I want to feel like I am struggling for survival in the late period. (I can get that feeling in high if I handicap myself by not taking Constantinople.) For example I find playing the Turks in late to be a lot harder than the Byzantines.

I am not a expert on Byzantine history, and know only a little bit, but didnt the Byzantines struggle due to these reasons.

1 Trade declining. Constantinople didnt control the tade routes to the east anymore. (Constantinople is like the best city in the whole game for trade in the late period.)

2 Losing Armenia meant that the quality of there cavary declined. (I might be wrong, but I find with a Master Spearmakers guild in Nicaea they have the best quality cacary in the game.)

3 Civil wars. In the later Byzantine days, there seemed to be a lot of civil strife. (The Byzantines in the game, seem to be the most stable faction. They can take hits in the game, that will make catholic factions split into civil war.)

I am thinking of moding the game to make the Byzantines weaker.

Have Byzantine infrantry as early only. (Or perhaps replace them with pikemen types.)

Have the Byzantine replacements be spearman only slightly better than standard spearmen.

Have the Trebizonds as a rival Byzantine faction in high.

Make the late Byzantines have a loyalty penalty in late.

Get rid of poni Algoni in late, and replace it with Byzantine lancers. (Did I spell that correctly?)

Anyone else got any ideas. I want the late and high Byzantines to be the hardest faction to play in the game.