Chapter 1: The Hundred year War.
First things first: get my house in order.
I get some very nice advisors at the start of the game.
I take the mission to improve prestige first. Being at war should give me no problem getting to 50 prestige. The reward, +1 stability, is not to be taken lightly.
My home trade node (Bordeaux) only has incoming trade from Western Europe and Genoa, so I decide to leave my merchant there for the time being. I don’t have nearly enough power in Genoa to collect, so I transfer trade power to Bordeaux.
I get a Royal Marriage with Scotland and Hungary. Hungary will later offer me an alliance, which I accept. Austria already dislikes me, and I haven’t even done anything yet.
Jean Bureau makes quick work of the meagre forces present in France. The English land 4000 troops in Normandy and chase off my siege stack, while the bulk of my army is still in Poitou, racing North. When they do get there, the end result is predictably one-sided.
With all English ports under siege, I plant my main army in Berry and wait. England does not let me down.
This is the second landing in Normandy. There will be more.
While I wait, I have this opportunity. The price may be rather steep, but it’s well worth it to keep my pretige up in the early years.
The English try to land in Gascogne. My siege force, along with my vassals manage to kill them before my main army even has a chance to intervene.
Then, Burgundy gets jealous that I have all the fun, so they DoW England over Calais. I don’t really mind. Taking Calais from Burgundy is easier than from England, given my lack of naval parity with the Royal Navy.
England calls Portugal in, who ask me for military access. After giving it some thought, I decide to give it to them. I will take any chance to mess with that renegade up North. On a more practical level, Burgundy is even worse off against the RN than France is. If Portugal is happy to send their troops to die, who am I to argue? This will enable Burgundy to rack up a warscore, which will get them Calais a lot sooner. Saves me the trouble of finding my way there later on.
The English high command is taken by surprise. This stack sits there for a week, trying to decide whether to land In Calais or Caux. In the end, they head back to England without doing anything other than waste manpower on board.
You have to love those choices. Cessation Of church functions gives either 20 years of reduced taxes in return for money and Papal influence, or loosing 1 stability and Papal influence? Hmmm. Not really a hard one, is it?
One month later, that same stack lands in Normandy, and my army pounces.
After that, I wait and watch, as Aragon tries to subjugate Navarra, only to get their noses bloodied by Castille (who will eventually get the province of Aragon and some money out of the peace deal), and as 7000 Portugese die trying to besiege Nevers.
December 1446. I finally get my 50 prestige and +1 stability. Good times!
I get the National Epic, another yearly +1 prestige event.
My ticking warscore for controlling Paris gets up to 16.40 by march 1448. England still won’t bite. So we wait.
Somebody makes a gift to the state, and I grab another 10 prestige.
15,000 rebels in Gascogne and 8,000 rebels in Caux cost me about 6,000 men in total.
January 1450. The peace deal I am looking for is still unacceptable for England. No worries. I can wait.
In June, I get military tech level 4 and start to build some armories.
Then, in september 1451, I finally get what I was waiting for. An uprising in England makes them see sense. I quickly check. It’s not the War Of The Roses, since it’s still that same useless king in England. Lollard revolt maybe?
Whoever it is, I owe them a debt of gratitude. They land me with all 4 provinces, along with (because of the mission to rid France of English peasants) 50 admin and 50 army tradition. Well worth the wait!
One month later, Burgundy gets Calais, and peace settles down over western Europe, while I prepare to strike out.
Who will be first? Burgundy or Provence?