I tried playing as the Britons. I almost got wiped out on the mainland, and there are nearly constant barbarian/rebel uprising on the Island (England) itself. The Gauls and the Germans are constantly demanding that I become a protectorate (I obviously tell them to eff off), and those people have no honor whatsoever. Every time we make peace, almost without fail two turns later they break their word and attack me (even if we have an alliance). I captured a territory in Russia of all places fairly early in the game, and nobody has really seemed to attack that, and I have also taken 2 cities from the Gauls and 1 from the Germans. The Britons are, however, greatly blessed when it comes to family members, the only faction I've seen that gets more family members are the Greeks.
I don't really see how the Britons could become a superpower. They have a pathetic variety of units, and most of which are ungodly expensive for a pitiful economy. There are times when I don't even have the funding to retrain peasants (well this was a starting unit they gave me, and I had to make do). I don't really see how they could outfit an entire army of heavy chariots, chosen swordsmen, and head hurlers (not a hugely effective unit, but they are fairly high up on the requirements aspect of things, that's why I mentioned them). I can see how many nations could become superpowers, but there is no way the Britons could effectively become a superpower under the AI's control. At least that I've seen.
