I have reached 1250ish in my current game of Beta 3. I am putting foot down, and NOT downloading beta 4 and starting over. I simply MUST get a bit further along, as I've got an interesting game going, and the black plague just started and reminded me that this isn't the Roman Empire in its prime. I'm beset on all sides, and with important generals dying recently, I am short leaders for my troops. I am playing on VH/VH and was #1 in every category briefly. The Turks are basically finished in the east; they hold only Trebizond and a province behind the KoJ line that extends from Jerusalem to the Georgian capitol. They took Tunis as the result of a Jihad, which is actually beneficial to me, in case I take Trebizond. Nothing is worse than the "horde" walking around territory, trying to decide what to do.

How have other Byzantine players fared with the new patches? Should I expect the game to get tougher now that the plague has hit and I've lost important alliances (Egypt, for example)