I divide the game in to early stage and late stage. Civ behave differently in earlier stage and late stage, for example bruma is strong in earlier stage but weak in late game.

To rank a civ in early stage, the unique unit play the most important part. I would consider in 3 aspects:

Kill - the ability in killing unit. No matter what you want to do in earlier stage, like rush or raze, you need a civ that clean up the enemy army first, then u can do your task smoothly…otherwise you could feed a lot. The ability in killing unit very depends on enemy civs, it varies in every games.

Tank - the ability in receiving damage / be runner. Most range unit are weak, they need to hit and run to avoid unit lost, this will slow down their killing rate. If an archer civ get a good tanking civ as ally, like persia, then the archer civ can stand and fight, advance to imp much faster, while enemy didn't get a high kill number as they face 450 hp elephant.

Boom - the ability to build and mass army. In most game the one who boom first will get the map under control, thus win the game. To boom, you have to vil up and age up. So the civ that requires less raze for vil and the civ advance fast/start in castle age would be a good booming civ

This 3 aspects define the role of the civ in early game. For example turk a strong killing civ but bad in tank or boom. So usually turk dont need raze first. Malay a good booming civ. So it is stupid if u go wall every one after vil…you will feed your enemy to imp with your karambit if u didn't boom. Khmer is a good tank, average in kill and terrible in boom. Dont try to raze first as khm, but try to tank your ally and let your ally be the hero of the game.

For a long game, that is, most players boom and imp. Then the civ ranking would be mostly depends on the unit you can provide. There are 3 types of unit:

Range - Arbalest, cav archer, hand cannoneer, and skirmisher...and monk. Range unit are responsible for killing unit, but can't kill ram effectively. Arbalest can kill most unit, except paladin, tarkan, huskarl, inca/maya eagle, elephant. CA can handle some of these, HC can handle these the best and even did some damage to capped ram, still not effective though. Skirm will be useful only if enemy go with full ranges.

Melee - cav/pala, eagle, camel. The melee unit are responsible for 1. killing ram, which the range unit fail to do. 2. Rush a non boomed base. 3. Fight huskarl/inca eagle/tarkan if you dont have HC. Champions and pike are weak and slow, they do not survive long enough under arrows and bullets, so they can be used only if enemy aren't going many range unit.

Ram - Ram responsible for 1. Tanking against range. 2. Destroy building. Siege ram is much stronger then capped ram. Dont forget siege ram in a long game, it is a must-have unit.

So to be simple, long game is something like paper, scissors, rock. Ram>range>melee >ram. A good late game civ should provide their team good ram/range/melee.
For range unit, any bonus on extra range/attack/attack frequency are rated higher then extra hp/armour/training speed/less cost. It is because range unit are supposed to be protected by ram and melee. They stay behind the frontline.
It is opposite for the melee unit. Bonus on less cost/extra hp/armour/training speed is more important than extra attack. Because they are consumables, quite a lot of melee unit didn't touch any enemy then die. Survival is more important for melee unit. Table to show the survival ability of melee unit under different range units' fire


From the table we know celt pala is actually a cav with high attack. So when i mentioned pala civ i didn't include celt. And among eagle civ azt is particularly weak, azt eagle dont really beat arbalest / cavalry archer.

Earlier game
Kill ☆
Tank ☆☆☆
Boom ☆☆☆☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆
Range ☆☆
Ram ☆☆☆☆☆

2 raze needed
spawn 8 sec
max pop 100
Kill for advance 250/400
Useful bonus: military production faster; monks extra hp; infantry +4 attack when imp; skirm extra attack and range

Strong against infantry, like Goths, Celt, Vikings, Ethiopia, Malay. Magyar, Huns
Strong in booming （400 kill imp; faster spawn; eagle civ）
Long game: arbalest + eagle + siege ram, skirm and monks if needed.

P.s. eagle spawn faster than cav, would be a big advantage in boom

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆
Tank ☆☆
Boom ☆☆☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆☆
Range ☆☆☆
Ram ☆☆☆

1 raze needed
spawn 10 sec
max pop 80
Kill for advance 300/500
Useful bonus: Archer bonus damage on building; cheaper archer; 100hp eagle.

Strong against infantry and archer, except Goths Korea India Vietnam .
Good in snipe vil. Good in boom. （1 raze for vil; eagle civ）

Long game: eagle+ arbalest +siege ram. Halbs and skirm if needed.
Weak against pala civ.

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆☆☆
Tank ☆☆☆
Boom ☆☆☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆☆
Range ☆☆☆
Ram ☆☆☆☆

1 raze needed
spawn 8 sec
max pop 100
Kill for advance 250/500
Useful bonus: get slinger; house for 10 population; huskarl-like eagle; vil get armour upgrade

Strong against cavalry except byz, good in fighting infantry if you can stack up, except Teuton, Frank and Malian.
Good in boom（1 raze vil; 250 castle age; 5 house for extra 50 population; eagle civ ）

Long game : eagle + arbalest + siege ram, slinger skirm and halbs if needed.

Earlier game
Kill
Tank ☆☆☆
Boom ☆☆☆☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆☆☆
Range ☆☆☆☆☆
Ram ☆

1 raze needed
spawn 8 sec
max pop 100
Kill for advance 500 imp
Useful bonus: ally foot archer have better vision; cav archer have extra attack and range in imp; melee attack upgrade free

Strong against weak archer like Maya, India.
Strong in booming （1 raze for vil; start in castle age）
Long game : pala+ cav archer
Strong civ in long game with top melee unit and range unit.

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆
Tank ☆☆☆☆
Boom ☆☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆
Range
Ram ☆☆☆☆☆

2 raze needed
spawn 10 sec
max pop 60
Kill for advance 300/500 （250/500 for cba clean）
Useful bonus: military building +5 population; ram 15% cheaper; infantry do trample damage

Strong against melee unit except Teuton, Inca, Saracens, Persia, Malian, Vikings, Japan
Average in boom （the team bonus help the team in boom）
Long game : cav + siege ram + infantry , monks if needed
Weak in long game.

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆☆
Tank ☆☆☆☆
Boom ☆☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆
Range ☆☆☆☆
Ram ☆

2 raze needed
spawn 10 sec
max pop 60
Kill for advance 300/500
Useful bonus: tower freely up and have extra range; building wall and tower faster

Strong against archer except italy and berbers; melee unit except goth persia if you can hit and run
Average in boom; tanking civ
Long game : arbalest/cavalry archer/gunpowder + tower
Range unit civ for long game

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆
Tank ☆☆☆
Boom ☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆
Range ☆☆☆☆☆
Ram ☆

3 raze needed
spawn 8 sec
max pop 80
Kill for advance 300/500
Useful bonus: tower have extra arrows; infantry attack faster

Strong against non ranged melee unit; slow, big range unit
Weak in boom
Long game : arbalest /cavalry archer /gunpowder + cav + infantry +tower
Range unit civ for long game

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆
Tank ☆
Boom ☆☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆☆
Range ☆☆☆
Ram ☆☆☆

2 raze needed
spawn 8 sec
max pop 80
Kill for advance 250/500
Useful bonus: tower and wall have extra hp

Strong against melee unit, weak against range unit that have higher range
Average in boom
Long game : arbalest /cavalry archer + cav/camel + siege ram + tower
All rounded civ for long game

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆
Tank ☆☆
Boom ☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆
Range ☆☆☆☆☆
Ram ☆☆☆☆☆

2 raze needed
spawn 10 sec
max pop 60
Kill for advance 300/600
Useful bonus: cavalry archer shooting faster; siege ram moving faster ; destroyed house can still have population +5

Strong against melee unit except goth persia
Weak in boom, good in snipe vil
Long game : cavalry archer + siege ram, cavalry /camel if needed
Strong civ for long game with top range unit and ram

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆☆
Tank ☆☆☆
Boom ☆☆☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆
Range ☆☆☆☆
Ram ☆

1 raze needed
spawn 10 sec
max pop 80
Kill for advance 300/500
Useful bonus: range unit have extra hp; imp skirm available for team

Strong against archer ; melee unit except goth and persia if you can hit and run
Good in boom
Long game : arbalest /cavalry archer + cav + tower, imp skirm and halbs if needed
Range unit civ for long game.

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆
Tank ☆☆☆☆☆
Boom

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆
Range ☆☆☆
Ram ☆☆☆☆

4 raze needed
spawn 12 sec
max pop 60
Kill for advance 300/600
Useful bonus: battle elephant move faster ; house can garrison vil
P.s. battle elephant is used instead of ballistic elephant for allinone 870 and clean cba.

Strong against weak melee unit; clumped or big size archer
Terrible in boom; tanking civ
Long game : go on with elite battle elephant ; cav + gunpowder + siege ram
All round civ in long game

Earlier game
Kill
Tank ☆
Boom ☆☆☆☆☆

Late game
Melee
Range ☆☆
Ram ☆

1 raze needed
spawn 6 sec
max pop 60×2
Kill for advance 300imp
Useful bonus: 2hand sword man gold free

Strong against italy and India. Weak against melee unit.
The best boom civ（start in castle age ; 1 razr for vil; 300 kill imp ）
Long game : arbalest. That's all. Maybe some 2 hand sword man, halbs and skirm
Weak in long game, vulnerable to ram and pala/eagle civ

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆☆☆
Tank ☆☆
Boom ☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆
Range ☆
Ram ☆

3 raze needed
spawn 10 sec
max pop 60
Kill for advance 300/600
Useful bonus: cav and arambi have bonus on building; infantry extra attack when advance（+3 in imp）

Strong against all non ranged melee unit with hit and run; with ally as tank arambi can destroy range unit as well due to high attack. Good in setting up raze.
Weak in boom.
Long game : cavalry + cavalry archer. Infantry.
Weak in long game

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆☆☆
Tank ☆☆☆☆☆
Boom

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆☆☆
Range ☆☆
Ram ☆☆☆

4 raze needed
spawn 12 sec
max pop 60
Kill for advance 300/600（700 imp for cba clean）
Useful bonus: cav+2 attack vs archer

The best tank. Good in fighting most unit except Inca, Italy, Saracens.
Weak in boom.
Long game: keep using elite war elephant. Or paladin/camel + hand cannoneer + siege ram.
Strong civ with the best melee unit, siege ram and gunpowder.

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆☆☆
Tank ☆
Boom ☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆☆
Range ☆☆☆☆
Ram ☆☆☆

3 raze needed
spawn 10 sec
max pop 80
Kill for advance 300/600
Useful bonus: hand cannoneer and cavalry archer have extra hp; training speed faster for hand cannoneer; free chemistry

Out range all range unit; Strong against most unit with hit and run
Weak in boom.
Long game : cavalry/camel +cav archer/hand cannoneer + siege ram +tower
All rounded in long game.

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆☆
Tank ☆☆☆☆
Boom ☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆☆☆
Range ☆☆☆☆
Ram ☆☆☆

2 raze needed
spawn 10 sec
max pop 60
Kill for advance 300/600
Useful bonus: building with bonus hp; camel, pike and skirm cheaper ;

Strong against infantry. Decent in against weak archer like Italy, Maya, India, good in tanking
Weak in boom.
Long game: pala /camel+ arbalest /cavalry archer/ hand cannoneer+ siege ram +tower. Good monks. Byz get everything. The best all rounded civ for long game.

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆☆☆
Tank ☆☆☆
Boom ☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆
Range ☆☆☆☆☆
Ram ☆☆☆☆

2 raze needed
spawn 10 sec
max pop 60
Kill for advance 300/600
Useful bonus: foot archer bonus attack on building for whole team; cavalry archer bonus attack on building; camel +30 hp; dead monk return 33 gold; market selling at better price

Strong against cavalry, but no bonus on byz cataphract and Berbers camel archer. Strong in vs non ranged infantry except teuton inca. Classified as archer, Goths huskarl get bonus on Saracens mamuluk, need hit and run.
Weak in boom.
Long game : arbalest /cavalry archer/ hand cannoneer +camel + siege ram + tower, decent monk too.
Good civ for long game.

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆☆
Tank ☆☆
Boom ☆☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆☆
Range ☆☆☆☆
Ram ☆

1 raze needed
spawn 10 sec
max pop 60
Kill for advance 300/600
Useful bonus: villagers move faster; stable unit cheaper; camel regenerate; genitour available for team

Strong against infantry except goth. Strong against cavalry archer like Korea Burm India Mongol.
Good in boom and snipe vil
Long game : cavalry /camel + cavalry archer /gunpowder, genitour available
Good civ for long game

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆
Tank ☆☆☆☆☆
Boom ☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆☆
Range ☆☆☆☆☆
Ram ☆

3 raze needed
spawn 12 sec
max pop 60
Kill for advance 300/600
Useful bonus: camel bonus on building; imp camel; gunpowder +1 range

Weak against all unit; but due to high hp, archer（except Italy and Berbers） cant kill india elephant archer effectively.
Weak in boom but good in tank
Long game : imp camel + hand cannoneer/ cavalry archer
Tanking civ in earlier stage but decent civ in long game with good range unit and melee unit.

Earlier game
Kill ☆
Tank ☆☆
Boom ☆☆☆☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆
Range ☆☆☆☆
Ram ☆☆☆☆☆

2 raze needed
spawn 8 sec
max pop 100
Kill for advance 500 imp
Useful bonus: archer reloading faster; siege ram trample area larger

Weak against most unit due to low hp. Strong in boom. Strong in rush.
Long game : arbalest +siege ram. Cavalry archer, cavalry and camel can be used too.
Weak against pala/eagle civ

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆☆☆
Tank ☆
Boom ☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆☆
Range ☆☆
Ram

3 raze needed
spawn 10 sec
max pop 80
Kill for advance 300/600
Useful bonus: team university researching faster; stable unit +5 attack（+3 when compared with standard cav ）; infantry PA increase when advance （+3 in total）

Strong against cav and infantry except teuton. Good in dealing with short range archer
Weak in boom.
Long game : cavalry /camel + hand cannoneer + Infantry.
Average in long game.

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆☆☆
Tank ☆☆
Boom ☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆
Range ☆☆☆☆
Ram ☆☆

2 raze needed
spawn 12 sec
max pop 80
Kill for advance 300/600
Useful bonus: unit cost less gold; gunpowder affected by ballistic

Strong against all unit if keep the distance and population. Mongol and Magyar unique unit have bonus on siege, be careful as organ gun is siege unit. Can't garrison in castle.
Weak in boom. Remember siege engineer can +1 range.
Long game : cavalry + arbalest /gunpowder.
Average in long game.

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆☆
Tank ☆
Boom ☆☆☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆
Range ☆☆☆☆
Ram

1 raze needed
spawn 8 sec
max pop 80
Kill for advance 300/500
Useful bonus: archer have extra armour; hand cannoneer cheaper ; condottiero available for team

Strong against cavalry. Alright in against infantry, weak against foot archer.
Good in boom.
Long game : arbalest /gunpowder + cavalry + condottiero + tower
Average in long game.

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆☆
Tank ☆☆
Boom ☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆☆☆
Range ☆☆☆☆☆
Ram ☆☆☆

3 raze needed
spawn 10 sec
max pop 60
Kill for advance 300/600
Useful bonus: gunpowder faster reloading speed; building faster; villagers get higher hp; missionaries available

Strong against melee unit. Weak in boom.
Long game : paladin + hand cannoneer/cavalry archer + siege ram + tower. Monks.
One of the best all rounded long game civ.

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆
Tank ☆☆☆
Boom ☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆☆☆
Range ☆☆
Ram ☆

3 raze needed
spawn 8 sec
max pop 80
Kill for advance 250/500
Useful bonus: stable work faster; paladin extra hp; cav have better LOS for team

Strong against melee unit except teuton and slavs. Due to slow and short range, bad in fighting against range unit.
Weak in boom as 3 raze needed. But if Frank viled, there will be the strongest pala boom in early imp.
Long game : paladin + hand cannoneer
Good in long game as frank have the best pala, but watch for the gold amount.

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆☆
Tank ☆
Boom ☆☆☆☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆
Range ☆☆☆☆☆
Ram ☆

1 raze needed
spawn 8 sec
max pop 80
Kill for advance 300/500
Useful bonus: Archer have extra range ; archer range work faster whole team ; tower higher attack

Strong against infantry and archer, except Goths Korea India Vietnam .
Good in boom. （1 raze for vil; 300 kill castle age with 5+4 range cross bow which is imp level ;Range work faster can simulate conscription too, making bri 300 kill “imp”）

Long game: arbalest + tower + cav . Halbs and skirm if needed.
A defensive civ which could make enemy out of gold.

Earlier game
Kill ☆
Tank ☆☆☆
Boom ☆☆☆☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆
Range
Ram ☆☆☆☆☆

2 raze needed
spawn 8 sec
max pop 100
Kill for advance 250/400
Useful bonus: siege workshop working faster for whole team; Ram bonus hp and attack faster ; tower reloading speed faster ; infantry move faster

Can fight against weak infantry, like Goths, Vikings, Ethiopia, Malay. Magyar, Huns. Good in catching archer as they are fast. Good in rush.
Strong in booming （400 kill imp; ram faster in spawn）
Long game: paladin + siege ram + tower. Infantry. I dont classify Celt pala as pala

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆
Tank ☆☆☆☆
Boom ☆☆☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆☆
Range ☆☆
Ram ☆

2 raze needed
spawn 8 sec
max pop 100
Kill for advance 300/500
Useful bonus: infantry bonus attack on building ; infantry spawn faster（whole team） and cheaper in cost; huskarl in barracks ; extra 10 pop in imp

Strong against archer, good in against gunpowder and Burma. Weak against melee unit.
Good in boom when imp（huskarl insane spawn speed and extra 10 unit）
Long game : gunpowder + huskarl
Similar to eagle civ but with better “eagle” and weaker ram. With gunpowder, Goths is more resistant to pala civ when compared with eagle civ. I would classified Goths as “eagle civ”

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆
Tank ☆☆☆
Boom ☆☆☆☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆
Range ☆☆
Ram ☆☆☆☆

2 raze needed
spawn 8 sec
max pop 100
Kill for advance 500 imp
Useful bonus: barracks unit get bonus hp and attack on cavalry and camel

Just like Ethiopia, strong in boom and rush. Better in kill as vik have better hp and bonus against cav when comparing with Ethiopia.
Long game : arbalest +siege ram. Infantry, cavalry can be used too.
Weak against pala/eagle civ

Earlier game
Kill ☆☆☆
Tank ☆☆☆☆
Boom ☆☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆☆☆
Range ☆☆
Ram ☆☆

3 raze needed
spawn 8 sec
max pop 100
Kill for advance 250/500
Useful bonus: team unit resisting conversion ; ram extra melee armour; castle longer range; garrison infantry can increase arrow amount

Strong against melee unit, including Saracens, Malian, Frank. Due to slow in moving speed, bad in fighting against range unit.
Weak in boom as 3 raze needed.
Long game : paladin + hand cannoneer + tower

Earlier game
Kill ☆
Tank ☆☆☆☆
Boom ☆

Late game
Melee ☆☆☆☆☆
Range ☆☆☆
Ram ☆☆☆

5 raze needed
spawn 10 sec
max pop 60
Kill for advance 200/400
Useful bonus: stable work faster for whole team; tarkan available in stable; cavalry archer cheaper ;no need house

Good in fighting archer except Italy. Strong in rush and setup raze
Weak in boom as 5 raze needed.
Long game : paladin/tarkan + cavalry archer + siege ram
All rounded civ for long game.