I conquer Maestro, the danes position and the murderous viking units in the beginning make them my favorite. However you cant beat the spanish in terms of taking it to the muslim world, the byzantines fail told hold my attention in that regard. Does anyone else play the egyptians or the turks they are rather fun occasional, i also like waring in the desert enviornments. The english were my first faction, I just cant play them anymore because every possible scenario has been visited with that faction.