How Do You Play France?

[Exarch]

France was historically famous for being the very epitome of chivalry and medieval feudalism.
so how do i go about playing france?
they have a wide variety of cavalry but i much prefer my knights to have higher stamina (makes them better at chasign routers) than anything else-so as u can imagien i've always favoured milan or sicily.
so how do u play france?
strategically and tactically??

[dr_guerra]

Okay.

First off, know that France has pretty bad early units. So you'll really have to use cunning and strategy to win early battles, and the early turns are most important since there is an abundance of rebel provinces.

I highly recommend to ally with Spain and the HRE, and get ready to mash in the English. Royal weddings are best to cement alliances. Make sure your border settlements are all well defended to deter attacks, especially from Milan.

For actual battle strategies, they are very well rounded in unit diversity and have great quality units. I would focus one settlement on cavalry and another settlement on infantry, and if you can spare, another on archers.

Lancers are, of course, the best heavy cavalry in the west, hands down, no questions asked. So once you can build those, get a couple in your major armies, they will completely run down anything in a good charge. But if you can't train those yet, just train a couple of the best heavy cavalry you have, and one group of mounted sergeants, as they do a fair job at chasing down routing units.

For unit composition, you'll want an army with mostly infantry, I like to go with half spears and half swords. Infantry should be about 60-80% of your army, and the rest should be split between cavalry and archers. If you are fighting a field battle, more cavalry is recommended, if you are defending a settlement, you want more archers, if you are attacking a city you want less archers. Sieges in general, whether attacking or defending you want few cavalry, as their powerful charges aren't good in confined spaces.

So something like 6 spearmen (can be any kind of anti-cavalry, like volgiers), 6 heavy infantry (dismounted knights of your choice), 4 archer units (Scots guard and Aventuriers are very good), your General, 2 of your best heavy cavalry, and 1 light cavalry (mounted sergeants).

However, when you get access to artillery, you may want to use it, so you can fiddle around as you like. I like to have spears in guard mode, infront of my heavy infantry, my General behind the army but close by, archers at the very front for skirmishing before the melee. Then have your other cavalry on the flanks. Once the melee starts, move archers back, charge in your swords, make sure your spears and pikes stop enemy cavalry, then charge your knights into the side and rear of the enemy army. They should flee, then use the mounted sergeants to chase them.

I hope that was helpful.

Ask more questions for specifics.

[Exarch]

thanks heaps for the help dood
^_^
btw, does france get any rich cities like the northern italaian city states?
and how soon would u recommend attacking the l'anglais?
does the HRE betray u as much as milan would?

and do they get any free upkeep units like the italians?

[dr_guerra]

Every unit that says militia that can be trained in the city has free upkeep. French militia are not as good as Italian militia, however.

The cities aren't as rich, but Paris is a good one.

If you marry your princess to the HRE, they'll be your ally for a very long time.

Try not to attack the English, instead provoke an attack from them. Concentrate on the rebels first. Consolidate your power, then piss off the English till they attack.

[Exarch]

Every unit that says militia that can be trained in the city has free upkeep. French militia are not as good as Italian militia, however.

The cities aren't as rich, but Paris is a good one.

If you marry your princess to the HRE, they'll be your ally for a very long time.

Try not to attack the English, instead provoke an attack from them. Concentrate on the rebels first. Consolidate your power, then piss off the English till they attack.

does ur global rep fall if u attack someone without provocation?
marseille is a rich city i reckon, but i'll hafta defend it to the death against milan

[REDrake]

Yes, don't go for attacking English early. In fact never declare war on a catholic country, let them do that mistake. Besides pretty soon Milan is going to make a move against Marseilles. You certainly don't want a war on 2 fronts. My strategy early on with France is to grab all the rebels region around, except for Bern. Grab even Zaragoza if Spain or Portugal don't do it first. As for wars, use the crusades to your advantage. Either ask for crusades against Moors or if a crusade for Jerusalem comes early on, join at the last moment and go and take Rhodes. That island is going to serve as a rally point for future crusades.
Try to maintain HRE as your ally. They are the strongest neighbor and if you can make several marriage alliances the alliance is going to last. Also use you first princess to grab their general east of Bern. Otto von Kassel, I think is his name.

[Viking Prince]

Some players find it tempting to blitz with France. You have several adjacent rebel provinces with the richest along the coast. If you grab every where you will find enemies every where. Choose who will be friend and who will be an early foe. dr_guerra is correct to choose your allies (his choice of Spain and HRE would be mine also). England has only Caen on the mainland and may be a good choice once your income and resources can support a good attack stack.

Territories to take and with whom this will mean war:

Dijon -- Milan (I swear this seems almost to be hard coded into the game. It is just the only open land access rebel for milan after Florence is taken)

Metz -- HRE (the rivers favor HRE)

Zaragoza -- Portugal or Spain (I tend to take this and Bordeaux with a Spanish alliance since this will keep Portugal weak)

Bruges -- good paying, but tough on your initial troops -- I cannot take this without spending cash for units and then I seem to get too weak. Everyone likes to take on a weak faction. Also England and the Danes will be on top of you.

Rennes -- of all the coastal areas, this is the least valuable and a bit exposed to England.

Obviously you need to go somewhere, but decide based on who you wish to face. I seem to first put the squeeze on Portugal and then go for the English. Once off the continent, they are really no longer an issue. Now you have nine settlements and a very good base to build on. You will also have ports on all coasts to increase your trade.

Usually I wait on Caen until I have artillery. No need to get excommunicated over the settlement, but this early in the game it is not a deal breaker since the risk of a crusade on Toulouse is very very low. It depends on your style of play.

More so than any other factiom, you need to build churches. Second level also. I do not know why, but I have better luck with a very religious France. It may simply be my style. (with Spain I usually have 7-9 cardinals before the first pope dies -- so I may be biased)

[REDrake]

Spain is different. Most regions in Spain have less than 70% catholics. France has at least 75% in all of them. Priests gain experience by converting.
As for hardcoded regions, I noticed that too. Certain regions are always target from certain factions. I never went to war with HRE over Metz (perhaps because I always keep good relations with them, but Marseilles and Dijon? Milan and Venice love to go after those. Not to mention Ajaccio. That one is the favorite target for Milan, Moors and Sicily. They even attack it when they have no chance of winning. Stupid AI.

[dr_guerra]

Even with Marseilles and Dijon, Milan won't attack if you have 8 militia armies in them. (or better) and a general.

Just don't trade maps with Milan.

I take ALL rebel settlements but Zaragossa, because well, I like to use the mountains as a natural barrier.

Marry with HRE and even if you take up all their favorite settlements, they won't touch you.

Remember, the AI is stupid. It will attack cities that are poorly defended. So keep lots of troops in each settlement, especially border settlements with non-allied powers. (Marriage alliances are the only ones worth anything).