So I played my first long game, it had to be the Byzantine Empire, of course. Initially I think I lost everything except Constantinople, Salonika and Mistra, but then, the Ottoman expansion to the west was stopped by the Bulgars, while my forces reconquered most of Greece from the Serbs and Latins, briefly losing it to the Hospitallers, then reconquering it again. I played on Monarch but cheated (reloaded) a bit
The fact that you disabled fixed Random Seed didn't help
(why?), so I used it to avoid situations like losing a 15/15 knight army to a spearman, and more
Still was fun losing and conquering the same cities multiple times, to eventually, after 67 turns, have the Empire shine once again, at least on the west side, and the Serbian and Bulgar Empires rapidly shrinking, with the Latins pretty much gone.
I also like the multi-faction warfare and how the scenario is naval-intensive unlike any other. I mostly had to defend from the never-ending amphibious attacks of the Papacy/Latins/Hospitallers/Venetians, but I used a large fleet of galleys to silently aid the Bulgars, by stopping the Ottomans from sending reinforcements to Europe.
Now, the game is not over yet, but it seems that I'm winning, or even losing
, which can be seen on the attached jpeg. Am I right to assume there is no way I can generate more VP than the Florence gets through their wonder, even though I've kept Constantinople and reconquered much of the Balkans? Chances of my armies even reaching Florence to raze it to the ground are next to none.