Yeah, the guide of all guides in strategy section probably helps. But I'll still pick out some quick ones. Since I play 'nilla, I'll stick to European civs.
Britain:
+: Strong colonial and economy in general due to manors spawning vils. However this can also be a curse, for if you boom too much, you will be overpowered. Get this going AFTER you have a military.
+:Musket+Hussar is a good late game combo; And rockets I think are the "best"
[I put the "" because people will argue, but they have very high siege and splash damage
-: Lbows can't Hit and Run
-:No viable FF, unless you count the BWKiC, which isn't as good as other civ's FFs
Spain:
+:Nice FF, Lancers are deadly to all infantry based rushes. Combined with pikes/rods/dogs you can take care of cav as well
-: An iffy late game eco, they only can have one factory.
France:
+: Awesome eco, and you have 20 more military slots with maxed vils, and probably better effieciency.
+: Cuirs+ Skirms is a good combo
+: A not-too-shabby FF, versatile, but not too flexible IMO
+: CDBs= fun rush killing power with market upgrades
-: Can't think of a huge downer, they are well rounded. Good at everything, but not the best at anything.
-: Many think cuirs are better than they are, they fall to dragoons and doppelsoldners
Russia:
+: A quick start up, you can have you 'barracks' up before you age
+: Good military early on, most ship cossacks, then make muskets+strelets
+: Nice boom with 3 vils being made in a block; saves 10 seconds per vil
+: Oprickniks destroy vils+buildings; but lose to most any military unit
-: Generic weakness to cav; Best is muskets, halbs are nerfed in hp [as are all of russias infantry], making them ineffective
-: Only one factory
-: No vil shipments
Ottomen:
+: FREE VILS!!!!!11!!. Okay, they train slowly, but still.'
+: IOR is deadly to those who aren't careful with vils
+: Spahi are fun to use
+: FF is viable
-: slow moving economy, you need to pay to be able to have over 25 vils; easy to wreck by raiding
+: 4 age 2 units, two of which lose to cav, and are expensive.
Germans:
+: Settler wagons are a good eco bonus
+: Free uhlans with each shipment
+: Doppels are one of the two units that beat have like no other [Ronins, which are mercs]
+: Nice FF; mercs are good, and uhlans and skirm shipments too
-: Sort of a slow start
-: lack musketeers
Portuguese:
+: Free TC wagon with each new age up
+: Best goons in the game [In 'nilla, they are solid, since LI has no bonus to them]
+: Can destroy rushes with defensive play. CM+ Units+Towers stops most rushes
-: No vil shipments
-: Slow colonial start, they can't rush [well]
Dutch:
+: Banks make coins equivalent to 4.5 vils; use no pop space
+: If you aren't careful you will run out of resources late game, since you have 50 extra pop space
+: Good FF. Good eco, and gets going well
-: 50 vil limit
-: No xbows, and colonial skirms aren't worth the extra cost.
Overall:
-Brits: Good eco and lategame, but can't FF, and easy to overboom. Lbows are unique
-Spain: Nice FF, but lacks lategame. Lancers Pwn.
-France: Versatile all around, but aren't really the best at anything. Cuirs+ CdB are good units
-Germans: Good Eco, but has no muskets. Good lategame
-Russia: Only one factory, but a good rush capability. Poor siege civ, suceptable to cav
-Otto: Free vils, but slow moving economy. Little military versatility.
-Ports: Slow start, best? late game. Goons pwn. Good rush stoppers.
-Dutch: Banks rock, but you only can have 50 vils. Ruyters are only 1 pop, but cost like 80~ gold each.
WOOHOO. Done! Lol. Feel free to add those I missed.[This message has been edited by socrstar (edited 03-10-2010 @ 09:17 PM).]