I agree with india, I don't think CA choosing to have Britain as a playable faction is because of national pride, and I don't think France is in because we British love to hate them. It would be silly to have a game based around colonial empires and not feature the country that historically had the largest empire the world has ever seen. The same goes for France, it was huge historically, and therefore should be in the game.

However I do think that the Thirteen Colonies are only a playable faction so CA can put "Play as a founding father!" and "Fight for independence" on the box. Historically they were very small (until later on of course) and weren't really a major power. In fact I think they were pretty lucky that one of the real powers of the time didn't make a more concentrated effort to take them out.

As for fleshing out 12 or so factions more than the otehrs, I think it's a good idea. They obviously don't have the time to make all 50 factions stand out (unique units, voices, traits, buildings, ships, architecture etc.) but atleast a reasonable number will. I would rather play a game with 12 great factions and 38 good but samey factions than a game with 50 similar factions.

Focusing on just twelve allows them to add in a bit of local flavour and atmosphere that has been missing since Medieval.