System specs: MacBook Pro, XP via bootcamp, 4Gb ram, 8600GT 256Mb gfx card
PART 2
So, in last few days I went and tested Entrenchment bit more...
After saving my 2.5 hours long SP game on smallest possible map (quick strike - see Part 1 below) I decided to take Entrenchment online and test it there for a change...
Usual number of people online - yes... - but not a single one plays Entrenchment. After spending some time in the lobby with no success to find a game I went back to my SP mission. At about 3 hours into it I saved again and decided to try going online tomorrow evening...
So, evening after I went to ICO again and weirdly enough same thing happened. Few dozens players online but by look of it all playing Vanilla Sins... Bah, whatever...
Last night same thing happened again and since that was 3rd night in the row that I couldn't get Entrenchment game going I spoke with one of the guys in the lobby asking him what is going on and why no one plays beta... Answer was that "everyone" went back to vanilla sins.
Fair enough...
So I said is it because of some beta problems perhaps? He said - no - adding that online community doesn't like expansion and that majority moved back to vanilla sins... Just to confirm this, I asked the guy if he is going to stay "vanilla way" even after the beta. He said - yes so it will vast majority of online Sins players...
Now, question for MP guys in this forums...
Are you going to play Entrenchment online when it finally gets released and if NO why not (please state your reasons)...
Last night, failed attempt to get online game going forced me back to my 3 hours long SP game 
After 3 hours and 45 minutes I completed "Quick Strike"
It was fun and blast for most of the time but surely was NOT Quick!!!
So far, it certainly looks like Entrenchment is pretty much SP mini expansion and I can very easily envision the future now. If you feel like playing against AI you will most likely boot into Entrenchment and in case you feel like going online you will find yourself in Vanilla Sins...
Kinda meh really and bit of a shame too... But hey! Sins is still one and only game worth playing these days 
PART 1
I am not sure if I have gone insane or what but game now looks 5x prettier than before! Whatever has changed in regards to gfx / textures it changed the right way so stuff now looks simply awesome! I am running the game on all high by the way...
I have experienced NO crashes, mini dumps or any sort of problem at all - in fact, game on my systems is getting better and prettier with each update and patch. So great news there too... Keep it up!
General changes made to Entrenchment bits and pieces are all great as far as I could see and significant improvement has been made on how things work and play from beta 1... Of course, there will be need for few balance tweaks here and there, but generally speaking things are for sure getting there! And this statement includes mines too! So well done to this part as well... Love it!
Now, I am not going to go into any balance details and suggestions since I simply haven't played it long enough to properly conclude anything, however, I do have one concern based on my single game from last night... Read on...
So I started this tiny 7 planets mission against Hard AI and as you can imagine things went "hot" from the word go. Skirmishes here and there all the way until I secured 3 rather nice planets for myself. Now, since this was Entrenchment test I decided to "dig in" and test the new toys expecting stupid AI to keep on coming on me... But NO frekn way! As soon as I decided to "dig in" AI decided to do the same! LOOOOOOOL! This is awesome - yes - but keep on reading...
At this point, both AI and myself, were around 2 hours into the game fully Entrenched! Since most of my money went into defences my fleet was OK but not exactly extremely powerful... Same was with AI guy...
2.5 hours into the game he started to "attack with culture" and I replied the same way saving the game and switching my computer off...
OK, you might be wondering what was the point of this story, well point is that I simply am not sure how to respond to this...
Game played awesomely - no doubt - so this is the + mark, however, only 7 planets map and 2.5 hours into the game with NO sign of end!?!?!?!
Some of you might remember my posts when Entrenchment got announced and they sounded like: "Yes, great! But what about game length? Wont Entrenchment elongate already way long games?"
Well I found the answer last night - YES it will...
As I said at the begining of this post - this is not criticism, just concern, and at that only concern pointed towards MP aspect of Sins... Last night I simply saved my game vs AI and will continue the struggle today - no problem... I am having great fun and game plays awesomely...
But, unfortunately, I see this expansion as final nail in MP coffin - again, not because it plays badly, but because games will take AGE to complete...
So my initial feeling about Entrenchment is like this ------> 
Happy and sad at the same time...
EDIT:
My personal msg to IC guys - at this point, when we are near completion of first expansion... You MUST, think about something in regards to MP... My suggestion is to immediately focus on 2nd expansion which should be focused on MP aspect - extra game modes, mission objectives, maps, scenarios, whatever... anything and everything that would "expand" MP options from conquest mode only and be fixed at about 45 minutes per round... Please, for the sake of the game itself
