France as HRE

[swilhelm73]

I noticed that I haven't gotten any of the French achievements yet so I was considering a run as them. Since I'll need to conquer into Russia taking over Germany will help and I know that's easier as the Emperor of the HRE - any suggestions as to how to do that as France?

[Marquoz]

The same way as any nation, really:

--Take Diplo as your first idea group. You really want the diplo rep, extra diplomats and additional relation it will give you
--Hire a diplo rep advisor
--Ally and max out relations (relations +100, guarantee, military access, gifts, great power influence, whatever it takes) with at least three electors
--Wait for the current Emperor to die
--Get elected

It's simple. Then you play the normal HRE game (break up large nations, smash the Reformation, etc.) and revoke in the mid 1500s.

[Marquoz]

I'm actually doing a France as Emperor run right now. In my last French campaign, a year or so ago, I dismantled the HRE to experience that mission path for the first time, so I decided this time I'd become Emperor instead. This is the Empire at the moment I revoked after using the method described in my previous post:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3285161380

You can see that large HRE nations like Austria, Bohemia, and Brandenburg have been broken up and other countries have been forced into the Empire. I took Holstein from Denmark and then used it as a lever to pry open Scandinavia, for example.

[Mr.X]

How did you get Denmark into the HRE? Aren't they way over the development required for a invite?

[Mason]

gunboat diplomacy

[Primigenia]

diplo and influence ideas, never declare war on HRE nations don't take any land from them, ally and keep the electors close, you'll get the title eventually

[swilhelm73]

So do you try and get an early war with Austria? Or just focus on taking land from England/Spain/non-HRE Italy?

[Marquoz]

Originally posted by Mr.X:

How did you get Denmark into the HRE? Aren't they way over the development required for a invite?

Way too large, yes, so I brute force them in. War 1 takes Holstein, which I use to forge claims on Denmark (and keep to forge claims on northern Germany during the Reformation). War 2 takes much of Denmark's land, especially Lund, all of which I core and add to the HRE. War 3 force-vassalizes Denmark, after which I return their land.

For GC reasons, I don't want to keep it. And once I revoke the privilege, they won't count against my relations limit. While I own Lund, I use it to forge claims on Sweden, which I treat the same way. While I own parts of Sweden, I use it to take over Norway. And so on. The end result is a much larger HRE, all of which becomes part of the swarm and doesn't take up relations slots.

You'll note I did keep Bratsberg, though--I want the monument there for myself.

[Marquoz]

Originally posted by swilhelm73:

So do you try and get an early war with Austria? Or just focus on taking land from England/Spain/non-HRE Italy?

Trade from Italy can't be sent to the English Channel, so I don't take much land there. I force its nations into the HRE and make them part of the swarm. The major exception is Naples. France gets a mission to force a union on Naples, and I take advantage of that. I never feed them or integrate them, though. I just stack diplo rep and inherit them for free at some random point. I want Napoli for the monument. That's also why I conquer Malta.

Same with Spain. I can't route trade from Spain to the Channel, so instead I dismember it and make it part of the vassal swarm. You can see I've started this process in that screenshot. After Spain formed, I took one province of what used to be Aragon, released it as a vassal, and started reconquest. Spain has some great monuments, though. I will take over Madrid, Zaragoza, and Grenada personally.

England and the rest of the British Isles are another matter entirely. All of their trade can go to the Channel, so I conquer every bit of them.

Finally, yes, I fight more than one war against Austria. I don't take their land, though. I force them to release Styria, Tirol, and any other possible nations. This wipes out their "large nation in the HRE" bonus so they don't compete with me for Emperor and it also ensures they are small enough to agree to join the vassal swarm. I treat Bohemia the same way, but I take Prague for myself the monument.

[Totally Innocent Chatbot]

Who the heck is the Elector that owns Memel? Was AI Brandenburg actually having a good game for one of the first times in known history before you stepped in?

[Marquoz]

You guessed it. But of course I ripped them up.

[swilhelm73]

Were you able to get the Big Blue Blob achievement as well?

[Marquoz]

I grabbed that many years ago. The strategy for it at the time was very different than for a normal HRE run. The goal was to conquer as many low dev provinces as possible as fast as possible, which meant no-CB wars in ridiculous places like Sweden and/or Novgorod to gain access to crappy Scandinavian and Russian land (in addition to the Burgundian Inheritance, the UK, normal blobbing, and so on, of course). I have no idea what's optimal now.

It's not a good achievement, in my opinion.

[RCMidas]

Had it not been for the coring requirement, I'd've said PUing England and going from there. I think perhaps a selective vassal swarm such as Northumbria, Gaeldom, Asturias, Catalonia, Sicily and so forth might work a little better if you're careful. You'd have to get Influence first and probably wouldn't manage Administrative for the policy unless you're super early on tech.

Otherwise, very careful conquest and intelligent use of your Appanages to integrate some extra territory they've cored for you. I can't remember how I did it. With a lot of cursing and restarts, I suspect. Plus the full Burgundian Inheritance to accelerate matters was a must.

It seems almost blase now, by comparison to Ottomans being tasked with owning 90% of all Roman Empire territory in the same timeframe.

[bri]

Originally posted by RCMidas:

It seems almost blase now, by comparison to Ottomans being tasked with owning 90% of all Roman Empire territory in the same timeframe.

Once upon a time that may have actually been a fun challenge-before the Ottos got nerfed through the floor...