Is there a list of which factions are more/less complete?

[Morte66]

They have a hundred different types of spearmen and not a single good missle unit.

I'm playing Carthage at the moment. After Pontus I wanted a faction that:
(a) was nowhere near Seleucia
(b) did not feature slingers and pike phalanxes as their best troops
(c) had some generals who could actually put in a decent charge
(d) was a really long way from Seleucia

As for the spearmen...
- The militia are not very good or notably cheap, but you can build them everywhere on day one. Or, if you're me, you can disband them everywhere on day one.
- Libyan Spearmen are quite good in melee, they carry (plentiful) javelins, and the first serious barracks will (re)train them.
- The Liby-Phoenecian Spearmen melee a little better, but have no missiles and need a much pricier barracks.

So far I've standardised on the Libyans. I might build a bunch of Liby-Phoenecians for the centre of the field army I'll need against Rome. Otherwise they're not worth the administrative aggro.

As for missiles, if you want good missiles it's Balearic slinger mercs. AFAICT. I was hoping I could build them in the Balearic Isles, but I can't so far.

Non-native barracks in eastern Sicily get you "hellenic archers", which are not that good but very cheap. They're good garrison troops -- they shoot flaming arrows at siege engines, and did I mention they're very cheap. I pump a constant stream out of Syracuse and ship them everywhere.