So far so good. Rebellion system is nice, provides a set back for kingdoms that tend to spread far too quickly (like Khuzaits).
And while on the subject of Khuzaits there really needs to be a simulated battles re-work. They pretty much melt any army. And I don't mean "win", I mean for every troop they lose in simulation opposition lose 5-10ish. For instance, a solid Sturgian army of about 900 encounters Khuzait one of about 850 troops. Both aren't full of rookies but no all elite either. Khuzait walk away with 650 troops (lost barely 200, and most of those are wounded, not dead). I mean stuff like that only happens when you set lowest difficulty and you are leading the army. I though it was only with Sturgians but nope, Khuzaits do that to pretty much anyone. It's not even a battle, unless it is siege or you are personally combating Khuzaits, they just don't seem to lose and nobody really can catch them when they don't wanna fight. Then they get an all elite army and it gets absolutely ridiculous (which is when, I imagine, the steamroll truly begins).
One time I've seen them kinda lose in about 20 campaigns (I've just let it run, didn't do a thing) was when by some odd circumstance Southern Empire, Northern Empire and Sturgia all declared war on them and they didn't have any other wars going on. And even then they stood their ground admirably. So apparently what it takes to defeat Khuzaits is concentrated effort of 3 kingdoms who have nothing else going on.
Other factions are more or less well balanced. Battanians seem to pull harder since they have 3 cavalry units they can easily get and their kingdom is dense (not a lot of territory but lots of fiefs) so they defend easily and attack well. But still, even tho they're strong I've seen them lose plenty. Aserai also tend to pound Southern Empire a lot but generally get halted (either because they declared war on Vlandians in the meantime or Western Empire). It really seems to be a recurring theme, that more cavalry = more win. Hence why Sturgians and Empire who have the least (both have only 1 proper cav unit only as noble line) tend to lose the most.
So yeah, just that one thing (Khuzaits) cause I'm kinda sick of them ever since cavalry simulation buff. They already have massive speed advantage because of leading mounted army, cavalry archers which A.I simply don't know how to deal with and they have a good starting position (on the edge of the map), this was just overkill. Maybe add cavalry nerf when fighting in forests, hills, snow or something?
Other than that, I'm quite happy with the game (I mean, I wouldn't have 425 hours in it if I didn't). Sure I'd wish development was a bit faster but hell, we can't always get what we want and modders (tho I know this should not be the answer) seem happy to flesh it out some.