England vs. France Early Game

[JackieCat]

Should I even bother trying to take over France? I'm thinking I should temporarliy give up ambitions to be a continental power and focus on Scotland and Ireland. Any opinions?

[Quinn]

I think you definitely should take on France early in the game because experience has shown that France becomes a huge blue bubble in the later game that can't be destroyed.
However it is really difficult as England to fight France, they have a really strong army and like to occupy your French provinces really quick, so that you can't really get a foothold. I'd recommend taking Brittany and attack France from there.

[Mark]

Blockade frances harbors, so france get weakened from the inside via riots.

[Lily]

You get a mission to occupy Paris that gives cores on half of France when completed, so winning the HYW is worthwhile if you can manage it.

[mltnschroeder]

There is a whole strategy page on the EU3 wiki devoted to making war on France.

France tends to grab Grand Armee NI early so she has tons of manpower, and finances her wars with the CoT in Isle de France. So if you can build or capture your own CoT early on to boost your own finances that can be advantageous (capture Grenada and sell it to Castille for 600 ducats to raise the cash).

Grow your manpower however you can. Form alliances with Burgundy or Castille to force France to fight off multiple invasions. If you can manage to become crowned Emperor of the HRE (I captured northern Italy and got elected soon after) you will get a boost to your troop limit. Also carving out some territory from the Infidel kingdoms of North Africa is a good way to increase manpower without taking too much of a Reputation/Stability hit.

During the war, the AI tends to mass its armies regardless of supply limit in a province. If you can keep the war going long enough, lack of supply will wear down even the largest army to something more manageable. Plus in the long term it drives up French war weariness and foments rebellions.

Finally, if you ever become elected Papal Controller (keep a spotless reputation and a lot of cash on hand to make this possible), try and excommunicate France (as France gains Infamy from her early conquests, after a while her relations with the Papal State suffer, making this possible). This makes it possible to start a war without taking the massive Stability hit, since you won't need a CB and France will be considered an Infidel. Also, the Reputation penalty for each province gained through annexation from an excomunicated country is much lower than normal. Another way once the Reformation starts is to become Protestant, then assume the Defender of the Faith mantle and declare war on Catholic France. It's not quite as good as excommunication, but still brings some benefits.

[Jocke]

I agree with ♥♥♥♥[BO]. If you are ever going to take on France, you should do it early. It is only a matter of time before they gobble up the smaller french principalities, and once they've done that they'll be the strongest military power in western Europe.

Unfortunately you cant blockade ports early in the game (you need a certain level of naval technology, I don't remember which level exactly but I think it's something like 9-10), otherwise Mark's strategy would have been an option.

As for taking Brittany and attacking France from there, that's definately an option if you're willing to cope with the 30 years of rebellions that'll follow. I would recommend allying with Aragon and Burgundy and taking the french down with your combined forces. Just like Gustave5436 says, there is a mission that will grant you cores on all of gallia, which in my opinion is a reward well worth the trouble of taking on France. Do note however that one of the requirements to get that mission is that you are at war with France and have not yet occupied Paris. Another one is that you have not converted your country to Great Britain. Hence, don't convert to Great Britain until you have cores on all of northern France (if you wish to become a continental power instead of/in addition to a colonial one), wait until you have almost completed your current mission, declare war on France, and then complete your mission. With a little luck you will get the mission that grant cores on Gallia.

[Jocke]

One more thing, if you manage to ally with both Aragon and Burgundy, make sure that you don't declare war on France immidiately. Chances are they wont be willing to back you up in a conquest war if you haven't built up some trust first. Wait for them to call on you a couple of times, they should at least "feel you are highly trustworthy" before you make your big move.

Chances are that France will declare on you before you get a chance to make your move, in which case they will likely support you regardless of their trust towards you.