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Hi, I am going to keep track of my development of France in a new thread.
Using the 1792 scenario 15 years highest glory.
At start France has 2nd highest training level behind Austria
Training levels 1792
Austria 8.19
France 6.40
Russia 4.92
Britain 4.70
Turkey 3.40
Sweden 3.24
Spain 2.92
Prussia 2.82

France is at war with Austria and Prussia so before France can devote full effort to development she needs to end these wars by defeating both Austria and Prussia.

French net income at start 168
French Army size 276,500

Change tax rate to 20 percent
Change max draft age to 30
Change training time to 18 months (will increase to 20 in future)

Now start in provinces setting production allotments
Rule 1 Agriculture. Set level to where 1 wine is being produced. If at 100 percent you can't produce 1 wine then set to produce 1 horse. If 1 horse cannot be produced set food to equal population size.
Rule 2 Lux set to producing at least 1 spice and 1 lux.
Rule 3 Best resource. Set to producing 1 (will be either wood,iron or textiles or wood and iron with no textiles. Do not produce any item not listed as "best" resource. and only produce 1 item in each province.
Rule 4. Now with labor remaining after setting rules 1,2,3 use labor for development if province has development or to labor if no development. (labor is where most shortage will occur limiting future development so produce it early. It does not waste and labor produced in 1792 can be used in 1793 developments)
Rules for development.
1. First develop any area that has level 0 at start.
2. Second develop bank or barracks develop the one that has lower level, where barrack and bank are equal develop bank first. develop to level 5
3. If bank and barrack both level 5 and no level 0 exists then develop "best" resource
where best resource is textile develop factory where wine develop agriculture, where lux/wood/iron develop both agricuture and factory to population size. When "best" resource equals population size develop road.

After you have cycled through all provinces on turn 1 you will have a large amount of labor alloted to developments and labor. This is where increasing other items labor allotment will be found in future turns.

Notice France has large textile capacity.

War. First notice Prussians in Flanders. They must be contained while bulk of French Army defeats Austria.
Don't attempt to add provinces yet. Victory conditions will be colony/cash/peace for as many years as you can get.

I'm glad you came over here from WITP as I look forward to more of your detailed and good analysis!

Hi, I am going crazy because I can't play WITP due to computer problems. My outlook express is fubar and I can't fix it. I can't send or read emails.
Thank goodness COG is here to occupy me.

June 1792 continued.
France has 4 HQ and 2 opponents so I will assign 2 HQ to each.
First I top off my infantry divisions with miltia (either in town or HQ) miltia that begins assigned to HQ is ordered to join town after being used to fill out infantry.
Swiss Guard under Dumoriez (are there 2 of these guys? 1 military and 1 diplomat) moves to Picardy
Arme du Nord remains in Soussons
Arme du Centre moves to Burgundy (under Montesquiou)
Arme du Mide moves to Burgundy (under Duc de Orleans)

So at start two HQ oppose Austria and 2 HQ oppose Prussia.

July 1792
Russia declares war on France. (I don't think France is going to be allowed to develop in peace)(not before winning a few wars)

Hi, Our production from last month



New Developments (using completed to note where labor is now available )
Poitiers Bank 2>3
Soissons Bank 3>4
Brittany Barracks 2>3
Bordeux Barracks 2>3
Guuenne Dock 0>1
Berri (new province build with material available from last turns production) Bank 3>4

Swiss Guard moves into Flanders remain 3 HQ all move to Switzerland (now 1 HQ opposing Prussia and 3 Austria)

Hi, 2 developments complete began on turn 1.

Hi, This would be a lot faster if Alt-tab worked

patience my fellow grasshopper....[;)]

lol, great stuff as usual from you Mogami. [:)]

Hi, Using our development completed as guide we go to Strasbourg and build barracks 2>3
In Isle de France we note that both barrack and bank are now level 5 or larger .
Best resource is wine/wool with current farm being less then current factory so we select farm to develop. 2>3
The Army in Flanders holds position while the remaing 3 HQ advance to Tyrolia seeking battle with Austria.

Sept 1792
Battle fought in Switzerland (France lost) However we will fight another with entire force. Miltia in Burgundy will replace loss in line divisions.






Paris can really develop with all that labor assigned.

Hi, Using our development completed list
Ile de France farm still less then facotry so farm 3>4
Poitiers bank and barrack equal so Bank 3>4
Berri barrack 5 so Bank 4>5
Guyenne Bank3 Barrack 2 so Barrack 2>3
make sure to adjust labor to maintain production of at least 1 wine/spice/lux/best resource.

Income is steadily going up.

Have you engaged in any trade or is this simply due to the increase in improvements?

Hi, No trade and all merchants kept in port. I can't afford to have them attacked by enemy and I don't know when Britain is going to follow suit and declare war on me.
Oct 1792 was a bad turn. The Austrians defeated my combined force and drove me back into France. (120k Austrians versus 70k French resulted in 14k French lost to 10k Austrians. The Army in Flanders did defeat a Prussian force.
I need to build units to prevent Austria from capturing Paris. The force in Flanders is moving to Join Armee Du Centre. The other 2 HQ are transfering their units to that HQ and moving to pick up new units after they arrive. 3 Infantry divisions were placed into production to replace the manpower lost and allow a slight growth in Army.
There really is no problem developing France other then the fact that it is waging a major war. If France was at peace I could grow rather quickly as there is tremedous potential not being used at start. It is the requirment to use the resources to fight that is slowing (stopping) French industrial expansion.
Russia just asked for crossing treaty from Prussia and Austria.
I had to increase farm output in a few provinces to meet food requirements. Nothing major. French population has grown and this has required the extra food output.
I am using two miltia units to replace loss in several line infantry and will have to combine cav in order to maintain divisions for combat.

Hi, I am going to concentrate on getting these wars over as soon as I can. (while avoiding a French surrender)
Burgundy is not producing due to enemy army being present.

When I am trying to seriously test how something works, I just select a human player for every major nation and then cycle through the ones I am not testing just to prevent the AI from doing something that interfere with whatever I am trying to test.

Hi, I can see without a doubt that if France was not at war I could develop within the present system without problem.
However the actual situation in this "test" game is closer to actual historic condition then one where I allowed France free development. The only Nation I can see that is able to develop and ignore the rest of world is Russia. If they stay home and enemy force enters Russia they can defeat it. No single nation in 1792 can enter Russia and hope to force a surrender. I will discover if France can defeat this early syndicate. (They should in game because we know they did in reality)

I actually think I can
1. Defeat the present coalition arrayed against me.
2. Expand the industry.

I just have to balance what orders I give according to the situation. I can't lose the war while growing but must use the growth to win the war. (Since the enemy forces are several times larger then my starting force and a good portion are also more advanced. )

Nov 1792
Defeated Austrians in battle in Soussons. 8k Austrians lost 3k French. However Prussian forces advance into France and I had not moved my POW far enough to the rear.
At end of this month all French active forces will be in a single HQ (ADC) New units should begin arriving next month and will join a HQ (ADN) that will be employed against Prussians. (I am going to rename my Army HQ)
The silly Prussian and Austrian AI refused the Russian request for crossing.

France is actually more fun then I had thought (I was scared to run them) By the time I finish this test game I will be the monster of COG.

Hi, Picardy and Burgundy not producing due to enemy forces in province.

Hi, The crisis is upon us. Prussian and Austrian forces have entered Ile de France.
Renamed French HQ.
ANV (Army of National Vengence)(main French field Army for now since it is the only one that currently has any units assigned to it
AOP (Army of Picardy)
AOW (Army of Winos) (will cover wine growing region in South)
Swiss Guard became I Corps and was assigned to ANV

Will have to fight battle for Paris to see what course the game will take. I expect to be outnumbered again.
(note to self for future use:Start building units on turn 1)

Hi, France defeated the enemy at Paris. I guess they have not been replacing their loss since I had a 20k advantage. 15k enemy troops were lost compared to 3k French (The Prussians were crushed and the Austrians followed them off the field)
A Russian Army has arrived in Picardy.

I am using windows ME OS and COG does not support it. The only real problem in solo games is I cannot use the "info" button I have to do military from inside and you can't move a unit out of a city from here. This means I have to send divisions as they are built because those are the only unattached units I can order to move. So I can't follow my own advise about enemy depots (move out of city to destroy unprotected depots)
I had 2 new infantry units arrive an I am going to use them for this. Each province will have 1 infantry div built for this. (They will remain unattached and outside the city of the province they are moved to) These units will be exposed to attack if enemy field Army enters their areas so I have to be alert and move them out or move an Army in.

Hi, Anjou and Picardy did not produce due to enemy forces present.
Time to throw the bums out of France "Hey ya'll git offa ma property"

Hi, Fast forward to May 1793. All enemy troops are now out of France (The Russian force was completely destroyed.)
Austria forced into signing a 3 year peace with France. Still at war with Russia and Prussia.
Southern French Naval forces have moved to Brittainy. Prussian/Russian and Austrian merchant fleets have been damaged by French Fleets and Privateers.
Current plan is to force peace with Russia and Prussia and then devote resources to expanding French economic base before enlarging Army for conquest in 1800.

Hi, All regions producing now.




June 1793 all French provinces have a development in progress.