pineappledan
Deity
After actually trying to form a list of civs and leaders I understand more why we only ever get the Achaemenids. Because of history’s recency bias — there is more history closer to our own time — there are actually very few civs you can put as early as Persia. Also, the Sassanid capital of Ctesiphon is not in Iran, but in Mesopotamia. So from a geographic and chronological diversity standpoint the Achaemenids offer more diversity to the roster overall.
Also, the later you go, the harder it becomes to build a kit that feels unique. Structurally, the Safavids are pretty similar to other gunpowder empires like the Ottomans or the Gurkanis, so it’s relatively more difficult to make each of them stand out. Qizilbash were comparable to Sipahi, their later use of Caucasian Ghilman is basically identical to (also predominantly Caucasian) Mamluks, and both the Safavids and Gurkani made use of zamburaks.
Also, the later you go, the harder it becomes to build a kit that feels unique. Structurally, the Safavids are pretty similar to other gunpowder empires like the Ottomans or the Gurkanis, so it’s relatively more difficult to make each of them stand out. Qizilbash were comparable to Sipahi, their later use of Caucasian Ghilman is basically identical to (also predominantly Caucasian) Mamluks, and both the Safavids and Gurkani made use of zamburaks.