Can I reserve Portugal?
Portugal was just taken earlier today
You can talk to "Nightdragger" or pick another nation...
Though I think the only one left is Sardinia?
Edit: Nightdragger is now Portugal and Lawrence has PM'd me that he wants to be Sardinia. That means every major nation now has a player for it. Woo.
I've taken a look at the starting bonus for France and besides the obvious benefits GM side that France has (Like more leeway for player decisions starting out, ie rp, reforms, actions, decisions etc) France also has, at start, a minimum +4 roll on all land battles (Provided that Napoleon is participating in the battle), and since the minimum value that the dice can give is always 1, that means France at start has a minimum roll of 5 for land combat. Some nations, like Britain, have a minimum roll of 2 but have a handicap, while some nations like Russia might have minimum roll of 0 or even -1! Obviously players will be able to reform and catch up, but starting out France has a good lead on everybody else land wise.