The French have a great spread of bonuses, probably the most useful of which are their Timber harvesting capabilities. Other nations generally max their Timber income easily, but always find themselves needing more of it (at least up until Industrial Age). Therefore, it's extremely beneficial to have the French's +10% Timber Commerce Limit, which when combined with their +2 Workers per Woodcutter's Camp bonus allows them a significant Timber advantage - especially on maps where Timber is limited.

French Chevaliers are stronger than other Heavy Cavalry and so many French players use them in their armies, combined with Archers. They are also fairly good raiding units, able to survive many shots from Towers or Cities while doing good damage to Citizens.



Supply Wagons heal your troops


Why is it important?

The French are the only nation in the game with the ability to heal their troops in the field. This allows French armies to last a great deal longer than normal armies, as long as a Supply Wagon is near

How do I maximize this nation power?

• Always try to bring supply wagons with your army: Even if it means delaying an attack, bringing a supply wagon to heal during battle can sometimes mean the difference between victory and defeat.
  
  
• Protect your supply wagons: Opposing nations will attempt to counter your healing by sending some Light or Heavy Cavalry to flank and destroy it. Keep plenty of Heavy Infantry around and maneuver the Supply Wagons into a safe position where they still cover the brunt of your army.
  
  
• Research the secondary Smelter upgrades: This line of techs increases the radius of your Supply Wagons (as well as decreasing damage from enemy attrition outside of supply wagon radius). The bigger the radius, the better!

Receive a free Supply Wagon each time you build a new Siege Factory or Factory.

Why is it important?

Free units are always great, and free Supply Wagons (which also heal, thanks to Power #1) are no exception!

How do I maximize this nation power?

• Construct a 2nd Siege Factory instead of manually creating a 2nd Supply Wagon: For a similar cost to creating a new Supply Wagon, you can have another Siege Factory. Other than the first 2 Siege Factories, it's usually best to simply make your Supply Wagons the old fashioned way unless you need to construct a new Siege Factory closer to where the battles are.

Siege Factory and Factory units created 25% cheaper and 50% faster. They also move faster.

Why is it important?

You'll be able to create siege faster when you need it, as well as producing more of it since it's cheaper. The speed bonus isn't too crucial, although any extra speed for these slow-moving units is certainly helpful.

How do I maximize this nation power?

• Construct less Siege Factories: While constructing new Siege Factories does result in free Supply Wagons, it's best to stick to just 1 or 2 Siege Factories, since your units are constructed cheaper and faster. The extra Wood and Metal you save will go into producing more Siege units instead!

Start with a Lumber Mill. Receive Lumber Mill upgrades for free.

Why is it important?

This is one of the most significant bonuses of the French, since Timber is a crucial resource all the way until Industrial Age, where it begins to taper down. With this bonus, simply upgrading to the appropriate Age and Science tech will result in a greatly increased Timber production (and in many cases will take you to the current Commerce Limit).

How do I maximize this nation power?

• Construct Lumber Mills: Often your capital City isn't the best Timber harvesting City you have, so ensure that you construct a Lumber Mill at each City that has a significant Timber harvesting operation.

Woodcutter's Camps accommodate +2 citizens.

Why is it important?

This is another very significant French bonus, allowing them to maintain their strong Timber advantage over the other nations throughout the game. It's particularly helpful on low-Timber maps where other nations would normally only be able to use 3 or 4 Citizens at their starting Woodcutter's Camp. In general, it allows you to spend less Food constructing new Camps, instead spending that Food on Citizens to work at existing camps.

How do I maximize this nation power?

• Construct less Woodcutter's Camps: There's not a whole lot of thought that needs to go into this power. Simply make less Camps than you normally do and fill them to the brim with Citizens.
  
  
• Super Effective Woodcutter's Camps: Another potential use for this power is to place many Camps at a single clump of trees, maximizing the +2 bonus. For example, if you have a forest which would normally allow 3 Citizens to work there, the French player can accommodate 5 Citizens instead. However, if the French player places 3 Woodcutter's Camps at the same spot, but each Camp only takes up 1 of the trees, he is able to accommodate a total of 9 Citizens there.
  
  
• This may seem like a wildly effective way of harvesting timber off of a very small amount of trees, but it's usually not that effective. The Food costs for making many extra Woodcutter's Camps are so high that you would only want to utilize the power this way if you were very pinched for land and had a ridiculously small amount of Timber in your territory.

Timber Commerce Limit +10%.

Why is it important?

The last of the 3 Timber-oriented French powers cements their Timber dominance with a solid +10% Commerce Limit for Timber. It's a slight bonus that adds up over the course of the game - and keeping your Timber income maxed is easier for a French player than for any other nation.

How do I maximize this nation power?

• Keep your Timber gather rate at the Commerce Limit: Unless your Timber income is above your current Commerce Limit, you won't notice this bonus at all. It's a smaller nation power, but one that will add up if you utilize it correctly.

» Strategy Index