As much as playing as the big guys of history the likes of France or Rome is fun in its own way, I'm allured to civs that were less of main characters. Ones that weren't so lucky iirl or had every odds thrown against them. Stuff like playing pagan tribes in CK2, Welsh in TW:Medieval, Hittites in civ3, Bohemians in AoE2 and, if we're going into even more fictional territory, I did enjoy making American Dakota kingdom from Rushmore county surrounded by natives in CK2's mod After the End. I guess I just like going against odds and history. Making empires from the bottom than repeating already existing ones.
What's your opinion? Do you have any underdog/obscure civ you're always happy to turn into powerhouse whenever you have occasion?