>>725006945
I started my first game as France. 3000 hours in EU4 but no idea what I'm doing here. Automated buildings, RGOs, and trade completely at first. I unautomated buildings after a while just to save up money spam Armories and other military buildings, I haven't tried actually making money yet.

HYW was super easy, it's like EU4 where you have more troops and the war is on your land so England just loses. First war I took his northern two locations and money. Second war I'd gotten cores somehow, declared for cores, ate all of Aquitaine. That meant England was kicked off the continent. Then I slowly integrated some vassals, and the situation was over. Took about 10 years in total, it ended as the Black Death was happening. The Black Death killed half my fucking pops, way worse than I expected.

After that I mostly gobbled up more vassals and ate franche-comte when I got a random claim throne CB (couldn't claim throne because of a bug but I didn't want to anyway, PUs are shit)

1390 now, just finished an opportunistic war with Aragon and Navarre for some border locations. Standing army is about 3k regulars, half are handgooners, I only made 3 stacks of arty but I think building a lot more would help with sieges. Handgooners seem not that great, morale damage seems not that useful unlike EU4 with the early morale meta

Apparently I have 10 hours in the game already.

Anyway I'd say yeah France seems pretty easymode. I'm just bumbling around doing stuff wrong but nobody can seriously threaten me. The vassal swarm makes it retard proof. Normandy had about half as many troops as England by itself and more war participation in the first war than me. I guess if you want to beat France as England you have to peel the subjects away somehow. That's how it went in real life i guess.