Sacked Hippo Regius Cathedral could fit well. Since the vandal language is lost, devs may assign them the same language Goths and Teutons speak

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandals

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alans

Likeliness: 5 out of 5, Vandals and Alans are one of the most requested and relevant civilizations and they cover all prerequisites to be in AOE II only missing a Wonder which can be easily adressed by assigning them a ruined landmark as i mentioned previously, Also they don't are really represented by any existing civ,

2 The Suebi

The Suebi was one of the germanic tribes tha invaded the Roman Empire. They originated in central Europe and it was a large group, the Suebi were related to a degree with the Vandals so it is possible that if they appear in AOE II instead of being its own civilization they may be represented with the Vandals in case the vandals are added in a DLC. Also like the vandals they converted to Arianism ad take a similar migration route, but unlike Vandals they stayed in the Iberian Peninsula in the northwest and later they converted to Roman Catholicism abandoning Arianism. They became in conflict with the Goths which later absorbed them into their kingdom, military sepaking they were similar to other related germanic tribes. their history is well documented but military its not very impressive

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suebi

Likeliness 3 out of 5, The main problem with the Suebi is that they are very similar to other possible candidates as well as being similar to Goths and it is not highly requested.

3 The Basques

The origin of the Basques is still a mistery, and this is reflected in the language they speak as the Basque language is not related to any other Language in the World and is speculated this language is the last survivor of an ancient group of languages that existed previously to the indoeuropean languages in Europe. By the end of the Roman Empire the ethnic group was already occupying the region we know today as the "Basque Country" between modern day Spain and France. the survived the invations of the Visigoths the Franks, and later the Moors and this probably because the orography of the region which enabled for small skirmishes. because of these if Basques are added to the game is possible that the devs may adress this facts by giving some defensive bonuses and posibly bonuses for their skirmishers and spearmen. of course the language they should speak on game should be Basque, for its architechture style maybe the western european may fit well rather than mediterranean, and for its wonder and even for its unique castle there are several options available perhas the Cathedral of Pamplona ( the original Romanic one not the modern Gothic one) could fit well as the Wonder. The Basques were also famous for Whaling so maybe they should also have some bonus for their fishing ships.

The Political identity of the Basques started with the foundation of the Duchy of Gascony in times of Charlemagne, which later leaded to the foundation of te Hispanic March ( the eastern parts of the March will later became Aragon). Later on the southern parts of the Duchy of Gascony splitted into the Kingdom of Pamplona founded by Iñigo Arista its first king, ths was due to internal conflicts between the Franks and the Basques and also as result of the Roncesvaux pass in which the Franks lost against the moors and then destroyed Pamplona in order to keep them loyal to the Charlemagne empire. If the Basques are added to the game maybe their campaign should be inspired in Iñigo Arista. later on the Basques involved in the Reconquista actively. The Kingdom of Pamplona transformed later in the Kingdom of Navarre and finally they united to Spain by matrimonial unions; even so the Basque identity still remains strong to our days. The Bsque history is also full with rebellion and resistance so their bonuses unique unit and unique techs shuld adress that

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Basques

Likeliness 4 out of 5: Basques covers all prerequisites but is not a very solicitaded civilization, of course some fans solicitate it here and there but not as strongly as other candidate civilizations. Also there is the issue of being currently part of an umbrella civilization in this case the Spanish and Franks, despite being culturally different in reality than both groups.

4 The Aragonese *

As mentioned previously in the Basque analisys, the origins of Aragon started with the Battle of Roncesvaux Pass leading to the foundation of the Hispanic March. After the battle of Poitiers, the carolingians converted the Central Pyrenees region into the County of Aragon which later became indepedent from France in the IX century under Count Aznar I Galindez. For a brief period of time the County of Aragon was ruled under the Kingdom of Pamplona until it again became indepedent in 1035 now as a Kingdom after the unification of the counties of Aragon, Sobrarbe y Ribagorza, The Kingdom started to expand both miltarily and by matrimonial unions and it became a player in the reconquista against the moors. Laterly the Kingdom of Aragon managed to gain control of the Principality of Cataluña and the Kingdom of Valencia, becaming the Crown of Aragon which later started to conquest more outside the Iberian Peninsula. The Aragonese conquered the Balearic Islands ( kingdom of Mallorca) as well as Sicily, the Kingdom of Naples , and at some point parts of Greece were vassals of the Crown of Aragon. The Aragonese started to adopt Catalan as their language so if they ever appear in AOE II their units should speak Catalan despite in its origins they speaked Aragonese and not Catalan. Despite Ferdinand of Aragon married with Isabella from Castille, the Crown of Aragon still had relative independence from Spain until the year 1700. For its Campaign there are interesting options on one hand there is Alfonso el Batallador, which actively participated in Reconquista and there is also Jaime I el Conquistador which greatly expanded Aragon. Considering the Naval expansion of Aragon if they ever appear in AOE II they should get at least a naval Bonus, Probaby in land their focus should be in Heavy Cavalry and the militia line. their architechture that fits the most with them is the mediterranean and for its wonder and posibly for its unique castle there are plenty of options of Cathedrals and castles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_of_Aragon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Aragon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_of_Aragon

Likeliness 4.5 out of 5, the Aragonese suffers the same problems as the Basque, it is not requested oftenly by the fans desite the fact they have every requisite covered; but unlike the Basques they did expanded militarily outside their homeland and devs also take these facts in consideration when picking new civiizations for a DLC or expansions. Also there is the issue of being currently part of an umbrella civilization in this case the Spanish and Franks.

Europe part 2 British Isles

During middle ages the British Isles were the scenario in which several empires and kingdoms born and entered in conflict with each other. Currently the following civilizations on game adresses cultures and civilizations that had something to do with medieval history in the archipelago: Vikings, Britons, Celts, Franks and Sicilians in case you consider them " Normans". However there may still be room for a bit more civilizations from this region even if we agree or not with that because " Celts" and " Britons" are kind of umbrella civilizations, not to mention several candidates from these islands are highly requested by the fans; on one hand the current Celts are mostly inspired in the Picts and Scotland, and on the other hand Britons are mostly inspired in England; so maybe there is room for civilizations like the Welsh, the Saxons, the Irish, and perhaps proper Normans and not just Italo-Normans. I will analize these four options since basically most of the other minor counties, clans and kingdoms are too small and too many.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwPVk72GLfY

1 The Irish

Currently Irish are under the Celt umbrella ( indeed the roots of modern Ireland culture are Celtic due to the Gaelic invation) but during the middle ages in reality the Irish history has little to do with the Celts in Great Britain. Because of their isolation Ireland developed a a culture that is quite different from Great Britain. Ireland was christianized quickly during the late antiquity and early middle ages, Monasteries flourished at that time and even today this cultural trait is shown in the Saint Patrick's day celebration. The Isolation of Ireland enabled to the monasteries there to develope arts, techinques and sciences so maybe if the Irish ever appear in AOE II as a separate civ from Celts they should totaly had to get a Monk and monastery focus, maybe even one of their unique technologies may allude to Saint patrick's day. During the early middle ages the Irish had to defend against Viking invations frequently, also because at that time Ireland was divided in several kingdos they also fought with each other, at this time the Irish developed a type of Round Towers that were used for defense against raids so of course if they ever appear on AOE II they should get some tower related bonus.

The language they should speak ingame should be Gaelic , their Architechture style should be Western european and for their Wonder the landmark that may fit the best that job is the St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. I am not sure about the campaign but there are several kings and chieftains that can be done for that. Ireland later was invaded by the Normans ( which ultimately mixed and adopted Ireland culture despite their efforts) and later by England.

Likeliness 4.5 out of 5, The irish has almost every requirement but it has one big problem, the Irish at middle ages weren't unified under the same ruler and when that happened it was because they were conquered, they also didn't managed to conquer land outside their homeland, still is likely to have them because it is a faction that is requested very oftenly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Ireland

2 The Saxons *

Saxons were one fo the germanic tribes that invaded the Roman Empire along with Vandals, Goths, Franks and others. Part of the Saxons stayed in continental Europe while others crossed the English Channel landing and stablishing kingdoms in Southern England ( the names Sussex, Wessex, Essex refers to the saxons) some of the Saxons in Continental Europe started to mix with other ethnic groups while the Saxons in Saxony ( Modern Day Germany) felt into Frankish rule for a period until they later stablished in lower and upper saxony and became part of the Holy Roman Empire. The Saxons that arrived to England mixed with another two notorious germanic tribes the Jutes and the Angles, so they later became the Anglesaxons ( the root of England)

Saxons culturally speaking are linked to central Europe so if they appear in AOE II they should have their Saxon German language and should share the Central European Architechture style, Military speaking they were good navigators , and shared similar strategies than other germanic groups so probably if they would be depicted in AOE II maybe they may an infantry + siege civilization or a Heavy Cavlry civilization on land while also they should probably may get a naval bonus and maybe an archery bonus, Due to the Location of Saxony they may also get some economic Bonus related to trade, Farming or fishing. For their Capaign my personal pick is Widukind which was a Saxon Leader that resisted Charlemagne and Christianization, he eventually lost against the franks but his history is full with battles. For their Wonder there are a lot of options to pick in Germany and Southern England.

Likeliness : This is a tough one since Saxons not only overlaps with Britons ongame, it also kind of overlaps with Teutons and Franks. It is also a remarkably requested civilization by many fans, but at the same time it is pretty similar to other civilizations present in the game, in my personal opinion it is a 2 out of 5. One of the problems with Saxons is all the intermixing with other ethnic groups , military factions and Cultures considering how messy was Central Europe at Middle ages, so delimiting them is a hard work to do.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxons

3 The Welsh

Currently the Welsh fells into the "celt + britons" umbrella. The Welsh at the Early middle ages were culturally celtic and also influenced by the Irish ( which at te early middle ages they constantly assaulted Wales by sea) . When Rome fall, the Welsh reorganized in small kingdoms being the kingdom of Gwynedd and the Kingdom of Dyfed two of the most prominent ones, like many other cultures on the British Isles they had to defend againts viking incursions, and later they were also invaded by the Normans. lastly Wales united to the United Kingdom. As long as the history progressed, the Welsh became more and more influenced by the English culture so maybe if they ever appear in AOEII as a separate civ they may get some archery bonuses. since they used longbows like the English, one posibility if they are added is to make the Longbowmen a semiunique unit for Welsh and Britons and assign another unique unit to britons.

Fotr their camapaign if they are ever added probably the best option here is the history of Cunneda https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunedda, their units may speak Gaelic and their Architechture style must be Western European, for their Wonder there are several Cathedrals in Wales that may fit the role.

Likeliness: 3 out of 5. Welsh are one of the most requested civs by fans of AOEII despite this I personally think it is not that likely devs will add them because these problems: 1 the boundary between current celts ongame and possible welsh is thin, 2 They also overlap britons and militarily at middle to late middle ages they became very similar so giving them different unique units could be difficult 3 despite Gwynedd and Dyfed expanded to other parts of Wales they were defeated by Normans and later asorbed by England and for the most part Wales were not unified until conquered.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Wales

4 The Normans *

Technically speaking we already have Normans they only are named " Sicilians", but the problem to many fans of AOE II is that the name "Sicilians" only refers to Italo-normans. Other people also adresses the relation between Normans and Vikings (Viking is a title for pirates on the norse culture) so this makes the inclusion of proper Normans more difficult, however here we may have some interesting possibilites 1 make new a full fledge civilization focusing on Anglo-Normans or 2 enabling an offitial mod made by developers that should change the appearance and name of sicilians to Normans, this including language and architechture style, but bonuses and unique unit and tech should remain the same. and because the way mods work on DE players may activate and deactivate it at will so if they prefer the current Sicilians they can still have them as they are, but if they prefer Anglo-Normans they will have the option to alter name and aesthetics.

Now about their history; Normans were originally Norse people in their origin ( AKA vikings) that later stablished on places like Normandy in modern day France. From this point in history they westernized and adopted a christian medieval culture, they later started to expand and conquest other territories being England and Sicily the two most prominent ones, Normans in England Stablished the house of Normandy that ruled England from 1066 to 1154 ad.

Likeliness: Depending on how developers consider Sicilians to be " Norman" I will say that if Devs consider Sicilians to be the " Normans" then the posibility of an offitial mod that changes the name and the aesthetics of Sicilians at will is more likely than having a new full fledge Anglo-Norman Civilization; but if Devs consider Sicilians to only represent Italonormans then Making a new Anglo-Norman civilization is more likely than just a mod that changes aesthetics so here we can have a wild card.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normans

Europe Part 3 West and Central Europe

During middle ages West and Central Europe was a very interesting place, on one hand there was the Kingdom of the Franks which later became France, and on the other there was the Holy Roman Empire which despite its name in practice this place was a mess of smaller kingdoms, duchies, marchs, counties, etc. sometimes these kingdoms expanded over their neighbors militarily. At the early middle ages this place was also the region from which ethnic groups such as the Goths came from. Currently the following civilizations present in AOE II represent factions that had something to do with Central and Western Europe: Franks, Burgundians ( they may also double down for the Flemish because of " Flemish revolution" unique technology), Britons, Bohemians, Teutons, Italians, Sicilians ( if considered " norman") Vikings, Huns, Goths, Magyars, and Poles. However many fans of the game still want some more representatives from this region, not to mention there is a very popular mod named "age of Chivalry: Hegemony" for the original AOE II that focus entirely on western and Central Europe by changing basicaly the entire game. I will use the mod as a guide from this part of the analisys as the modders made a great job selecting the factions there considering the mess the HRE was and i will just add some other factions / civilizations relevant for this part of Europe that are sometimes requested by the community. Now before we start we have to consider that currently Teutons is in practice the umbrella civilization that is used to represent most of the factions i will present here so in this case i will treat Teutons as they are representing the Teutonic order , the Hanseatic league and Brandenburg. in case of Italy the civilizations from that part will be analized on Europe part 4.

Now here is the list of kingdoms and factions that may qualify for civilizations in AOE II. Note that Saxons, Normans, Suebi and Vandals are not listed since I already analized them: Austrians, Bavarians, Frisians ( maybe they should be analized along with Guelders and Liége ), Swiss, Cathars, Aquitaine, Templars and Hospitallers.

https://ageofchivalrymod.wordpress.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7pQ5Wy3_LE

1 The Austrians

Before Austria there was the Duchy of Bavaria in the region. Austria started as its own political entity in the year 976 under the rule of the house of Babenberg as the March of Austria, Austra LAter was elevated into a duchy under Frederick Barbarossa in the Document "privilegium minus". Austria was famous for their mercenaries that were recruited in many wars like the Dopplesoldners, if Austria ever appears in AOE II either Landsknetch or Dopplesoldners should be their unique units. and the civilization should have some bonus mechanich in order to represent mercenaries. They should speak german on game, have the central european architechture, and for their Wonder the Cathedral of Viena may fit. for their campaign i am not sure but Rudolph I from the house of Hapsburg may fit the role.

Likeliness 3.5 out of 5: despite a lot fans want them the problem with Austria is that they are a late player in the middle ages and at that time they never became a completely independent kingdom at the time, still is likely devs may consider them for a DLC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Austria#Middle_Ages

2 Occitans ( Duchy of Aquitaine) and Cathars

Aquitaine at early middle ages was taken by the Franks. Later under the Merovingians it became a duchy wich participated in conflicts against the moors in the pyrinees. Due to the Matrimonial union between Eleanor of Aquitaine with Henry II from England and the Political status of Aquitaine , the Hundred years war started. Now about the Cathars, there are some fans that want them in AOE II the problem with them here is that they were not a civiliztion, they were just a religious movement that the PApacy declared heretic and it was erradicated by military force. the Cathars of Course became prominent in southern France and in Occitania. Perhaps if Occitans are ever added in AOE II they should have one of their unique technologies refering the Cruzade against the Cathars. they should speak Occitan in-game and should have western european architechture style.

Likeliness 1 out of 5: Some fans of the game want Aquitaine but it is not needed in practice, you can simply represent Aquitaine with Franks since ethnically and cullturally Aquitaine is highly tied to French culture and ethnicity, also is not requested oftenly and most of the time at middle ages they were ruled by a French King.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Aquitaine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Gascony

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharism#Historical_and_current_scholarship

3 Bavarians

The Bavarians in their origin were a tribe that lived in central Europe, After the Fall of Rome they felt under Frankish control under Charlemagne. Bavaria soon was transformed into a Duchy, and it served as a buffer region against Magyar, Slav and Avar incursions. After the Treaty of Verdun Bavaria became part of the Holy Roman Empire. Bavaria was continuously attacked by the Hungarians. maybe if they are Added as a civ in AOE II their Campaign may be based upon Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria. since he had the duty of defending a weak Bavaria against the incursions of the Hungarians. For the most part of their medieval history Bavaria had severa internla disputes solved by the sword.

If they are ever added to AOE II, their language should be German, they should have the Central european architechture style and perhaps they should be a standard heavy cavalry civ with some defensive bonuses, and maybe a bonus for their halberdiers, they are landlocked so their navy must be weak. I am not sure about the Wonder but i know there are severa Cathedrals and Castles in Baviera that may serve that purpose

Likeliness 3.5 out of 5, Bavarians suffer mostly the same problems as the Austrians despite the fact they are an oftenly requested civilization, but if you make me chose between these two possible factions i would pick Bavarians over Austrians just because they started earlier in real history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Bavaria

4 Helvetians ( or the Swiss)

The story of Switzerland starts in august 1, 1291 when the towns of Uri, Unterwalden and Schwys signed a federal treaty under the Holy Roman Empire regime in order to combat against the Hapsburgs which ruled Austria, These three regions had several problems against the Hapsburgs which leaded to war and conflict in the reagion resulting in the independence of Switzerland which later expanded to other surrounding Counties that unted them. Switzerland was famous for their pikemen , even today the Pope's guards are from Switzerland and still use Halberds so if they ever appear in AOE II they of course should have a Halberdier variant unit as their unique unit and bonuses for halberdiers. Switzerland is landlocked so their navy should be weak and considering it was founded as a confederation their bonuses should reflect that of Course Switzerland is a very montanious region and during middle ages their economy depended on Cattle raising so at least one economic bonus should be upon herdables. For its campaign despite William Tell is a fictional charachter from legend , this legend appeared during the independence of Switzerland and the events of the legend may had some historical true to it so I think it is a good fit as their campaign https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tell. Helvetians on game shoulds speak Romansch, should have central European architechture but if not the Western European may also fit, for their wonder maybe the Abbey of Saint Gall

Likeliness 4.5 out of 5 from all the posible civilizations for AOE II that comes from Central Europe The Helvetians is i think the one that has the best chance to appear on a future DLC, but Still is not a perfect 5 since it was part of the HRE and it was founded as a Confederacy. It is also one of the most requested factions from the fans

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_history_of_Switzerland#Switzerland_in_the_Middle_Ages

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_of_the_Old_Swiss_Confederacy

5 Low Countries (Frisians, Guelders and Liége)

The history of the Low Countries is pretty well documented we already have the Burgundians in the Game adressing part of the Low Countries history with the " flemish Revolution" unique Technology. Personally i think if the Low Coutrsies would get their own civilization it would be just one and not threee separate factions like in Age of Chivalry mod because these were counties under the Holy Roman Empire. Of course the history of each one is really interesting but devs sometimes need to cover more with les resources. Whatever the case the architechture style that fits the best with them is western european but if not, Central European may be considered, they should get some technology or bonus adressing the polders in the region which were invented at middle ages, perhaps a trading bonus, and several naval bonuses. For their unique unit probably the most prominent would be the Ruyter which was a type of heavy cavalry.

Likeliness: 1 out of 5 if taken separately, but posibly 3 out of 5 as just the " Dutch" as the Low Countries are requested oftenly. In both cases I personaly see their inclusion unlikely to happen just because they weren't united at middle ages and the lands they occupied were ( and still are) a very small country. however if you like the Netherlands i reccomend you to play AOEIII instead since it was the colonial era were the Netherlands became an actual global power.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guelders#History

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisians

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li%C3%A8ge#History

6 The Outremer ( Hospitallers, Templars ETC.) *

I Know the Cruzader kingdoms are not central Europe but they do had a connection to Central Europe since the Religious-military Orders that helped to create them were mainly based West and Central Europe. I have not much to say about their history since most players know what the crusades were. In few words the Outremer kingdom was an attempt of christians to retake the Holy land from muslims. it didn't went well, the Cruzades were defeated and Palestine was again retaken by the muslims. A lot of players wants Templars or the Cruzader Kingdoms to be on AOE II the main problem here is that there was little to no ethnogenesis in Palestine after the fondation of the Cruzader kingdoms, and the Cruzader orders themselves were more like an institution within a culture rather than a culture or a civilization. Of course if Devs decide to include them as a separate civilization they should have bonuses for Heavy Cavalry, Monks and ships with their unique unit being the Templar Knight or something like that and maybe their wonder to be the Church of the Nativity. The problem here will be which language should they speak as the european people that tried to establish in palestine at middle ages came from very different places .

Another option which i see a lot more viable and easy to do in order to adress the Crusades and crusade orders is to just create a semiunique unit like a Templar Knight with a unique ability in the same fashion Eagle Warriors, Steppe Lancers or Battle elephants are only accesible to a handful of civilizations. indeed since "Dawn of the Dukes" there is a Templar Knight unit on the campaigns and the Scenario editor, so what devs may need to do there is just give that unit some tweaks and assign them to the following civilizations which participated on the crusades as these contries sent people to fight in Palestine: Teutons, Franks, Italians, Sicilians, Britons.

Likeliness 1 out of 5: despite the fact that Crusader kingdoms are highly requested it feels Devs will not add them as their own civilizations, since the first days of AOE II the original developer team started to gave different an aproach to the crusades, we can see that on the Saladin Campaign for example in which the outremer kingdom is represented by Franks, Britons and Teutons. as i said previously , to me it would be much easier and probably better to adress the crusades with a semiunique unit like the Templar Knight could be.