Experiment to see how hard game is...

[SoxSexSax]

Just responding to a few individual points:

The game does seem to fail to hold its own when confronted with a capable blitzkrieger. Does that mean its a rubbish game or that the AI is rubbish? No. Because someone with a different approach would have found the game more interesting and challenging.

I disagree. Blitzing (AKA Rushing) is a very common occurrence in any strategy game, and if the AI cannot cope with it (and let's face facts, M2TW's cannot) then the AI is, if not rubbish, very weak.

I know that by turtling for 50 turns, never blitzing, adopting a host of house rules, I can make the game more of a challenge, but this seems to be the complete opposite to the principle of the game.

As a leader you are to use your skill and experience to conquer the other factions as efficiently as possible. You should be aggressive and use any weakness in the enemy’s defences to your advantage. Your enemy should be trying to do the same to you.

This seems to be a misrepresentation of the situation. The game includes a diplomatic and economic element that is clearly intended to be significant. The fact that your playing style doesn't lend you to utilise these elements doesn't mean the game is at fault, necessarily.

I don't see this as a misrepresentation at all. The most EFFICIENT strategy is the strategy that wins the game the quickest, simple as. It is therefore entirely inefficient to build any non-military unit, as they are simply not needed to win within 50 turns with any faction.

The fact that a particular playing style makes winning it too easy is regrettable but it doesn't mean the game is flawed.

I disagree again. Actually, I don't disagree with the statement, but I disagree that it applies to M2TW. M2TW isn't just "too easy"...it is "easy to the point of worthlessness". Big difference. I just cannot lose a campaign unless I deliberately use a very unsound strategy. And frankly I don't feel like I should have to deliberately play badly to have fun.

I very much doubt they forgot experienced gamers when they made M2TW. It seems they didn't do a good job of preventing blitzkrieg from being too easy a route to victory. That's a whole different thing. Most other approaches are far less easy and so the difficulty levels work well enough.

Please provide a brief summary of a playstyle that is not deliberately weakened to give the AI a chance that will provide me with even a modicum of challenge. And I do not consider "it takes longer" to be the same as "it is harder".

Sacking is just too powerful, it should be dropped altogether or at least the AI should defend their settlements more effectively.

Totally agreed. This would SERIOUSLY help fix the problem of "Steamrollering" and would add some much needed tactical decision making to the game. (Right now the only choice is "who's next?")