France is not played in the same way as other powers. As with history France is not driven to success in this game. Historically France was involved in most of the major events of the period but there was little signifant change to the French position until the 1700's. In game terms France is most often the most powerful military power in the west, it is only the occasional opposing general of quality that can change this balance. The mediocrity of histrical France is not rewarded in this game.

France is plagued by bad [for France] events in the first periods. No less than three possible Wars in Italy.

The first war in Italy is the worst sucker;s bet in the early game. After paying the -1 stability cost for the CB, all France must do is march from France to Napoli, win a battle, then a siege, and then have the survivors keep the province for the rest of the Turn. Did I mention that Napoli is beyond the supply range of any province in France? And to attack Spain in any of the territories France might wish to attack or can reasonably take will cost France -1 stability. Without allies it is not possible for a French force to enter Napoli in supply. Venice is the only available ally and as discussed under my entry on Venice Venice should only turn to France if rejected by Spain.  [This is why Spain should never surrender its alliance with Venice.] If, however, France should have an alliance with Venice then Venice should not intervene on behalf of France as Medieval Venice with its bad stability would just act like an anchor to the French by lowering the average Stability and crippling the pro-French chances of securing a victory of any kind. Instead, Venice should only grant passage and supply to his French ally. In this way, France can use Venice as a staging ground for the attack on Napoli and can supply itself into Napoli. Also, France should never declare war on the Hapsburgs at the same time as the first war in Italy. [In EU9, my Venice has lost its alliance with Spain, so it is supplying the French. But, France is also at war with the Hapsburgs.  Sometimes things never seem to go right.]

Without Venice to supply the French the only way to gain supply is to get Tuscany to join the war on the French side. Being that Tuscany is a Neutral minor at the start of the game and usually the first War in Italy event happens early there is little chance of Tuscan intervention. To maximize the Tuscan intervention percentage do not call them in the DOW procedure. Instead use the first action in the Diplomacy on Minors step to move Tuscany up the French Chart, then use your second action to call Tuscany to join in the war. [You must wait as a player is only permitted to call a minor once per turn to join a war and by waiting your chances increase.] Note also, that the event gives France two turns to declare war. If you are not ready on the first turn wait for the second turn. [I have never seen a French Player ever wait.] Waiting make a great deal of sense in that it allows you to build up your forces and have a better mix of veterns for the campaign.

If you have no source of supply then the only way France can reach Napoli is by sea. At best any sea battle with Spain would be 50/50 affair, but if you use period limits rules 24.C.4 [the correct choise for any campaign game]
then France does not have an Admiral after the first turn of the first period and France's chances in a naval battle drop considerably. Then even if you land in Napoli it would be difficult for the invading French force to win a land combat. All in all, without a supply source for a land route to Napoli accepting the first War in Italy event is not a good idea.

I have never seen Spain refuse this event and I do not think they ever should.

The Second and Third war in Italy events.

Here the target is Milano. The province is within supply range of France. This is a campaign France can win.  Milano tends to become a meatgrinder. With battle after battle for the control of the province. Leader loses will
happen because of the number of battles. Technically, France could lose this war if the turn is long enough as he could run out of troops. Definately, fight this war with gusto and remeber the bloodshed lasts two turns.

The problem is France pays for the DOW and loses -1 stability. And it costs everyone -1 Stability to attack a province outside of Italy. Whether one attains a level 1 peace or a level 5 peace the only province likely to
change hands is Milano.

France should not become Protestant. There are too many things that do not happen if France is Protestant.  Effectively, there are opportunities through events that do not come France's way and the War of Religion is
worse for France [third period]. Also, certain period objectives are denied to France further limiting the French options and VPs.

Later in the game many of the advantages of being Protestant are made up by events. There seems little net gain from the action.

Investment in Manufacture, FTI and DTI should be an early priority. Get them to maximum.

See my notes on exploration and colonization that were with the Play of England notes. One of the reasons not to go Protestant is that if and when you fight a war with Spain you can expect Spanish forces to sail north and wipe out everything you have in North America. He can do this even in turns of peace so you should never expect to get anywhere in North America. The only good thing is that he cannot take away from you the knowledge of the
discoveries when he eliminates you settlers.

You can expect a similar reaction from Portugal if you head towards Africa. You may well make some discouveries but you will not be able to build on them. And If you cannot gain from being Protestant until the third period in Africa and the fourth period in America then the benefits of going Protestant are basically nil.

So if everything for France is bad what do you do to make up for it. The answer is you exploit your strengths.  You are the strongest military power in the West. Baynard is an excellent leader vs Medieval forces as his "1"
fire rating does not hurt you in battle. I like hitting Savoia Turn 2, with the objective of gaining Nice. If you have Baynard you can afford assaults but should do so only if neccessary as a leader with is "6" shock is more likely to die in battle. [My favourite campaign here is two armies with Baynard, Gen?3 into an empty Nice via naval invasion and blockade round 1. Baynard back to Dauphine to pick up two more Armies with full Cav and Gen?2
to go into Savoia round 2.]

The Savoia campaign is a natural in that it eliminates one weakness of the French. Due mainly to the scale of the game France has only one port on the Med. Nice give France a second port on the Med and this in turn gives the
French a much more credible presence in the south. It may look like attacking Savoia is not a good tactic given that Savoia is already an ally of France, but the fact is that Savoia is only really likely to enter a war vs a non-Catholic enemy [read Muslim] and then only the western most North African minors. I do not think I have ever seen Savoia enter into a war. As a result, Savoia is only really of use as a vassal, and you can make it a
vassal at your leasure. And as a vassal it is really only useful as a source of income. And with a low fidelity rating you cannot count on Savoia in the long run.

Another early campaign is Al-Djazair. Targeting this minor early while the Muslim minors are still Medieval is another excellent campaign. This is one of the few things France can do with Spain early. Either province can be a
conquest for France, but the real objective is to get a level 5 peace an force Al-Djazair off the Turkish diplomatic chart and delay of abort the transfer of Barbarus to the Turks, or at least delay it.

Available anytime is the Lorraine campaign. A rapid and easy conquest with good VPs as well. Both provinces are clear terrain and there are small initial forces. Even with a maximum reinforcement roll you would add only a
conscript Army to Lorraine forces. Almost insignificant force when faced with the power and leaders of France.  Should be an easy conquest. Take Alsace. Note that this campaign removes the need for doing this conquest
later in the game.

The next early campaign I suggest Pfalz. This is a trickier campaign in that you can only attack from Alsace. The objective is controlling Mainz. The funny thing about this campaign is that it is more difficult to do if no one intervenes than it is if they do intervene, as with intervention you can cross the Rhine then move into Mainz in the next round. Still, this should be a relatively easy campaign with the crossing of the Rhine being the real problem.

Joint wars to forge alliances are also good. If you are not getting a province out of the War then you should only be coming in as an ally.

Diplomacy on Minors is tough for France. Most allies that France is interested in either do not become Vassals or have low fidelity. Genoa should be number one on your list [it is high on the Spanish list as well]. Lorraine is good as well [but wait until after your campaign for Alsace]. Tuscany has low fidelity but it likes you and it is called for Crusades. Scotland is a decent Catolic Minor as well. I also like Poland on my chart as France. Just the threat of French intervention can deter most Russian and Turkish invasions this way.

Throughout the game France can use its diplomatic actions as an economic weapon. By making an investment on a nation that is on the diplomatic chart of another player that player must make a defensive investment or the marker of the minor moves to the neutral boxes before you even roll. A basic investment by you equals a similar investment by your opponent. In this way, you are effectively drawing money out of an opponents treasury when you can afford to lose it [and hopefully he cannot], plus there is always a small chance that even if he does invest you may get a good enough roll to lower the minors position on your opponents chart. In the first two periods
this is mainly going to be used to trim Spain and Turkey as they gather in more and more minors.

Venice vs Turkey. If Venice is attacked by the Turks early in the game it is the responsibility of Spain to come to the rescue. France should only go when if Spain is going. But, if you go, go big. Full Vetern Army to Istria with a good leader. And then invade the Turks or a minor ally Turkey has activated. If Spain will not uphold his best interests then you may still intervene but you are not likely to win. At best, your Army in Istria could send the Turks packing once or twice but you are unlikely to actually push them back let alone take any Turkish territory so you can actually win the war. In all likelyhood Turkey will give you a white peace once he has won his war against Venice, if for no other reason than he does not want to tumble to -3 stability.

War in Italy events aside if you end up at war with Spain make him pay bigtime. You have the interior lines. You will be able to move from front to front with ease. For him it will be a pain. Wars between France and Spain tend to be bloodbaths.  Pick you battles carefully in such a war. Never fight when you do not have an advantage, instead avail yourself of opportunities that are on the fronts Spain is not strong. If Spain involves the Hapsburgs in a war with you then fight to survive. Spain cannot afford a long war or else Turkey will grow to be a menace that he may not be able to contain.

But, never become too cocky. France can get slaughtered in an aggressive war against Spain. Also, never bring in an ally [read Britain or Venice] that is Medieval tech. You are just inviting them to the slaughter. If you use them this callously they may never ally with you again [if they have any sense].

Crusades. Crusades are not a problem for France. You are along for the ride. Venice and Spain [Hapsburgs] are most often on the frontlines. Like any Venice war I like to ensure the safety of Venice with at least one army. Then I can go where the pickings are good. I look to win the war. Or at least ensure that Turkey does not look forward to a Crusade with anticipation.

If by chance you can land an active alliance with Portugal where he is willing to join in a war vs England jump at your opportunity. This gives you Calais. Nothing more need be said. Otherwise, never declare war on England as you cannot win.

There is a second exception to the no war with England rule, if France controls Scotland in the War with Scotland event then odds shift in the favor of France. The reason for the shift is that any French force that lands in England and then must subsiquently retreat, either by combat or from lack of supply, can retreat to Scotland instead of just dying. With a decent maneuver general France can get the majority of a force into Scotland. If the event happens early France may even have the advantage being Renaissance vs Medieval England.

Then France can also do campaigns vs Denmark or Sweden just like the English can.

Religious Unrest in Germany is a Political Point for bonanza for Spain. But that can backfire if France declares war on Spain. Suddenly, France controls a number of German Minors and is in a war with Spain. Spain cannot
be everywhere, even with the help of the Hapsburgs Spain will have real trouble with a multi-front war such as this.  Add in a player ally, such as Turkey or England and I could change into a Spanish disaster. The risk here
is that if Spain has just modest objectives in Germany then the advantage against Spain dwindles. [In EU4, Spain had this event and declared war on no less than five German Minors. The Hapsburgs were under the influence of
a Spanish win in the Election to the Holy Roman Empire event and the Hapsburgs joined all five wars. He got level 5 peaces from four of the five minors, plus a level 5 peace from Venice. {The situation was complicated.}
But, the second time the event arose Spain declined the event and got nothing even though no one even threatened him he was concerned about a Turkish attack. A French attack could have accomplished the same thing.

Having said the above, Spain makes an excellent ally for France. The events continually throw Spain and France at each other in wars that are difficult to impossible to win. If you can get past this you can have alot of fun. And gain VPs, too.

The event wars where Turkey is attacked by Poland or Persia are excellent opportunities for a get Turkey war if one is neccessary. These minors have large potent Armies and require significant commitment in forces by the Turk to defeat. Some pesky Western Armies openning new frontiers could really hurt the Turk.

Diplomatically, no one likes the French. So you cannot be shy. Go out and make friends. More than anything France must organize the alliances designed to reign in a game leader. It is there responsibility to make sure they recognize when someone is pulling away from the pack and then act. France will rarely win a runaway victory in this game so he must make sure no one else does.

Beyond this get involved in the play.  Do a little of everything. Try to explore, attack a minor, make alliance with anyone, help them defensively help them offensively. Any turn that France does not improve is a losing turn for France. Be active.

In closing, The Wars of Religion in France event in the Third period interupts the flow of play for France. So make hay before then.
 

Sincerely;
Mitchell Wageler