So, TouhouK question/issue, I have a custom character that is basically maxed out on everything from the start plus cheated in troops right after forming my own faction, but I seem to be losing an awful lot after a while. At first, I'll gain a bunch of ground, but around the same points where the not so loyal characters, like Nue and Seija, start uprisings, I start losing. This does not necessarily mean my own officers cause the uprisings, it doesn't matter which faction the uprising started in, it still ends with me starting to lose ground on such a large scale that I haven't had even one time where I wasn't on the verge of coming to ruin.
Something I noticed before myself (at least some versions ago since last I played), the enemy factions don't seem to have to follow the same "rules" that the player does in regards to a steady supply of troops.
For example I've noticed newly started factions tend to start with the upper end of the amount of troops. (Late game will see the numbers hit the millions or "LOTS")
Not only that I had an issue where the enemies troops would constantly replenish to insane amounts after knocking them down constantly, making me believe there's some kind of "rubberbanding balance" effect.
(Rubber banding: "in video games, the rubber band effect in dynamic game difficulty balancing, where AI characters falling behind may get a boost by the game while those ahead may be hindered. ")
On the more legitimate side other factions having plenty of officers with high stats in politics/other misc stats and just being idle can boost their economy to high levels which is linked to troop count. I imagine higher difficulty levels can also play into this.
You can also have significant problems depending on your faction relations.
IE: One faction starting to talk shit about your faction in the strategy phase leads to more factions talking shit about your faction until the entire map hates you quite easily, something I tend to wind up trying to counter by sending out money every turn.
Even despite this more often than not coalitions wound up being against me most of the time.