First game I finished! Just a note, I formed Greater Germany naturally about 12 years into the game, as my huge long essay shows:
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...AHD-Empire&p=13801319&viewfull=1#post13801319
Here’s a little background on what I was doing. Prepared for colonization of Africa around by 1860 by annexing Ethiopia and Sokoto. I think I gained a war justification against Oman that let me have the Omani coast of Africa. Big help. Other than me colonizing Africa, the Portuguese were expanding in S. Africa, and the Danes (SERIOUSLY!!) colonized Benin, a part of South Africa, and Gabon. The Danes actually colonized that far northern Russian territory in Serbia that touches the White Sea (Russia gained it soon after, but still, crazy Danes).
Started a war against Denmark in 1896 that dragged Russia + UK against me. It was fun as shit to invade Russia Barbarossa-style, going after St Petersburg, Moscow, Tsaritsyn in a massive frontline. Sweden/Persia joined the war, and the Ottomans were on my side. I opened frontlines in Sweden, Persia, and Afghanistan. One huge, static, advancing frontline from Sweden to Afghanistan. Truly awesome. Forced Russia to release every Polish territory (to create a buffer state) and then I focused on Britain. Launched a massive invasion of Britain. Created the “Danelaw” + Northern Ireland as German territories (Scottish Highlands still British). Scotland went independent, and I annexed them. Had a pretty awesome war against France. After 1905, when all of that was done, I went completely out of control and just launched war justification after war justification on everything I could. Puppeted Denmark and Italy, kept Portugal and Ottomans as key allies, and went to town on the world. Americans never did crap.
In the last 5 years of the game I was really trying to rush things, making as many dreads as I could, and trying to gain as much territory as possible before game ended. I gained a place in the sun against Britain a year before the game ended, which let me grab the territory in Siam and Wales
Truce with Sweden ended January 2, 1935, so I started a humiliation justification against them (150 days to start it). Gained place in the sun against Ottomans, by now they hated me (I ended the game with almost 850 infamy and I was banning them from every country in Europe). Grabbed the last non-capital province of Sweden, and a chunk of Ottoman Egypt before game ended. The only thing I regret is in my second war with Poland, I demanded a chunk of Belarus rather than a territory separating Warsaw from Russia. The Russians started a second war of annexation against them (I intervened the first time) and were able to physically reach every Polish province. I was planning on a third war with Poland. =/
Basically for the last 40 years of the game I was in a nonstop state of war with someone, or forming war justifications against someone while in peacetime. No country even tried war of containment with me. Kind of hard to stop a Greater Germany gone totally berserk I guess.