I don't really have the time to sit down and make a truly nice AAR but I would like to share some experiences of my IG experience. Here is the basic rundown of what I got going so far. My difficulty setting is medium by the way...

These first six years were tough. I was hounded regularly by the Ottoman Empire, Austria, Poland, Sweden, and Great Britain. The Ottomans even took over one of my territories and annexed it after we declared peace, which I had to do as I had no resources hardly to defend myself.

Throughout this time, I conquered Sweden and annexed it, only to be kicked out by Great Britain which was a conflict that decimated my poor army only to leave Sweden to its independent self. After this though, the Swedes turned and began to like my empire and after only a couple years of manipulation, I was able to peacefully annex them.

Throughout this time, I was able to build up some infrastructure and get a bigger army. However, with GB's empire stretching to Finland (bordering my new Swedish territory), we erupted into war repeatedly, probably at least three or four times in this time period. We only actually had conflict a few times, maybe five overall battles. Trying to take the territory of Finland proved costly, so I decided to just make peace.

During this time, Austria did its usual tourrette's-style empire building. Its sympathy dropped from about 45% to 0% in about two turns, and I had to pay them off a couple of times not to go to war.

This was a time of peace. I had great economical expansion and I built up my military for years. I was able to have a huge force garrisoned in my Swedish territory for protection against a British attack and to use later on in the game when I decide to take on Britain. I also peacefully annexed the Ottomans, and used force against Egypt to take them out as well, where I began a huge military build-up for my future conquest of North Africa, which is staked by the British, French, and Tripolitania.

When I had reached 1810, I had been trying to declare war on Poland for the longest time. However, the funny intricacies of treaties prevented me from doing so. They were in an alliance with Great Britain and Austria for several years, and sometimes included me in the alliance too. When I got the chance, I took out Poland in three battles and began preparing to take on Prussia.

At this stage, being sometime in 1812, my gold, raw materials, and food production is well stocked. At the same time, my population is still relatively low, with me getting about 800 or so every turn. If I remember the next time I play, I will get a screenshot.

Next on the list is Prussia, then Austria, then the smaller countries left, then France, and finally Great Britain.

Funny story. After taking out Prussia, I decided to go after the Papal States who's sympathy for my nation has NEVER gone above 10% the entire game. However, Austria was in my way so I needed a Right of Passage treaty.

So while conquering the Papal States, my Right of Passage through Austria ended without me realizing it. For some reason, I thought it was for 8 turns, but it was actually just for 4. So, when the turn came around, one of my armies was still in Austria, and it was seen as an act of aggression and war followed. (Austria's empire comprised of their own territory and Lombardy which included the Balkans and Greece).

After taking care of the Papal States, my depleted forces were attacked my Austria (I still had plenty of armies in Poland, however, that is about 4 spaces away).

After a few battles, I was able to conquer Lombardy and do a military annexation, which confined Austria's territory back to its original borders. However, these turn of events caused the entire world to pretty much get really pissed at me.

I was forced to make peace with Austria for a gold settlement because France and Great Britain also declared war on me. After one turn, I was able to make peace with them with gold so now the task goes to building up my armies again to conquer Austria, which will probably be in about 8-12 months. I'm also building hospitals throughout the Balkans, Greece, Lombardy, the Papal States and etc to try to get my population return high.

For now, the battle continues...