Can't really agree in principle with Darth...Played NTW for about 26hrs playing time now as GB.

Yes the graphics are amazing (I have everything at max and Ultra Size units). Sea battles are a little frustraing, but are NOT easy, especially against an roughly even enemy (I've lost a few already, partly because of the ais perfect control of manoeuvering, which has always been there, but is much more evident in a water enviroment with no obstacles). I agree some ships have unrealistically fast turn rate.

As for the ai, I just didn't really see what he reported. The ai in a reasonably balanced battle, 9/10 times advanced sensibly up to musket range, then stood there firing, while trying many times to flank with some units. It also held reserves back in many cases. It did absolutely NOT just charge everyone into melee, ever. It kept cannons where they were set up, as long as targets were in range. It did however, occasionally go on insane cavalry charges, mostly when I left Cannon in the front row, but again not even in the majority of cases.

When I finally got up the nerve to make a foray into the Paris area (with a 20 unit rougly 3000 men strong army), it came out to meet me in the field. I won (just)but lost around 60% of my army (this on Medium battle too). When another 3/4 stack approached from the other side of Paris, I had no option but to flee and flee all the way back to my fortress in Brittany.

The campaign strategy is also a lot tougher than e.g. RTW, or EB. Only 1 global tax rate (split into 2- One for Rich, One for Poor), makes keeping order tougher. There are many nice little touches and additions, far too many to list here, and anyway this isn't a review.;)

I just wanted to post this, because if I'd read Darth's review before deciding whether to buy or not, then I probably wouldn't have got the game. It's by no means anywhere near perefct, and yes the ai is still lacking, but overall a very decent game, in the opinion of someone who's pretty hard to please.