I like this. Research a tech to get a more accurate path calculation. You could have one per tech tree. Magic Tree could be called Crystal ball, War Tree could be smoke signals (or something to this effect) and Civ Tree could be oh I don't know a telegraph (I know this is a little modern but hey it is a game

The reason I say one for each tech is because I'm hoping that the three techs will in future betas be completely separate from one another. Which means all prereqs. would only be from the current tree not from other trees. This would allow for better specialization

I love the fact that you communicate. I love it that you express yourself. Just keep doing what you do

After playing the beta 2 for some time, it is clear the army-group AI is very good. However, the "civilization building" AI isn't good enough yet, I can usually get a decent lead and after that it isn't too important how well the AI attacks.

I think I know the reason why I can get the lead in civilization building. I don't think I do particularly well in choosing the right build order or anything like that. These are the keys to my success:

1. Collect as much loot as possible. Sell most of it. This is the most important key to my success. You can usually get 1000 or 2000g in the bank and run your civilization with no taxes for a long time with that. You can also rush key buildings if you wish. However, zero tax is usually the better choice in the long run.
2. Spam outposts near all resources you can see. Pioneers are cheap.
3. Do not build too many cities in the early game, it is expensive to run multiple small cities. When you have multiple +x growth buildings available, then city spamming starts to make sense.

The issue is that you can get crazy amounts of loot money through selling compared to what you can get from your early civilization. The solution is simple: the more expensive loot is available only from (hard) quests and from well-defended dungeons. Well defended means you can't lure the defenders away so that you can steal the loot... I think goodie huts should be mostly turned into quests or dungeons. Dungeon being something similar to what is in MOM: loot guarded by static monsters.

In addition to the above, I can fight harder battles than the AI. This is because the AI gives a lot of advantage to the human by moving in his troops in an uncoordinated way (why move in at all if you have archers and your enemy doesn't?), and worse yet, in a way that allows me to have the first attacks. In a 5 militia vs 5 militia fight this means I will get to kill two of his militias before he can strike back. This is mainly tactical battle mechanics issue: if both players play perfectly in the 5 vs 5 militia battle, neither will move in first.

A few small nit picks would be Pioneers in armies (scouts have weapons, so are fine I suppose), and archers attacking city militia first.

Ranged units should almost always target enemy ranged units first, regardless of armor considerations ...

(unless a non-armored cavalry threatens them within this round, then target the no-armor horses first and then hit the archers)

How did you get beat by this AI Frogsy?  

He probably played on Rediculous ... as, if going by description, rediculous is the only setting to have max AI

since frogbog mentioned diplomacy... I had Gilden declare war on me the turn after I secured a non-aggression pact in the game before last ... so many things are looking miles better but AI diplomacy still stands out a little

(they were x2 my faction power but still seems off to be able to declare war like that. Then they pillaged and burned, attacking my rear when I expected a frontal assault... with a mixed stack made of half pioneers... bit odd that part)