Yeah, I guess that's fair. Though my gripe here doesn't exactly translate into an excess of difficulty, but more a concern about the method being used to achieve balance. I was just feeling disillusioned with how blatant and fanciful those concessions are for the AI. I'm not entirely against it, I just hoped for a more elegant solution that doesn't twist core mechanics into a parody. I feel that undermines the authenticity of certain systems that are foundationally quite important and relevant to the overall structure of the game.
Perhaps a better option, at least in my view, would be to grant the AI stimulus according to their action instead of it being mostly arbitrary.
Let's say that by default they would field similar armies to what they currently have, but upon success of winning battles, raiding caravans and sacking villages they would be granted a special resource that enables them to bolster their army with elite troops, the amount of resources depending on the weight of encounters and number of successful raids on caravans.
I think that would be a fair compromise and would likely have a more tangible effect on difficulty as it relates to player vs AI. This would make it so the player would frequently have to face off against armies partially/mostly comprised of KO or better grade troops while at the same time putting in place a dynamic that emphasizes protection and denial of assets, thus reinforcing a model that is both logistically and economically more consistent.
I'm not sure if that kind of thing lies outside the scope of what is possible in M&B modding. But to me, that seems like a better concept than throwing a million nails at a steel door and calling it balanced.
I feel the status-quo between player and AI could be made more competitive. People often complain about the unfairness of this mod, which at this point I'm convinced has everything to do with a lack of patience and knowledge, as you rightly pointed out, it's really not difficult, at least not in the context of what tools are available to the player and what is denied to the AI.
I did have a laughably easy time fighting the entirely of Ravenstern with no lords and a single army. There was even a point I had multiple factions against me. Ultimately it seems like trash spam, even with absurd amounts of stimulus, does not make for a very competitive/challenging experience, at least not for me.