So I've been toying around with the Sturgia line for awhile.
I really do think Sturgia should be an "infantry heavy" culture. Just a little silly that 4 out of 6 Cultures all have Heavy Cavalry as their Elite Troops (technically 5 if you count Khan Guard). I think if Battania has the ultimate "Archer", Sturgia should have the ultimate "Infantry". Pretty pleased with my re-worked Sturgia Noble Line, they can squash basically any opposing infantry in terms of relative cost - though opposing Shock Troops can put up a good fight (Voulgiers and Palace Guards are kind of crazy now).
They are basically Sword+Shield and Shock Troop in one package. I did leave them with one weakness,
which is no spear. So they may be good at killing cavalry in melee, but they are not good at actually stop charging cavalry (i.e. put em in a shield wall or support them with spearman of some kind)
Name is kind of just place holder, open to suggestions heh
However this leaves Sturgia with just Horse Raiders as cavalry, which aren't very good. So I took the Druzhinnik and replaced the Sturgian Spearman since that unit is really redundant and pointless. (I gave Veteran Bowmen appropriate bow for their tier, beefed up Sturgian Spearman, and then nerfed the Sturgian Soldier - all axes is too strong at T3. Oh and gave Sturgian Axeman a spear to make up for no T5 Spearman anymore.)
Works pretty well and makes the "Sturgian Shieldwall" quite formidable. This also maintain the same ratio of cavalry, so they can still counter Empire, Khuzait, and Vlandia. But I don't think Sturgia should really be a cavalry centric culture as it were.
Fighting an equal mix of Khuzait T5-T6 troops is definitely interesting, usually end up with a few Sturgian infantry fighting a handful Khan's Guard and Lancers at the end, so you get a pretty pitched battle. I imagine Khuzait side of things is probably easier being HA heavy.
I feel like Horse Raiders aren't very good... but they are skirmishers, so a bit lost on what do with them. Maybe better weapons would suffice?
And now I turn my gaze onto the red-headed stepchild Battania. After all this time they still blow, and their whole main tree is questionable. Guess it's good they have Fians, or Battania would have nothing going for it.