econ21
10-07-2002, 14:56
Just stumbled on a remarkably effective early strategy for France. Previously I've played as England and thought I would try France as it is listed as hard in the early period.
The presence of the English in France and consequent isolation of two provinces (Brittany and Toulouse) is intolerable and ejecting them from the continent the main priority. What complicates it is the strong presence of HRE next to France's two best provinces (rich Flanders and troop building centre Ile De France). The consolation is that in the early game, the English in France are isolated from their home Isles and so are actually very weak (eg they often garrison a province with one or two hobilars). When I noticed this, first time round, I launched a quick blitzkrieg which was remarkably successful - only problem being, next turn HRE invaded Ile de France. Game over.
Second time through, I stumbled on an easy and very effective strategy. Essentially it is a "rush" strategy predicated on building such a large army you can reconquer the French provinces occupied by England and still be strong enough to deter the Germans.
Here is my building strategy:
Flanders - use this as your cash cow to fund your armies. Despite almost continually building units in 4 provinces, I never saw my gold fall significantly thanks to this. Build up the land to 60%, make a trading post... forget about building non-economic stuff. Put your best general here (you should get a 5star urban militia almost immediately).
Ile De France - you want spearmen and archers from this place (urban militia early on); it is good land, so a 20% upgrade is sensible and getting hobilars is nice but in the end I did not use them to fight. It is the most important place to garrison due to its buildings.
Champagne - upgrade the land a little and get a spearman producing building to add bulk to your HRE deterring main army.
Brittany - build spearman, archers and the odd urban militia; I built an inn but did not need it.
Toulouse - build spearman and a few urban militia; I have built a mine and upgraded the land to 20%.
Early on in Brittany and Toulouse recruit a fair number of peasants to deterr attack and bulk out your forces.
A few watchtowers are nice to monitor the enemies' forces.
Your 3 connected provinces should each have a balanced defence - eg 2-4 spearman, 1-3 archers, 1-2 urban militia, the peasants and ballista's you start with, a royal knight (king and sons) and later maybe a hobilar.
Continually pump out troops in Brittany and Toulouse until you are strong enough to overwhelm the 3 English provinces in one turn. Doing this, I realised that I could invade using forces from just these two provinces plus a smattering (eg the king, the 5 star leader and maybe one or two more) from Flanders and Ile France. This means that the border with German will still be secure. The best defended province will be Aquitane - I sent 3 spears, 3 archers, 2 urban militia and 1 peasant. The enemy included hobilars and a fair amount of worthless peasants so they fell easily before my arrows+spears.
After winning all 3 provinces in one go, you should be able to storm any besieged forts in the next turn. Loyalty doesn't seem to be an issue and the Pope never bothered me.
The door to Wessex is now open and most of France is reunited. You are now in a stronger position than I was when playing England on early. The three ex-English provinces are quite rich agriculturally and will help pay for the large army you raised to liberate them.
I plan on confining England to Northumbria if the Pope allows and then pushing back the HRE - having them in Lorraine is too much of a threat to Ile de France and Flanders. Depending on how the war with HRE goes, I may turn to the Iberian peninular to get some iron and to create a buffer zone around Toulouse, where I plan to build towards chivalric knights. Alternatively or additionally, driving towards Switzerland for their pikemen sounds attractive.
I suspect such a "rush" strategy will be effective in most early games. It probably makes for a rather dull game, but with the intolerable starting position of France, it is probably excusable.
[This message has been edited by Simon Appleton (edited 10-07-2002).]
[This message has been edited by Simon Appleton (edited 10-07-2002).]
[This message has been edited by Simon Appleton (edited 10-07-2002).]
[This message has been edited by Simon Appleton (edited 10-07-2002).]
The presence of the English in France and consequent isolation of two provinces (Brittany and Toulouse) is intolerable and ejecting them from the continent the main priority. What complicates it is the strong presence of HRE next to France's two best provinces (rich Flanders and troop building centre Ile De France). The consolation is that in the early game, the English in France are isolated from their home Isles and so are actually very weak (eg they often garrison a province with one or two hobilars). When I noticed this, first time round, I launched a quick blitzkrieg which was remarkably successful - only problem being, next turn HRE invaded Ile de France. Game over.
Second time through, I stumbled on an easy and very effective strategy. Essentially it is a "rush" strategy predicated on building such a large army you can reconquer the French provinces occupied by England and still be strong enough to deter the Germans.
Here is my building strategy:
Flanders - use this as your cash cow to fund your armies. Despite almost continually building units in 4 provinces, I never saw my gold fall significantly thanks to this. Build up the land to 60%, make a trading post... forget about building non-economic stuff. Put your best general here (you should get a 5star urban militia almost immediately).
Ile De France - you want spearmen and archers from this place (urban militia early on); it is good land, so a 20% upgrade is sensible and getting hobilars is nice but in the end I did not use them to fight. It is the most important place to garrison due to its buildings.
Champagne - upgrade the land a little and get a spearman producing building to add bulk to your HRE deterring main army.
Brittany - build spearman, archers and the odd urban militia; I built an inn but did not need it.
Toulouse - build spearman and a few urban militia; I have built a mine and upgraded the land to 20%.
Early on in Brittany and Toulouse recruit a fair number of peasants to deterr attack and bulk out your forces.
A few watchtowers are nice to monitor the enemies' forces.
Your 3 connected provinces should each have a balanced defence - eg 2-4 spearman, 1-3 archers, 1-2 urban militia, the peasants and ballista's you start with, a royal knight (king and sons) and later maybe a hobilar.
Continually pump out troops in Brittany and Toulouse until you are strong enough to overwhelm the 3 English provinces in one turn. Doing this, I realised that I could invade using forces from just these two provinces plus a smattering (eg the king, the 5 star leader and maybe one or two more) from Flanders and Ile France. This means that the border with German will still be secure. The best defended province will be Aquitane - I sent 3 spears, 3 archers, 2 urban militia and 1 peasant. The enemy included hobilars and a fair amount of worthless peasants so they fell easily before my arrows+spears.
After winning all 3 provinces in one go, you should be able to storm any besieged forts in the next turn. Loyalty doesn't seem to be an issue and the Pope never bothered me.
The door to Wessex is now open and most of France is reunited. You are now in a stronger position than I was when playing England on early. The three ex-English provinces are quite rich agriculturally and will help pay for the large army you raised to liberate them.
I plan on confining England to Northumbria if the Pope allows and then pushing back the HRE - having them in Lorraine is too much of a threat to Ile de France and Flanders. Depending on how the war with HRE goes, I may turn to the Iberian peninular to get some iron and to create a buffer zone around Toulouse, where I plan to build towards chivalric knights. Alternatively or additionally, driving towards Switzerland for their pikemen sounds attractive.
I suspect such a "rush" strategy will be effective in most early games. It probably makes for a rather dull game, but with the intolerable starting position of France, it is probably excusable.
[This message has been edited by Simon Appleton (edited 10-07-2002).]
[This message has been edited by Simon Appleton (edited 10-07-2002).]
[This message has been edited by Simon Appleton (edited 10-07-2002).]
[This message has been edited by Simon Appleton (edited 10-07-2002).]