i agree. i recently installed ETW again and im playing as sweden, and im fighting for my life against russia. in fact, im planning on doing an AAR about it.
and the AI is better than before. i used to like to do a custom sea battle with a bunch of brigs vs brigs and see them dart about trying to fight against me, but it was hopeless for the AI, id crush them every time, even with balanced forces. but not anymore. ive lost multiple battles, reminding me i need to brush up on my naval tactics. badly.
the land battle AI is better than before, they use line infantry to pin my infantry down while thier light infantry runs around me to attack from the rear.
overall, i actually enjoy ETW now, though i do need to cut back on tree graphics. my FPS runs down to 4 when in CQC (zoomed in) when im fighting in forests.