Question/Idea: Sappers?

DISCLAIMER: I haven't played AoE2 in quite a while. Take what I say with some salt.

One technology that stuck out to me for a while, was Sappers. I'm a little mixed on the idea of Villagers serving as an anti-building unit, due to how vulnerable they are, how little base damage they have, and generally how they'd seem better suited to economic duties. Now, I'm aware of the Spanish, who have super-villagers, but generally it seems less than useful in a lot of circumstances.

However, if the tech actually IS underpowered, I thought of a couple of possible fixes, to rebalance it.

Concept 1: Super Rams

One idea to make villagers more useful in sieges, is to make garrisoning them in rams more appealing. For instance, a ram garrisoned with infantry gains a notable damage bonus, but what if a ram garrisoned with villagers gained an even bigger one? Alternatively, what if garrisoning villagers in them instead boosted the attack RATE? The latter would also be interesting, because then it leads to a sort of flexibility, and decision as to what would be more useful: attack power, or attack rate. This would be strictly done by the tech, of course. And just garrisoning villagers in a ram without the upgrade probably shouldn't be promoted, unless it's part of some ploy, or escape method. This concept would also play into the idea of sappers working under protective cover, while they undermine the fortifications of enemies.

Concept 2: Siege & Ship repair boost

Much more straightforward than concept 1. In addition to doing more damage to buildings, maybe repairing ships & siege units faster and/or cheaper would also be helpful. The idea being that you have a ram full of villagers, to back up your trebuchets & onagers, and make them go further. Though, I'm not quite as familiar with how often repairs are used.

Concept 3: Scrap Salvage

This one's a little different, because it incentivizes using villagers against buildings...but less for the explicit purpose of destroying them, as much as gaining resources. Essentially, as villagers attack buildings, and/or when they're destroyed, they gain a portion of the resources that building was made of. Castles will give stone, barracks will give wood, and so on.

Concept 4: Fast Siege Workshop/Military Buildings

Shifting the villager from use as a siege unit, to use in siege/raiding. It speeds up the building time for siege workshops (and maybe other military buildings) by your villagers, and maybe makes the buildings a bit cheaper. Maybe As opposed to a town center/tower/castle rush, where your job is to box the enemy in, this will allow you to sustain a raid, and retain pressure on an enemy. However, to balance things a bit, it does NOT affect the cost of your units. So, you still have to mind your economy.

Concept 5: Pierce Armor/Building Resistance

To the point. Make your villagers less susceptible to building attacks, and maybe they'll be more viable for attacking them.

So, what do you guys think? Think there's potential in this? Think they could use some tweaks? Think sappers is already fine as is? Let me know! Feedback is always appreciated!