I've never played as Great Britain, but I know that some nations have the colonial option to control the railroads of another country. This requires building railroads in Egypt first. I don't remember exactly what the option does, but it seems like the closest you can come to having a puppet state.
Well, I think if you start in 1880, then try Belgium. By that time you can use the full colonial options, and of course all the advantages of playing Belgium (no land wars, good economy) still exist.
For an 1850 start, I still recommend Sardinia-Piedmont.
It sounds like you describe Sardinia-Piedmont exactly. It might start a little slow, but still faster than Belgium. You work toward Italian independence and unification. As your country develops, you expand into the colonial areas of Libya, Ethiopia and the African Horn, and possibly Albania, though...
That last one is brilliant, my friend. My other favorite is the second one, 19th Century Fox. The only love poem for a revolutionary (except for the royalty part, which is reactionary I guess, but still nice).
I'm not exactly thrilled of you invading my home region, but I would suggest from your point of view attacking San Francisco. More resources, and a better port. This war (from the U.S.A. perspective) reminds me of the Barbary Wars - I suggest you read about it if you haven't already. It was basicall...
Yes, business as usual. I think taking their African provinces is best, as they seem most retainable. The Americas are too far away, and so close to the U.S., for Italian ownership to be real. So much bloodshed . . . Hooray for Russia! They must feel so empowered now, though I can't help but think t...
Italy in Spain, sigh, not again: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Civil_War_and_Foreign_Involvement#Italy My God, you are at it again. The communists must be having a ball stirring up anti-war sentiment in Europe. [What's that? You mean the population supports these wars?]. To be honest, you hav...
Okay, how about this: the next war nations are Spain and/or Portugal? They haven't had a war for a while. Or the constantly revolting Swiss? No, I've got it, the Scandinavians! Or maybe Greece? You have some of their territory, after all. Czechoslovakia? Romania? I'm really just guessing any Europea...
I'm not sure how large a factor it was, but it seems that your armies in Bristol were also set to offensive posture. Maybe this worsened the defeat? I know you like your offense. Either way, I think this war really should end soon. What can Italy gain except some African colonies? Yup, I'm officiall...
Goody! I get this image of a comedy western saloon fight in my head. You know the type: Person A tries to slug Person B, Person B ducks, blameless Person C gets it in the face, misdirected retaliation ensues and before you know it 100 extras are brawling all over the place. I couldn't find any good...
Egads! You really took the beating heart of the Austro-Hungarian economy and ripped it right out of the still-twitching corpse. And then wiggled the bloody mass in its face, so it could have a good look at it while the life drained out of it. Losing the Czech lands is going to hurt. Oh, and you rel...
Actually, there are now enough nations in Europe that really, seriously, hate each other that the game has become *ahem* rather dynamic. I've had 60 years of near complete peace (apart from Italy's antics) and now the AI is off on a war mongering surge to rival the Napoleonic period. Let me guess: ...
are you planning to "enrich" the Russian events? Although the Czar is not in a losing war to have a crisis, it would be so cool to have some kind of Communist revolution taking indeed over (as in real life, abstracted with its own flag in game) and having them thrown into the thick of it. I see you...
All of sudden, the basin of the river Niger became a major warzone, with Italian, French and British colonial outposts and armies intermingled. Attention my African Brothers! The European imperialists wish only for our help in allowing them to dominate our homelands and humiliate our people. Though...
Hmm... taken together, these comments suggest that the war isn't as much a done deal as it currently appears. It's hard to see what the British would gain from entering the war now - they can't possibly achieve much against Italy and France before you knock Austria, and Germany look to be faring li...
Ah, I see. I thought it was the top 8 prestige countries, but that makes more sense here. Brazil with a large military, that's not good for Paraguay (or Uruguay).
Um, why is Brazil now on your objective screen? Anyway, congratulations, you are that much closer to taking Vienna! Don't let up yet, though. Also, perhaps you should consider sending Italian troops to help France and Belgium secure their supply lines. The last thing you want it the AI to trap its F...
Yup, I sort of saw this coming, but I was still desperately hoping you could save those armies :( The entire campaign was very risky. I think my 1914 offensive would have been much more cautious: basically place your armies in Udine, Laibach, and Fiume and surround the Austrian army sieging Trieste....
Have you re-deployed your armies from Africa? I imagine you have, and thus this message probably sounds insulting to your intelligence, but I'm just desperate to see you make a breakthrough . . . Hmm, maybe time to convince the Dutch that their best choice is to plunge their country into war and des...
The logical reaction would be a total drop in the British and French relationship with the Ottomans. They refused to support Turkey at the start of the war, and at this point they would probably intervene to prevent an Austrian collapse (sort of like how they saved the Ottomans in real life versus R...
Yes, great job my friend. That was very bold, attacking straight at Buda, I don't think I would have had the nerve to do it. But now I think the main worry is your supply lines. Your nearest depot is back in Nish, and you don't know how long the sieges of Buda and Vienna will take. I think you need ...
I think if you took two of your 2,000 power size armies and grabbed Pest (across the river from Buda), you could hold onto it pretty well against their counter attacks. If they try to recapture it using that 5000 power army, for example, you could then advance with your other armies on the Zagreb fr...