Which faction(s) do you play as?

[macsen rufus]

I'm a (not-so-Young) Turk by natural inclination, I like my hybrid infantry and horse-archers, and never having to worry what the Pope thinks

Actually, I think I've still not tried the Hungarians, for some reason Eastern Europe just doesn't appeal to me that much.

[putts]

Following Caravel's post about Hungary's nice special battle unit....

I was very disappointed with Poland's Horsemen. In the end, they are a slightly more expensive Steppe so once you have Kiev, there's really no point in building them.

[Taedius]

The Hungarians are a great faction, but after installing XL they became harder. But since the question refers to vanilla...

I find myself starting campains with the HRE on a regular basis. However, their size and position often turn out to be more a hassle than a challenge. They require a perserverance that I cannot always muster.

I also like the Aragonese. Fun position.