I would say Antioch, but only with some limitations as it is too easy to just gain huge swaths of lands from muslims.
How about limiting yourself to one kingdom area per 100 game years? from 1066-1166 you can only have the land of one kingdom, then you can go for a second and at 1266 go for a third. Plus then you would have a good size for when you transfer to the next game as opposed to some giant empire that would just roll everything easymode.
And playing as the Byzantines is just like cheating as you get the stupid 2x demense bonus.
How about limiting yourself to one kingdom area per 100 game years? from 1066-1166 you can only have the land of one kingdom, then you can go for a second and at 1266 go for a third. Plus then you would have a good size for when you transfer to the next game as opposed to some giant empire that would just roll everything easymode.
And playing as the Byzantines is just like cheating as you get the stupid 2x demense bonus.