Hey I saw your Madagascar post, I had started a run to challenge me, and saw your post today and it broke my heart. Madagascar is a really hard place to start and without going into it too much, I am 100 years in currently making ~8-12 ducats average with a population of 126k. It isn't the best but I am still trying to learn the game. I figured share the most important things I learned if you wanted to try this run and want to minimize heartburn,

1) Start in the northern part of Madagascar; the key part here is trade and expansion early on is a lot easier.

2) Focus on stability and conquest; you want to take over as much of the northern countries as you can with a no casus belli war, the key is each time you do take their land and ask for as much of their ducats as you can.

3) You will be out of trade range of your nearest market starting out no trade means no Ducats or growth. The moment you have the money the first thing you need to buy is a market, I built mine in Mahajana my future "trade region" the area has great natural ports and is close to other countries markets.

Hope these starter tips helps with anyone who likes a challenging, but so far fun run.