WC: Have I been too slow?

[Chaingun]

Heh probably at this stage you could only settle for vassalisation of everyone. Still I would've thought WC was near impossible with bb rules as they are now.

It's not that bad actually, I loaded up an elder unfinished WC as France with massive bad boy and played a few years with the latest Beta. For example I didn't get any civil war whatsoever, and most other things were quite okay. Only the lack of enough conscription centers hurt because one must march huge amount of troops from home territories to continental possessions, since you can't recruit mercenaries there.