Thank you for reading this...I need some help quick:

1) I have the "Direct2Drive" version of this game, patched to 1.1. How soon after 1.2 officially releases do you think the 1.2 will be up for direct2drive users (assuming someone who uses these forums has direct2drive as well).

2) I originally was going to not play MTW2 until I got a new PC for it...but then broke down, downloaded it and had a GREAT campaign for about 2 weeks as the HRE. It's still in my save games...only one up there heh. I'm going to come back to it and start up a new campaign (England) as well but I need something clarified for me before I start, to put me at ease about something:
My performance, with large unit sizes and basically all graphics settings turned down quite a bit, still have very good performance and what I consider to be more than acceptable graphics for a game like this. I was up to about 40 or so turns in with my HRE campaign, and no problems because of my PC yet. Could I expect this performance to continue throughout the entirety of one of my campaigns, or are there things that happen down the road in a campaign that would require even higher system capabilities? For example, larger armies....many countries amassing on a battlefield, calling for 8,000+ soldiers etc. Or are things kept relatively streamlined, just an advancing of the tech tree ...with some battles large, some small? Because if I remember correctly, even 4,000-6,000 troops was feasible for me.

3) Is the expansion pack that's coming out later this summmer/fall whatever, going to up the system requirements...or is this still in the "to be announced" department?

4) Lastly, what are the recommended difficulties for all of you...what is sort of the "standard"? I was playing HRE on M/M just to get a feel for the new game and found this to be MUCH better than an M/M on Rome:TW. So, what are most of you using...VH campaign, M battles? What?

To anyone who helps me here, thank you very much in advance. I'd like to get a new game going but need to clear this stuff up before I dive in.

Once again, thank you.