when you have a dominating position, the game has to become too easy. it has become very difficult to get that position, however.
I play as Poland-Lithuania and I am in trouble all the time for the first 20 turns (VH/VH, of course :))
Pre-patch I played GB and it was a cakewalk...

It is, however, unfortunate that the only way to make the game challenging is to make money so scarce. I have been fighting with the worst and most boring units all the time; no fancy cavalry, no fancy guns, no nothing... Militias and pikement slugging it out with general's bodyguard...