Quote Originally Posted by Martok
If you can get the Empire through the first 20 years or so without a major war, then they have a decent chance of becoming the dominant power on the continent. It's getting through those first 20 years that's tricky, however!
It is indeed tricky, but it probably won't be possible without a major war. The AI is extremely aggressive towards the faction and since it's impossible to properly garrison all borders at once they WILL find themselves in some kind of conflict within 10 years. And given the abundance of surrounding hostile factions it is highly advisable to strike first to avoid being overrun on all fronts at once (see post #38).

That said, it is mainly through those inavoidable early wars that the HRE can emerge as the dominant power on the continent..... i.e. either they master the challenge and become really strong or they go down and perish. I've never seen another development in any of my games so far, with the latter possibility being by far the most frequent.