...
also the stall in early-game will most likely be because you can`t have large armies (unless only cavalry) because of movement speed, if an amazon party catches your tier 2-3 50sth archers and infantry, well you are gonna be in a world of pain.
plus stacking INT is pretty helpful, because of the healer talents, surgery is a must have in this mod, and waiting for companions on it aint a smart idea.
the prisoners are fine, since it increases exponentially with troops if i recall correctly " and the let them carry up to 2x their 'soft cap' in prisoners and troops, but at a big cost to movement speed." feels like cheating, since if you already have that many prisoners most likely no party will attack you since you are stronger, plus the trade-off if you are indeed defeated due to low movement speed and can`t escape, well i would rather not give 100some prisoners to my enemies