I reinstalled MTW Gold and XL with Tyberius 2.2 (Shame about that silliness with ownership!).

My my, what a charming political situation the game can become - sometimes it follows the traditional path (Turks destroyed by Byzantines, Danish conquer Britain, Portugal vanquished by Arabs, H.R.E. gone in twenty-five turns.) but sometimes some real wonders of chance can develop.
And the players themselves can influence things at time by small, precise actions.
I am always intrigued by the campaign map.

Indeed, there I have little complaint - and for the first twenty turns I get by with my faction - raiding and conquering rebels, managing my army, building an economy, securing my borders, and analysing who will be my future threats, and which part of Europe is my most lucrative target.

But eventually a war starts with my kingdom involved.

I create a balanced, semi modern army, (I usually choose morbidly old-fashioned factions - like the Norwegians- oh, and I almost always start in Early - never in Late), with something similar to;

3 Feudal Sergeants
4 Feudal Men-At-Arms, (Sometimes supported by Huscarles, or Baltic Warriors - the like)
2 Archers, (I also enjoy using 2 Javelinmen if available! Bohemia taught me of their use!)
3 Mounted Sergeants
1 Feudal Knights
Prince or King.

The last two places will be filled with infantry reserves, or cavalry reserves, depending on the weakness of the enemy army. Or it may be filled with disloyal princes whom the King can't trust to remain at home..

My Foot Sergeants are always my base of attack or defence. My battle line. They are steadfast.
The Men-At-Arms always suffer the most casualties, and they are often used to flank as the Sergeants are engaged.
The archers will seldom engage in an attack due to cavalry, but they are always firmly behind the Sergeants during a defence.
The mounted Sergeants are always one large cavalry wing serving as a hammer to my Foot sergeants' anvil.
The Knights always attend the royal knights in serving as a destructive force on the enemy's flanks and the assassins of his general.

-Rarely do I use artillery, and I have a great fear of castle assaults. I either weather the slow, costly siege, bribe the garrison, or auto-calculate at the loss of an average 216 men..

But for all my balance in the army, my enemies always repel me in when they have similar manpower, or lose after costing me two thirds of my strength!

And it always occurs under the most ridiculous circumstances!

For example, a general in a unit of Mounted Sergeants killing half a unit of Knights on his own!
Royal Knights themselves, especially Ghulams - are horrendous!
Mine are wiped out to five men in seconds if they chance against sergeants.
But theirs can destroy five hundred men before going down!

And I play on medium difficulty!

I engage F. Sergeants against F. Sergeants on level ground, and immediately put two units of Men-At-Arms into their right flank.
The Men-At-Arms are eaten up, then chased away by the Royal Knights who just won a fight with my Sergeants and Feudal Knights, (Even after they outflanked the enemy and outnumbered him 6 to 1) and routed.

How do you all cope with these frustrating, niggardly cheats?
It destroys my game, over fifteen campaign have been ended in approximately 1120 AD due to these circumstances. An unfairly stubborn unit costs me my entire campaign.

Please help me overcome this problem - how may I win?