Lately for me in XL it’s always been the Egyptians that are the superpower. In earlier XL versions it was a toss up between them and the Byzantines (maybe Spain). Lately, if I want to prosper in Europe, I have to move to slow them down by the High era.

I did this with the HRE in early by taking big C JUST to slow them down. Eventually, however, they used their navy to bypass me. Now in my slow (and verrry controlled) Bohemian game, I did the same but with some modification. Ever since I took Bulgaria western Europe has been rapid firing crusades against Egypt. Working in combination with them I took C and the crusades keep coming. Two more are on the way and I may reinforce them in the bridge battle to Nicaea.

I’ve had France grow strong many times but quite often they fall to civil war. The Danes can cause a problem and once the English build their fleet, they dominate the map.