An example of AI passivity *gasp!* in diplomacy

[Enguerrand de Sarnéac]

...Patavium and Iuovovetta (sp? the one N and a little W above the Alps), ...

a pain in the arse I know

I always construct huge spy networks. I think they're the most interesting part in the campaign map. I always see armies marching on my citadels and armies miles before... I'm talking about dispatching about 5-10 spies in an area like the Aegean.
Far more interesting than sending your spies to 'clear the fog of war' in Baktria if enemies are threatening you in Makedonia. All my faction leaders up to today are masters of espionage and had the what's-it's-name ancillary

[adishee]

God I can't wait to get home and try this on the germanic horde. The situation just stabilized; their inevitable war has kicked off with the Averni, inevitable because the Averni have almost completely wiped out the Aeudi (who, defying reason, still will not come to terms with me, I want them as a buffer state at mediolanium). Now i'm massing my legions and preparing something similar that I did to deal with the epirots. Old Pyrrus was getting a little to big for his britches, subjegating the entire Greek pennisula (not that I care about the Greeks) to the south and pushing pretty far north in the Balkans. I took my best general and best Legion with my best Greek and Italic aux troops and cut a swath of death through their homelands, annexing the Illyrian coast and mines in the process. I went all the way through their homeland, East through Macedon, South through Thessaly, Athens, Corith, Thermon and Sparta (yes, they had conquered all of this), exterminated everything and handed it over to the Greeks. The situation did, and still is, working perfectly and playing right into my hands; the weakened Epirots had not the resources to deal with me, having a huge problem with the new Koinon I created (not entirely A-historical, eh!?! ). The Greeks are now a problem for everybody, spilling over from Rhodos into Asia Minor and contending with Selucus and the remnants of the Maks (still alive, somehow). The Epirots are placated but strong enough to be a player. I share an uncomfortable border with the powerful Greek state, with a large, ever-shrinking garrison there (being directed north to Germania).
So now my northern provinces are just about secure, I need to stabilize the Germans and donate their provinces to the starving Aeudi. The Averni are getting out of control, duking it out with the Luso's. A strong puppet Aeudi annexed out of Germania should balance out the situation nicely. What i'm really worried about is all my old family members dying, i'm afraid my fringe properties, especially the valuable Illyrian ones, are only kept in line by their obsene influence. I had to relinquish Carthage because Cotta died, and there was no way I could hold it without him, plus I needed all my troops heading north, but I did get 40k by leveling the city, not to mention a few others on the north African coast to placate them.

Ah.. gasp.. I love this friggin' game. I look forward to, for the first time since VINILLA, getting to the Marian reforms (not even in my RTR days ).