I have been playing Broken Crescent since its release two days ago.

- full conversion mod of M2TW focused on the Middle East
- all-new Muslim, Hindu and Christian factions plus completely re-worked Byzantines (called ERE) and Kingdom of Jerusalem
- the models and skins are truly beautiful with intricate and authentic shield and armour designs
- atmospheric music and beautiful UI
- "Area of Recruitment" system means more realistic and historical recruitment limited to faction "homeland" areas (a very basic implementation of the kind of idea taken to its logical extreme in Europa Barbarorum)
- all-new battle and strategic AI by GrandViz, author of the UltimateAI mod

So far I LOVE it - it's too early for me to tell you whether the re-worked AI is more of a challenge than vanilla but the sheer and stunning beauty of the skins, the new campaign map and the variety of factions (including for the first time Hindus) are more than enough to keep me fascinated for now.

I highly recommend it.

Guild: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=240
TwCenter: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=346