You should try the "Total Realism Mod" in conjunction with the "Total Combat Mod", together they make for a more MTW experience, similar to the MedMod, thought not quite.

Particularly, items, 4, 6, and 8, have been moderated somewhat effectively. Routing troops are no longer much of an issue. The "City Growth" issue is a good bit more manageable and hopefully each mod version will make it better, until the Patch is released. The latest version of the Total Realism mod has begun to address "area specific[ation]".

If interest go over to www.twcenter.net and search for the mods, imo, use both for the best experience. Don't forget to *read* the Readmes.

Without the mods, I probably wouldn't be playing the game anymore. It just wasn't fun.