game play seems to be just how I envisioned it! you can acquire rather easily 5-8 settlements easily! (they are only small towns & villages with little or no garrisons & generate little wealth ) you have to upgrade & build your "little" Dynastic sphere until you are strong enough to go for the five central fortresses and the total 50 settlements~ I played until a Jihad & it was called on one of these five fortresses (still not getting that video to work though) but I noticed they all are heavily garrisoned! not with just the armies we put there but it is obvious (as I had hoped) each one has been recruiting heavily!) they are all full stacks with several wondering just outside, so you will need at least five stacks for each one! luckily your economy seems slim in the beginning but it will grow! strong! so you can support the armies needed for your conquest! I set it like this so you are not harassed by other factions & can build your infra-structure! in fact alliances are an even more valuable asset than in vanilla!
only thing is I removed all gunpowder
I am thinking I should put it back!
but limit it to "bombard" "grand bombard" & may be "mortar or cannon"