Is there a single area of the game where it isn't balanced to f--k the player as hard as possible?
-release a lord = -20 relations with emos
-armies attack/don't attack calvary/not calv.. but they always sit on the other side of the map on a hill because they are a fking bot and don't give af.
-want to join a different KO for nothing more than rping, ok your KOS to fking everyone.
-never enough food in a goods shop to eat for a couple of days -- but it has 20 trade goods.
The game has some problems but those are not the ones you mentioned.
Also the mod is very easy if you don't rush (day in game).
You don't need to release lords ( i think you mean acuse him of treason, maybe) but you can have every lord you want at around 100
relation (maxed) most of the time provided you give him at least a fief. You shouldn't have more lords than fiefs anyway. You only need
to join a KO rly (for armor and snake stronghold) , most KOs are pretty bad combat units unless improved. And if you improve others
can benefit from it and that's bad.For food use bagage train from a couple of walled fiefs (castle/town), collect those even when not
in campaign, every 2 weeks. And spec Ansen/Leslie into hunting. Snake stronghold sells a lot of food btw, but you have to work for it
to be available to you.
Btw, I had the same feeling as you a couple of years ago when i first made contact with the mod. If you take your time to explore things (save the game before) you'll find a lot of tools to easily beat the mod inside the mod.