That is was not just over done, but that it was sloppy. The Highlanders had 3 of 4 regiments listed as fanatical and they jumped ship without major internal conflict and arrived to help the Draconis March intact and ready to fight. Meh.
Tikonov defects once cut off and kisses major FC boot, forms 2 regiments and attacks the FWL with enough force to paralyze them. This undercuts the difficulty of organizing and operating a military unit in BT, which is supposed to be a big thing. TFR just does it, and effectively.
St. Ives defects along with Candice Liao, transforming her from flipant hedonist to star crossed lover and national mother figure. This is less about Justin Allard or St. Ives as so much Candice's 180.
So basically, all that info you absorbed and liked in the HLSB, don't get attached. Maybe i'm guilty of liking the original housebook too much. It's just all sloppy and rushed. I don't care that there are 2 atlases and a trilogy behind them, the events of the 4th Succession War still come off as forced. Fiat might imply a certain amount of venom, so let me say, I dislike the events of the 4th SW because they feel sloppy, rushed, and with the atlases, rationalized after the fact. That's all :)