Chapter 15
Crushing Burgundy, part 2
With France declaring war, I need more troops. Once I build them, I start minting at 100% for a couple of months to replenish my treasury.
--- Don't wait until you've been smacked around to build new troops. If you think you need more troops, build them early in the war - before war exhaustion increases build times, and occupied provinces reduce your income for minting. ---
Since my boats will be off SE England, I build my cavalry next to the loading point, and infantry behind it.
September 26, 1409: The war is a giant confused mess. Normandy has no armies, but Bohemia, France, France's vassals, Burgundy, Milan and Savoy are marching around my French possessions at will, being major pains in the ass. I'll start by crushing a nearby Bohemian army. --- The AI doesn't coordinate its armies, so your best bet is to kick them out one at a time. ---
I'm staying in my own territory for the time being, to enjoy higher force limits and high reinforcement rates. Let my enemies die from marching.
I'll take a quick moment to explain how you should prioritize your wars.
If the nation that declared war or was declared on is the war leader and you can beat them quickly with assaults, do that. This ends the war despite what the allies do. Same thing goes if you can take out the above nation and the war leader quickly - knock them out quick and end the war.
If you can't storm in and end the war quickly, fight defensively! Take out enemy armies on your turf (where you get the advantage of reinforcements and supply), and force the allies out of the war. Once the allies are out of the war and your enemies are crippled, go in for the kill.
Once you master the economy and warfare, your two most precious commodities are time and infamy. Use them judiciously.
October 17: Normandy and Burgundy both offer White Peace. Heck no!
--- Always check peace offers. Occasionally, the AI will offer a peace offer better than you can ask for. ---
December 4: Moderate infamy (14.3) + low War Capacity (from fighting a third of Europe) = wolves at the door. Luckily, Castille comes alone to the party.
--- If nations far away declare war on you, don't fret! It takes time to march over, and the AI rarely lands huge armies by sea. ---
December 12: Savoy and Milan offer White Peace. They're a junior partner and an ally, so we accept. This gets rid of 2 sizable armies.
Armies, armies, every where, and they've only taken two provinces so far (one of which I recovered the next month).
January 1, 1410: My new army has organized with 11 regiments, and loads onto my cogs to land in France.
February 18: My policy of focusing on Bohemia bears fruit, after chasing them around France. Since Bohemia is HRE, they have giant manpower and force limit bonuses, so kicking them out gives me breathing room. The Holy Roman Emperor almost never runs out of manpower.
Bohemia is the war leader for Burgundy, and while I know I can thrash France or Burgundy, I'm having serious trouble thrashing France
and Burgundy. Since Bohemia just lost a large army, they're willing to come to the table. --- If you're in multiple wars and get a chance to get peace with the war leader of one for very little, take it! ---
Besides - France used the Reconquest CB, which is mutual. That means I can take my French cores.
April 7: More running around in circles trying to clear out my lands. I'd put a map with arrows up, but I'd confuse myself. My awesome general-king + high manpower French provinces + high force limits means that I can keep this up for a long time without worry. (look at the WE difference here).
April 18: Time to push France south. I split my armies before loading them on transports, so that they could disembark split (1000 to Caux to siege, 2000 to Normandie to siege, 8000 to Normandie to hit Maine), and my main army is coming from the south in a pincer. While you do not gain bonuses for hitting someone from multiple directions, it's at least satisfying.
The key is that may armies will arrive about the same time: the army coming south from Anjou arrives on the 28th. The southern army has lower morale, but has Henry V.
My southern army retreats pretty quickly, but it drains the French army's morale ...
June 1: I get Government Tech level 4, and now get a new idea. I take Military Drill (+1 morale) - this will give me several advantages:
* My garrisons get the morale modifier, and will be harder to assault.
* I'll have an easier time assaulting garrisons with my higher morale.
* My armies will have about 30-40% more morale than an opponent without Military Drill (this advantage fades over time, as other morale modifiers become larger).
June 3: As my armies run out of steam, I retreat...but not after pummeling the French and Aragonese, forcing them to withdraw. While it may look like I just wasted time and men, my sieges in Normandie and Caux progressed (Caux is at 50%), and the morale and casualty damage will prevent the enemy from assaulting. Meanwhile, I'll replenish troops 4x as fast while they're in enemy territory and I'm in my own.
--- Don't fret about winning or losing battles. Focus on controlling the pace of the war. ---
July 5: I catch Castille's fleet trying to slip by, and capture a pair of Carracks.
November 3: The war with France is back to chasing down smallish armies. However, my sieges in Normandy complete!
Overall, things are going OK. I had to give up my plans on Burgundy (for the moment, but with France's DoW, I should be able to take the 3 remaining provinces east of Paris, which will then isolate Paris from the rest of France. Castille doesn't have access through Aragon and can't get to me, and I've wiped most of the armies of France's vassals.