Hmmm, seeing the number of posts you've got I think you probably know what the TW games are about.

This one is no exception. It isn't a military simulator so the AI can do strange things by human standards. But then again, IBM and all its resources are only just getting round to building computers that can beat humans at chess. I don't think you can expect too much from the AI in a game. Having said that, and despite all the "I palyed the game on VH/VH and beat the campaign in 20 turns, using only one unit of peasants" that goes on around here (who and why bothers?) it can provide a challenge. The stacks that you meet are larger and better composed than those in MTW - I haven't seen any significant numbers of peasants. The movement speed and kill speeds are areas some people have issues with, I don't. I was for ever speeding up previous TW games. But that's just me. CA, in their wisdom, have made the game moddable and if these things get to you you can download any number of mods to deal with this or the naval combat, historical "realism", kill speeds, unit speeds or anything you like.

In the meantime the strategic map play is much improved and immediate,

If you liked the previous games get this one there is no reason not to.