I'm trying to find a way in on my ottoman game but feel stuck

[CaptainChiatrol]

Maybe there is a better forum section for this, but I feel stuck in my current ottoman game. France has Russia as a lesser partner in a personal union and keeps declaring themselves defender of the faith so if I attack any christian I get hit by france and russia at the same time.

Here is the current size of my empire.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=343966441

Here is how my wars end up because Spain attacked me for the holy war CB
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=343966463

Here is the current military size of the main powers
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=343966476
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=343966494

I feel like even though I want to unite Islam the last 70 years has shown me the France with Russia in a lesser union being the defender of a Faith issue is going to be too much. I'm thinking of changing my PP gathering diplomats and make them improve my relations with them to try to limit wars and switch gears to backstabbing the timurds and expanding into Africa and Asia instead of my current european conquest focus. My whole goal with this game was to either dismantle the HRE or unite the muslim faith. Does that cause seem lost or can anyone see a way around this?

I may try to full force in this war to try end it ASAP for the least loss on a tired Spain instead of my normal winning and then work on getting my manpower back to cap ASAP.

It can be so hard to find France alone with all their lucky nation BS the France-Russia personal union being defender of the faith is just impossible. I won the last war against them using pure stubborn and that put me behind in tech enough to start westernization.

I could use some crowd sourced tactical advice.

If I can lose the war with spain fast do you think I can attack them back while france-russia are on a trust with me eat the stability cost and crush them? Is that foolishness?

 

[AurochsAway]

DotF is heresy-specific, so if Spain has any Protestant or Reformed allies you could hit those. You should be able to win Holy Wars without too much trouble. First of all drop all your allies or make sure you are on the offensive in any Superiority war. Group your forces into giant doomstacks and play defensively. Meanwhile spam galleys and control the Mediterranean. Keep them in wait and as soon as your opponents ship some troops over to North Africa or they cross the Bosphorus, trap them and wipe them out. So long as you're up to date on military tech, you should be able to beat them with numbers, hitting isolated stacks and running. Once you have enough warscore, just quickly siege down (perhaps even assault) what you want to take and peace out.