I've only played Pontos and Suebi and find both very exciting. In the Pontos KI me even defeated, because I had not yet understood the whole innovations in game mechanics at the beginning. You have in many aspects to get used by its predecessors ago thinking first time, you can not protect, for example, all cities with strong armies, it is not enough for the money, but has to have a lot of strategic thinking and good timing, when to a city relatively uncovered can leave and when not ... overall I think the AI significantly more than previously, though certainly not perfect .. is just only an AI .... but so stupid mono unit types armies, as described in some reviews, are with me the new patches ever never met. The enemy armies appear to me to put together useful by the Bank.
The battles are relatively fast and dynamic and you have to pause real often to give new commands to endure a battle strategy, but that it was not possible to obtain a line of battle upright, is nonsense. Because maybe some simply the more static battles of previous usual. Ich finds good and somehow so real .. in the heat of battle it is .. just not easy to keep everything together
The battles run mostly quite aggressively and before the collision must be well maneuvered and positioned, otherwise the tide of battle turns unexpectedly sometimes very quickly against a ... over time of course you get standard methods and tricks out to overturn the AI forces, but that's just the way in fighting against AI ... I was honestly shocked when the terminators then it would wiser than the people ... but the bad new AI is really not .. On the contrary ... but up to a self-learning and full consciousness attained wealthy KI CA likely need a few games ;-)
With the latest patch the opponents resort to the strategy card rather bravely, because tens of armies are just as useless rum..leider not, unless there is (and thus protect capital) and their battles are quite demanding good reasons. The Siege AI opponent is still a bit poor (in attacker as well as in defense role) and dealing with attack by long-range weapons (catapults) has always been a weak point of the KI in the Total War parts .. but honestly .. what can you do because if you defend with ten men and a failure or Allout attack can not dare and is bombarded with something. This is also known as HI (Human Intelligence) a dilemma ...
The unit diversity is at least not really exhilarating among the Germans, but that bothers me very little. A good unit balancing is more important to me and you get up more with a not totally unmanageable unit numbers materialize, otherwise you will find that is sometime again the "About" unit with which you destroyed everything, and then complains it again as weak but the AI is so
Wen also lusted after more units or other variations of the game, which can indeed freely operate in the huge range Mod on Steam and I find that really awesome: That you can choose directly the mods on Steam and integrated without the Vanilla game thus broken to make ... you can always turn off mods again and already already the number of mods is unmanageable .. and let's face it ... the Vanilla Total War games have always been a little easier than it would give the engine to an introduction to the not be too complicated to have TW world.
I'm not saying that the game is flawless and perfect, the family / tribe / influence system is somehow dysfunctional and do nothing that really has an impact, the generals and agents die too fast, I find the lack of seasons pity ( but you can all "unlock" by Mod or change) and I lack the ability of Rome I alone in 3D to watch their cities ... but an average rating of at the moment three stars here at Amazon is total nonsense .. I long had no longer so much and so long strategy fun and would like to play the game even for a few months and with two three further fractions Vanilla and then finally "De Bello Gallico" playing Caesar in Gaul (Oh!, were six Years Latin so too what is good) until I still install me some really good mods .. I think it's awesome and it gets better from patch to patch ..
Sooo and now the Suebi need the combined Spartans and Athenians ward in the south while in the north must strike the United Iceni and Caledonians and the southeast against Celtic confederation and the east against the Romans a Bastarni .. I have no seen in Rome II .... pure alternative historians ... and the glory in graphics and really functioning combined land / sea battles!
Oh and I'm really just a fan and no CA or Sega scribbler ... and those who whine that's all too easy to just stop playing .. who can see into the future and to iron out any errors with saving / loading hats can stop easily ... playing on legendary and if that is not a challenge, you should maybe prefer the Chess World Cup win either way ..