Why Xerxes? Cyrus and Darius were far better leaders! Darius is the next good choice for the Persians...and he should probably be given the Organized trait for his work reorganizing the Persians, especially in Ionia.
Here's another alternative to Pericles: Epaminondas. Now, hear me out:
If you want a leader to represent Greece who is actually Greek, the most obvious choice seems to be the leader of the Athenians at their height in the 5th century BCE: Pericles. However, in the 4th century BCE, Thebes manages to take control of the vast majority of Greece, as the head of the Boeotian League. The major leaders of Thebes at the time were Pelopidas (the head of the Sacred Band) and Epaminondas (another general, but one more politically inclined). Epaminondas came the closest, I think, to uniting Greece under the Greeks, reduced Sparta to a second-rate power, and brought most of Greece under Theban influence. He's a solid contender, I think.
I'm going to throw in my name suggestions for France and Germany: Phillip Augustus for France and Barbarossa for Germany--both pre-Rennaissance leaders that don't get a lot of love on the boards. For Japan, I'm thinking Meiji myself, a more Industrial/Modern Japanese leader who wouldn't be a complete isolationist like Tokugawa--he's the figurehead of the modern image of Japan.
Can anyone tell my why Phillip II of Spain? Was he the bankrupt one or the incompetent one? If any leader should be added, I would suggest Charles V (or Carlos I, I think, by the Spanish succession). However, he became the Holy Roman Empire and ruler of all things Hapsburg (Austria), so he might not be in the running, especially if Austria is in the game.
@Duuk: Good post on Napoleon.
Here's another alternative to Pericles: Epaminondas. Now, hear me out:
If you want a leader to represent Greece who is actually Greek, the most obvious choice seems to be the leader of the Athenians at their height in the 5th century BCE: Pericles. However, in the 4th century BCE, Thebes manages to take control of the vast majority of Greece, as the head of the Boeotian League. The major leaders of Thebes at the time were Pelopidas (the head of the Sacred Band) and Epaminondas (another general, but one more politically inclined). Epaminondas came the closest, I think, to uniting Greece under the Greeks, reduced Sparta to a second-rate power, and brought most of Greece under Theban influence. He's a solid contender, I think.
I'm going to throw in my name suggestions for France and Germany: Phillip Augustus for France and Barbarossa for Germany--both pre-Rennaissance leaders that don't get a lot of love on the boards. For Japan, I'm thinking Meiji myself, a more Industrial/Modern Japanese leader who wouldn't be a complete isolationist like Tokugawa--he's the figurehead of the modern image of Japan.
Can anyone tell my why Phillip II of Spain? Was he the bankrupt one or the incompetent one? If any leader should be added, I would suggest Charles V (or Carlos I, I think, by the Spanish succession). However, he became the Holy Roman Empire and ruler of all things Hapsburg (Austria), so he might not be in the running, especially if Austria is in the game.
@Duuk: Good post on Napoleon.
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