Quote Originally Posted by Craterus
Quote Originally Posted by Seasoned Alcoholic
Even Medium difficulty (battle difficulty) is harder than Very Hard.
Wrong, AFAIK. The strategic AI is no different in either mode. VH just adds bonus morale (maybe other stats) to the enemy units. This RTW 1.2 I am talking about, not 1.3 or BI.
Craterus, when I said Medium difficulty was harder than Very Hard, I wasn't referring to the AI, but instead to the actual battles that take place. This is what I have noticed after playing many campaigns on VH / VH, then switching to VH / M after reading a debated thread on another TW forum.

Since the human player and the AI don't receive combat bonuses of +4 and (if applicable) morale bonuses / penalties on Medium, the length of battles as a result is extended considerably. Units will not rout as fast on VH / M, as I typically found to be the case in VH / VH - battles were often a steamrollering affair for the latter (lasting only a few minutes), and you could easily aquire multiple provinces in not time at all.

IMO VH / M difficulty improved RTW a bit, but since the AI wasn't upto scratch in the first place, then it didn't make a huge difference. Battle difficulties should be what it says on the tin, and not containing hidden combat / morale bonuses etc which was the case in RTW.

At least in BI the AI on VH / VH is challenging and is difficult to overcome. I've lost many veteran armies against the damn WRE (in central europe) playing as the Celts in my latest SP campaign for example.