I am playing Poland-Lithuania for the first time (N/N). The starting position is very weak because you are surrounded on all sides by stronger major powers, have little income and cannot build many quality units for a while. It looks like a recipe for being partitioned by Prussia, Austria and Russia, not to mention Karl XII to the north, Ottomans and Crimeans to the South and allies Courland and Saxony who will surely drag you into wars or even join in the dismemberment?

Well I have reached 1735, and no-one has declared war on me!

Yes, you read that right. Even the Barbars offered me peace for free.

I let Prussia wade into Saxony, and just waved a piece of paper at the world. As soon as Prussia's Konigsberg army was outmatched by mine in Warsaw I swooped and took East Prussia. Some years later I allied with Austria (which has held for 25 years) and resumed peace and trade with Prussia. Prussia took Silesia off Austria so once my economy was strong enough I launched another war against Prussia and finished them off, netting Brandenburg, Saxony and Silesia. My faithful ally Russia is fully occupied battling my friendly trading partners Crimea and Sweden.

Wow for the first time in an Eastern Europe campaign I am not surrounded by countries that hate me. It may be Empire Total Peace but I like it. With 1.3 I always felt paranoid that my very friendly trading allies would suddenly strike at my unprotected vitals. Because they always did. After patch 1.4 it at least seems to matter what your relations are. Or has anyone has been stabbed in the back by a longstanding loyal ally? Let us know about it!

I did give some finest porcelain plates to Sweden though expecting a sudden shift in public opinion from hate to love as I'm used to. They were hardly moved to tears (+5 to relations). Now that's more realistic isn't it? No-one is fooled by 'Greeks bearing gifts' in international diplomacy, but it can 'tip the scales'.

There is an orange juggernaut moving towards Europe though so some things haven't changed.