Let me put it this way: My usual Total War "Blitz" strategy of wiping out a rival faction in the first few moves is definitely not working. If you do that now, they turn into a horde and kick your behind if they are a barbarian faction. If they are a civilized faction, they're too big to blitz — unless they're the Sassinids, perhaps. I'm tempted to take a unhistorical approach and blitz the Sassinids with the Huns.