So seeing as the Crusader kings forums are usually pretty dead, I decided to revive it with a thread about the new expansion. Discuss your criticisms, what you like, and what you wish to see in future updates here.

So after playing the game for about a half hour after downloading the expansion I'm just going to give my first impressions:

Firstly the faction system is really cool, but it makes being a leader of a huge empire hard as heck. I now have huge organized revolts to deal with, instead being able to take care of dissidents one by one. I do see how if you were a lower level vassal it would make the game much more fun though, allowing you to organize huge uprising against your liege.

I am not sure if this is a bug, or if it is due to the new vassal raising system, but I am unable to see the amount of troops available from each individual territory.

The retinue system seems interesting, I like the idea of being able to create some sort of standing elite army, instead of just scrounging together a rabble of troops. The fact that I can have more archers (which my armies always seem to lack, and ends up hurting me during skirmish phases of battles) makes me quite happy. Also the fact that generals matter more now is great, I hated how before I could just send any random lord as general and he could win the day just as easy as my most talented commander. Now I am able to create great war figures, like an Gustavus Adolphus. Finally the game seems less focused on creating huge armies, because if you had more troops you were gonna win.

So a simple pro cons list:

Pro:

Generals more important

Standing Armies

Able to recreate Roman Empire

Cons:

New banner graphics cause a lot of clutter

Seems to have a few launch bugs

Vassals in factions cause maintaining an empire very difficult

Trouble finding where it says the amount of levies you can raise from each territory (again this may be a bug)

Overall I think this DLC is worth the 5 dollars I paid for it.