Val,
Here is the latest. I played against them with the following settings and they were able to hold 2-3 place for 50 turns in my game.
I was using low and no bonus.
Just got home from sunny Florida late Last night and been playing catchup at work all day (not to mention some wonderful training that took place to further chew up my time). I probably won't have a real chance to play until this weekend, but I will let you know how they do