The British, or the Bigger Red Bully as I like to call them in Victoria II, can be a tricky one to take down. However as France I seem to have managed to find a way to disable the vaunted Royal Navy long enough to get a foothold in Britain and win a devastating victory over them.
First, you need to start building vessels quickly. Pour your money into ships. I find second rates do well. Second, don't engage the British navy head on. Target small fleets with your main fleet; pick off fleets of 2-5 ships to start with, then graduate to fleets of 6-8 vessels and eventually move up to engaging groups of ten once you've captured/built enough ships.
Third, keep doing this. Don't draw the British navy into a confrontation; even with numbers on your side it's not worth it. If you get into a naval battle with Nelson when he isn't completely outnumbered run; the demon will always turn the tide. Always ensure you have France's main naval general in charge. Try a few sallies in the Mediterranean to draw the British fleet south as well; you can raid them in the north while they chase you around uselessly in the Med. There are many ways to annoy the Brits in the Med; attack Sicily, harass Malta, start a campaign in North Africa... do stuff that the Brits have to react to. Split their forces.
You will never be able to destroy the British navy. What you can now do, about two years into the game for me, is bypass it. Gather a strong army (at least 100K men) in Calais once you're confident you have naval superiority.
This is the only time in this guide I will recommend attacking the British navy head on. You're looking to find their main fleet and disable it. Hit them with everything you've got assuming it doesn't push your positioning down deep enough to strike North Sea oil. From what I've heard from others this'll only work if you can catch the British navy while it isn't commanded and while it's small enough. It probably needs to be early in the game too, otherwise the British start to get absurd bonuses from the end of the British and Naval idea groups. Sometimes the British for some reason don't leave an admiral in charge of their navies. Exploit this.
Once you've pushed the British back to base with zero morale (you don't need to do anything substantial to them, just drive them off) pull back to your waiting transports and men and have your main fleet escort them to Dover. Land quickly while your fleet fights off any desperate British efforts and take Dover immediately. Then move onto London, defeat any lingering armies there, leave a siege force and surround it completely to give you enough supply nodes (I REALLY hope you've destroyed the British army by now) and march up the coast seizing Yarmouth and Norwich.
After that you're free to go on a rampage around the British Isles. Keep harassing their fleet and hopefully you'll also be able to land a 20K or so sized army in Ireland. Take Dublin, Dover and whatever else you like from the Brits in the peace deal. You'll have a foothold in Britain and can ignore their navy in future wars from now on as long as you ensure you always garrison the islands enough to defeat the British army without depending on reinforcements from the French mainland. I haven't gotten to this point yet but I imagine you can now simply declare war on Britain every time the truce wears off, taking more and more off them till they can't support that pesky navy anymore.
Then just annex them when things reach that point. Congratulations, the British empire is no more and your brave and noble French soldiers can move onto bigger and better things. Technically to win the French don't need to destroy Britain; taking Dublin is enough to get the crucial dominance point. However the British can be an annoying and persistent opponent and removing them as early as possible is always advisable.
Has anyone managed to humble the British as anyone else? Spain might be able to build a suitable navy. Don't know about anyone else.
First, you need to start building vessels quickly. Pour your money into ships. I find second rates do well. Second, don't engage the British navy head on. Target small fleets with your main fleet; pick off fleets of 2-5 ships to start with, then graduate to fleets of 6-8 vessels and eventually move up to engaging groups of ten once you've captured/built enough ships.
Third, keep doing this. Don't draw the British navy into a confrontation; even with numbers on your side it's not worth it. If you get into a naval battle with Nelson when he isn't completely outnumbered run; the demon will always turn the tide. Always ensure you have France's main naval general in charge. Try a few sallies in the Mediterranean to draw the British fleet south as well; you can raid them in the north while they chase you around uselessly in the Med. There are many ways to annoy the Brits in the Med; attack Sicily, harass Malta, start a campaign in North Africa... do stuff that the Brits have to react to. Split their forces.
You will never be able to destroy the British navy. What you can now do, about two years into the game for me, is bypass it. Gather a strong army (at least 100K men) in Calais once you're confident you have naval superiority.
This is the only time in this guide I will recommend attacking the British navy head on. You're looking to find their main fleet and disable it. Hit them with everything you've got assuming it doesn't push your positioning down deep enough to strike North Sea oil. From what I've heard from others this'll only work if you can catch the British navy while it isn't commanded and while it's small enough. It probably needs to be early in the game too, otherwise the British start to get absurd bonuses from the end of the British and Naval idea groups. Sometimes the British for some reason don't leave an admiral in charge of their navies. Exploit this.
Once you've pushed the British back to base with zero morale (you don't need to do anything substantial to them, just drive them off) pull back to your waiting transports and men and have your main fleet escort them to Dover. Land quickly while your fleet fights off any desperate British efforts and take Dover immediately. Then move onto London, defeat any lingering armies there, leave a siege force and surround it completely to give you enough supply nodes (I REALLY hope you've destroyed the British army by now) and march up the coast seizing Yarmouth and Norwich.
After that you're free to go on a rampage around the British Isles. Keep harassing their fleet and hopefully you'll also be able to land a 20K or so sized army in Ireland. Take Dublin, Dover and whatever else you like from the Brits in the peace deal. You'll have a foothold in Britain and can ignore their navy in future wars from now on as long as you ensure you always garrison the islands enough to defeat the British army without depending on reinforcements from the French mainland. I haven't gotten to this point yet but I imagine you can now simply declare war on Britain every time the truce wears off, taking more and more off them till they can't support that pesky navy anymore.
Then just annex them when things reach that point. Congratulations, the British empire is no more and your brave and noble French soldiers can move onto bigger and better things. Technically to win the French don't need to destroy Britain; taking Dublin is enough to get the crucial dominance point. However the British can be an annoying and persistent opponent and removing them as early as possible is always advisable.
Has anyone managed to humble the British as anyone else? Spain might be able to build a suitable navy. Don't know about anyone else.
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