Russia less OP? But then they wouldn't be such a good ally. That was actually a key factor in my Italy game; an alliance with Russia did wonders against the Ottomans. Although they waned in power later on. They tried to westernize, and while westernizing they didn't invest in research or ideas (presumably because research would be cheaper afterwards). But they couldn't suppress the reactionaries well enough, so they never got above 25% westernization or so. So between 1675 and 1800, they made zero technological progress. It was rather embarrassing in the War of 1812 - Russia was sending swarms of troops against the Swedes, but with a 10 or 11 Military Tech advantage, the Swedes won every time.
As for Angst's game, I would suggest firstly not playing Ironman, and secondly siding with Spain. Regardless of the outcome, you are going to be the lesser partner in a personal union; the only question is with whom. It sounds like Spain is the less powerful, and thus the prospects for regaining your own sovereignty are better under them than France. While it may be advantageous to let them take the brunt of France's troops, I would be sure to help enough to avoid the even worse fate of being under France and having to fight them to regain freedom.
Really, the ideal is France concedes defeat, but Spain expends a lot of its resources and you don't expend too many, and you can flip right around and DOW a weakened Spain and gain independence. Not a whole lot worse is if Spain wins, but you aren't that much stronger than Spain after the war. Then you can be the junior partner until the opportune moment arises. The worst case is if Spain loses, as then you're stuck under France, and have a much bigger struggle to regain independence.
It's also worth noting that you can still colonize while you are a junior partner.
It's actually rather the opposite of what happened in my Italy game; there, Castile fell into a union under me in 1601 and I narrowly defeated France in the War of Castillian Succession. Occasionally Castile was more powerful than I was - with about 50% more provinces at the start, and their opinion of me was often Hostile rather than Vassal. So I'd go to war with France, let Castile take the brunt of it, and be back in control. You could be smarter about it than AI Castile was, playing purely defensive and letting Castile take the brunt of most wars as senior partner.
Of course it will be risky if/when you do DOW for independence, as other neighbors such as France may dogpile you. So it may be worth considering other avenues of ending the alliance, namely negative relations of negative Spanish prestige.
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Just noticed that the Humble Store has Conquest of Paradise and Wealth of Nations for 75% off, the first time I've seen them for 75% off anywhere (Res Publica is still normal price). I'm debating picking up one or both. To me the main benefits are:
COP:
- Randomized New World, which would be nice after a few playthroughs. Although I've yet to seriously colonize the New World once.
- Can play as Colonial Nations
- Can support independence for colonial nations
- Possibly some improvements for Native Americans? Or are those already in the patch?
WON:
- Can privateer
- Can create trade disputes
- More flexible transfer-of-trade-power agreements
Whereas for Res Publica (which isn't on sale, but for comparison's sake), I see:
- Faction system. Is this any good, for those who have tried it?
- Dutch Republic improvements.
I guess I'm almost leaning towards WON at this point. Supporting independence would've been nice in my current game, but it was kind of nice the AI wasn't doing that to me. The improved trade mechanics in WON might be more fun for most of the game.
But it's definitely a case of it being rather difficult to tell what's in the patch versus what's in the expansion. Which is kinda good since it means the patches are awesome. But I've also found myself slightly confused by times, such as at wondering how the +50% blockade and privateer efficiency for an Espionage idea worked when I couldn't figure out how to privateer (turns out it's WON-only).
