The French...
The french late game isn't something I'm quite familiar with yet, but a french start is something I have down.
Ok, France, Hard/Hard, a little sleep.
First off, you have a bunch of different generals in a few high loyalty settlements. The high loyalty without a good sized garrison is something that ought to be taken advantage of. Take all of your generals and as many men as you can comfortably spare on the FIRST turn and head for the nearest rebel settlement. That means Dijon, Rennes, Bordeaux, and that town right above riems that is to the right of Caen (the name escapes me apparently). Hire mercs to bolster troop size for the settlements that have a decent garrison, like TTRARTITTROC (Also known as that town right above riems that is to the right of Caen). Siege out everything, as you can't afford to lose a bunch of troops in costly assaults, (especially siege out TTRARTITTROC).
Ok, so you've gone past the first turn or two and noticed that your money is starting to hit the negatives, with no hope in sight. Well, the lack of hope is just an illusion. You can crank the taxes in Paris and Riems without rebellion, even if you have a tiny little garrison. Once again, the high loyalty comes to the rescue. If you still can't seem to get out of the red and stay there while you siege out half of Europe, you probably had a few more merc units than I could find. Still, that isn't a problem because in a few turns (probably one or two by the time this happens) you'll start to take out towns and forts one by one. Don't sack, as the value isn't worth it, and slowly kick back and watch your income rise while your empire expands by about five settlements.
Some No No's...
-Don't send out troops without a general unless you absolutely have to.
You'll find that you have a few starting groups of troops that don't have generals. Immediately pair these guys up with the nearest general. As where your settlements and even generals have a high loyalty, your captains do not. Secondly, you can't afford to lose any battles, so all of the extra heavy cavalry and morale boost that you can get your hands on helps.
-Don't assault.
Like I said earlier, you can't afford to lose any troops. Your about to be spread pretty thin with most of your troop concentration on your borders (which is about optimal anyways), so you can't afford to have a weak link in there.
Some Definite Do's...
-Make the best of your diplomats and princess.
What I mean by that is, go straight to Caen with your princess on the first turn, or wait for the english diplomat to find Angers. Spread all of the goodies you have to offer out and demand money for them. Trade rights, Alliance, and map information will provide you with a whole lot of extra money that is crucial to your rush for half of Europe.
-Use what the French are good for.
This means cavalry. By not assaulting and waiting it out, you get to utilize the effectiveness of your mailed knights and bodyguards. Set up your charges right, aim for infantry instead of the archers (with hopefully the archers in front. Nothing is more sweet than a mailed Knight unit charging at infantry and catching those crossbowmen up the arse with a lance). Try to thin out enemy mailed knights with crossbows/archers.
Now at the end of this, you are at around 1090 with ten settlements and enough florins to secure good relations with neighbors, the pope, and a mountain of gold to build an empire on. Not to mention, you've also grabbed up most of the nearby rebels before other nations could get them, so you aren't going to be at a disadvantage on the land side of things.
From here, you can either teach those bow-wielding normans not to cross the crown, show the empire who's boss, or teach the spanish and portuguese how to eat lances and speak french.
Tell me what you think. Should I write more guides for other civs, hang up my spurs, or dance the tango?
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