I mean, yikes, that's a scary Big Blue Blob. With a strong army and a strong economic base, playing as France is fairly easy. 3. Offensive. My best attempt was I formed the HRE and annexed everything west of Perm and North of the boshporous by 1750's but I got tired from focusing too much and gave it up. Offensive is your best bet for your 3rd military idea for the general pips, the siege bonus, the Forcelimit increase and the discipline. With Frances ideas and influence you will be getting something like 110% of yout vassals tax base as payment. Nah, I tried 8 or 9 France WC games that ended in failure or I got bored. I'm not so interested in world conquest as I am in just forging a colonial empire and expanding French borders into the Rhineland, Low Countries, Italy and maybe Iberia. Finally, what regions should France focus on first colonially? Somehow, I think I'll avoid going so far as to conquer everything, just for the sake of role play and just focus on taking my neighbors. France: Any Advice on Allies, Idea Groups and Strategies? © Valve Corporation. All trademarks are property of their respective owners in the US and other countries. Likewise, should I go with Exploration as my first Idea group or Diplomatic? Also, which vassals should I try to absorb first? I think it's more fun to role-play a little and still have some challenging opponents around until 1820. I don't take it first because it takes atleast two wars to do, and in the 10 years you can likely accomplish a more useful mission. So, I have to ask which allies are better for France? Wow... Just wow. France is one of the powerhouses of Europe. That mission requires all the holdings, including calais. then you grab exploration is what I would suggest. Note: This is ONLY to be used to report spam, advertising, and problematic (harassment, fighting, or rude) posts. Your best bet is to make them release everything, sell them provinces until they are under 30 base tax and diplo-annex them 50 years later when you have enough base tax. Exploration - Probably not the best choice, but I'm usually catching up on admin, still can't afford a military idea because of all the juicy tactics upgrades, and I feel I need that colonial conquest CB + explorers more than I need diplomatic stuff for this sort of run. If Offensive wasn't the best choice in your situation, then it probably was the 2nd best … Español - Latinoamérica (Spanish - Latin America). You are too far away to grab exploration meaningully quick so don't. France is a kingdom located in Western Europe, in the French Region, and could be one of the most (if not the most) interesting and entertaining nations to play in EUIV due to its powerful military and amount of flavor events.France allows for the player to make mistakes with usually limited consequences.