is the AI cheating

[Edratman]

theenemy,

This is a hard and complicated game. I lost every game for a few weeks. In all likelihood you are doing what I did and try to play the game like it is Civilization. That does not work.

You are probably expanding too fast, recruiting maximum crappy troops in every province, getting bankrupted by the support costs for these troops and hoping that you can bludgeon your way to success. While the capabilities of the AI are often derided, it performs at its best against this strategy (sic).

Read the guides and various national threads. The tactics and strategies may seem arcane, but they are tired and true.

You will pick it up. I did, and I'm an old man.