Question about DAC V5

[D_loaded]

I've played med 2 and even earlier versions of dac for years and never have I experienced the level of difficulty and cheating from the AI as I have in version 5. Some campaigns seem to be downright impossible.

Recruitment is slow, the AI auto expansion cucks you every time, upkeep is too damn high. Even on Medium difficulty I find campaigns such as breeland to be extremely difficult.

Does anyone else feel this way? Am I just rusty? In version 4.5 I was able to world conquest as northern Dunedain on VH/VH, But coming back in Version 5 I find that to be impossible.

[Dax]

Yeah, the AI cheats because you would steamroll them otherwise.
ND and Bree have very weak starts, and easily represents the weakest starting factions, although they both have a lot of potential if you can overcome the initial struggle.

If you play as any other faction you'll probably do just fine, then when you've refamiliarized yourself with how to play the AI you can return to ND and/or Bree.

Use forts liberally, and get free upkeep buildings as a prio. It really is the way to make money early game. If you're paying troops they should be out fighting

Also, just learned recently that spies supercharge your cultural conversion if put in settlements. Really helps speed up conquests

[withered]

Embrace those hardships because beginnings are always the best.