Notomol said:
Robin74 is right about keeping French culture. Just keep what you have at start and add Picardie.
But if you want to "really" win, you mean "How do I go about conquering France?"
Hum. You say this is the best method ? I have some doubts...
Notomol said:
When the scenario opens, you're at war with many enemies, and your ally Burgundy, seems to get pounded regularly. But it's not so bad.
1) You may choose to virtually ignore Scotland. If they invade and besiege Northumbria, let them. Going toe-to-toe with that army is not wise; they have a good leader (Douglas). If they take the province, and move on to siege another, then you can send relatively small forces into Scotland and besiege theirs. In other words, play for a stalemate and a peace. I would even consider giving them one province. They won't keep it.
Another solution is to ship troops while they siege Northumberland, by boat, either directly behind their lines, or (in last beta) to Meath, and across Eire and across the strait to Strathclyde. As I'll say later, stripping Scotland of its provinces in this war is at 1 BB/province, just like a DA, or even better (as a DA might need a FV, and often a DoW).
Notomol said:
2) French vassals (Provence, Auvergne, Bourbonnais)
Leave them alone. First, they're unlikely to attack you. They seem to crowd around Brittany and Burgundy. Let them. Besides, you don't want to be stripping provinces from them (too expensive in BB - let the French or your allies do it). If they offer you a separate peace (white peace, or offering money) don't be afraid to take it.
Take their spare provinces. You're the defender in that war, and concluding a separate peace on their side (but alliance peace on your side) doesn't change that. So, these provinces are at 1 BB apiece. It's easy to do, one minor at a time : you first siege their spare province, then their capital. And you wait until they offer you their spare province and money.
Notomol said:
3) Orleans. The AI English routinely defeat & force-annex Orleans. If you do it, it's 6BB. You can crush them and vassalize, or not ... but don't force-annex.
I agree with the no-FA, but they're France's vassal, so you can't force-vassalize them. The best IMO is to leave them alone, and hope one of your allies will siege & annex them (most probably Britanny IMHO).
Notomol said:
4) Your allies. Let the Burgundians look after themselves. They will hate you and possibly change sides soon enough, or give all their provinces to the French & Austrians. Brittany is your vassal, and if you can improve relations, they make a better ally. Also, you can diplo-annex later.
But remember that charity begins at home. Look to your own goals, and only then worry about your ally's predicament. You are the alliance leader.
I agree with that. In fact, once the first war is over, change your alliance : keep Britanny, but turn against Burgundy. It's better now than having to strike at Austria later (if you don't finish France first). And those dutch provinces are just too rich to be ignored.
Notomol said:
5) That leaves France. Beat the living hell out of them - early. Henry is unstoppable; crush their armies. Two fronts: north & south, separated by Burgundy and the French vassals. You can beat the French and siege every one of their provinces, never letting their newly-built troops get off the ground. This is easier IF you don't let yourslef be distracted by the Scots, the French vassals, or your own allies. Capture every one of their provinces. Force-vassalize. (Oh - don't forget to take Picardie as well, or you'll "lose the 100 yrs war)
Yeah, split your northern army in two, siege all their northern provinces. With your southern army : split it in two too, siege Vendée with one, and attack minors with the other. When you control all norther provinces (two years' work IMHO), go south with them.
Another often used tactic is to invite some more countries : Aragon, Savoy, Helvetia (and Britanny off course).
Once you've obtained provinces from all french minors (and hoping Orleans was FAed by Britanny or Burgundy), accept a peace with France for provinces. With 100% victory, you should get 5-6 provinces. If you let Britanny take care of Vendee, you might probably have them conclude a SP obtaining it, to strip France even more. That way, France'll be greatly reduced in power, making an easier FV/DV then DA. If you simply FV France, odds for a later DA will be lesser, more risky.
As for taking Picardie, the Loss of HYW event's startdate is 1453 IIRC, so you have 34 years before worrying about that. If you end that first war in 4 years, wait even 10 years before the second, FV France, you'll have 20 wars to DA them : plenty time enough, as with your relative economies you won't have to wait 30 years. But you'll probably get Picardie in the first war, among the 5-6 provinces you'll receive. Don't worry, be happy now.
Notomol said:
Now spend money to improve relations between you and the French. Bribe them to the point where you can invite them into your alliance. If you are forced to choose between Burgundy and France, let the Burgundians go. From this point on, every province conquered or inherited or annexed by the French will belong to you eventually.
Which is true for any vassal, including Britanny. Burgundy is even more fit for more provinces-grabbing, as they're more aggressive and border many one-provinces minors (in the HRE). Once France is taken out, Burgundy won't be inherited, so you have more time to take care of them. When you'll turn on them after the first war, or after the second and later Diplo-annex of France, you'll get easy time to beat them soundly, FV, and be ready to DA them 30 later, even if they conquer half of Germany in the meantime, as you'll have both the power of France & England.
Notomol said:
If you win the opening war this way, the French leaders who show up won't be used against you. Your own weakness with Henry VI on the throne is not a factor, either.
Without armies, leaders are worthless. A France reduced to 2-3 provinces is absolutely harmless, unless they have Napoleon himself. Also, the AI doesn't know how to properly use leaders, as it too often sieges provinces with them rather than searching enemy armies.
Notomol said:
With France as your ally, the rest is easy. The Scots are on their own, and can be picked off separately. The vassals? Whatever France fails to pick up, you can collect later. Force-vassalize them later (after you've diplo-annexed France)
I'd rather say to let Britanny or Burgundy FA them in the second war, unless France has DAed them earlier. But they'll often eat each other, so you'll have only one of them to FV-DA later (= less work to do).
Notomol said:
Your big decision in the 16th century will be whether to turn Protestant or remain Catholic.
Rather, reformed or catholic ? You'll only have protestants in england, while reformed spread all across your lands. The only reason I see to convert to protestantism if you have a firm grip on the continent is if you have many german/scandinavian protestant provinces : you could more easily convert french & anglosaxon provinces than german & scandinavians. However, figure out the average cost of each solution, as the conversion of dutch provinces can be rather hard.
In the end, if you appropriately manage that first war, you'll get :
- three scottish provinces
- Maine, Limousin, Cévennes
- most probably 5-6 among Vendée, Picardie, Nivernais, Champagne, Guyenne, Languedoc, Lyonnais & Dauphiné
So, 11-12 provinces more, while France'll be reduced to 3-4 provinces. Off course, after the second war and later DA, you'll have to wait some decades to let that BB decrease (it's when you notice how bad a monarch you have...). Just enough time to let Burgundy grow a bit before DA them. But you'll still be able to grasp Iceland and Greenland from Norway/Denmark (and possibly other colonies in the far north from scandinavians or from Novgorod), and Azores/Canaries from Portugal & Castile (and take some portuguese maps, to start colonization early), BB-free if you don't delay (they're still colonies at start).
