First off, exciting thread title, no?
Now, to my point. I have noticed, while playing Vanilla RTW, Rome: Total Realism (am I allowed to name other mods?) and even (though to a lesser extent) with Mundus Magnus 2, that the interaction between various factions really wasn't satisfying. For instance, if I'm Rome, I want to be faced with Gauls raiding into the heart of Italy or Hannibal leading a mighty army against my cities; I don't just want to see the Carthaginians blockade one of my ports with a single bireme. That latter is just not exciting, or particularly enjoyable, and just ends up with me annihilating their empire and then feeling guilty about it because it was so easy, like kicking a dog or something. The only time when I haven't really had this problem was on Mundus Magnus when playing as Armenia (everyone wants a piece of you then!). But this problem seems to be intensified when the Senate is removed and Rome becomes one faction (I do agree with this change, incidentally), as there is no artificial impetus for conquest. I found in Rome: Total Realism that other nations were perfectly happy to conquer each other, but none ever really came after me. So, has Europa Barbarorum done anything to make the campaign game (as well as the battles) more interesting in this respect? Can we expect more interaction between empires, perhaps more complex diplomacy and, dare I say it, more war?