Well I just gave the battle another try, looking more at individual unit performance instead of the overall battle. I must admit the results where better than my previous impressions led me to expect.

And I did completely miss the spear wall ability

Good to see that at least the opinoins on the STW2 demo seem to be divided. I am still hoping that it will turn out good, when we get more experience with it.
Agreed. In fact hearing some STW/MTW vets disagree on my initial ranting and my latest test run has increased my hopes a bit again. Looking at how much stuff they're adding to MP it would be such a shame if gameplay was not up to standard.

I enjoyed ETW MP for a while, although I played it solo with random teammates and opponents which didn't improve the experience. The need of a no art/mortars rule additionaly spoiled much of the fun. I passed on NTW. Was (and am) hoping STW2 would (and will) bring back the former MP fun.

I'll shut up now and await MP reports next month