I wanted to play my next short campaign with a faction that has some good infantry that can compete with the Romans, but there really doesn't seem to be any good ones with a quick glance at the unit chart.

I don't count hoplites or any unit that can form a phalanx as decent infantry, they are simply too painful to control to be worth playing a faction with them. Gaul looked promising, but the only-roads tech limitation and no stonewalls thing, that rather dumbs things down considerably. Any way to mod this so they could get the maximum tech for roads? I would love to do that.

What do you guys recommend? I'm also looking for a faction with some decent missile units that have a good long range.

Thanks in advance.