I've been thinking about how much I'm not a big fan of factions expanding into the steppe - especially settled factions. I mean, there's gotta be a reason that that never happened in real life. I'd also be keen on seeing a bit more ebb and flow between coloured factions and the eleutheroi.

I'm thinking of two options.

The first is to randomly spawn deadly steppe armies that will roam around the map, occasionally replenishing themselves until they are conclusively defeated. These steppe armies might even belong to steppe factions, provided that the faction is controlled by the AI. This'd be a useful simulation of both raiding behaviour and the sudden explosive growth that a steppe empire could sometimes have.

The second is to create a small chance every turn that a steppe province will simply revert to the eleutheroi.

What do y'all think? Realistic ideas that could improve the historicity of gameplay, or tiresome ersatz Mongol Invasion?