My review of the AI was more or less directed at some of the old RTW habit the AI carried, such as its inability to invade Islands and its tendancy to lift sieges for no reason. I really didnt go on to discredit or credit the campaign AI in other regards.

Actually played it on Hard / Hard as HRE to seek a challenge as i knew i would be surrounded by enemies but not be completely swamped by financial restraints. However, having an empire in the middle of Europe, that stretched from Oslo down to Naples, and from Vienna to Antwerp, The AI was not able to take advantage of its position. Take in mind i was surrounded and at war with 7 catholic nations on my borders. The AI was unable to go past my border province castles and lay waste to my soft city-low garrisoned militia settlements. Poland, Venice, and Hungary just kept throwing men away against Fortress Vienna. Venetians would occasionally go for.. Venice, which i kept at city status. but no luck there. France, England, and Milanese "which i migrated to the west" took little opportunity to go for the reich's soft core either. Milanese at first kept going after Genoa and Milan, but then stopped after some time. France later picked that pattern up which by then i had those cities well garrisoned and fortified. the AI just kept banging on the same 3-4 settlements which i fortified. There were no hints of a Hannibalesque AI to be found. Frankfurt, Staufen, Innsbruck, Nurenburg all lightly defended high value cities ripe for the taking. Even Antwerp which was on the border with France seen no action. It was garrisoned on and off with 1-2 generals and 1 militia unit. The only time the AI managed to shock me was when i was initially expanding into southern Italy with my emperors SS division, the Venetians launched a 3 prong assault on Venice, Bologna, and Florence in one turn with 1 stack to each city. Lost all cept Venice which came down to the wire. I moved my southern army back up and easily recapped. The AI went kinda brain dead after that. Now if Poland went for Oslo, Stockholm, or Arhus Via ships, or Venetians went for Naples, Crete, or Palmero I would have been stunned. Otherwise it was the RTW camp AI with a couple new tricks up its sleeve