advice for France -> Roman Empire

[Kalle_]

Hey there people!
So, this is probably piece of cake for most of you but im fairly new to the game, plus never played as France before and I have some questions about some stuff that can help me with my campaign or completely ruin it.

This is how my world looks like atm:

My strategy so far:
- Allied and married Castille and Hungary, allied the Pope,
- No cb Byzantium to make them a vassal,
- Declared on the Ottos before they get tech4, to get some Byzantium land back and also to weak them,
- Declared on England to get some cores back and also to get a foothold there + controlling the strait between the islands

Now, my doubts:
- What to do with Castille? I thought about marrying them to get a PU, but was that wise? or should I break the alliance and dow to weak them before the IW?
-What Ideas should i take? Should i go influence and diplo and focus on Europe, HRE and Ottos, or should I go for some colonization?
- If going colonization, should I still try to get some HRE electors as friends and be Emperor?
- As you see, Portugal is getting eaten by Morocco, should i stay alert about that and make a move for vassalization if possible? (even if that means going against Castille, my major ally?)

If you have any other advice, it would be great!

 

[endersaim]

I would ignore colonization you need points not ducats. Everything you have said sounds pretty good just make sure to crush ottomans early or you will run out of time due to truce timers. Castile’s land is fairly low in development and causes little AE, so i would just conquer it.

 

[Dominion]

Now, my doubts:
- What to do with Castille? I thought about marrying them to get a PU, but was that wise? or should I break the alliance and dow to weak them before the IW?
-What Ideas should i take? Should i go influence and diplo and focus on Europe, HRE and Ottos, or should I go for some colonization?
- If going colonization, should I still try to get some HRE electors as friends and be Emperor?
- As you see, Portugal is getting eaten by Morocco, should i stay alert about that and make a move for vassalization if possible? (even if that means going against Castille, my major ally?)

If you have any other advice, it would be great!

Allying Castille enables you to eat Aragon together with them, if that's what you wanna do.

AE gets reduced to 50% for allies. Makes annexing (or vassalizing) Portugal easier. Can also promise them land to attack Aragon together with you.
Robs them of future provinces and they still get reduced AE. Don't even have to give them anything. Just break your promise.
A nice scenario would be to call them in against Aragon, then declare on Portugal. Can't defend them while they help you in your war.

I'd go admin > influence or influence > admin

You can always play the emperor game. Question is, does it make sense.
You need quite a few HRE provinces, meaning you can either revoke and annex those vassals diplomatically or have to break them off and annex em directly after revoking.

Sounds like a distraction. Just eat everything.

And if you want to colonize, colonize.
You'll get blocked by AE anyways if you don't have a clear path ready. Gives you something to do during downtimes.

And try to jump into England soon. They're low AE except for their southeastern provinces. Free dev and one colonizer less. You need their provinces anyways.

 

[HydroAC]

Remember that during the Age of Discovery you can take subjects for half price with the right perk. Naples is a good target. I think Aragon is too big (if they are a subject of Castile), and if they are take a bite and then you can take them as another subject.

 

[Bouchart]

You are only at 1460. You're way ahead of the game here. 400 years is a long time to conquer half of Europe, especially since you can force the Revolution in 1710 and go on a rampage. Your biggest risk right now is being too aggressive and having a coalition against you.

Castile and Iberia tends to implode. You can leave them alone for the time being. Also, they start with +15% morale and it takes you a few ideas before you get your +20% so leave them alone.

I'd try something simple, like the Balkans and Venice. Or Brittany if you can right now; they eventually get +25% coring costs and they colonize eventually.

Don't bother with Exploration. Get Admin first, Diplomatic second.

 

[Badesumofu]

Annex Brittany before they get their HCC NI is a good idea. I tend to do it as soon as I get one claim, while the initial war with England is on. If you haven't already, switch the merchant in Bordeaux to collecting.

You're in a really good position overall. You can eat England quite easily now, keep hitting the Ottomans. Rotate AE between areas.

As for idea groups, the big 4 should all be in your first 5 groups (Admin, Humanist, Influence, Diplo). I think Exploration is worth it as France, but it's optional. CNs are good money generators. Working your way around the coast of Africa and into India is worthwhile too. The income and force limit you get from all that land makes you a total powerhouse.

Keep an eye out for PU opportunities as well. Getting a PU on Castile for example is very convenient.