Now this is interesting:
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=47550
"I'm taking the very unusual step of changing the mods on the LlamaServer, which means that all players also need to update their copies of the mods."
This might explain some bizarre behavior. If LLamaserver is using the corrected version of the mod, and we're all using the broken version, then our battle replays will show the knights chewing up everything in sight but on the main server the battle will run a bit more fair.
I'm going to check the zip file in that link and see what it does.
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Well, I can confirm that with the replacement 1.84 mod the save file does load. I'll let you know next turn whether Man's knights behave properly (I assume they will attack my troops instead of sitting idly inside their sieged castle)