How should one handle France?

[el caballerion]

Jeez... I thought playing as the big blue blob would be easy, but at year 1495, things are starting to go REALLY bad for me! I guess I expanded too quickly and lost a punitive war, having to give up Guyenne (sp?), which was like 7 provinces. Then, I declared war on England, and my ally Castile couldn't come help me (they couldn't cross through Aragon's territory), and England/Austria is destroying me.

I'm going to start all over, but it's already my 4th try on Hard/Ironman. What are some tips I to forming France piece by piece? For National Ideas, should I do OFFENSE first? or DIPLOMATIC? Is there a magical date I should set for my goal of unifying France? Perhaps by 1550?

Thanks!

 

[Frungy78]

Which way are you expanding? I dunno if vassalizing electors to become emperor is still viable, since you lose IA each month if you do that.

 

[Starki113r]

You're better off focusing on Castile/Spain, Burgundy, and, the Irish minors -> England. It's far easier to deal with the HRE and the bonus AE you gain from conquering its lands if you have too much for even the Emperor and his Ally whoring to manage.

 

[Xinkc]

Okay, France expansion tips. Let's see, as of 1.8 I've found it best to just annex vassals, timing it so that the annexation occurs at the same time to minimize the diplomatic reputation impact. Besides that, taking your cores from Provence should be a safe bet. Take the province of Provence if you can without undue AE that would put you into coalition range. With England, you can take two or so cores back from them through each war, though I generally prefer to get a claim across the Channel or punch out Cornwall for you to eat/vassalize. That should get you a beachhead for the British Isles which is more lucrative due to the new English Channel trade node. Other than that, remember to juggle your initial wars between different frontiers. Go to war in Iberia with either Aragon or Castile as your ally then eventually betray them. Go to war to get some of the French region back from the HRE with Denmark (only with its unions intact) and/or Poland (with its union(s)).

As for Ideas, Influence or Diplomatic could be helpful as first diplomatic idea groups. As for military ideas, Offensive is almost always a solid choice. Whether you want to go diplomatic or military ideas first is up to your situation and personal preferences. Remember, there's almost always a set of good allies you can score. Oh, and make sure you have a good military adviser (either discipline or morale) before going to war with Austria because they now have extra morale before you get the Elan! idea.

 

[EMT0]

Is it worth tackling the New World as France, and if so, any advice on doing that?

 

[BBBD316]

In my current playthrough I am struggling with the annexation of vassals due to dip rep, those advisors will be my number one now regardless of cost.

Anyone just cancelled the vassalisation and invaded instead?

As France I generally ignore the HRE and focus on getting all burgundy's land and then going after Spain.

 

[Xinkc]

Is it worth tackling the New World as France, and if so, any advice on doing that?

If you want, it can be worth it. France can make a good showing in the New World and it often lets you get into fun wars against other European powers.

In my current playthrough I am struggling with the annexation of vassals due to dip rep, those advisors will be my number one now regardless of cost.

Anyone just cancelled the vassalisation and invaded instead?

I've tried it a few times but haven't found it worth it like in 1.6-1.7 (only times I tried it). Mostly because there is a chance your old vassals get an alliance so it's harder to annex them. Anyways, annexation is pretty easy if you time it to get 2-3 out at a time. With the changes in the first French idea, it can be somewhat cheap.

 

[Illianor123]

As France I generally ignore the HRE and focus on getting all burgundy's land and then going after Spain.

Probably easier to just kill his stacks and wait for the inheritance event to fire.
Then eat Aragon and Naples.
Then you should be big enough to beat up everyone.

 

[el caballerion]

Whoa...

Just started a new HARD/IRONMAN game and from the very beginning, everything is different. Most importantly, both Castile and Aragon (my former ally) were rivals with me. This left me able to ally with Austria, and having them on my side has proven to be quite important. I haven't lost a single war and by 1500, most of France (with the exception of Brittany and Provence) is mine!