I've played most of the factions through at least the starting era with a difficulty setting of hard and a battle difficulty of very hard without much trouble. When I try the Hai its a different story.

With my starting forces i take the settlements to the close west and NE...get type 1 in Armavir and go into build/bank mode...right when i get myself into a good position to start expanding again AS pours over my southern borders ignoring all diplomacy. The horsemen start coming over my northern borders. Using bridges and forts for defendable chokepoints im manage to hold my ground, but no more than that.

I'm not sure if i need to change my starting strat...maybe go more for the early sack n pillage of AS land for $$...or just stick it out n hope there is a break in the constant AS assaults(along with the less regular nomadic raids)...I could just turn down the difficulty levels but thats my last option. Any suggestions?