Quote Originally Posted by Furious Mental
My play style could be best be summarised by the expression "flail of god".
Amen, brother.

I have to agree with the others in general but quibble a bit on details.

Yes, the game's diplomatic and religious options are overshadowed by the miltary ones. This is mainly because the AI gangs up on you when you are the top faction. It gets worse when you hit certain triggers, like taking Rome when you're playing an Islamic faction.

Once you're clearly the king of the hill, no amount of diplomacy is going to remove the rest of the world's fear of you.

However, diplomacy isn't useless, which is a point everybody knows, but somebody ought to say it.

The AI never made peace before, no matter how much the faction it represented was on the ropes. Now it does.

Trade agreements and map information are worth getting. Shoring up a faction that's fighting your enemy by giving the co-belligerant cash is also worthwhile. Religious matters make a big difference, especially on the "domestic tranquility" and ability to recruit troops for Jihad or Crusades. One of the very few Catholic factions I like to play — Spain — does very well with the Pope because it conquers Islamic lands and gives the Pope lots of new converts.