Downloaded and tried it this morning. Here's my thoughts:
1) Weapon & Armour Balance Issues
a) Sword Stats: Some of the items still have "Native" values, which makes them stand out compared to the new weapon values. For example: the broadsword has the same weight and dimensions as the bastard swords -- but is faster on top of doing the same (or more) damage. This kind of thing 'breaks' old weapons, making them effectively useless in comparison. Hand and a half swords/bastard swords have increased leverage when wielded with two hands. As it is, M&B already over-punishes them for the massive 25% reduction in speed and damage when used one-handed.
If you're going to have single-handed weapons doling out 40c damage on a slice, being as long and heavy as a bastard sword, then something needs to change. Perhaps the damage and weight needs to be reduced on the new swords, or the old swords need some tweaks. Perhaps both. Native made bastard swords fairly slow to begin with, compared to one-handed variants such as the arming swords. They're shockingly agile weapons.
b) Guns: As it stands, guns are like a lottery. Your odds of success suck, but if you do hit the mark it's a kill switch. Massive damage means nothing lives.
There are plenty of accounts of firearms from the era where the shot was stopped by heavy leather belts, or even buff coats. "Plate of proof" was used to describe quality plate which was guaranteed to withstand bullets -- nevermind crossbows and arrows. By the time of arquebuses and muskets, plate armour had developed (in response to the threat of that and crossbows) to be highly resistant to damage.
To this end, if you're looking to replicate the general feel of that era of warfare, the damage from guns needs to be taken down. They're currently more like modern firearms in their penetration ability, and nigh useless in accuracy. To make the field more 'even', I'd suggest removing the siege crossbow (or adjusting crossbow stats downward), keeping the heavy crossbow as the height of crossbow threat, and perhaps reducing the missile speed of crossbows. Make the load time of the guns comparable to crossbows, make their damage slightly more, and keep them as fairly expensive items. Keep their missile speed high so that they've got greater range than crossbows, and make the deadliest of guns comparable to the old siege crossbows.
That, combined with the heaviest armours giving around 60 points of protection (and being possessed only by the most elite of troops -- perhaps even designating 'lord' characters as having higher quality versions), should create an appropriate feel for the period. People in plate will be relatively safe up until close range, while the average soldier *may* survive one hit if they're lucky. They won't take two and still be standing.
c) Highlander Armours (not Highlandish, if you're looking to mimic the real world): The doublet provides less protection than the Highlander brigandine look-alike (which makes sense), but costs significantly more. That should probably be adjusted.
d) Highland Shields: Their stats make them large and heavy, but the model is of a shield that's small, light, and quick. They should have the stats tweaked so that they match the model. They could do with being made faster (at that size they should be among the fastest of shields), with greater resistance to damage, and be made far lighter (they were for mobile skirmishing troops, after all), smaller in dimension (making them more useful in melee, and only a slight advantage against ranged fire), and less $. As it stands, they're crazy expensive. A thick one went for over 2,000 denars!
2) Issues with models
a) The black leather boot model has no shins. When put on, there's an invisible space between the top of the boot and the character's legs. It needs to be fixed or removed.
b) A few of the helmets have issues. The barbut (without nasal guard) seems to leave a line drawn an inch or so below the helmet -- so when worn by a lord talking to the PC, for example, it looks as if somebody drew an outline of the helmet in the air just below where the actual helmet is. The morion and cabassete have an odd discolouration in the air around the tops. Like a wire frame from the 3d program has followed them into game, and is semi-transparent.
c) A super minor quibble: some of the armours have really "dainty" forearms compared to the body structure of the models. Highlander doublet and the half-plate armours are the ones I noticed this on. The forearm doesn't get thicker as it goes up (as is anatomically correct), but remains as thin as the wrist the whole way up. In that regard, the landsknecht armour is fantastically done: the forearms look proportionate and realistic for somebody with good grip strength.
That's everything I've noticed so far, in just a little playing around. The mod, as a whole, is excellent. I love what you've done with it, and the armours are gorgeous. Even those I mentioned above, my critique is small compared to the overall quality of the work on those models.
Suggestions for future versions
1) The Swadian Empire name could stand some shortening. Between that and the very long names given some of the lords, their info boxes take up half the screen when the mouse hovers over them. It's a bit unwieldy.
2) Some changes to companions would be nice. You've got a new Renaissance setting going on here, with some changes to game play. Companion changes would be great to see. Perhaps even entirely new characters.
3) If you can figure out how to do it, it might be worth tweaking the Lord characters so that a number of them have quality equipment. The kings having Lordly quality armour and weapons, for example, will make them Hell on the battlefield -- even if the king in question isn't exactly a warrior. (Seeing a king who doesn't have uber-warrior stats, but depends on one or two strong nobles of the most loyal personality type would be interesting: the king may have a huge army, but his right hand man is the type who will kick you around the battlefield like a rusty tin can)
4) Character generation: I love what you've done in making the characters more competent at the beginning, matching how you've beefed up the common soldiers. It creates the feeling of walking out into a world where people trained to be soldiers, both PC and NPC, are actually competent... and so more dangerous. (To that end, the Looters could stand some beefing up)
But you've added some awesome new mercenary troops from other lands, and included their gear in the merchant shops. Why not add those options to character generation? There's a "bravo" character type in the module set, for example, that takes the place of 'squire' -- gearing the character up for life as a mercenary. It adds more dimension to character generation.
Adding to the initial choices of "impoverished noble", "merchant", etc, why not add some cultural touches? A character with a Highlander background might start out with peasant Highlander garb, a targe and sword, and naught else. Small choices like that at the beginning may serve to deepen immersion into the game world.
Overall, loving the mod. It's got a great feel to it.
