One alternative way to play France.
Research all industrial techs, then asap build forts lvl 10 upto dunkirk, put inside some milicia.
Send back to france all colonial troops but a corp that will be near spanish marocco.
Send your army near the spanish border, group the 4 CAV with the 2 L ARM and create 2 mobile corps with 2 CAV and 1 L ARM each, must be in Perpignan.
When Franco win the spanish war, dow, puppet, they will give you some free ressources, and also some blue prints not given by the UK. As you are here you can do the same with portugal (useless but why not).
then sedn 50 % of your forces near Italy, the rest in strassbourg and muhlouse. Group your navy in the mediterranean see.
Asap build at least 3 or 4 CV lvl 4 (can be started mid 37) with their CAG.
When when war start, do nothing but research Mot 41, INF 41 and ARM 41 (can be made for early 40 if you manage well the tech research with the blue prints buy from UK, buy to have them in timely maner), then when Italy join Axis, attack with 2 spearheads (each with 25 % of army), one going to Venice, the other going throught Italy up to sicily if possible. You have to invade Sardigna first, and use your CV to keep at bay the RM.
When your troops are in venice and Trento, as soon as their areready, DOW yougoslavia, then the german will come to help them, so hit them when they enter in yougoslavia, but do not enter yourself, stay in venice. After while, Yougoslavia will be coup and will became neutral, all the german units will be strat redeployed
At that moment attack the former austrian provinces, the german army will come from Belgium to protect the Vaterland, let them move and come, then will be figting you (kicking your ass in fact), then attack with half ofthe other 50 % of your army in Friedrischaffen, and go 'nach Vienna' to envelopp the german units that are fighting in bavaria. When made, you simply destroy them.
At that time, 75 % of your army is in the south of germany, exhausted and need to rest a bit, on the same time the german army is moving from belgium to the south of germany, with the last 25 %, you will do a spear head direction the North sea to cut germany in 2, the units in the south will also move along this spearhead, but slowly to get some org in more.
December 1940, yo ushould have annexed/pupetted Italy and get the German surrender event.
Do not forget to include the spanish army with yours, they have MONT units that the most interesting. I usually build only 30 militias + armored car in more of the units given originally, but that is only to make it more chalenging (the AI never can stop that strategy, and the fact to to use the yougoslavia trap is also a bit gamey, so I try to compensate).
