Coming back after a break

[Sociopsychoactive]

Hey guys and Gals of the Org

I'm a big TW fan, always have been since I first picked up MTW a long time ago but, as with many others, I got very frustrated with the state of RTW2 on release. I came back briefly after someone bought me CiG DLC and tried out the grand campaign then, but the major bugs were still present and it lost my interest soon after.

I came back to it the other day and found the Campaign AI MUCH improved, the diplomacy and interactions of nations far less predictable and vastly improved. It was enough to keep me playing and even to convince me to buy HatG DLC, which is downloading as I type. I read through the patch notes and spent nearly half an hour trawling through the official forums and losing the will to live so came back here where most people who post have half a brain and the ability to type. Thanks for that btw.

What I want to know is what changes are they and how should I change my tactics? I keep seeing Capture points in smaller settlements, that don't win the battle, just give a moral boost to 'Units within the area'. What area? The city? Just the capture point? The whole map? I see capture points AND Victory points in major cities, do I need them all? Does it matter as the attacking siege AI seems to be as ineffectual as ever? How is it on defence now? I see the roman festival even pretty often, and it's quite a major boost, does the AI get it if I play someone else? Should I care? Do the Carthaginians get something equally as good or is it more for the Romans? What other events are there?

As I said, I read through the patch notes (such as they are) and found nothing particularly useful, most were about tweaking units and new battle maps. Last time I played seriously was just after patch 7 (when my campaigns all needed restarting because of the major changes and I couldn't be bothered anymore).

Basically, is it actually good yet? Should I play on, or wait a few months more for them to polish it a bit more? I mean, 12/13 patches in, it's got to be approaching release state of shogun 2 by now? Hasn't it?