• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
I say the best way to do this is to list every nation alphabetically and then have people vote each one up or down.
You have to ask for permission to have voting in AARs, so I think that might be the same here. Also, if I did have voting, I'd do it incrementally (top 10, bottom 10, then top 11-20, bottom 11-20, etc.).
 
i am suprised.
My list would start with:
1. England
2. France
3. Castille

English has the occupy Paris mission, France has better position to destroy Castille and form Hre.
Castille has better position to colonize indeed but does it count that much?

Btw I think Hungary should stand a bit higher. Quick access to form hre, italian manufactories and easy Poland PU with cores.
 
I think the hardest nations are Bar and Dulkadir.

Bar -- core of Burgundy and not a vassal of anybody.
Dulkadir -- the only OPM next to the Timurids, only one step away from their great army.
 
It's about normal Grand Campaign start countries for now.

Just to get all the countries, let's have a look at the tag list...
SWE Sweden
DAN Denmark
FIN Finland
GOT Gotland
NOR Norway
SHL Holstein
SCA Scandinavia
ACH Achaea
ALB Albania
ATH Athens
BOS Bosnia
BUL Bulgaria
BYZ Byzantine Empire
CEP Corfu
CRO Croatia
CRT Crete
CYP Cyprus
EPI Epirus
GRE Greece
HUN Hungary
KNI Knights
MOE Morea
MOL Moldavia
MON Montenegro
NAX Naxos
RAG Ragusa
RMN Romania
SER Serbia
TRA Transylvania
TUR Ottomans
WAL Wallachia
CNN Connacht
CRN Cornwall
ENG England
GBR Great Britain
IRE Ireland
LAN Lancaster
LEI Leinster
MNS Munster
NOL Northumberland
SCO Scotland
TYR Tyrone
WLS Wales
YOR York
BRZ Brazil
CAM United Provinces of Central America (UPCA)
CAN Canada
CHL Chile
COL Colombia
HAT Haiti
LAP La Plata
LOU Louisiana
MEX Mexico
PEU Peru
QUE Quebec
USA USA
VNZ Venezuela
DNZ Danzig
KRA Krakow
KUR Kurland
LIT Lithuania
LIV Livonian Order
MAZ Mazovia
PLT Polotsk
POL Poland
PRU Prussia
RIG Riga
TEU Teutonic Order
ALS Alsace
AMG Armagnac
AUV Auvergne
AVI Avignon
BAR Bar HTTT.png
BER Berry
BOU Bourbonnais
BRI Brittany
BUR Burgundy
CHP Champagne
COR Corsica
DAU Dauphine
FOI Foix
FRA France
GUY Guyenne
LOR Lorraine
NEV Nevers
NRM Normandy
ORL Orleans
PRO Provence
RFR Revolutionary France
TOU Toulouse
ANH Anhalt
ANS Ansbach
HAB Austria
BAD Baden
BAV Bavaria
BOH Bohemia
BRA Brandenburg
BRE Bremen
BRU Brunswick
FRN Frankfurt
KLE Cleves
KOL Cologne
GER Germany
HAM Hamburg
HAN Hannover
HSA The Hansa
HES Hesse
LAU Saxe-Lauenburg
LUN Lüneburg
MAG Magdeburg
MAI Mainz
MKL Mecklenburg
MUN Münster
OLD Oldenburg
PAL Palatinate
POM Pommerania
SAX Saxony
SIL Silesia
SLZ Salzburg
STY Styria
SWI Switzerland
THU Thuringia
TIR Tirol
TRI Trier
ULM Ulm DW.png
WBG Wurzburg
WES Westphalia
WUR Wurttemberg
ARA Aragon
CAS Castille
CAT Catalunya
GRA Granada
NAV Navarra
POR Portugal
SPA Spain
AQU Aquileia
ETR Etruria
FER Ferrara
GEN Genoa
ITA Italy
MAN Mantua
MLO Milan
MOD Modena
NAP Naples
PAP Papal States
PAR Parma
PIS Pisa
SAR Sardinia
SPI Sardinia-Piedmont
SAV Savoy
SIC Sicily
SIE Siena
TUS Tuscany
URB Urbino
VEN Venice
BRB Brabant
FLA Flanders
FRI Friesland
GEL Gelre
HAI Hainaut
HOL Holland
LIE Liege
LUX Luxembourg
NED Netherlands
UTR Utrecht
ARM Armenia
AST Astrakhan
CRI Crimea
GEO Georgia
GOL Golden Horde
KAZ Kazan
MOS Muscovy
MUR Murom HTTT.png
NOV Novgorod
NZH Nizhny Novgorod HTTT.png
NOG Nogai
PSK Pskov
QAS Qasim Khanate
aRUS Russi
RYA Ryazan
SIB Sibir
SMO Smolensk HTTT.png
TVE Tver
UKR Ukraine
YAR Yaroslavl
ZAZ Zaporozhie
ALH Haasa
HED Hedjaz
NAJ Najd
OMA Oman
SHR Sharjah
ADE Yemen
AKK Ak Koyunlu
AYD Aydin
CND Candar
DUL Dulkadir
KAR Karaman
MEN Mentese HTTT.png
RAM Ramazan HTTT.png
SRU Saruhan HTTT.png
TRE Trebizond
ALG Algiers
FEZ Fez
MAM Mamluks
MOR Morocco
TRP Tripoli
TUN Tunisia
KZH Kazakh
KHI Khiva
KOK Kokkand
SHY Shaybanid
DUR Durrani
PER Persia
QAR Qara Koyunlu
SYR Syria
TIM Timurid
JAI Jalayrids
AZT Aztecs
CHE Cherokee
CHM Chimu
CRE Creek
HUR Huron
INC Inca
IRO Iroquois
MAY Maya
SHA Shawnee
ZAP Zapotec
ADA Adal
ASH Ashanti
BEN Benin
ETH Ethiopia
NUB Funj
HAU Hausa
KBO Kanem Bornu
KON Kongo
LOA Loango
MAL Mali
ZIM Mutapa
SON Songhai
ZAN Swahili
OYO Oyo
SOF Segu
ANN Annam
ARK Arakan
ATJ Atjeh
AYU Ayutthaya
BLI Bali
BAN Banten
BEI Brunei
CHA Champa
CHG Chagatai Khanate
CHK Champassak
DAI Dai Viet
FUJ Fujiwara
JAP Japan
KHA Mongol Khanate
KHM Khmer
KOR Korea
LNA LanNa
LUA Luang Prabang
LXA Lan Xang
MCH Manchu
MIN Minamoto
MKS Makassar
MLC Malacca
MNG Ming
MTR Mataram
OIR Oirat Horde
PAT Pattani
PEG Pegu
RYU Ryukyu
SST Shan
SUL Sulu
TAC Tachibana
TAI Taira
TAU Taungu
TIB Tibet
TOK Tonkin
VIE Vientiane
WUU Wu
XIA Xia
ASS Assam
BAS Ahmadnagar
BAL Baluchistan
BNG Bengal
BRR Berar
BHO Bhonsle
BHU Bhutan
AHM Bihar
BIJ Bijapur
BND Bundelkhand
BAH Deccan
DLH Delhi
GAK Gakwar
GOC Golcanda
GDW Gondwana
GUJ Gujarat
HIN Hindustan DW.png
HYD Hyderabad
KRK Carnatic
KSH Kashmir
KHD Khandesh
KTH Ceylon
MAD Madurai
MAR Maharasthra
MLB Manipur
MLD Maldive
MLW Malwa
MUG Mughal
MYS Mysore
NIZ Deva Bengal
NPL Nepal
ORI Orissa
ODH Oudh
PUN Punjab
RAJ Rajputna
SND Sind
TRV Travanacore
VIJ Vijayanagar

Not sure how current and complete that list is, Qin appears to be missing for example, and not sure if I scratched the right ones, but...

Sorted, without tags, with some more corrections and without the scratched ones, that is:
Aceh
Achaea
Adal
Algiers
Alsace
Anhalt
Ansbach
Aquileia
Aragon
Arakan
Armagnac
Ashanti
Assam
Austria
Auvergne
Avignon
Ayutthaya
Aztecs
Baden
Bar
Bavaria
Bengal
Benin
Berry
Bihar
Bohemia
Bosnia
Bourbonnais
Brabant
Brandenburg
Bremen
Brittany
Brunei
Brunswick
Burgundy
Byzantium
Candar
Castille
Ceylon
Chagatai
Champa
Cherokee
Chimu
Cleves
Cologne
Connacht
Corfu
Creek
Cyprus
Dai Viet
Deccan
Delhi
Denmark
Dulkadir
England
Epirus
Ethiopia
Ferrara
Foix
France
Frankfurt
Friesland
Fujiwara
Gelre
Genoa
Georgia
Golden Horde
Gondwana
Granada
Gujarat
Haasa
Hainaut
Hansa
Hausa
Hedjaz
Hesse
Holland
Holstein
Hungary
Huron
Inca
Iroquois
Jalayrids
Japan
Kanem Bornu
Karaman
Kashmir
Kazakh
Khandesh
Khmer
Knights
Kongo
Korea
Lan Na
Lan Xang
Leinster
Liege
Lithuania
Lorraine
Luxembourg
Lüneburg
Magdeburg
Mainz
Makassar
Malacca
Maldive
Mali
Mamluks
Manchu
Manipur
Mantua
Maya
Mazovia
Mecklenburg
Milan
Minamoto
Ming
Modena
Moldavia
Mongol Khanate
Montenegro
Morocco
Munster
Muscovy
Mutapa
Mysore
Münster
Najd
Naples
Navarra
Naxos
Nepal
Nogai
Norway
Novgorod
Oirat Horde
Oldenburg
Oman
Orissa
Orleans
Ottomans
Oyo
Palatinate
Papal State
Pegu
Poland
Pommerania
Portugal
Provence
Pskov
Qara Koyunlu
Ragusa
Rajputana
Ramazan
Riga
Ryazan
Ryukyu
Salzburg
Sardinia
Savoy
Saxe-Lauenburg
Saxony
Scotland
Serbia
Shan
Shawnee
Sicily
Silesia
Sind
Songhai
Swahili
Sweden
Switzerland
Tachibana
Taira
Taungu
Teutonic Order
Thuringia
Tibet
Timurids
Transylvania
Travanacore
Trebizond
Trier
Tripoli
Tunisia
Tuscany
Tver
Tyrone
Ulm
Urbino
Utrecht
Venice
Vijayanagar
Wallachia
Wurttemberg
Wurzburg
Yaroslavl
Yemen
Zapotec

Hope they're correct. Something to work with, I hope. And wow, did I just sink over 30 minutes into this damn list? :D
 
I think it's simple. The bigger the nation, the harder it is to rule it. You don't have to care about numerous armies, navies, cultural, national and religious uniformity an your neighbours thinking you are their natural enemy if you have less than 5 provinces. The special missions given to some nations make things a little easier, while special game mechanics, retarded tech groups, being landlocked, having islands, bad sliders and state religion not flavored by devs add up to difficulty.
Golden Horde, Ming and Teutonic Order were the hardest nations I tried to play.
 
On the other hand, if you're both large and stable, you'll be very rich, have good manpower, and the AI will mostly be scared of you. Not many countries DoW you when you're England + France, or even just France, once you've dealt with Burgundy. There is a threshold, however, past which it becomes time consuming to maintain your empire due to revolts etc, but that is quite a long way off for the likes of France, England and Castille, who really don't have very many rivals.
 
If we want a list, i think the best would be to have a list of all the countries in 1399 start that are playable, and then have people vote up and down by one spot, per post, and soon you would get the chaff from the wheat.
 
If we want a list, i think the best would be to have a list of all the countries in 1399 start that are playable...

This was already a) suggested and b) done, a few posts up.
But it is indeed a good idea.
 
Poland is easier than bohemia and austria, because you start in PU with lithuania(which is ahistorical, but whatever). Good player with poland can win even with ottomans, in MP.

If you know how to play poland, it is stronger than all of eastern nations, and most of western ones. And learning how to play poland ussualy takes one or two games.
 
If we want a list, i think the best would be to have a list of all the countries in 1399 start that are playable, and then have people vote up and down by one spot, per post, and soon you would get the chaff from the wheat.
This would be so much better with a web form and a db than with counting votes manually.
I don't think we can rate it 1, 2, 3, 4 maybe group them into very easy, easy, moderate, hard, very hard, near impossible
My thoughts too. It's probably too subjective to make a ranked list.
 
On the other hand, the fast WC ever has been done by Ottomans. The Prawnstar WC was impressive, but it could have been done faster with other nations (note, I personally couldn't have done it faster )