an unsistematical feedback...

[Direct]

I've played this mod ( 0.4)) for sometime now, I will try it again when Kipchacks will come.It does have some problems, besides the good things , as the latter are more obvious I will insist on the former.
Playing as the bizzies: quite easy to boring, I've finished the Hung. easilz, only with cuman units, used only the existed varangians, as I thez+re quite overpowered ( rising their upkeep could be a point). It is not even a far approximation of a troubled and endangered empire, no way... The balkans are a source of huge wealth, lots of cities makin' a lot of cash, a good ordered society for the 1st time in their history...There's some problems with the movement points maybe, AI is getting his army aggressively, , living undefended cities in the back, you can take them with cavalry stacks and boom, finished faction. I just cannot refrain from that , really. Also as France, I took HRE quite soon, first destroying all its infrastructure wile he was besieging with all its armies., took like 10 turns.. Again, crusades are like some races always won by poland, 5 times I saw Jerusalem as a polish city,. and always they expand rapidly on north, ???***. now I think crusades should take more years too assemble, cost a lot of resources, and march a long and difficult way, But the main point that need some thought is this : the vast teritories that the AI is living empty., giving huge incomes from plundering, etc, etc.
About the units, some of them are of them are sensibly disproportionate ( not to say otherwise...). But I am sure that improvement will come with time, this is one of the most balanced mods I've seen around. merci.
corollary: bulgaria or Serbia could be taken into consider., and too bad that the Burgundy discussion ended like it did.

[Socal_infidel]

1] The Byzzies starting position will be revised in the next version. They will not begin with their Anatolian possessions save for Trebizond. This is being done to reflect their actual empire at 1080 A.D. (Thanks to everybody's darling from Basileia Total War). Hopefully that and the split of the Turk factions into the Rum Turks and the Seljuks will give them a challenge should it attempt to retake Anatolia.

2] The AI, thus far, is simply plain ol' dumb vanilla "AS" (artificial stupidity). Considering the alternatives out there as I quite simply don't have the time to write my own at them moment.

3] I'm taking a good hard look (when not actually modding) at how best to use the remaining 3 faction slots. Although, I cannot see any plausible way to include Burgundy as a faction. The mod begins in 1080 AD. Their rise in international politics doesn't begin for another 300 years or so. What's the connection to include them in 1080 AD? Other than that area needs a buffer between France and the HRE?

I am happy with Toulouse. To me it offers a more interesting starting point and gameplay experience. They can move into Iberia, move into the Mediterranean, take on France, pack up and set up a 'Crusader state' in the Levant. They had their own culture, their own language and as mentioned, their annexation into France was not a foregone conclusion.

Cheers! Thanks for the feedback.

[Gigantus]

I wonder if removing the land bridge at Constantinopel (and leaving the one south of it) might change the 'Race for Jerusalem' a bit.

[VanguardXIII]

I've played this mod ( 0.4)) for sometime now, I will try it again when Kipchacks will come.It does have some problems, besides the good things , as the latter are more obvious I will insist on the former.
Playing as the bizzies: quite easy to boring, I've finished the Hung. easilz, only with cuman units, used only the existed varangians, as I thez+re quite overpowered ( rising their upkeep could be a point). It is not even a far approximation of a troubled and endangered empire, no way... The balkans are a source of huge wealth, lots of cities makin' a lot of cash, a good ordered society for the 1st time in their history...There's some problems with the movement points maybe, AI is getting his army aggressively, , living undefended cities in the back, you can take them with cavalry stacks and boom, finished faction. I just cannot refrain from that , really. Also as France, I took HRE quite soon, first destroying all its infrastructure wile he was besieging with all its armies., took like 10 turns.. Again, crusades are like some races always won by poland, 5 times I saw Jerusalem as a polish city,. and always they expand rapidly on north, ???***. now I think crusades should take more years too assemble, cost a lot of resources, and march a long and difficult way, But the main point that need some thought is this : the vast teritories that the AI is living empty., giving huge incomes from plundering, etc, etc.
About the units, some of them are of them are sensibly disproportionate ( not to say otherwise...). But I am sure that improvement will come with time, this is one of the most balanced mods I've seen around. merci.
corollary: bulgaria or Serbia could be taken into consider., and too bad that the Burgundy discussion ended like it did.

I too have been playing with the bizzies, as you say, and I think you should use RealCombat for PDER, and make sure you are using the latest mods for that. Playing on Vh/Vh, you should find no shortage of a challenge.

Cuman armies won't be able to beat back hungarians willy-nilly. The bizzies will also probably lose some big territories if you are less than great at micromanaging each city and town for the first 10 years.

On VH/VH, the Turks have you racing against them and the clock to take up more territories in Anatolia and eastwards. Ditto with Russians and the Steppes, Huns and the Balkans.

I find the Bizzies to be something of a challenge. With weak early spear infantry, and no choice but to attack one early on X-tian faction or other, it should be something to rise to.

The Turks, Huns, Sicilians, Kievan Rus, and soon after, Germans, Egyptians and Venetians, will stop at little to crush you.

My guess is that you are playing the game with bad battle AI and no good mod ad-ons - mostly, I think you should try only playing VH/VH