To clarify, I like playing Paradox games to found an empire not play as a toady the entire game. I want to spend a couple of years building up and getting a couple of expands and then using it to fight. You could say just don't play minors then but making a game less fun for realism purposes defeats the point of it being a game and I'm just not gonna buy that content.
I'd agree with you more that getting your empire later as a minor would make more sense and could be fun but late game hoi is crap the AI is gonna have more than enough divisions to crush you if you make a move, there are only really 4 peace conferences possible by that point, where you'll get out bid in anyway because you're too small to get enough casualties for enough points.
The only way I see Turkey working as is, is if they did a timeline extension for everyone else and added some kind of war exhaustion for post war so Turkey could then be free to make some moves before a cold war scenario really begins and even with this it's a lot of waiting before you can actually play.
Sure. I am writing absolutely subjectively. I prefer to play ahistorically minor countries and actually building an empire (or bigger country) is sometimes fun.
However, I would like it to be a challenge that dealing with numerous problems that a small country has (which are in fact the reason why it is weak) would be complicated and engaging.
I like the tree of the Netherlands or Mexico because I do have the potential to do so, although in both cases it is a bit too easy. It is more difficult with Mexico because, for example, the war over Colombia, Venezuela, or Peru may end badly. It's nice, however, that in Mexico you have to deal with rebels, balance between the church and atheists, etc. Even if it's done imperfectly, it's a nice direction.
For this reason, I will defend new trees, because I feel them as an extension of that idea. Your country is weak and has a lot of problems, what will you do about it? What is your priority, what you can skip, etc. Decisions in short.
I also like growing focus trees because they make you can't get it all and sometimes there are some equally nice things. Decisions again.
I also have other experiences, defeating the major in 41-42 is possible, and even seizing some lands for yourself, especially when you play ahistorically where the war can be different. The AI creates quite weak division designs and you can often make its army with a decisive hit, whether it is an efficient landing or an attack by an armored division or even on infantry after it bleeds out against your lines.
