I am sure many of you have noticed the changes after the last patch. It seems people have adopted tactics similar to MTW2. I had begun using 5 vetted sams and 1 spear, plus 2 great guards (vetted) and 1 yari with 3 - 4 archers. What was effectively beating me last night were cav heavy armies with stock inf units. The cav would hit my inf in frontal attacks and weaken them severely. This was not as effective as hitting dismounted knights with mounted knights in MTW2 but it was effective. Today I began using 3 peasant spears as a spear wall in front of my elite sams. I now use 4 sams. I only lost 1 game today after making this adjustment. The use of matchlock have dramatically decreased.
I played the #2 ranked naval player today and got beat liked a rented mule.... He was a master at screening his cannon ships with his fleet and sniping my cannon ships from behind them. I think I learned from him now I just have to apply it.
I hope these little observations will come in handy for some of you guys.