Your favourite countries to play with?
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Ottomans, easily. Strong enough to beat up on the neighbors, but in a sufficiently precarious position that you have to avoid getting into a sandwich situation early on (Fighting Venice, Hungary, Bohemia, etc in the west while simultaneously fighting the Timurids, QK, the Ottoman splinter factions and the Mamlukes at the same time is very, very annoying). Also, while powerful early on, their relative strength effectively decreases over time even if you're gobbling everything you can. Inversely, the Byzantines start off in a tough position but once they've beaten the Ottomans around a bit become very easy very fast.
I also like to play "blob buster" campaigns in which I take over a middling power, get into a war with one of the usual blob nations, and slap them around until revolts tear them apart and end their blobbiness, whereupon I switch to another country so as to keep things interesting. For example, taking Morocco, beating Castille hard in Grenada, switching to Brabant to beat up France/Burgundy/England, hitting up Austria and Bohemia with Hungary and capping it all off with an anti-Ming faction (either the Manchu or Dai Viet).
I also like to play "blob buster" campaigns in which I take over a middling power, get into a war with one of the usual blob nations, and slap them around until revolts tear them apart and end their blobbiness, whereupon I switch to another country so as to keep things interesting. For example, taking Morocco, beating Castille hard in Grenada, switching to Brabant to beat up France/Burgundy/England, hitting up Austria and Bohemia with Hungary and capping it all off with an anti-Ming faction (either the Manchu or Dai Viet).
Enjoying a game now as Holland...cherry-picking the best provinces in the game (annexed Thrace, Rome) and then invading Russia to do a cultural shift to get the advantages of Dutch wealth and colonization power but Russian assimilation of Tartars and Kazakhs in Siberia...Move capital to Moscow to hold a bigger empire without so many distant overseas penalties...lol
Scotland is awesome but way overpowered...just fight the English in perpetual war and you get +50% tax bonus and a free stack of cavs and infantry every couple years...better than being the Emperor. WAY to easy to go for WC as Scotland.
Brandenburg for Prussia...or Teutonic Order...but both are pretty easy with good tactics. Forming Kingdom of Prussia and uniting Germany - cool.
Anything in HRE...or even outside HRE, it's not too hard...just vassalize 3-4 electors and you'll become emperor forever...
A lot of good stuff in Italy, many high-value provinces...but there are not as many Italians as Germans, Russians, French... I prefer something with other cultures for world domination potential...although really any culture is viable between colonization and the opportunity for cultural shift if you move your capital...I tried Scotland, conquered Holland, got Dutch culture, formed Netherlands, then invaded Russia and switched to Russian culture...so really you can become about anything with any western culture, lol. I just prefer Catholic because of the opportunity for BB reduction with cardinals...forming a Catholic Russia is cool.
France, England...just too easy...newbie countries.
Russian minors are cool but have competing demands...you need high narrowmindedness for missionaries to convert Horde provinces...but innovativeness to change to Western tech...and not a lot of hope of colonizing America/Africa...and Orthodox religion is somewhat limiting.
Scotland is awesome but way overpowered...just fight the English in perpetual war and you get +50% tax bonus and a free stack of cavs and infantry every couple years...better than being the Emperor. WAY to easy to go for WC as Scotland.
Brandenburg for Prussia...or Teutonic Order...but both are pretty easy with good tactics. Forming Kingdom of Prussia and uniting Germany - cool.
Anything in HRE...or even outside HRE, it's not too hard...just vassalize 3-4 electors and you'll become emperor forever...
A lot of good stuff in Italy, many high-value provinces...but there are not as many Italians as Germans, Russians, French... I prefer something with other cultures for world domination potential...although really any culture is viable between colonization and the opportunity for cultural shift if you move your capital...I tried Scotland, conquered Holland, got Dutch culture, formed Netherlands, then invaded Russia and switched to Russian culture...so really you can become about anything with any western culture, lol. I just prefer Catholic because of the opportunity for BB reduction with cardinals...forming a Catholic Russia is cool.
France, England...just too easy...newbie countries.
Russian minors are cool but have competing demands...you need high narrowmindedness for missionaries to convert Horde provinces...but innovativeness to change to Western tech...and not a lot of hope of colonizing America/Africa...and Orthodox religion is somewhat limiting.
Forming Russia from Muscowy is probably my favorite. Have died a horrible death at the hands of the Hordes many a time doing that. Probably my most succesful game though was forming Italy from Milan and becoming a major world power & colonizer. Havent tried Ottomans since I upgraded to DW but am considering that when I get the time and trying to get rid of all thos pesky Europeans. 
Of the big powers I like Austria and Burgundy. This is just for those games were you wanna beat the snot out of everyone with relative ease.
Of the medium type powers someone like Bavaria can be fun.
Of the small powers, well I had a really good game with Tuscany once.
Of the medium type powers someone like Bavaria can be fun.
Of the small powers, well I had a really good game with Tuscany once.
Seems like it is time to switch to Death & Taxes mod... Play as Lorraine and form Lotharingia.
Added bonus from that mod is scary Muslims that can stand toe to toe with European blobs.