Anthony (and Darkvicer), have you tried the solution (in the sticky Martok linked to) concerning the replacement of the two campaign map files? That should really be the first thing to do, because on my bro's computer (nope, haven't got my own just yet), MTW: Gold was crashing when it finished loading the campaign map recently (the fact that eventually MTW: Gold wouldn't even load, as some people might remember me mentioning in an old thread, was down to the latest Nvidia drivers going all-out on my bro's computer and not just a particular game...). However, on replacing the files with the ones linked to in the sticky, hey presto, the campaign map worked just fine. On Nvidia 8600 drivers, nevertheless. I only have issues with the battlemap now (which I can't seem to resolve, but I'm going to improvise and use custom formations and the radar map to fight battles).

The battlemap issues can be resolved to an extent, though. Check post #166 in the following thread...
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...t=69367&page=6

Oh, and those files you can replace to get the campaign map working - XL doesn't seem to mess with them, and neither does Tyberius' mod. Don't know about other mods. Means you can install mods over a game with the two files replaced, and not have to worry about the mod copying over them.