I tried out this mod when it was in 1.0 and regarded it as a run-of-the-mill total conversion. Fun to play for a bit, mostly because of the fresh setting and the few added features. 3.02, however, is absolutely stunning. I'm impressed by the amount of detail and features that go beyond what is necessary for the setting to make sense. And naturally by the fact that (almost) everything works as it should. I'd put Nova Aetas in the same tier as Brytenwalda, 1257AD and Gekokujo now.
I've only played one game, but I'm getting the impression that Swadia is perhaps weaker than it should be.
This could be because:
- They border even more factions than in vanilla, leading to a lot of wars.
- In tier I tech, Swadian Knights are more or less just as good as their Rhodok and Zendar equivalents. If anything, their best troops are the crossbowmen.
- Swadian territories have Cathars attacking their peasants, which are the strongest, but most importantly the fastest parties on the map. They have no trouble catching up to the player's party (unless he has a combination of good pathfinding, light inventory, few troops of which most or all cavalry).
In general, I feel there should be more, slightly weaker, bandits.