Lol. I guess I'm always at a point where I may or may not make it soon.

Update.
Things took off with a bang. For the first turn in 1719, I invaded Venetia. It actually turned out to be a tough battle once I could get it started. Took me 7 reloads to get the computer to give me the proper path. It kept sending me around the other way for some reason... Even with the Right-click and Hold trick.

Then on the next turn, Austria declared war and Savoy joined the fray, but GB opted to keep it's nose clean rather than go to war with me. In 1710, I was 2nd from the bottom in prestige. In 1718 I was just a bit behind GB in 2nd place.

Austria's war turned out to be something of a cakewalk. I had been dreading it, but I had little to worry about. In one rather embarrassing battle, I led 1200 soldiers against 1900 Austrians (to take Prague) and lost 117 men. Ouch! Each of 3 grenadier units took around 170-183 kills with minimal losses. They were still using Demi-Cannons. Lots of them. I took Prague, Silesia, Vienna and Hungary with insignficant losses. Finally I am putting out real arty, with howitzers now replacing my 12 lber foot. Oddly, I discovered that I could recruit them immediately in the fully built secondary capitals when I still could not build them in many of my major cities.

Also took - Newfoundland, Michigan, Huron and Savoy. Traded Maine (no exports and 147/turn) for Rupert's Land. Got a rake and a stack and a half headed up that way. I think I will send them down to the Black Hills when done. I have a missionary on the way in that direction to scout. Mexico fell to the Pueblo nations. I'm OK with that. I will lead the assault on the Pueblos with leftovers from Newfie. Got a full stack with Howies on the way to the Inuit (I usually leave these guys alone, but I notice that they do tend to recruit a lot). He will come down afterwards and hopefully when he arrives at Georgia, I can use him to nail the full stack sitting there and coordinate attacks from other forces. I am preparing armies in Louisiana (howies and Line plus I made a whole bunch of native warriors)

Portugal is dead. Sort of disappointing. I've really dropped the ball on India. Maratha is going crazy, taking Mysore, Bengal and Gujarat in 2 turns. I have started preparing armies for my assault on them from Ceylon. I was really hoping to be able to take Bengal. It looks like I'm going to end up probably going to war against the Maratha first though. Got to plan that one out as things aren't going well for me.

Spain is making efforts to trade me for France. They are obviously afraid of me. They have offered a couple of times all of their European holdings save Portugal and Naples for France. I think I will build a few more ships and go for it. 6 territories for France, with me holding a stack basically everywhere. I would then be able to rub them out in just a few turns. Italian States DoW on me in 1719 too, so I have an open invitation to conquer that. Then I think I can use that stack to take Naples, the stack in Savoy to take Madrid and build a stack in Flanders/Amsterdam to retake Paris.

The year is 1722, turn 45. I own 33 territories. 3.5 full stacks in America. 4.5 full stacks in Europe and half a stack in Ceylon. I am making 28k a turn (down from a peak of 33k for 1720) but only 2 trade partners... One of which is Maratha and I will need to attack them to control India. There are only 3 trade nodes that I do not own. One is Spain, one is Mughal and one is Marath.

Goals for 1725 - clean up the last of Austria and build a small transport fleet. Take Rome, and Morea if possible. Prepare 2 more stacks for war in Spain/Portugal/Naples and trade France for 6 territories+tech+money. Launch into Goa and Sindh and try to beat the Marath northwards. I want a good presence before I throw away their trade. Complete conquest of Huron and send troops to Black Hills. Take the Inuit Territory. Take Mexico and the Pueblo Nations. Then launch massive assault on Spanish holdings in the Americas.

After that, I'll have to let the other countries make the decisions for me as to where I go next.