France IA Redux: Part 4 - Rise of the New Guys

Hello all! Welcome back to France IA Redux, the game with fewer Frances than there once was, but still more than you'd think there are.

Here are the votes: out of 16 votes, Konrad Adenauer's West Germany received a dominant majority of 7(!), which indicates a clear belief that he'll win this game. The Gauls, Anglo-Saxons, and Catherine de Medici all have 2, while Burgundy, Monaco, and Napoleon III all have 1.

We start this part off with West Germany doing what Germany did twice before, declare war on Belgium in an attempt to take them over. The two armies look evenly matched for now, but West Germany has a larger production base to back theirs up, similarly to real life. Navarre and Napoleon declare war on Gallia, but no borders means no action, and Andorra declares war on Napoleon III. The Gauls and Gallia go to peace as well.

Offscreen, Charles de Gaulle and Samuel de Champlain make peace, ending yet another War of the De.

Here's the centre of last turn's war declarations, as well as that of Louis XI and the Hainaut. You can see the last(?) unit of Anjou, the scout.

Offscreen, Normandy goes to peace with de Gaulle and Francois.

Navarre and Rome go to war with Richelieu, while Louis XI and Monaco go to peace after nothing happening.

Offscreen, the Papal States go to peace with Andorra and the Swiss.

And just like that, the Papal States are at war with Monaco. It'd be nice if one of them could take out the other, as something could come out of the region in an attempt to take over the rest of the country. Papal States and Flanders go to peace as well.

The Anglo-Saxons and New France go to peace, after a stunning advance by the Anglo-Saxons. Unfortunately for them, they burned all of their conquests down so they have gained nothing from this war.

The Swiss are taking the fight to Burgundy, with Autun in the yellow and many melee units around, the city should fall sometime soon, barring a peace deal.

Go figure, the Papal States lead happinesss. No insane happiness levels yet but I can feel them coming.

At the other end of the scale, only a few unhappy nations, and not by that much.

Instead of building a military to help defend Autun, Philip of Burgundy built the Uffizi. Autun is in the red, and next turn the Hainaut will build the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but nothing else will happen worth mentioning.

Catherine de Medici captures and burns Saint-Etienne, a city that belonged to Napoleon III. Looks like they're at war and that its going roughly for N3.

RIP Monaco-Papal States war, and the Franks and Burgundy go to peace.

I forgot that the Gauls were at war with Burgundy as they didn't really do anything. Oh well. Autun is doing slightly better, but many melee units remain in the area. De Gaulle, Flanders, and the Hainaut also go to peace with Burgundy.

Offscreen, Napoleon III goes to peace with Burgundy and Andorra, and the Hainaut build the Globe Theatre.

Gallia builds Petra in one of the only two spots on the map its possible to do so, in Arras. Napoleon III goes to peace with Napoleon and Innocent III.

A view of the West German-Belgium war. Nothing is going on except slaughter and light damage to Antwerp. At least Adenauer has built the Taj Mahal.

Uh oh, Normandy, Gallia, New France, Louis XI, the Hainaut, Georges Clemenceau, Catherine de Medici, and the Anglo-Saxons declare war on Flanders. The Hainaut and Anglo-Saxons could do some real damage here, with Normandy picking at scraps. Everyone else is for moral support.

Autun falls to the Swiss! Also, Lousi XI founds one of the hardest cities to take in the game, Valence. The one tile passages that lead to the city will ensure that it'll take airplanes to evict Louis from the game.

Speaking of Louis XI, Innocent III declares war on him at the same time he's fighting against Burgundy for the return of Blois. This battle will make or break Louis. Elsewhere, despite being at war with West Germany, Belgium decides to recapture a rebellious Flanders, and the Hainaut and Gallia go to peace.

The Franks decide to take the fight to the Palatinate, but I'm not sure that their border lends itself to fighting a war very well. You can also see that the West Germans are bringing the health of Liege and Antwerp down further than before.

More interestingly, the former lands of Louis XVI return to being a bloody battlefield as the Gauls invade de Medici's territory. Orleans(the former capital) is rather undefended, but the Gauls' southern flank is rather exposed.

As if dealing with Burgundy and the Papal States wasn't enough, Monaco also declares war on Louis XI. Good thing XI settled Valence, it may be used as a refuge sooner than planned.

Gallia and Napoleon III go to peace.

Toulon falls to Navarre, formerly a city under the control of Richelieu. Bordeaux really got demolished by the war, shame its only a small hamlet these days. You can also see that Saigon fell to the Visigoths, and that LImoges is in danger of falling quickly unless Napleon III kills the longswordsman.

Hopefully this is a good fight, Andorra declares war against Rome. It looks like Andorra is looking to strike directly at the Roman capital, but if I was the one playing I'd try to take over Cumae.

The Gauls have captured Orleans from de Medici, and you can see a large contingent of the Roman army near Bayonne for some reason.

Offscreen, Napoleon III goes to peace with Clemenceau and de Medici, while Gallia goes to peace with Navarre and Napoleon.

Flanders goes on the offensive against the Anglo-Saxons, taking and razing Ipswich. You can see the Belgian army attacking Antwerps (not to be confused with Antwerp).

Those capital fall and recapture notices mean that Napoleon III didn't manage to kill that longswordsman, and instead had to flip his capital. At least he's at peace with the HRE, the Swiss, and Richelieu, right?

Antwerps falls to the Belgians, while Liege is in the yellow. Ipswich still exists, which means the Anglo-Saxons saved it from burning but were unable to keep it.

De Medici and Napoleon declare war on Francois, while the Gauls and de Medici go to peace, as to Monaco and Louis XI. De Medici appear to have barbarian problems as well.

Limoges looks safe for now, but that doesn't mean much.

Liege falls to West Germany, which makes the map a bit harder to tell who's who, as West Germany and the Hainaut have almost the same colours on the map. Antwerps is recaptured by Flanders.

More wars in the southeast, but interestingly Andorra and the Papal States are now at war. We've yet to see that combination happen. Andorra and Rome will go to peace next turn, unfortunately as that war had a lot of potential, as will Anne of Brittany and Francois.

Oh, Louis XI finally recaptured Blois. Took you long enough mate, but the city could still flip back. Normandy and Belgium make peace.

Belgium loses Antwerp to the West Germans, and so they capture Antwerps to reconcile themselves. Things are looking bad for Belgium, their army has disintegrated fighting a two front war.

Switzerland and the HRE are now at war, probably because the HRE wanted Autun. If they wanted it that badly, they should have done something about it earlier.

Burgundy is now at war with Gallia. Eh, Rome's exclave is in the way.

De Champlain has a really large military, too bad his neighbours do as well.

The Franks surpass my expectations by gaining Heustadt an der Haardt in the peace treaty with the Palatinate, and then crush them by burning it down. The HRE and Rome also declare on Burgundy, while Flanders and the Hainaut make peace without any real war going on.

Clemenceau has quite a large force in southern Frankish territory, wonder what he's going to do with it?

Louis XI suddenly learns how to war, as he captures Lugdunum from Burgundy. Burgundy looks tiny now, having lost 3 cities this part.

The Gauls and Palatinate declare on the Hainaut, who goes to peace with Burgundy. Versailles looks exposed, thanks to those citadels placed north of Orleans.

Offscreen, West Germany and Francois are at war, as are the tag team Clemenceau and the Visigoths against Burgundy.

Versailles falls to the yellow, but Charlemagne has directed the Franks to go to war with Georges Clemenceau. The Frankish force is technologically more advanced, but I'm not sure we'll see any real progress here.

The Gauls capture Versailles, as planned, and Courtrai is in the red.

The Swiss and HRE are now at peace.

We shift slightly west to see that Courtrai falls to de Medici who decides to burn it to the ground. Oh well. De Medici citadels the land south of Orleans, maybe she'll declare on the Gauls again soon?

Yup, that capital loss announcement means that Belgium lost their capital, as well as Charleroi. This means they're reduced to Liege, which will in all likelihood fall next turn.

Eh? Troyes, the Frankish capital, falls to the red under Clemenceau's attack. I wasn't expecting that.

And there it goes, Troyes falls to Clemenceau's attack. So much for tech being worth more than numbers.

We revisit Liege to see that the Belgians are eliminated.

In other news, the Papal States and Louis XI go to peace, Burgundy builds the Porcelain Tower, and the Swiss have declared on the Hainaut.

Leopold II's Belgium (Rank: 32/40) had a weird empire. It grew and shrank with the fortunes of his neighbours, as he would attack the weak and get beaten by the strong. Once there were no more weak, it was his turn to be on the chopping block due to a foolish declaration of a two front war.

Despite losing their capital to Clemenceau, the Franks declare war on the Hainaut. Is this the first sign of madness from the remaining Charlemagne?

In a front of the Napoleon III-Visigoths war that I forgot about, the Visigoths capture Pondichery, and the musketman behind the notification won't manage to recapture it.

Louis XI and Gallia go to peace while the Hainaut builds the Red Fort, a crazy useful defensive wonder.

Louis XI captures Vezelay from Burgundy, and settles Amboise in the middle of his empire. He's actually got a nice core now, thanks to his recent captures and recaptures.

I have no idea why this slide is here, but here it shall be. De Champlain seems to have sent most of his army to attack... Flanders? Anyway, he's settled Trois-Rivieres yet again as a forward attack base in the region.

Offscreen (aka: next turn, but its the only significant thing to happen that turn), the Hainaut and Gauls go to peace, which is probably why this slide is here.

We finally visit Spain to see that Franco has decided to take out Asturias. I would say that Asturias has the advantage, but its just as likely that nothing will happen as a result of this declaration.

Hey look, Louis XI eliminated Burgundy after a stunning reversal of fortune.

Philip III of Burgundy (Rank: 31/40) managed to make a large empire, stretching from Autun all the way to Lugdunum. Up until recently, I was considering him a power in the region, but somehow Louis XI was the overall winner of the massive coalition against him, with Switzerland taking Autun. A well fought match, Philip, but unfortunately it didn't go your way.

Richelieu is now at war with a bunch of people who don't border him, and goes to peace with someone else who doesn't border him. Anyway, New France builds the Torre Del Oro, and Enlightenment Era wonder that grants 1 culture and 2 great merchant points, and extends the range of naval trade routes by 50% and causes them to yield an additional 3 gold for each party involved.

The HRE declares war on the Palatinate, weakened by the loss of Neustadt and der Haardt, hopefully they'll be able to do something. The Franks go to peace with Clemenceau after losing their capital and almost losing Treves despite the large military they have near Metz.

Andorra goes to peace with the Papal States and joins the Gauls in declaring war against Napoleon. Napoleon has a carpet, but the Gauls have a larger empire leading them to likely crush the French through sheer production numbers. As long as Bourges holds, Napoleon should be fine, but if it does he's in serious trouble.

The war in Spain ends with nothing to show for it, while the West Germans build the Topkapi Palace, which yields 1 culture and great scientist point, 3 happiness, and 1 faith from all military buildings in the empire. The HRE's invasion of the Palatinate is going well, for now.

The West Germans and Visigoths have massively boosted their military scores since last time we saw them, impressive.

Uh oh, Clemenceau finds himself the target of the Hainaut (most pressingly) and the HRE. De Gaulle and the Gallians declare on Napoleon, but only Gallia will truely matter.

See what I mean? If they push in on Chartres while the Gauls push on Gourges, it should overextend the French military and allow the two Vercingetorixes to profit from this war.

Offscreen, a bunch of wars that don't matter are declared, including yet another Papal States-Monaco war.

Napoleon III is in as much trouble as his namesake, but has somehow managed to recapture Saigon from the Visigoths. Its a short lived victory however, as it'll fall in a turn or two.

Clemenceau captures Valenciennes from the Hainaut and decides to burn it down. If no one else interferes with this war, he could make major gains against the Hainaut, assuming he can keep his military clustered and not disperse it across the entire theatre of war.

Offscreen, the Franks and Hainaut go to peace.

Uh oh, the Gauls have managed to capture Bourges from Napoleon, extending the amount of land he has to cover to continue to exist. It was also his capital, which sucks. Napoleon flips it next turn, but it falls just as easily.

Francois and de Medici go to peace, as do the Palatinate and the Hainaut.

In a war that everyone forgot was happening, Normandy and Flanders are now at peace. Somehow, Normandy didn't get eliminated despite Flemish military superiority.

Instead of pressing the attack, the Gauls and Napoleon to to peace. Probably a wise move, I don't think the gauls want the elimination penalty.

So much for the Palatinate. West Germany decides to unify with Southern Germany and declares war on the Palatinate. The HRE and West Germany should be able to split the empire, but we'll keep an eye on the area.

Another dangerous moment, de Medici declares war on Napoleon III. This is pretty much the last thing N3 needed, as he's already at war with the Visigoths.

Francois builds Wat Phra Kaew, granting him 1 culture, 2 happiness, and 3 faith per turn, as well as a 15 permanent influence with city-states, which isn't too useful in this game.

We also have our first ideology, Communism (Order). The Civ Names by Policy mod changes order to communism, as that's essentially what it is if we're being completely honest with ourselves.

This explains why Charlemagne had all of his forces around Metz instead of fighting the war he was in. The Franks declare war on the HRE, which should see them lose Aachen unless Charlemagne plays like a foot.

More people join in against Napoleon III, and Heidelberg is already in the yellow why Alzey is still in the green.

Even worse for Napoleon III, Rome also joins in against him. Also, notice the cheeky pikeman from Navarre next to Limoges. They're also in this war.

There goes Heidelberg. West Germany and the Palatinate make peace after the former captures the latter's capital.

Hoping to ninja the city of Alzey, Charlemagne declares war on the Palatinate, as do... Cornwall? WTF mate, do something more productive like declaring on anyone with a coast.

Nope, no Alzey for you Charlemagne. Aachen falls to red and is surrounded by Frankish melee units, so expect it to fall soon. The fall of Azley marks the end of the game for the Palatinate, as even with the forces nearby they'll be unable to recapture the city, and to add insult to injury the HRE burns it down.

Otto Henry's Palatinate (Rank: 30/40) settled a few cities but they had a large population. He fought repeatedly with the HRE and accomplished nothing against them or Luxembourg until West Germany came in and eliminated them. A pretty poor showing by Otto Henry.

As predicted, Aachen falls to the Franks. The HRE and Palatinate go to peace, meaning the Palatinate has one of the more powerful armies for a civ with no cities.

More pointy sticks: The Gauls jump to the top of the leader board, with almost 5k more than West Germany.

Francois and Clemenceau join in against Napoleon III, but its Francois who has the most to gain from joining the conflict, but he'll need to hurry it up.

Eh? Well, its not impossible, just improbable. Nantes falls to the Visigoths, as LImoges falls to the red. Nantes is recaptureable, but if LImoges falls, it'll likely be gone for good.

Speak of such an occurrence. Rome captures LImoges, while Napoleon III recaptures Nantes, but there are many enemy forces nearby and few friendly forces.

Louis XI declares war on Clemenceau, but their border is too small for any significant warring.

And there goes Nantes, taken by Catherine de Medici, and eliminating Napoleon III.

Offscreen, Clemenceau and the Hainaut go to peace.

Napoleon III's France (Rank: 29/40) quickly settled a decent number of cities, but they were in a line and not a blob, and he had an exclave south of the Pyrenees. He fought around Francois' empire to capture Bordeaux and fought against Navarre for a time, but this and a declaration of war by the Visigoths started his decline. The unrelenting pressure and then a coalition spanning across the map brought him down.

We'll end the part here, so thank you for reading! I appreciate it! Here's a poll for you to vote on who you think will win the game: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf1JVWCAI22Uf-bhWRQuWuHR3HjlzBxf7uEGAykE0OeRZKZVA/viewform

Stats time: New France leads the population game, with West Germany just behind.

At the bottom, Brittany and Gallia, as well as Normandy.

West Germany dominates the production game, almost double that of the closest competitor. Holy cow.

At the bottom is Brittany, with a whopping 9 production. That means that West Germany has over 88 times the production of Brittany.

Ah, but production must be placed, as the Gauls have the largest military, with just over 300k.

Heh, the remaining military of the Palatinate is larger than that of Brittany.

Lastly, tech. Its a three-way tie for first, New France, Gauls, and West Germany, but the competition isn't far behind.

Normandy and Asturias of all places are in last, but again not by much. Thanks for reading this part too!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf1JVWCAI22Uf-bhWRQuWuHR3HjlzBxf7uEGAykE0OeRZKZVA/viewform