Well I also play on N/N, and presently playing as the Rep. of Satsuma (away with the pompous emperor and proud shogun) I have mostly been able to survive due to my naval superiority and by that keeping trade with France and Britain open, and presently making 20k-25k each turn :D But when I am to attack sometimes the AI chooses to stay on a high ground, instead of charging, and this happened when I deployed without any arty :( I think when you have arty the AI is supposed to charge against you, but charging over a field is quite impossible in real sense, by the time you get to the enemy lines you are out of breath cannot fight, so that they march, but since you have superior guns and arty they never get close enough to the charging distance :-P ( well that's my 2 cents in that ...lol) anyways have fun with FotS :D