Sicilians and Burgundians make the Franks dull thematically

This is probably my main beef with the new civs (though I'm excited to see new civs added). Normans and Burgundians render the Franks dull thematically.

This is in part, I assume, because the OG AoEII civs were less "specific", much more broad. The Franks represented not only middle-age French, but also dark ages Franks and crusaders (though they shared this spot with the Teutons, who had the only military order-based UU, and Britons). Hence why they had bonus to their cavalry (something traditionnaly associated with 11-16th century France) and axe throwers (something associated with 5-9th century franks). The same issue existed with the Celts and the Turks and, to a lesser extent, the Teutons, who were used to cover vastly different eras and cultures...

Now, the Sicilians officially get the "crusade theme", even though Normans are only associated with the first two crusades (and even then, the difference between a Frank and a Norman was quite blurry, at least for foreigners), while Franks/French kept crusading until the 15th century. And the Burgundians get the western european heavy cavalry theme, even though the dukedom of Burgundy was militarily known for its use of mercenaries and heavy infantry, rather than for its cavalry.

This means the Franks defining theme, who was already under heavy pressure with some of the newer civs that had just as good if not better heavy cavalry, will fade even further. I know why it has happened, but I still regret it.