excellent update!
generals:
joan of arc rules: lots of hit points and the graphic design looks excellent. with long cool-downs for injured generals having more generals available makes them much more useful.
library:
the new library upgrade chapters are a great way to address some of the more subtle issues in the game and a lot of the new chapter 4 upgrades hit the nail on the head, with some needing to be changed/altered in my opinion.
i like these chapter 4 upgrades:
+ level 1, reinforcements: +10% defender health. nice, subtle upgrade
+ level 1, free companies: +20% mercenary attack nice upgrade
+ level 1, watch towers: +1 tower very helpful
+ level 1, machinery: +10% catapult health. nice, subtle upgrade
+ level 3, zeal: unlocks a blessing to speed up tactics training. awesome idea and super helpful!
+ level 3, fortifications: +10% garrison defender health. nice, subtle upgrade
+ level 4, hounds: increases maximum number of stags. cool idea
+ level 4, partisans: +10% [town center] defender attack. nice, subtle upgrade
+ level 4, engineering: +1 spike trap limit. excellent!
+ level 4, banners: +15 seconds to battle timer length. excellent! this is perfect. thanks for listening to my rant
+ level 5, citadels: +10% redoubt attack. nice, subtle upgrade
+ level 5, standing army: +10% barracks troops' attack and health. this is a really good & much-needed buff. could possibly be "+10 troop capacity instead"
+ level 5, leadership: +10% generals attack. nice, subtle upgrade
+ level 6, nationalism: +10% heavy tank defender attack. nice, subtle upgrade
+ level 7, internationalism: +10% league oil battle rewards. nice, subtle upgrade
+ level 7, negotiations: +1 hour to max peace treaties. okay.
+ level 7, air defense: +10% air defense health. nice, subtle upgrade
+ level 7, aviation: +10% biplane mk1 health. yes! zeppelin is still paper-thin but hopefully the new upgrades address that
i think these chapter 4 upgrades could be changed or altered :
+ level 1, pottery. change to: +10% chance of finding cider and metal okay.
+ level 1, roadways. change to: +5 road limit. the town center is already really strong but a lot of players probably wish they had a few more roads to complete their designs.
+ level 1, exploration. change to: +some % chance of finding useful stuff when a forest is cleared (relics, chests, gold, mercenaries). this whole book needs a bit of work but this would help.
+ level 1, cast iron. change to: +15 or 20% heavy infantry health. heavy infantry becomes less and less viable as you advance through the game because of how easily they die.
+ level 2, crop rotation. change to: +10–20% farm harvest. +10% mill health is not that helpful; economy needs a boost.
+ level 2, commerce. change to: +10–20% caravan income. +10% market health is not that helpful; economy needs a boost.
+ level 2, ramparts. change to: +5 wall limit. the town center is already really strong but a lot of players probably wish they had a few more walls to complete their designs
+ level 2, chivalry. change to: +15–20% cavalry attack. help offset the huge damage nerf cavalry got a while ago.
+ level 3, battle tactics. change to: +10–20% damage/healing or duration of tactics. +1 traitor is a cool idea but isn't helpful until way late in the game
+ level 3, ballistics. change to: -3–5 troop space for guerilla/saboteur/commando. makes more sense to put this here and this could make the guerilla useful
+ level 5, banking. change to: -20% chance of diamonds being stolen. and hear the plebes rejoice!
+ level 6, drilling. change to: +10–20% oil well production. oil seeps are cool but let's increase well production
+ level 6, savings. change to: +6000–14000 vault oil capacity. +100,000 food or gold is nice but the increasing oil is much more needed at higher levels.
+ level 6, heavy weaponry. change to: -4–7 heavy tank mk1 troop space. i think it's very clever the way the developers made it so a heavy tank can be donated now but this is really only relevant for the absolutely highest level players in the game. i think the heavy tank is awesome but i haven't upgraded my factory to level 3 because i can't figure out any way to effectively incorporate it into my army at 25 (or 24) troop space.