House Rules against the AI

[Knai]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

There are also no-independent maps which forces the AI to spend money on elite troops and mages at castles instead of cheap independents all over the map.

Personally I consider those abit extreme altho a fun game variant. I prefer the partial NI maps where something like 1 out of 10 provinces is left with whatever random recruitables the game gives it. Thats the same effect of forcing the AI to better spending but it still allows for the joy of exploration, finding, and securing prime locations

There is also the no-indpendant, special sites that give recruits option. Basically, a bunch of new sites are modded in, and finding them gives access to some amount of independents, often including multiple troop types.