Royal standard of the Bourbon kings of France from the early 1600s to 1789, covering the country’s rise as a great power following decades of civil war. It was briefly brought back during the Bourbon restoration from 1814 to 1830.

Availability: Base game
Focus: Late/Balanced, Dragoons, Sharpshooters
Playstyle: European

France is a nation which firmly believes that the gun is mightier than the sword. Not only do all three of their unique units focus on firepower, but two of them either hold the record or are tied for the highest ranged attack of their respective troop type. Having one unit like that would be notable and the fact that France has two says a lot about their army’s priorities.

These unique units plus their strong generic troops make France a balanced faction that excels in the late game but can also do well in earlier eras. Whether they’re fielding a small force of elite Chasseurs, spamming Dragoons to overwhelm you, or even hitting you in the early game with King’s Musketeers, French forces can lay down a blistering field of fire and overwhelm enemies with a hail of high-damage shots.

If you like shooting things, think naval combat is a waste of time, or just want a well-rounded yet unique country with interesting options at every stage of the game, France is a great nation for you.


Variant of the Bourbon royal standard, this one tying back to the blue-and-yellow flags of the old Capetian dynasty that the Bourbons were originally a cadet branch of (meaning they were descended from a monarch’s younger sons who weren’t in direct line for the throne).

+ Armored 17c. Pikeman
+ King’s Musketeer–very powerful early dragoon with a gold upkeep
+ 18c. Musketeer
+ Chasseur–powerful sharpshooter that trains very slowly
+ French Dragoon–weaker but trains faster
+ Balloon to reveal the map
+ Tech cost discounts:

• 1st harvesting upgrade (Academy)
  
• Reduce Fishing Boat cost (Academy)
  
• 1st artillery accuracy upgrade (Academy)
  
• Wall durability upgrade (Academy)

~ 18th century upgrade costs less gold but more food, iron, and coal
~ 2nd artillery accuracy upgrade costs less gold but more wood and coal
~ Lots of altered unit upgrade costs that don’t mean much
- Cathedrals cost more and build slowly
- Tech cost penalties:

• 17c. Musketeer attack upgrades (17c. Barracks)
  
• Fishing Boat efficiency (Academy)
  
• Unlock Frigates (Academy)

France plays mostly like a standard European nation with the same buildings and techs you know from other factions. There are some small tweaks, though: Their early economy is a tiny bit better thanks to their single farming discount, their artillery is cheaper to get going, and they can upgrade their walls more easily than any other country, but their slightly more expensive Cathedrals are a bit annoying. None of these changes are big enough to be very impactful, however, so don't fret over them.

Similarly, all of the prices of France’s Barracks and Stable upgrades are slightly tweaked but overall cost about the same as a normal faction's. (For example, French Hussar attack upgrades require a total of 5,600 gold and 17,500 iron…which is exactly the same as what standard European nations pay.) There isn't even any useful pattern to build a strategy around like cheaper early techs giving an initial advantage, making the altered prices pretty meaningless.

The only instance I found where the different upgrade costs kind of matter is their 17c. Musketeer attack techs, which France has to pay slightly more gold for. Even then, the changed costs are still cheap enough to not matter too much.

The situation with their navy is interesting: France can spam Fishing Boats earlier than other nations thanks to their sole naval discount, but they then have to pay more to improve those Fishing Boats’ gather rate. Add in that unlocking Frigates is more expensive and it’s hard to recommend France on water maps.

All this is to say that you shouldn't worry much about France's bonuses. The main thing that sets them apart is their units, so let's get right into it.

Base stats:

Full upgrades:

Cost: 100 food, 100 gold, 8 iron
Training time: 27 seconds max: 18 seconds min.
Range: 13.13
Reload speed: 6.88 seconds max: 3.37 seconds min.
Upkeep: roughly 0.19 gold per second

+ Highest bullet damage in the game
+ Good HP and melee/arrow defense for a dragoon
+ Extremely strong against armored units
+ Far better than other dragoons at low upgrade tiers
~ Has only one tier of very expensive Stable upgrades
- Very short range
- Extremely slow training time and rate of fire
- Very high gold cost
- No melee attack
- Requires gold upkeep
- Relative effectiveness drops as upgrades increase

The King’s Musketeer–representing the King’s Musketeers of the Guard, a small, elite company of young nobles who directly served the Bourbon kings in both war and more sensitive missions–is far and away the hardest-hitting musket-armed unit in the entire game. They cost a lot and don’t scale well into the later stages of the match but in the early-to-mid game they can provide a big boost in firepower to French armies.


Valor unmatched: King’s Musketeers lend their fire to a 15-minute peacetime army. (This would be a tougher fight if the AI didn’t make pikemen every game, but at least you can see the sheer armor-piercing lethality of King’s Musketeers by glancing at the kill count.)

Compared to a typical 17c. Dragoon (which France also gets), King’s Musketeers have +60 HP, +2 max melee/arrow defense, and a jaw-dropping attack stat: Whereas 17c. Dragoons max out at 30 damage, King’s Musketeers start off at a very impressive 43 damage and cap out at 100. To put that in perspective, the next hardest-hitting shooters, 18c. and Piedmontese Dragoons, max out at 56 attack. This is far and away the highest bullet damage of any unit in the game and it gives King’s Musketeers a massive punch, especially against the armored pikemen so common in the early game.

Of course, such insane strengths come with steep downsides. King’s Musketeers have the shortest range possible for a gun-armed unit along with a horribly slow reload speed. They also train very slowly and, worst of all, are extremely expensive. Their 100 gold cost would be annoying on its own, but King’s Musketeers also have a high gold upkeep; roughly 0.2 gold per second for each unit. That might not sound like much, but it can be a significant drain on an early economy once you get 40+ units in play.


40 unupgraded King’s Musketeers vs 72 17c. Dragoons, reflecting the difference in training time. To make the tests more realistic, both sides were accompanied by a force of 160 Mercenary Roundshiers.

Fortunately, the gold drain is usually worth it as King’s Musketeers are highly effective in the early game. At low upgrade levels, they perform far better than any other early dragoon, gunning down armored and unarmored foes alike and turning the tide of melee fights in their side’s favor. They aren’t very good against fast cavalry (as is the case with all early dragoons) and they’re way more expensive than 17c. Dragoons but they give France a big advantage in early battles against other factions using dragoons or heavy cavalry.

As upgrades increase, however, King’s Musketeers gradually lose their advantage over other dragoons. While their final attack of 100 is unmatched, their low range, numbers, and rate of fire renders them only about as effective as an equivalent force of 17c. Dragoons despite costing much more. They also do poorly against Polish Pospolite ruszenie and have no hope against 18c. Dragoons.


The same test as before but with both sides fully upgraded. Whereas before the King’s Musketeers effortlessly stomped on 17c. Dragoons, now it’s a tossup as to which unit wins.

This is why you’ll want to switch to another type of cavalry in the mid-to-late game, as they’re way more cost-effective. Even if you did try to field King’s Musketeers en masse, the weight of their gold upkeep would seriously hinder your economy. This also makes them unsuited for the mass battles of the late game, sort of like a ranged version of Ukrainian Hetmen.

Still, the sheer early power of King’s Musketeers makes them a very strong unit in low-peacetime games. So long as you keep them out of melee (watch out for fast cavalry) and don’t force them to fight in the later parts of the match, these swashbuckling sons of French nobility will be a powerful tool in your early-game arsenal.


All for one and one for all! King’s Musketeers arrive to assist in a holding action on the army’s right flank. While they aren’t cost-effective to produce compared to late-game cavalry, their sky-high attack combined with their mobility can still be useful if they survive into the late game, so don’t rush to throw them away.

Base stats:

Full upgrades:

Cost: 50 food, 45 gold, 15 iron max: 50 food, 22.5 gold, 7.5 iron min.
Training time: 7.5 seconds
Range: 19.69
Reload speed: 5.94 seconds max: 2.91 seconds min.

+ Very long range
+ Very high attack
+ Extremely powerful when massed
+ Perform better than most skirmishers in fast-paced games
- Very slow training time
- No melee attack
- Subpar HP for a late-game unit
- Very weak melee/arrow armor
- Slow reload speed
- High gold cost
- Can still be overwhelmed by faster-training musketeers before you get a critical mass of them

The Chasseur (meaning “hunter” in French) is perhaps the game’s ultimate skirmisher; a slow-training musketeer that trades survivability for a very long range and massive damage. Like most skirmishers, they do best when fielded in large numbers, making them deadly in games with long peacetimes. Unlike most skirmishers, they can still give a credible performance in scenarios where training time matters, making them a far more attractive pick in fast-paced games than most of their peers as long as you keep them safe from harm.


Fruits of French military theory: Chasseurs show off their range against a trapped Hungarian force. They’re being protected by melee infantry and Hussars, who are out front to tank bullets and keep enemy soldiers at bay.

Stat-wise, the Chasseurs have put everything into their range and attack stat: Their HP, melee/arrow armor, reload speed, and lack of a melee attack are all poor for an 18th century unit as is their awful 7.5 second training time—3 seconds slower than an 18c. Musketeer. In exchange, they boast a range of 19.69 and deal a max 51 damage per shot. For comparison, the 18c. Musketeer only has a range of 16.88 and deals 25 damage.

This superb range and damage allows Chasseurs to put out loads of punishment if you get a large mass of them. It’s so effective, in fact, that in a straight shootout with equal numbers of men on both sides, Chasseurs will beat every other musketeer in the game save for Swiss Jaegers. This is where their lethal reputation comes from and it’s why they’re a favorite unit for lengthy peacetimes when you can amass a large force of them before the fighting starts.

That’s all well and good, but what about in more typical, faster-paced games where training time matters and your enemies won’t let you build up a large late-game army in peace? How do Chasseurs perform then?


Elites humbled: 64 fully upgraded French Chasseurs vs 96 Bavarian Musketeers. In repeated shootouts, the normally-strong Bavarians scored zero wins.

Generics triumphant: 64 Chasseurs vs 108 18c. Musketeers with 160 Mercenary Roundshiers acting as blocking troops for both sides.

As it turns out, they still perform surprisingly well. While they can struggle against faster-training shooters like Saxon and 18c. Musketeers as well as Portuguese Volunteers, they still do better against those units than most other slow-training skirmishers out there. In fact, during tests Chasseurs excelled against other strong, slow-training shooters like Prussian and Bavarian Musketeers as well as those Swiss Jaegers from earlier, giving them a potential role as an anti-elite unit.

This, then, is why the Chasseur is such a good unit: They’ll dominate a game if you get a critical mass of them but can still do well if you don’t. With such a reliably good performance, it becomes very tempting to make them every time you play as France.


Slaying Stradiots: A charge of Venetian Hussars is halted by Pikemen and Mercenary Roundshiers, allowing the Chasseurs to gun them down.

But should you always make them? Well, as mentioned, Chasseurs are vulnerable to being overwhelmed by weaker, faster-training musketeers. They’re also fragile and lack a melee attack, making them easy prey for just about anything if you aren’t careful and keep blocking troops between them and the enemy at all times. Fast cavalry are especially worrisome as they can close the gap and wipe out a force of Chasseurs in the blink of an eye. If you’re facing any of these threats in a low-peacetime game, it’s often a good idea to stick with normal 18c. Musketeers as they’re better equipped to deal with a dangerous, high-attrition environment.

Even with these caveats, Chasseurs are still some of the strongest musketeers in the game and are the biggest reason why France is a late-game powerhouse. Train them up, keep them safe, and watch opposing armies melt.


Levée en masse: After destroying the Dutch cavalry, a massive French army closes in on their now-exposed infantry. Hussars pair very well with Chasseurs, able to quickly intercept threats as well as providing HP and melee power to your forces.

Base stats:

Full stats:

Cost: 50 food, 30 gold, 6 iron max: 50 food, 15 gold, 3 iron min.
Training time: 15 seconds max: 10 seconds min.
Range: 15
Reload speed: 4.69 seconds max: 2.3 seconds min.

+ Most spammable dragoon of the 18th century
+ Reloads faster than 18c. Dragoon
+ Cheap attack upgrades
+ Provides more firepower than 18c. Dragoons when in large numbers
- Individually much weaker than 18c. Dragoon
- Short range for an 18th century unit
- Very low HP for a dragoon
- No melee attack
- Expensive defense upgrades

Unlike most late-game dragoons (as well as their country’s other two unique units), French Dragoons are all about quantity over quality. Instead of dropping foes with a few powerful attacks, they seek to overwhelm the enemy with sheer volume of shot. This works out quite well for them as French Dragoons are some of the most effective in the game as long as you keep them safe from retaliation.


Swarm of men, storm of lead: A quantity-focused army with 18c. Musketeers and French Dragoons pushes forward through heavy fire. This build is good for attrition-heavy games that Chasseurs are ill-suited for.

Stat-wise, French Dragoons look more like squishy, harder-hitting 17c. Dragoons than anything from the 18th century. They have the shorter range, faster reload speed, and 10-second training time of the earlier unit as well as a reasonable cost. Their 41 damage falls in between a 17c. and 18c. Dragoon’s output and their 140 HP is terribly low by any cavalryman’s standard–way worse than the 18c. Dragoon’s 225 HP or the 17c. Dragoon’s 220.

This low survivability is the unit’s Achilles’ heel and it makes French Dragoons squishier than either generic dragoon, both individually and in total. This combined with their shorter range means you have to be even more careful to keep them safely behind your blocking troops during battle lest they take gunfire or get charged by fast cavalry.

Naturally, the upside is that between their higher numbers and 41 damage, French Dragoons put out a lot of firepower.




Victory through superior numbers: 72 fully-upgraded French Dragoons vs 48 18c. Dragoons with 160 Mercenary Roundshiers as blocking troops on both sides. Without the blocking troops, the French lost due to their low HP.

In fact, when properly screened during tests, French Dragoons were one of the strongest ranged cavalry units in the game. They eked out bloody but consistent victories over 18c. Dragoons and comfortably beat 17c. and Dutch Dragoons plus Hungarian Light Cavalry. Only Piedmontese Dragoons were beyond their capabilities, with the French scoring zero wins against their Savoyard neighbors.

In actual games, French Dragoons are used much the same as normal ones: They just perform better in most situations. Their short range means you need to take extra care to keep your blocking troops between them and the enemy, but generally they’ll put out more damage and be more effective if you can keep them safe.


An early colonization: French Dragoons and infantry storm an Algerian base. Being aggressive is easier when your army replenishes losses quickly.

The trickiest part of using French Dragoons is army composition. Paired with Chasseurs, your army will put out a huge amount of firepower but be fragile and very weak in melee and vulnerable to fast cavalry like Hussars—basically a glass cannon build.

A safer option is to employ them alongside 18c. Musketeers. That will give you a tougher, faster-training force that still puts out more firepower than most armies. Sure, it won’t dominate the late game like a force with Chasseurs would, but it’s a very good option in situations where Chasseurs aren’t viable, giving French players a lot of flexibility (more than other late-game countries) when it comes to army makeup.

Regardless of how you build around them, French Dragoons are a good unit and a fun quantity-focused contrast to your elite Chasseurs. As long as you keep them safe from damage, they’ll provide you with a fast-training source of firepower with which to mow down your opponents.




Maximum firepower: A 7-second timelapse showing a French army with Dragoons and Chasseurs mowing down some unfortunate Russians. If you go for both of France’s unique late-game units, it would be wise to make 17c. Pikemen to ensure that your blocking troops can tank as many bullets as possible. (Don’t forget the armor upgrades!)

NOTE: This section assumes you’re only playing with French units and buildings. That means it largely ignores capturing, although the advice given can easily be applied to games that allow it.



Schemes of the Cardinal: An early-game French base.

France’s early game is mostly average until the get a few Stables up and start making King’s Musketeers; then they jump up to being rather good. This does leave them open to being rushed before that and I wouldn’t rank them as high as countries like Portugal and Poland, but they can generally hold their own at any peacetime which is more than most late-game factions can manage.

That said, always remember that you should only make King’s Musketeers in matches with low or mid-length peacetimes. In matches with 30+ minutes of peacetime, you’re better off with starting with normal 17c. Dragoons who are way cheaper and scale better with upgrades.

France uses all the standard European build orders. You’ll want to prioritize Stables as well as cavalry and Gold Mine upgrades if you go for King’s Musketeers, but it’s not too difficult to handle.


Conquest of Savoy: An early French force with King’s Musketeers storms a Piedmontese base. Note the gold upkeep at the top.



Glory of the Sun King: A mid-game French base.

France really starts to come into its own once you reach the 18th century, gaining access to your two late-game unique units. By now you should’ve stopped making King’s Musketeers as their declining performance isn’t worth the hefty gold cost anymore. Those resources would be better spent on 18c. Barracks and upgrading your economy and military.

This is when you’ll have to choose whether or not to make Chasseurs and French Dragoons. Chasseurs are less immediately useful but have a big potential payoff later on while quick-training French Dragoons (when paired with 18c. Musketeers) will give you a strong shooting army right away while also scaling reasonably well into the late game.

Still, as tempting as it is to start Chasseur/18c. Musketeer production as soon as you build your first 18c. Barracks, you should probably do the usual thing and start off with a few hundred 18c. Pikemen. This will give your army a quick and cheap infusion of combat power while you research more Academy techs and build more Barracks to maximize musketeer production. You can also spam 18c. Pikemen whenever you need to quickly add blocking troops to shield your musketeers from bullets or pad out your military right before a big fight.


Mid-game attack: A 15-minute peacetime French army with 17c. Musketeers, mercs, and King’s Musketeers surges toward a Prussian base. Taking out a rival late-game powerhouse before they become strong is always a worthwhile endeavor.



Eve of the Revolution: A late-game French base.

Unlike most late-game nations, France has multiple ways to build its military while still punching above average. Depending on their army composition, a French army can be either a small elite force with maximum power per population point (if using Chasseurs) a large, quick-training one ideal for attritional warfare (if using 18c. Musketeers and French Dragoons), or something in the middle (if using both Chasseurs and Dragoons).

Either way, your army will put out a huge amount of firepower, enough to rival dedicated late-game countries like Prussia and Denmark (and tower above those pesky early-game factions that menaced you previously). Add in 18c. Musketeers, Cuirassiers, and/or Hussars to your taste plus a varnish of artillery and your 17th century infantry of choice and you’re ready to serve one-sided smackdowns to most nations in the game.

Still, even a late-game titan has its weaknesses. For a Chasseur-based force, it’s their slow training time, making avoiding unnecessary casualties important. For French Dragoons, it’s giving your opponent too much time to build up as their individual weakness means they don’t do well against foes who match them in numbers. Both units are also squishy and vulnerable to fast cavalry so carefully shielding them with your blocking troops is a must. (This is also why mixing them is a bit of a high-risk, high reward strategy.)




Avenging future betrayals at Leipzig: A ten-second timelapse showing French troops crushing the last remnants of a once-mighty Saxon army. You can clearly see the range difference between the Chasseurs, French Dragoons, and King’s Musketeers in the second pic.

Louis XIV’s wars in Europe: Mass battle between France and Hungary. Having wiped out the Habsburg Cuirassiers, the French turn their attention on the enemy infantry.

France is perhaps the most flexible late-game country when it comes to map settings. While they do best in matches with settings that largely eliminate the early game—long peacetimes, millions of starting resources, starting in the 18th century, or large maps with long routes and lots of chokepoints—their King’s Musketeers allow them to perform above-average in the early game as long as they can get their Stables up. It’s not amazing and they certainly aren’t a substitute for a proper rush faction, but it’s still better than what other late-game factions can put out.


An ancient rivalry: French and Austrian troops clash once again in yet another mutually destructive battle. As flashy as your unique units are, don’t forget the value of your 18c. Musketeers in fast-paced or highly attritional games.

This greater flexibility also serves France very well in team games, where they can fill the role of late-game heavy hitter while still making valuable contributions in the 17th century. Their multiple viable builds also help, allowing them to perform well no matter what the situation is once they reach the 18th century.

Even so, remember to always support your team. Late-game France is powerful but it can’t solo multiple competent enemies at once. If your allies fall because you were busy booming instead of investing in your military, even if it would’ve delayed reaching your full potential, then no amount of sharpshooters or spammable dragoons will save you.


Avenging Rossbach: A quantity-focused French army recklessly hurls itself at the last force standing between them and a Prussian base. Note how the mountains and sea create choke points that clump the troops together, making them prime targets for Cannons.

A collection of great France games and tutorials showing how to skillfully play the nation. If you have any video recommendations, send me a link through Steam or YouTube (username 1Korlash) or Reddit (Effective_Can72)!

1. The first of two classic guides from top player colorfit. A must-watch for people looking to dive into multiplayer or just get better at the game.
https://youtu.be/XP19ocvOIg0

2. The second colorfit guide, this time covering how to micro your armies in battle. Again, a must-watch.
https://youtu.be/t6JE59Gnesk?list=PL9MM6y8GRIFcfOaVMvUGSZ7s3HANGpEPd

3. An epic colorfit 4v4 that goes into the late game. Features Chasseurs, back-and-forth late-game battles, and even the rarely-seen Reiter.
https://youtu.be/Uo988dCYY-o?list=PL9MM6y8GRIFcfOaVMvUGSZ7s3HANGpEPd

4. A very, very long yet awesome colorfit game featuring Denmark vs France. In the decisive battle (which is what the link leads to) note how the Danes use their Hussars to take advantage of the melee weaknesses of both Chasseurs and French Dragoons, stopping them from firing long enough to turn the tide in their favor. This sort of thing is why going for both Chasseurs and Dragoons together can be risky. You can even see the two players talking about it afterwards in the chat.
https://youtu.be/e0d5yYHUkak?t=10104

The famous Tricolore, born during the French Revolution of 1789. Inspired by both the Dutch tricolor and the red-white-blue cockade that symbolized the revolution, it has become one of the most influential flags in modern history, with countless other countries adopting a three vertical bar design as a symbol of opposition to autocratic, monarchical, and clerical rule.

That’s France—a late-game country that’s both strong and interesting despite their tech and building bonuses being practically pointless.

I had a lot of fun experimenting with their unique units and the different army builds they allow. The fact that there are multiple ways to build a strong late-game French army is especially notable; most late-game nations have very predictable, almost cookie-cutter strategies that boil down to “spam your strong unique units and profit”). I think I still prefer Prussia a bit more since I love fast cavalry, but France sits comfortably in my top 5 favorite factions.

But what do you think of France? Was there something I missed? Do you know any good replays? Let me know in the comments!

Algeria
Austria
Bavaria
Denmark
England
Netherlands
Piedmont
Poland
Portugal
Prussia
Russia
Saxony
Scotland
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Venice