I did it I did it!
THE NETHERLANDS: Now an Administrative Republic!
I shall tell the tale of the Netherlands. Apparently seceding from Holland after a succession war, for a long while, it remained a OPM. I moved to change that. I colonized, and conquered, a large amount of East Africa, and put down some colonies in North America and the Carribean. I also beat Muscovy.
How you say? How did I beat the magnificent bear? I lost. I never could have beaten Russia's manpower, so I did the smart thing. I waited. For years the homeland lay occupied by the Russian scum, and I lay waiting as Muscovy's WE slowly accumulated. After 2 years had passed, they accepted (begrudgingly) a white peace. Of course, not everyone was happy about being occupied for 2 years. Especially the Reformed Dutch living in Holland.
They raised a huge army, and swiftly moved to "liberate" both Holland and Zeeland. Being able to do nothing, they hung the king and turned the Netherlands into a Glorious Administrative Republic. They also decided that Reformed Christianity was the one True Faith, and made it the state religion.
Years passed, and the "mighty" Songhai Empire was laid to waste by the Dutch. Now the Dutch controlled East Africa.
Wanting to unite all the dutch, in late 1579 the Netherlands went to war with the Archbisophric of Utrecht. Being the Holy Roman Emperor, the king of Ireland deicded to intervene.
And that's the game. You could take Russia, as they have formed, and have fun forming the glorious Russian Empire. Great Britain would be fun, going up against France in the New World. Also, there seems to be a major power in India. They might be fun to play as well.
EDIT: Whoops, forgot the
save.