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Why does the game allow England to become France? :confused:

England is not excluded from the Culture Shift decision. In my test game, I didn't form GB (of course, that just means no cores on Highlands, Western Isles, and Orkney)

Actually, had England won the Hundred Years War and the English kings taken the crown of France, it's not inconceivable that they might move court to Paris and rule from France.
 
After all, the Plantagenets were French (and, I think, part of the succession at some point; hence, the war). So you might've had English nobles, upset at 400 years of French rule, take a chance.
 
In chapter 13, right in the beginning when you start the 4 simultaneous wars this sentence shows up "Naples also declines to help Ferrara." That didn't make much sense to me. Did I miss something there? Could it have been Ferrara that declined to help Provence instead? Or am I just way off for some reason here? :)

And one other thing could also be said about starting many simultaneous wars. It's most often nothing for the ones new to the game. Unless you know exactly what you are doing, it could become more than you can handle, like for instance if France decides to declare war in the middle of it. Other nations declaring war when you are in a big war against someone else is quite common since the AI see that you have a handfull and they want their share of the fun. :)
 
After all, the Plantagenets were French (and, I think, part of the succession at some point; hence, the war). So you might've had English nobles, upset at 400 years of French rule, take a chance.

Yup.

Great AAR for undrestanding something more than the basics! Subscribed.

Glad to help!

In chapter 13, right in the beginning when you start the 4 simultaneous wars this sentence shows up "Naples also declines to help Ferrara." That didn't make much sense to me. Did I miss something there? Could it have been Ferrara that declined to help Provence instead? Or am I just way off for some reason here? :)

Ferrara declined to help Provence/Naples. :) Fixed.

And one other thing could also be said about starting many simultaneous wars. It's most often nothing for the ones new to the game. Unless you know exactly what you are doing, it could become more than you can handle, like for instance if France decides to declare war in the middle of it. Other nations declaring war when you are in a big war against someone else is quite common since the AI see that you have a handfull and they want their share of the fun. :)

Added a note at the France DoW explaining that the AI attacked since I look distracted. We'll get to more of that soon, when Castille decides to join the party (and of course, not on my side).
 
Chapter 15
Crushing Burgundy, part 2

With France declaring war, I need more troops. Once I build them, I start minting at 100% for a couple of months to replenish my treasury. --- Don't wait until you've been smacked around to build new troops. If you think you need more troops, build them early in the war - before war exhaustion increases build times, and occupied provinces reduce your income for minting. ---

ct15newarmy.png


Since my boats will be off SE England, I build my cavalry next to the loading point, and infantry behind it.

September 26, 1409: The war is a giant confused mess. Normandy has no armies, but Bohemia, France, France's vassals, Burgundy, Milan and Savoy are marching around my French possessions at will, being major pains in the ass. I'll start by crushing a nearby Bohemian army. --- The AI doesn't coordinate its armies, so your best bet is to kick them out one at a time. ---

I'm staying in my own territory for the time being, to enjoy higher force limits and high reinforcement rates. Let my enemies die from marching.

ct15battleofanjou.png


I'll take a quick moment to explain how you should prioritize your wars.
If the nation that declared war or was declared on is the war leader and you can beat them quickly with assaults, do that. This ends the war despite what the allies do. Same thing goes if you can take out the above nation and the war leader quickly - knock them out quick and end the war.

If you can't storm in and end the war quickly, fight defensively! Take out enemy armies on your turf (where you get the advantage of reinforcements and supply), and force the allies out of the war. Once the allies are out of the war and your enemies are crippled, go in for the kill.

Once you master the economy and warfare, your two most precious commodities are time and infamy. Use them judiciously.

October 17: Normandy and Burgundy both offer White Peace. Heck no! --- Always check peace offers. Occasionally, the AI will offer a peace offer better than you can ask for. ---

December 4: Moderate infamy (14.3) + low War Capacity (from fighting a third of Europe) = wolves at the door. Luckily, Castille comes alone to the party. --- If nations far away declare war on you, don't fret! It takes time to march over, and the AI rarely lands huge armies by sea. ---

ct15castilledow.png


December 12: Savoy and Milan offer White Peace. They're a junior partner and an ally, so we accept. This gets rid of 2 sizable armies.

ct15121209.png


Armies, armies, every where, and they've only taken two provinces so far (one of which I recovered the next month).

January 1, 1410: My new army has organized with 11 regiments, and loads onto my cogs to land in France.

ct15formingup.png


February 18: My policy of focusing on Bohemia bears fruit, after chasing them around France. Since Bohemia is HRE, they have giant manpower and force limit bonuses, so kicking them out gives me breathing room. The Holy Roman Emperor almost never runs out of manpower.

ct15boifberry.png


Bohemia is the war leader for Burgundy, and while I know I can thrash France or Burgundy, I'm having serious trouble thrashing France and Burgundy. Since Bohemia just lost a large army, they're willing to come to the table. --- If you're in multiple wars and get a chance to get peace with the war leader of one for very little, take it! ---

ct15bohemianpeace.png


Besides - France used the Reconquest CB, which is mutual. That means I can take my French cores. :D

April 7: More running around in circles trying to clear out my lands. I'd put a map with arrows up, but I'd confuse myself. My awesome general-king + high manpower French provinces + high force limits means that I can keep this up for a long time without worry. (look at the WE difference here).

ct15bofanjou.png


April 18: Time to push France south. I split my armies before loading them on transports, so that they could disembark split (1000 to Caux to siege, 2000 to Normandie to siege, 8000 to Normandie to hit Maine), and my main army is coming from the south in a pincer. While you do not gain bonuses for hitting someone from multiple directions, it's at least satisfying.

The key is that may armies will arrive about the same time: the army coming south from Anjou arrives on the 28th. The southern army has lower morale, but has Henry V.

ct15mainepincer.png


My southern army retreats pretty quickly, but it drains the French army's morale ...

ct15bofmaine.png


June 1: I get Government Tech level 4, and now get a new idea. I take Military Drill (+1 morale) - this will give me several advantages:
* My garrisons get the morale modifier, and will be harder to assault.
* I'll have an easier time assaulting garrisons with my higher morale.
* My armies will have about 30-40% more morale than an opponent without Military Drill (this advantage fades over time, as other morale modifiers become larger).

June 3: As my armies run out of steam, I retreat...but not after pummeling the French and Aragonese, forcing them to withdraw. While it may look like I just wasted time and men, my sieges in Normandie and Caux progressed (Caux is at 50%), and the morale and casualty damage will prevent the enemy from assaulting. Meanwhile, I'll replenish troops 4x as fast while they're in enemy territory and I'm in my own. --- Don't fret about winning or losing battles. Focus on controlling the pace of the war. ---

ct15bofmaine2.png


July 5: I catch Castille's fleet trying to slip by, and capture a pair of Carracks.

ct15seabattle.png


November 3: The war with France is back to chasing down smallish armies. However, my sieges in Normandy complete!

ct15annexnormandy.png


Overall, things are going OK. I had to give up my plans on Burgundy (for the moment, but with France's DoW, I should be able to take the 3 remaining provinces east of Paris, which will then isolate Paris from the rest of France. Castille doesn't have access through Aragon and can't get to me, and I've wiped most of the armies of France's vassals.
 
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I'm really enjoying this walkthrough, but I was hoping you'd be a little more in depth about the mechanics of naval combat. Is there a good guide that explains optimal fleet mixes, the pros and cons of small/medium/large ships, what determines captures and just in general breaks things down the way you did with land combat?
 
I'm staying in my own territory for the time being, to enjoy higher force limits and high reinforcement rates. Let my enemies die from marching.

A very intelligent decision. Attempting to march anywhere yourself, as Britain, will bring about shocking attrition as the Scots in your army pass away/quit due to suffering from the unfamiliar exercise!
 
Irrelevant actually. You can always take your cores for free in defensive wars, regardless of the CB used.

Not strictly true - if the aggressor uses a mutual CB other than reconquest, you will pay the appropriate price for any provinces taken for that CB, rather than the normal 0 cost for cores. For example you would pay 1 infamy each for cores if the aggressor declared on you with the Holy War CB.
 
Not strictly true - if the aggressor uses a mutual CB other than reconquest, you will pay the appropriate price for any provinces taken for that CB, rather than the normal 0 cost for cores. For example you would pay 1 infamy each for cores if the aggressor declared on you with the Holy War CB.

Correct. And had they used no CB, or a non-mutual CB (dishonorable scum, excommunication, liberation, etc), you would pay the normal defensive price (3 infamy).
 
War AI, it never beats the human mind.
Unless 20:1 odds, which might make it more challenging... :D

If Paradox ever implemented a true coalition AI, it would drastically change the strategy of the game.

Nice job rampaging through France. Are you going to stop this AAR when you have conquered all of France?

Nope. I'll also do an HRE/Claim Throne scenario.

I'm really enjoying this walkthrough, but I was hoping you'd be a little more in depth about the mechanics of naval combat. Is there a good guide that explains optimal fleet mixes, the pros and cons of small/medium/large ships, what determines captures and just in general breaks things down the way you did with land combat?

Thank you very much!

I'll add a chapter for Naval Combat soonish. A good rule of thumb is "bring a bigger hammer, or hide in port". It simply isn't worth it to specialize in naval combat (naval ideas other than possibly Press Gangs, for example), since it's far easier to either overwhelm your enemy with a lot of ships (if you're very large), or ignore them (if you're small). You just won't fight enough meaningful battles (even over 400 years) to justify the opportunity cost.

Also, some things in naval combat are simply not terribly clear. I don't know if anyone knows how to maximize captures, for example.
 
Correct. And had they used no CB, or a non-mutual CB (dishonorable scum, excommunication, liberation, etc), you would pay the normal defensive price (3 infamy).

For one of my cores? Odd, I'm pretty sure I've been grabbing my cores for free (I play an infamy restricted game) in defensive wars. I'll have to go back a few saves and check the wars. If you are correct, then the AI must have used Reconquest on the countries that I was guaranteeing.
 
Why did you do that attack on Maine so soon? If you had just waited 5 days the southern army would have replenished more morale since it does so every month. You lost 1 month of morale and soldier increase. Was there a reason for the hurry?

And you wrote "the army coming north from Anjou". It's south. That confused me for a while. :)
 
For one of my cores? Odd, I'm pretty sure I've been grabbing my cores for free (I play an infamy restricted game) in defensive wars. I'll have to go back a few saves and check the wars. If you are correct, then the AI must have used Reconquest on the countries that I was guaranteeing.

Yeeahh... I think there is something odd about that thing. I have had defensive wars were my cores cost 0 and I have had them cost 1 but it was not only for reconquest they were free.. I'm not sure what is going on but there is something fishy it seems..