Vanilla Balance Mod v0.2 BETA testing pack released

[Barbarossa82]

I am currently testing the next version of Vanilla Balance Mod, which from current indications looks very promsing.
As you testers may have noticed, there are a couple of issues with the current 0.2 build - rampant Gaul, Super Pontus, the Scipii unable to compete on sicily and the Seleucids still going for an early shower after 10-20 years. It looks as though 0.3 may have solved those problems, and as soon as I've done some further testing and fine-tuning, it will be released.
In my test campaign, it's 210 BC and so far the following has happened (so far as is relevant to the factions I've modded):

Britons: sitting comfortably on their island building up their power base but not running amok on the continent
Gaul: Going under to the the Julii but still very much alive thanks to seizing land from Germany
Carthage/Scipii: this has been really interesting. The Scipii won the struggle for Syracuse and ended up controlling both that and Messana, but the Carthaginians massed a huge army and took both cities from them, securing the whole of Sicily for themselves. However, while the Carthaginians were subduing Numidia and absorbing all their lands (except for Palma, which the Numidians have taken from Carthage), the Scipii built up their naval superiority. They then landed a vast invasion force on Sicily and took the whole island back. After a brief lull to reoganise, they then landed two full stacks in Africa and took Carthage. However, the Carthaginians have ralled and re-taken the city, deploying huge forces including Poeni Infantry, elephants and Sacred Band. It's gonna be a long war!

Seleucids/Egypt. This may need a bit of rebancing now. After a shaky start in which they lost some of their Eastern lands to Parthia, the Seleucids have gone berserk and obliterated all resistance to them in Asia Minor (which they own the whole of), also taking over Arabia, Nabataea, Palmyra and Elymais. They then turned their attentions to Egypt and despite a valiant fightback by the Ptolemies, the Seleucids conquered Jerusalem and Alexandria. The situation for the Egyptians was so dire that Carthage, who are their allies, sent around four stacks of troops to aid them, but just as they were about to engage the Seleucids news reached them that Carthage was under attack by the Scipii, and they turned and headed for home, leaving Memphis to fall to the Seleucids after a valiant defence.

[Barbarossa82]

A full, proper version of the Vanilla Balance Mod will be released some time in the next 10 days. The balancing has now got pretty good and the factions are now in a state where the same old powers no longer inevitably rise to rule vast swathes of the world. The steamroller effect is still present as it is an underlying feature of the Total War strategic model, but the colour of that steamroller is now anybody's guess.

In my experience of the current build, the following tends to happen:

GAUL/JULII - Julii win 60-65% of the time, else Gauls ravage N Italy until stopped by Senate army

SCIPII/CARTHAGE: Almost perfect 50-50 balance. Carthage normally strong early on, Scipii normally take Sicily but find conquest of Africa far more difficult. At any rate, a campaign played with Vanilla Balance Mod will see Poeni Infantry, Sacred Band and elephants because the days of early Carthaginian collapse are gone.

NEAR/MIDDLE EAST: Seleucids are now much more robust, and likely to emerge as a world power unless the face war on multiple fronts. In my games they have always expanded to some degree, and if Pontus is particularly weak, the Seleucids can end up as the regional superpower. Egypt, though not the powerhouse it once was, is still capable of building an empire. Even if the Seleucids do go down they now last a lot longer so you will probably get to see their cool troop types like Silver Shield pikemen and legionaries.

I just have to build the installer and uninstaller (yes, there will be one this time) and it'll be released.