Any faction is great, as long as you use them wisely. But to add my two florins....


My first choice would be HRE. My explanation: what people have already said and I won't repeat.

My second choice would be the Mongols, because they're onto everything near them like bees to honey, like a bum on a cheap cracker, like a fly on shit. I find their armies diverse enough to be threatening.
Take a look at Mongol Infantry. They are good long-range archers and they can go into melee. Now that's a worthy double function.
Their cavalry's good too. What about missile cavalry, hm?

England would be a close third, because they begin in a very stable (and comfortable?) position, and their armies are stable to begin with. You can quickly rise to power, as in the late era their armies will still be stable and diverse enough to conquer and conquer, and conquer.


I wouldn't pick Spain at all as a strongest, unless they can stay alive and have a good economy, and with that good military in the late era of which people speak.
Point is, if they have weak armies to begin with, how are they going to conquer in the beginning to ensure having those superior units (pikemen, musketeers, the heavy cavalry)?

Maybe I don't like 'em 'cause I'm not such a missile cavalry person.