Newbie guide to France

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This AAR is a guide to new player in playing the game. What country did I pick for this aar. Well I chose France, as a powerfull country it is often chosen by new player franctic to learn the game.

Its not a narrative AAR rather an instructional one. So unfortunately it won't be as enjoyable to more experienced players, however I still want experienced players to reat because they can help elimate some factual errors that are sure to pop up.

Chapter 1 -the first war will be up later today

 

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Chapter 1 the First war

1st look around look at the world, in 1419 France finds itself allied to its Vassals Bourbonnais(2 provinces), Auvergne(2 provinces), Orleans (1 province), and its ally Scotland (4 provinces).
France starts with two armies the southern army of 15000inf 3000 horse based in Languedoc , and the Northern army 15000inf 4000 horse based in I’ll De France
Southern army in Languedoc hold and react to English movements from Gasconge. More than likely England will March north to Maine however sometimes Gascogne is the target of choice.
Northern army in Ill De France retreat to Champagne to avoid conflict with Henry the 5th an excellent general with 31000 men
10 Warship and a transport in Vendee should hold to hide from much superior British Fleet, however this can be useful to catch small british patrols unaware. Less than 5 ships.
France starts with an unspectacular 4/5/4 King, however this will be quickly rectified as France get a new 5/7/7 King, this is not spectacular however it is extra monarch tech bonuses and an improvement in diplomatic abillity.

RM Aragon to reduce chances of interference, Aragon is the most dangerous potential addition to England’s alliance. While we have a strong relationship with Aragon do not try to bring it into your alliance, the reason is that you are at your alliance size limit. No human player player may have more than 4 allies.

At normal difficulty France starts with 400D in the bank. I will write this AAR assuming this difficulty setting

Technology
Infra should be full right, it is much valuable to increase your economic strength, than to get techs that make your cavalry worse.

In regards to DP, move 1 step toward aristocracy to reduce cavalry costs from 16D to 14D.

Build 10000 horse in Champagne to meet your Northern army
31000 Northern army often moves for Orleans while Southern army usually moves north to Maine
Our Languedoc forces move on undefended Gasconge, the reason Gascogne is the first target rather than Potiou is that the river at Gascogne makes it more defensible.
England will in all likelihood move on Orleans this is not a big deal while it is your vassal it doesn’t matter if it is annexed, after all they will eat massive BB while you can take the province for 0BB
Move on the Burgundian low countries eliminate the armies in the area with your cavalry and siege with your infantry.
Move your horse on to Calais, siege while cutting off reinforcements from the British mainland.

Once Manpower pool has recovered consider an extra 15000 horse
Make piece with the Burundians gaining at least Artois, preferably flandern as well. It is important to get Burgundy out of the war because it is difficult to deal with both countries successfully. Also the Burgundian peace treaty will end sooner than the peace with England allowing the 2nd war sooner. After all England will come to its allies call. Flandern is a long term economic sinkhole (Dutch revolts) however it is very profitable in the short term as it has a COT, it can be released later

Move your infantry south to commence siegeing on Caux and Normandy
Basically you are still trying to avoid battle with the main British army, because of Generals, in particular Henry the V a 5/6/5/1 general, Bedford a 3/3/2/1, Clarence a 3/3/2/0, Beauchamp a 3/4/4/0, and Gloucester a 2/3/1/0, when does this change, when you get Richmond in 1425 5/5/5/1 and Dunois in 1427 4/4/4/1

You have the advantage because the AI sieges one province at a time, you can siege several. After Caux and Normandy have fallen you can move on Brittany. Do not show mercy, you want to take Armor and Bretage

Let your cavalry fight the battles because cavalry are powerful early on until land tech 9 when it begins to swing to the cheaper infantry.

Naverre joined the British alliance in my game but was quickly removed from the war with a white peace.

Try and get a peace that leaves England limed to a single continental province, Here I got Poitou, Gascogne, Normadie, and Caux.

 

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Chapter 2- Interwar years

Objectives
1) Improve the economy and census tax yields by promoting tax collectors in the majority of provinces
2) Do not exceed 2% inflation
3) Wait for a minimum of two skilled generals
4) Have two armies of 20,000 cavalry and a n army of infantry left over from the last war


Tax collectors are important. Pre Promotion census tax is circa 90D After promotion annual census taxes are circa 170D.
Promote as fast as you can, starting with higher tax value provinces. Do not be afraid to mint gold to promote officials however try and stay under 2% inflation.
Deal patiently with your ally’s wars, Scotland often declares war on Eire and Brittany, while Provence can declare war on Brittany Helvetia, and Savoy, Should an ally dishonour get them back into the alliance quickly, or they will be thorn apart by your other allies, honouring this alliance against your vassals would cause a minus 3 stab hit, not a good thing.
Use your first general Richmont in 1425 to steal sieges. You are the alliance leader do not be afraid to make peace for your alliance. Should war with Brittany come feel free to annex Brittany despite the BB hit it removes a source of constant tension on your borders.
Declare war on Burgundy as soon as the treaty is expired and your objectives are met.

Chapter 3 2nd War

Objectives
1) Humble Burgundy and take French Comete
2) Remove the English presence in France permanently.


In preparation for war I positioned a cavalry army in Flanders and Champagne. My plan was Champagne -> Burgundy-> French Comete and Flanders-> Calais->Kent, my infantry army was left in Flanders to hold and defend my land from Burgundian incursion. The presence of a river between Zeeland and Flanders should defend my men and allow them to match any Burgundian force.
Remove any English allies from the war quickly with a white peace if possible. In this manner I took Navarre and Friesland out of the war.
During heed the advice of Jean D’Arc event go with it. While you may prefer the cavalry the slider movements towards Centralisation, offensive innovative and quality are better particularly long term than aristocracy, serfdom, and narrow-minded.
My plan went through perfectly beating Burgundy down and taking French Comete, and forcing England back and taking Calais. A newbie may ask why leave it at that, well there is a simple reason, EU2 is a brilliant game but it is too easy you must leave wars early to take any enjoyment from the game and let you be challenged in late game.

Should you have difficulty in this war follow the advice in the next chapter but also declare war on England in 1456 to damage in England during the war of the roses.

 

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This is off to a good start. I hope to see if you play France the same general way that I do...

 

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Thanks I hope you are one of the experienced gamers to read and correct any factual errors.

 

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Chapter 4 Economic growth
Objectives
1) Start producing manufactories, in particular a Fine arts academy, and several Breweries
2) Diplo-annex your vassals and cut Scotland from your alliance

After the 2nd war it should be circa 1430 at this point you should be faced with a long period of peaceful expansion. That’s right EU2 is not a war game.

Keep researching infrastructure, at least till you reach infra 3

Trade
Begin sending merchants in batches of 3 to Flanders and I’ll De France COTs, you won’t make massive gains in the early game however you should make respectable gains if you stick to your own COTs as they are cheaper to send merchants to.

Theoretically its possible but exceedingly difficult to start annexing your vassals now, however I advise you to wait till 1440s, after all a failed annexation attempt can result in the vassals throwing off the reigns


Build your first Manufactory now a Fine arts academy in I’ll De France. While you can get one sometime in the mid 1600s by event the value of the 6 ducats extra a year over those 200 years is 1200, which is worth buying the manufactory in I’ll De France now.

In in Jacques Coerrs Reform choose tax every time. 10 tax value spread over 5 random provinces add up over the years. In just 100 years ¼ of the game length that 1000D in census taxes and an additional 1000D in research.
In the Birth of a permanent taxation system issue it. Again the taxes add up over time.

In the creation of the first permanent force create it for the extra quality and defence. The time is coming when cheaper fortresses will be very valuable. Also if I recall correctly aristocracy is not a good thing in the long run for France since it will cause the French revolution.

In the trial of Gille De Rais you should find him guilty for the extra stab if you like me are not planning a war soon. If you are keep him around.

Sometime in the early 1440s you should reach infra 3, keep investing in infra. But now use your savings to build manufactories. Refineries in your wine provinces. They give 5D a month in your Trade investments and if they are build in a wine or sugar province they give 12D per annum somewhere, I’m not actually sure. If they are built in a non wine or sugar province its 6D per annum.

When your alliance expires pause the game and renew it immediately. In my game in the two days it took me to respond Auvergne and Bourbonnais went to war. Theres nothing I can do to stop it so I will bring one into the alliance and wait for the other one. I brought Bourbonnais in since they look more likely to win the war and I will watch the situation carefully and bring Auvergne in as soon as the war is over. Boy was I wrong Auvergne completely won the war and grabbed Limousin in tribute. This will make Auvergne tougher to annex. However it is back in my alliance and that is enough for now.

During this time I keep building Breweries. In my game its 1450 and I have 3 breweries and a FAA. When I get my 4th brewery I will start attempting diplo annexations.

In 1451 an event fires letting you inherit Provence. This is a very good thing as it makes the othe diplo annexations very easy.

In 1453 an event fires for England which removes French culture. This only happens if England fails to control Gascogne Poitou, Picardie, Normadie, Caux and Calais. This makes you much less tempting for England to declare war against you.

Should your allies drag you into wars, make a white peace and bring your alliance partners who dishonoured back into the fold.

In 1457 I built my 4th brewery and in the same year annexed Orleans and Bourbonnais. My two 1 province minor vassals. As Auvergne is the strongest of my vassals a 3 province power, I built tax collectors in Orleans and Bourbonnais. Once they were finished I attempted to annex my last vassal.

After annexing your vassals your relations will plummet across Europe. This is a time of waiting, as you build new bonds and strengthen relationships. Try to make sure that you have a lot of Rms they really help relationship growth.

 

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Chapter 5 more Peaceful growth
Objectives
1) Prepare for a campaign against the Iberian powers
2) Continue Economic Growth and add an additional manufactory
3) Fortify the southern border

This chapter starts in 1466 for my game. Depending on your progress you may be ahead or behind.
As to one, I figure that boredom might be beginning to set in for some of the warmongers so in a few years we will have war. To prepare for this war check that you have sufficient troops 60,000 cavalry and 25000 infantry should do. You should have this or more from annexing your vassals.

I built an additional manufactory bringing the total to 5 breweries and a FAA

The southern border must be fortified. In the normal course of things I’m not a major fan of forts. I build them now and again however for France Forts are a big deal. The reason is that the southern provinces on the Iberian border are wine provinces and have manufactories. Manufactories can be destroyed by an army taking the province. As they are valuable forts should be built to safe guard the manufactories.

I promise war with the next installlment.

 

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Chapter 6 the 1st Franco Iberia war
Objectives
1) Take Bearn and Roussilon
2) Try and claim a stake in Naples or the aragonese Italian possessions

I haven’t updated on DP settings on a while, I have been moving toward higher centralisation. This is one of the no brainier in DP. In almost any situation it is good to be centralised.

Deploy your armies to the south
My formula had 20,000 cavalry in Gascogne, Languedoc and Cevennes also 20,000 infantry in Guyenne
I deployed my fleets to the med where there was more of a chance of fighting on even numbers.
The Iberian alliance was Castile Aragon and Naples. Aragon was involved in a war with England.

A reserve army of 20000 cavalry was kept to ensure that any sieges were quickly broken.

The Fleet was sent out to Cote d Azur to prevent any landing on Provence and to prevent attrition.

My first step was to send my cavalry down western Iberia. Hit them the plains. This is where cavalry are at the best. I then sent my other cavalry army down into the fray. It got turned back by a Castilian army in Aragon, of 20,000 cavalry.

My infantry advanced and began seiges of Bearn Navarre and Aragon, while the Cavalry began to siege Catalonia and Valencia. Castilian reinforcements saved Valencia from falling. The rest of the sieges succeeded.

Castile counter attacked with 60,000 men and began the siege of Bearn, I committed my reserves to the fray. They were forced to rout however they managed to bravely cut down 40,000 Castilian soldiers. Valencia fell at the second time of asking and the siege of Castille was begun.

More troops cavalry were in southern France and a fresh offensive on Leon was began. It was at this time the English pulled out of the war and French soldiers began the siege of province abandoned by the English. Particularly Rousillon and Gerona.

A Mediterranean marine core was created to target the specific war gains of the French government. Namely Italian possessions of Aragon (Sicily and Mesinna Sardinia) as well as a Neapolitan province.

The Marine core failed its first landing on Sardinia the Fleet was forced to retreat and there was no way out, over 15000 horse were killed or captured. However Castile paid the princely some of 33D to leave the war. This allowed soldiers to be redeployed to the Mediterranean front.

On the third attempt Aragonese warships defending Sardinia, vastly outnumbered by French Fleets finally gave way and allowed a French expeditionary force to land on Sardinia.

Here I have seen a prime example of one of the rules of Naval combat. Should a fleet be in a home sea or national waters it has a immense advantage. Try to draw the enemy into your water or take land in wars to set up national waters for future wars.

The war continued in this fashion with naval skirmishes being lost against the defensive Aragon. To make matters worse whenever a landing did succeed it promptly got massacred by the Aragonese army.

I offer Naples a white peace to get it out of the war. If in doubt remove an enemy. I then tried landing in Sicily hoping that a plains province would offer hope to my cavalry marine force. Fortunately all went well and I managed to land 13,000 troops unopposed on Sicily. These defeated 30000 argonese troops and laid siege to both provinces on the island.

I then lay siege to the Balearics, Sardinia is Garrisoned by 30,000 troops and I wouldn’t fancy taking that many on what with the amphibious assaults malus, I offer peace to Aragon, Roussilon, Bearn, Messina and Sicily. This is more than I’m usually comfortable taking in a war for BB reasons. However here two provinces are cores and my BB rating is 0 so I can afford it. However Aragon refused. I waited a few months took the Balearics and asked again. This time Aragon accepted.

I looked at some of my home provinces with war exhaustion of +7 I was out the war not a moment too soon. It was time for war exhaustion to go down, to rest and recover and expand the economy.

 

[Duke of Wellington]

A good guide you have here. I would just like to suggest two things.

One you recommended sending merchants with the batch technique. However the empty slot technique is much more efficient. Theres a good guide to it here. Also would you be able to include screenshots they can be invaluable for someone learning the game.

 

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Yeah I reccomended the Batch technique. Partially because A lot of players don't have the patience to go through the ledger picking out empty COT.
The main reason I suggested the batch method is that its early game and Trade is only really effective in the home COTs. Outside home it costs alot and isn't that profitable.

I will reccomend the empty slot method later on once big COT start to form where its worth sending Traders away from home.

 

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Summation -1488

Technology
Land Tech 2

Most Countries are 3 and Austria is at 5. I will catch up just early land techs are a hindrance. 9 is the valuable one. it’s a CRT. Basically the combat system is based around dice rolls. We don’t see it however a CRT gives that country an extra role of the dice.

Naval Tech 2

Venice is the leader with 4, many countries are at 3 while still more are at 2.

Trade Tech 4

Tech 4 makes me the joint leader, along with Venice and Genoa. My Breweries combined with this tech makes me the highest nation in terms of trade efficiency.

Infra Tech 4

Out of the countries I can see in the ledger I have significant lead.

Between my high Infra and Trade Techs combined with wealthy provinces, I will not have to spend much time catching up in land and infra. Also I have a large neighbour bonus to help me catch up with my fellow latin tech grouper members.

My plan is to spend time researching infra untill I see the first nation reach tech 6. At that point I will fully research land. Usually as France or a rich nation you can fully tech up from 2-9 if you completly focus in the same time the AI nation moves from 6-9. Or close enough any way. Neighbour bonuses will really help me pull up here.

DP-Absolute value on the right is 10

Aristocracy -8

Early game I had full Aristocracy for cheap Cavalry however I have gone back on it since through random events since you don’t want expensive Warships, and a much worse French revolution.

Centralisation -9

Centralisation is a no brainer, cheap tech, higher production efficiency, and rebellion delay. I have moved this one a lot.

Innovative -4

What I want here is something near the middle. I don’t want the high tech cost of narrow minded but I still want some colonists. This slider is on of the bigger influences on colonist numbers. There is a big swing from -2 at full innovative to +2 at full Narrow-minded.

Mercantilism -7

Mercantilism is also where I want it, I can embargo four nations, which is usually enough to monopolise a colonial COT without penalty, and I don’t lose too many merchants or colonists.

Offensive Doctrine -4

Early on I like offensive however now I am guiding it to defensive through random events. The reason is that forts and artillery become more important as the game goes on.

Land -6

I want to move more toward Land however it is not my priority. It is however next on my list after a centralisation and a few clicks to plutocracy and quality.

Quality -7

I want more quality and I intend on moving in that direction soon. Quality become particularly effective at 9 when leaders get an extra fire point.

Serfdom -6

I intend on moving more towards free subjects for the production bonus, as well as the morale bonus. However it is not a priority. I can see myself not clicking this for some decades yet.

 

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Chapter 7 - A time of Economic growth and rebuilding

Objectives
1) Let BB=0
2) Promote Legal counsels throughout the realm
3) Expand the fleet for a Italian expedition

In take control of the guilds I would advise you to take it after all it gives gold and centralisation.

This is the time with Trade tech 4 to begin to expand across the continent. In the Ledger go to COT information. Here you can find the amount value of each COT your presence in it and the % it is full. When sending merchants pick rich COTs with empty slots.

Begin to focus on building Chief judges. Promote them 1st in your non core provinces, for me that means Messina and Sicily. After that you should promote them in your non culture core province eg Brittany, then in your cores. When promoting in your cores you want to focus on higher tax values first.

Once this is complete you should build an addition to your navy in the Mediterranean maybe bring it to 20 warships so that you can guarantee yourself a landing against Naples’s opposition. Mass 20,000 horse or more if necessary in Sicily and Messina.

Diplomatically you want to find yourself a new ally or two preferably in the Italian peninsula. I used the League of Cambria to improve my relations with the pope and then I brought him into my alliance.

 

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Chapter 8 Naples invasion

Objectives
1) Capture both of Naples provinces
2) Demand Apulia and Vassalisation
3) Build up relations and annex Naples

Move your cavalry to Apulia and defeat Naples forces, then move to the capital and win a crushing victory. After that lay in and siege both Provinces.

Once both provinces have fallen demand Apulia gold and vassalisation. Send gold to Naples to improve relations and invite it to your alliance.

Now we want to wait 10-30 years before annexing Naples. Lets start that time with some economic building.

At this stage it may be time to adjust your technology sliders. For me its 1512 and AI nations are around 5 or 6 land tech so its time to hyper tech and catch up.

I now promoted Mayors throughout my realm. Its not required but it helps you to deal with inflation and allows you to mint a bit in times of need. You might not have the infra tech now, I did you mightn’t but if you can it’s a valuable little extra.

Hyper teching worked for me here. Its now 1520 and I’m up to land 9. Time to begin to switch to infantry.

Also switch to naval tech. You are going for a shipyard now. Why? Its an extra colonist a year and that pretty valuable. Especially since your first explorer Vernazzo appears in 1522. My colonial plan is to focus on North America. it’s a rich area with a good few tobacco and cotton provinces as well as good tax values. It’s a good idea to focus on an area as France. The reason is that while it can be difficult to gain naval superiority over England by concentrating your forces you can achieve regional superiority.

Since we are focusing North America exchanging maps with Denmark may be valuable. The reason is that they own Greenland and they know how to get to Greenland. This is a good part of the route to North America.

On my first run down the North American coast I only found Lenape. This however is invaluable since they have a port. I advise any player to bribe Lenape and get military access. This means Vernazzo will not need to return to France which mean more time exploring.

I discovered Bangor a poor province with naval supplies as its good. I still colonized it since it would serve as a base in the area. Also its important to get a colonial city early since that makes it possible to train in the Continent.

I now moved an army of 10000 infantry to North America. This was to help eliminate natives in recently discovered provinces. The first was Pnebscot. I lost Vernazzo after six years service. However he left me with a seven sites to colonize on the North American Coastline. This is a strong start especially since half or more of them are rich tobacco or cotton producing.

Do not despair at Vernazzo death, for Cartier comes to your side in 1433. He should continue the North American work. I invaded and annexed the pagan Lenape. I immediately sent missionaries to these 3 provinces. Converting pagans is the most effective use of missionaries. The reason is that it is cheap to do, also not only does religion convert but so does culture.

While this was going on I annexed Naples to grab my last core. Another happening in Europe was the reformation. This did not slow me down because as France no provinces turn protestant and my alliances are in Italy. While I may be unaffected by the reformation later I shall be affected by Calvin.

 

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Chapter 9 Colonization and Calvin

Objectives
1) Survive Calvin’s reformation
2) Significantly expand our Colonial possessions




I was faced with Calvin’s reformation in 1540. This converted 7 provinces from Catholicism. While a significant amount what with colonies and all it was but a fraction of my provinces. Limousin, Guyenne, Bearn, Languedoc, Cevennes, Maine, Dauphine, and Poitiou. I promptly sent Missionaries to all affected Provinces leaving Bearn till last since there was a smaller chance of success there.

Limousn was dealt with by a random event converting heretics. Maine promptly followed with a successful conversion, as did Guyenne, Languedoc, Cevennes, Maine, and Poitiou. Dauphine and Bearn were failed conversions. On the second attempt Dauphine converted however Bearn did not. Apparently a third missionary.

Just an update on the developing world I have converted all my acquisitions from my war with Lenape. I also have Colonial cities right along the coast form Bangor to Roanoke. Santee and Carolina are being colonized. I have invaded and annexed Creek and am fighting Shawnee at the moment.

I annexed Shawnee combined with Creek that is a massive 9 new pagan provinces. I send my missionaries to these provinces to bring them to Catholicism and French culture.

The Dutch revolts came around. I decided to release Flanders as a vassal and I kept Artois. I settled down to wait quiet a few years for my missionaries to be successful.

In the 1560s the French wars of Religion come around. This is one of the less pleasant events in the game. I chose French moderates because if stab is kept high it is possible to manage revolt risk so that it is kept a zero.

A random event gave me a conquistador which I sued to explore inland North America. This allowed me to clear up several pockets of Terra incognito and explore Canada. Around this time Bearn finally became catholic and over half the Shawnee and Creek provinces came to the true fate.

My next target was the Iroquois state. I invaded with 30,000 infantry split over 2 border provinces. I marched in and started assaulting provinces. The war was quickly over and Iroquois was annexed. I treated Iroquis exactly as I had treated Shawnee and sent Missionaries to change religion and culture in these provinces.

Finally in 1577 the Dutch rebellion ends as I sign the union of Arras. I got a new COT in Tennessee. This reduced I'll De France by 600 value however I was happy to gain the easily monopolized colonial COT. This COT alone gives me over 200 income a year.

 

[Iche_Bins]

I like the idea, as my first country was france to, but I think a little more screenshots would be very helpful

 

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Chapter 10 More colonialism and a little war.

In 1586 I invade Huron, I used my technological superiority to invade and easily defeat Huron. From there I assaulted the provinces and annexed them. Now the goal was to convert them I sent missionaries to the Huron provinces and set in to wait.

In 1589 the war religion ended, and tranquillity ruled in France. At the same time France North American holding become monotheistic with all worshiping the faith.

In 1601 France gets a new conquistador the first historic conquistador. The idea here is to explore the heartland of America and free up many new provinces for colonisation. Another key point is to find Dakota the last North American tribe and eliminate them. After all do we want pagans sharing our continent.

While doing this continue colonising and build manufactories if possible.

Its time for a little war. This won’t normally have to happen however here it must. In this game Burgundy chose not to be inherited. That is a 5% chance. It has been reduced to Zeeland Koln and Burgone. In preparation for this war bring any minors bordering Burgundy into an alliance. Then march on them. Its is unlikely that they are close to you tech wise.

Invade and take all their province eliminate their allies where possible and then in five more years annex them.

Continue building colonies and manufactories and province improvements steadily. Look at Mexico see what spain has done with Navaho and the Aztecs if these are not annexed you should have difficulties doing it yourself with a massive tech difference.