How hard is too hard and how easy is too easy? I still haven't started a patrol yet - juggling mods and experimenting with stuff. But every now and then I play the 'Happy Times' single mission, and just the other day I beat it for the very first time. Of course I was cheating right and left, using external views and all; basically just screwing around. My point is that I always get caught, and always because I take way to many chances, mainly because I can see everything that's going on. That said, I've been watching the AI behavior, and they are far from perfect. It's kind of fun, really, to watch them be spot on one time and then run right over me and not drop the next.
All this is a setup for one question: frustrations aside, how are your tonnage scores? If you're still outscoring the real kaleuns by large amounts, then the game isn't too hard...it just seems that way. In real patrols in the past, my tonnages were fairly conservative. But then when I get serious I play with my eyes closed.