Imho there are too many steppe bandits presence all over at the start of the time line. The most egregious case are a couple of groups that are on the top of the Spaniard spawn point. There is no way to avoid them early game, and compared to vanilla where you have access to mounted troups from the start with the Kuzhaits, here you don't have that option and they are a nuisance during the early steps of the run. I realize that you can pay them off, but I don't see the point in such a superfluous handicap.