[Dottie]

Like Fable I prefere Europa Universalis, although it have some balance issues that I dislike, as well as a not too good AI its imo the best strategy game I ever played.

I liked Medieval too, played it only a little bit as the Ottomans, but I found it to tedious to manage when your empire expanded, and also as your production soared battles became less interesting. I found myselfe longing for the simplicity of Shougun: Total war.

But there were many featuers I really enjoyed, most of them related to how to handle your generals, the vices and virtues they got etc. And I must say that even though diplomacy is a far step from EU, it was a great leap upwards from Shogun.

Edit:
@BS: What did you find difficult with desert warfare? I thought it was pretty much the same, only more room to maneuver...

Regarding diplomatic otitons for EU, the diplomacy isnt an option wich is a good thing here. Mismanage your diplomacy and you will have severe problems even as France or Russia. And the other way around, manage your diplomacy well and it will not just be a means to put of an inevitable conflict for a few years, it will be a tool to gain valuable allies as well as valluable land. Its quite possible to annex another nation entirely by diplomatic means.