WP,
That is such a great compliment! And very gracious of you to say that!
Regarding #5...
We double checked Geothe's starting position, and if the mod script got executed properly, the Geothe is supposed to be heavily in debt, so much that it would only be able to afford one militia equipped with thermite jar. So Bibi, our testing coordinator asked me to relay the message from her that perhaps you might want to make sure your mod script starts correctly (I wished I had thought of that).
Same reason the Thyssa might be passive is because the mod script is not activated correctly, because the mod script allows Thyssa more resources and wealth, and Thyssa Amazons will be able to hold on their own.
To activate the mod script, as you entered into the campaign mode for the first time after you launched the Rome Total War/BI game, you press the ESC key and the game control menu would show up, you then click on the "?" icon (not pressing the "?" key) on that menu and then click the green/black circle just under the adviser that just popped up, then click the "X" icon on the right hand side of the adviser to close the adviser mode, then click the return to game button on top of the game control menu, the mod script is now active.