It's a free country, Cebrus. You go with people's (informed) opinions or you don't, it's up to you. Lots of people (including myself) use pausing because they suffer from graphics glitches, stuttering audio and sluggish gameplay in MTW which they didn't have in STW. I don't have fixes either and it makes me hesitant to run with hoi polloi and install RTW or some other monster. Oh alright, I'll get the beast eventually (lol) but not before the jury is out.

As for gameplay, I have to say I enjoyed the torrential flux of those STW battles much more than my paused MTW battles, even though the latter allow for more reflection, careful repositioning and retargeting, hell you can even give your girlfriend a good spanking in between two volleys of arrows.

I remember by the time I had enough experience on expert level I was fascinated by the sheer aesthetics of STW battles, by their energy and movement. I imagined I'd developed a feel for them, an instinct if you like. I didn't calculate before or pause during a battle, I just *knew* how to counter anything the AI could throw at me, I *knew" when a unit was about to break or when the AI was at a loss and the enemy general was about to expose his flank to some lethal charge. I specialized in running battles and used to make what I called "black armies" of Naginata Cavalry, Yari Cavalry and Horse Archers, all for the purpose of making my battles faster and faster. Most times as a defender, I didn't bide my time on some bleak hilltop waiting for the enemy to spend his arrows. I carefully crafted my line of battle right behind the dots and upon start of battle went straight for the jugular, some times I routed huge armies (mostly peasant ones, of course) inside of twenty seconds. All because yup, you guessed it, I was a total addict at the time.

Sometimes these days, when I'm stuck somewhere in mid-High keeping His Holiness at bay with one hand and trying to convince my lousy Hun emperor to finally produce some offspring with the other, my heart goes out to the virgin hills of Satsuma, to the sound of horses whinnying in the morning breeze and men with guttural voices committing their souls to the moon and stars..