looking for a good civ combo

Hey guys,

my friend and me are "coming back" to AoE3 and now we are looking for a good civ combo. Our first goal is to beat bots on expert difficulty becaus we think we will get destroyed against real player. What would be a good civ combo for us? We both like top turtle first and defend some waves before we attack with a very big amount of units. He likes to play japanese, i dont have a prefered civ.

it would be awesome if you could help us a bit with the civ desicion and maybe recommend me a guide.