Is it possible to mod a factions traits to make it a more or less super faction? If so it would seem that this would be an answer for those who want a more challenging AI without the cheats, I.E. fow elimination and the cash and tech bonuses allowed at the levels above normal.
Obviously the super faction(s) could be used by a human player but that would be silly if the game is already too easy. It would require some balancing to get it right but it seems you could make a faction very hard to beat by modding the T&A