First foray into Empire and I dove strait into a French campaign without reading any of the guides!

Now, I’m really not very long into this one (at all) and already I’ve managed to alienate nearly the entire world. Why? Well, I am simply not used to this level of management and being used to Rome and Medieval does not prepare you for the intricate web of alliances that are already there at the start of a game.

So…without checking the Diplomatic screen…I attack Flanders. It should be French right? (lol) So, now I am hated nearly universally. EVEN the Spanish hate me.

Still, I’m managing to turn things around very slowly. However, without Dragoons yet (as I only had one school to start with) and using as much manpower as I can to defeat the Dutch, means Flanders had serious unrest issues (had to move the army North to deal with the remaining Dutch forces) and that caused Dutch rebels to sprout last night with a half stack of Militia. I have noticed in the two battles against them…they have extraordinary morale…sure they rout but the units keep coming back! I fought two battles against this stack with my main force (which contains three companies of Line Infantry with triple-chevrons) and in each one I believe I’ve won only to get a nasty shock as two or three nearly complete units turn up again after rallying.

*sigh*

All this has severely stunted not only my research but economic growth as I’ve not had the free cash to upgrade money producing areas, or even send out Indiamen to trade spots. Spain has roughly defeated my admittedly weak Mediterranean fleet so I have no presence there now. Wuttenberg declared on me last night but I took great pleasure in killing them off quite rapidly with my Southern army.

The Iroquois also declared war on me and took Upper Quebec (think its that one..on the spur?) but I took it back the next turn with my minimal force there thankfully.

NOTE: Potential Ver.1.5 bug: The enemy Iroquois fielded five units – 1 x General cavalry, 2 x archer & 2 x melee. However, each unit arrived on the battlefield ALONE as if it was a re-enforcement. Lucky for me but a long battle to fight! Lol Yes, it was a single stack I attacked not a stack with a nearby settlement…even if it was…there weren’t 5 possible permutations of stacks anywhere.

The main problem I face now is unrest. Not only in Flanders (GOD, IT’S A ROYAL PAIN!!) but at home…the home unrest is due to my, now many, naval defeats I believe. I’ve reduced taxes a bit, have exempted Wuttenberg and Flanders from Tax for now and I hope to re-enter the Mediterranean with a larger fleet (still only 2 x Fifth Rates + Sloops in it though) to gain a victory there.

Any suggestions on unrest for early France? Think it’s going to be 3-4 turns to research Dragoons so do I just fill cities with Militia?

Unrest has got to the point of the upper class writing me letters. I really don’t want a revolution this early (I’m only 4-5 turns into the game).

Settings are Hard campaign / VH battles.

…I guess, in short, I should have read the Archived guide!