Palmyrans

Economy:

Palmyra gets an extremely good economy once they get going. The Villagers cost 75 food, collect resources 20 % (actually more like 40 to 50 %) faster and have 1 armour (also 1 piercing armour). 
Tribute is free and the gold per trade boat is doubled – dubious bonuses according to most players. But it’s nice if Palmy is feeding allies. 
Rather poor Market. The absence of most Iron Age techs here means that the Villagers’ gathering bonus doesn’t amount to much once all players are in Iron. Of course they will still gather food faster from farms.

Religion:

Weak Temple – for some players the only reason it isn’t their absolute favorite civilisation. Palmy can counter enemy Priests with CAs and Chariots.

Military:

The Camel Riders are 25% faster – that makes them as fast as the Heavy Horse Archer, and the fastest Bronze Age unit in the game. According to many players this is one of the most lame bonuses in the game. Your best option is to make an army with largely archers and Stable units. 
If Palmyra doesn’t get the strongest military at least the Villagers can replace them faster. 
Poor infantry, including the Academy units. Slingers get all technologies. No Logistics – face it: you don’t need Logistics with their infantry. 
Most Pit technologies are available. 
Palmy gets most archery units and most Siege weapons but they’re handicapped by lack of range in the Iron Age. 
Palmy gets all walls and all towers with all technologies but with limited range in Iron. 
The navy is nothing special.

Best in Age(s):

Bronze, Iron.

RM Ranking:

A tough civ.

Single Player:

A lovely civ, great for people who want a challenge. You’ll have to get used to their fast working Villagers – they need more micromanagement. Playing at normal speed really helps at first. Finding food fast at the start is imperative. The CP often succumbs in nomad starts because they spend too many Villies exploring. You may want to trib your ally to help them through their difficult start.

Multi Player:

It’s regarded as extremely weak. When you win with them your opponent may say he didn’t really try because you had Palmy.

DM Ranking:

Score: 59%

Ranking: 10th

Description: In my view, an underplayed and underestimated civ. Sure their units might not be the best around and may lack the killer bonus but their harder working villagers really prove helpful in dragging the resources in. They have the scythe, AE, cat, and HHA.

Multiplayer: You need to be very good at micromanaging. Forward build three types of building, the siege workshop, the stable AND the archery range. Protect with towers as usual. First rush with ele and HA to take out their eles, if you can and then bring out the siege and prepare scythes for when gold runs out. Remember, usually rushing two units is not advised as it delays the rush time. But because you don’t want to get too deep into cat wars due to no engineering you need to get a little edge.

Best when: You can mix HAs with your ele rush.