I started a new game with mods, because at the beginning the vanilla is entertaining, you see all the new things and you entertain yourself. But at one point, when you've already made yourself an important kingdom, all those inconsistencies in armor and the economy frustrate you quite a bit.
Right now I'm playing with Looteverything and when you reach tier 2 the mail armor unlocks in the loot. You should know that in tier 1 the mail armor is simply locked. It doesn't matter if you defeat Rhagaea's army with tier 1, you won't even get armor.
Now if you defeat a bandit chief, you will have their mail armor. So that the game is not overpowered, in addition to multiplying by ten the cost of upgrade troop (an armor that any tier 4 troop wears is still much more expensive), I look at the troop tree and if the troop wears mesh armor, I drop a mesh armor from my inventory, just like a horse spends when upgrading a cavalry troop. If I don't have mail armor, I don't upgrade the troop. And for the lamellar armor troops I plan to do the same (I haven't advanced to tier 5-6 yet, now all of that is much slower and more realistic)
And in this way, I am having a much more entertaining and consistent game. In addition to many other mods that have already come out and are very, very interesting. They change the gaming experience a lot, and for the better.