Burgundy

Primary culture

Burgundian (French)

Capital province

Bourgogne (192)

Government

Feudal Nobility

State religion

Catholic

Technology group

Western

Burgundian ideas

Traditions:

+10% Morale of armies

+1 Diplomatic relation

The Order of the Golden Fleece

+1 Yearly prestige

The Compagnies d'Ordonnance

−15% Mercenary maintenance

Promote the Estates General

+50% Mercenary manpower

Reform of the Feudal Army

+5% Discipline

Integrate the Towns in the Estates General

+10% Trade efficiency

Allow Freedom of Worship

+2 Tolerance of heretics

Create the Regimental System

+25% National manpower modifier

Ambition:

+15% Goods produced modifier

For the areas, see Eastern Burgundy‎ and Western Burgundy.

The Bourgogne branch of the Valois dynasty not only rules the duchy of Burgundy, de jure a French possession, but also a significant part of the Low Countries, Vermandois and the county of

Nevers. In short time they have created a realm that straddles some of the richest parts of

France and the Holy Roman Empire. Taken together the dukes of Burgundy command enormous wealth. These economic resources have been used by Philippe III, the Good, to expand the influence of his family even further, acquiring title after title along the Meuse and Rhine in an attempt to connect his realm.

While France has spent the last century being torn asunder in the on-going feud between English and French claimants to the French throne, Burgundy has grown to be the cultural and economic center of western Europe. Nowhere are the knightly ideals of the late middle ages as alive as in Burgundy, with great tournaments, grand feasts, and of course the Order of the Golden Fleece itself. A knightly order created by the Duke, aspiring to recreate the knighthood of the Arthurian legends or Greek myths. The Burgundian court also dominates fashion and art, with fortunes being spent on silk, paintings and fantastic illuminated manuscripts.

The Duchy of Burgundy already rivals many kingdoms in influence, income and even military might. By playing off the English and French against each other the Dukes have for a long time been practically independent. De jure however the Dukes remain both subjects to France and to the Holy Roman Empire. With the Hundred Years War nearing, what looks like, its conclusion, the future of the Duchy seems uncertain. If it continues its meteoric rise Burgundy could be the embryo of a new kingdom. A strong state in the middle of Western Europe. But the dukes have also gained many enemies in this short time. Should Philippe and his successors play their cards right there may be a crown in their future, but that requires taking risks that might well cost them everything, potentially reducing their glorious domain to a footnote in the annals of history.

Missions[edit]

Main article: Burgundian missions

Events[edit]

Main article: Burgundian events

Burgundian events center around the Low Countries and the Burgundian Succession.

Decision[edit]

Burgundy is the only non Dutch/Flemish/Frisian nation that can form Netherlands.

id

Form Dutch Nation

The Dutch are emerging as one of Europe's most capable naval and colonial powers. Lucrative trade opportunities, locally and overseas, have resulted in a swift evolution for the country into one of the first capitalist countries in the world.

Potential requirements Playing with normal or historical nations Was never an end-game tag Has not formed Netherlands before Is not The Papal State Is not Netherlands Is not Holy Roman Empire Primary culture is Dutch, Flemish or Frisian or is Burgundy	Allow Administrative technology is at least 10 Is independent or a tributary Is not a steppe horde Is not at war Netherlands does not exist Owns core provinces Breda (95), Amsterdam (97), Utrecht (98), Gelre (99) and Den Haag (4383) Owns at least 10 provinces in the Low Countries. If country is Burgundy, does not currently have the Dutch Revolt.

Effects If not an Elector of the Holy Roman Empire and not the Holy Roman Emperor, remove all owned provinces from the Empire If country is Burgundy: Change primary culture to Dutch Change capital to Amsterdam (97) If country is Burgundy and France exists: All provinces in France region owned by Burgundy or their subject: owner and Burgundy loses the core France gains a core Cede province to France Country becomes Netherlands Netherlands gains a permanent claims on all non-owned provinces in Low Countries region except for East Frisia (1931) If government rank is Duchy: Set government rank to Kingdom Gain 25 prestige Trigger country event "New Traditions & Ambitions" unless using custom ideas or already using Dutch ideas

AI Burgundy will not take this decision.

id

Form French Nation

This year will mark the beginning of an evolutionary period for our nation. The old feudal ways will begin to make way for a more modern centralized nation. Although struggling financially due to miscalculated projects and military campaigns, we have managed to transform ourselves into one of the most dominant powers of Europe.

Potential requirements

The country:

has never been an end-game tag.
is not the Holy Roman Empire, France, the Papal States or Spain.
has either a culture of the French culture group or Basque or Breton as primary culture.
is not a colonial nation.
has not yet enacted this decision.

If the country is AI-controlled then it:

can not be a custom nation.
can not be former colonial nation.

Allow

France does not exist.
The country:

is not at war.
is not a subject nation other than a tributary state.
is not a nomad nation.
owns its core provinces:
- Maine (177), Berry (179), Vermandois (182), Paris (183), Orleanais (184), Nemours (185), and Champagne (186).

Effects

If Paris (183) is part of the HRE, but its owner is not a member then:

the province is removed from the HRE.
the Holy Roman Emperor:
- gets the opinion modifier “Removed provinces from the Empire” towards the owner, worth −50 opinion with a yearly decay of 1.
- loses 1 imperial authority.

Paris (183):

becomes the new capital of the owner country.

The country:

becomes France.
gets new missions.
gets a permanent claim on every non-owned province in the region of France.
gets the modifier “Increased Centralization” for 20 years with the following effects:
- −0.05 monthly autonomy change,
- +1 national unrest.
gains 25 prestige.

If France:

is a member of the Holy Roman Empire but not the emperor or an elector
- then all its provinces are removed from the HRE.
is a duchy
- then it becomes a kingdom.
does not have custom ideas
- then it gets the event ‘New Traditions & Ambitions’.

Strategy[edit]

The below is one of many player suggested strategies for Burgundy. Bear in mind, due to the dynamic nature of the game, it may unfold differently for other players.

The strategies outlined below are heavily reliant on owning the Emperor DLC, due to Burgundy's unique missions they gain from it.

Burgundian Empire[edit]

At game start try to ally Austria and Castile. This should almost always be possible. To complete the mission English Alliance rival England, France (and insult both) and one random nation. You can sell your two heavies for 40 ducets each to Irish minors for some early cash. You should probably also mothball two forts to conserve cash.

If you own the Art of War DLC, you can press for your subject's CBs. Complete the mission Placate Subjects by Supporting Loyalists in your PU subjects, take the mission and revoke Support Loyalists. Then you can seize Rethel from Nevers and release Champagne as a vassal. This will grant you access to the reconquest CB. Champagne has cores on Nemours, Troyes, Valois and Reims. By taking up Champagne's reconquest CB, you only take 25% AE for granting Champagne's cores back. Use the Strong Duchies privilege to reduce Never's LD as it grants you two extra relations slots and -10% LD. If LD is still too high, develop Nevers to reduce LD below 50%.

It's also helpful to own Res Publica or Common Sense. You will be able to set a national focus, and it is HIGHLY recommended you set it to military. All advisors hired should be level 1 to conserve cash and generate some extra Monarch Points in each category. Try to get an improve relations advisor to stack with the English Alliance buffs as well as a morale of armies/discipline advisor. Otherwise, your advisors aren't significant. Your starting ruler is a 48 year old 5/5/5 with the Well Advised trait (traits require Rights of Man), and since you can stack advisor cost reductions with estate privileges, starting advisors can be 45% cheaper if you take the estate privilege to lower their costs. In real life Philipp died in 1467, but as he is a general in the game he tends to die very early on. Keeping him alive is annoying and might be considered too cheesy by many players.

Now that you are done with these steps, it should be early December 1444. In 1.31 Savoy is often excommunicated at game start. If they rival Austria, which also often happens, you can take two border provinces without much much AE and you do not have to fight the Emperor. Before the war starts, slacken recruitment standards twice to get full manpower. Consider hiring a Merc company with a 2 pip (or better) siege general, it will be important later on as you need to win a lot of siege races. It will also help you conserve manpower. Do not overly worry about loans, the money and war reparations you get from your neighbours will be more than enough to finance your wars.

Wait until you have reached mil-tech 4 while currying favours with Austria (assuming you own the Leviathan DLC). You'll reach both around 1449. Once you have mil-tech 4 and enough favours to call in Austria, declare on France with Champagne's reconquest CB. The war should be easy as you can often stack wipe the French Armies. If you are very good you can try to solo France, though that is a risky adventure. By calling in an ally, France will usually concentrate on your ally, giving you crucial time to siege down Verdun and getting Provence out of the war. Be aware that until you take Verdun or Chartres you cannot reach the other part of your country as those two forts block your way. You can take Paris and all cores of Champagne (four in total) for about 50 AE (and 94 war score). Paris is very expensive in terms of war score because of its two monuments since 1.31, but you need to take it in this war as you need it cored in order to trigger the King of France mission later on.

If you managed to take Bresse from Savoy you are now two provinces short of triggering the King of France mission (though you first need to finish the League of Public Weal mission.) Trigger the League mission once France has almost integrated one of their vassals and hope that the vassals do not declare a war of independence. Then it is time for one more war, either taking two provinces from England, or ideally from Provence. If you are lucky Provence gets excommunicated too and you can take all four provinces in the Lorraine area. If not two are enough but the ones from Lorraine are more important than the ones Provence owns directly. In case France gets called into this war focus on killing French troops and keep the troops of her vassals alive. It might be better not to separate peace France as the French vassals cannot declare a war of independence as long as France is in the war. Alternatively, wait until you have enough war score to peace out France for money and Provence the day after for land. Once you own the provinces pause the game and trigger the King of the France mission. You will end up with up to six French vassals.

You should try to annex Champagne and Nevers asap, hopefully you'll manage to integrate at least one before you trigger the King of the Franks mission as otherwise you will be severely over your relations limit, in particular if Charles is already your ruler. Make him a general since he is a 2/0/4. The hard part is over. If you get the event to make Marie your heir, do so. She is a 4/5/3.

When your ruler dies, Marie will take charge. You will then be presented 4 options: Stay independent, integrate into France, integrate into the Holy Roman Empire, or integrate into a strong royal marriage partner.

In case you managed to fully vassalize France, fall under a PU with them. You will inherit all your lands, including France. You can even keep your dynasty by putting them on the French throne. You will lose Marie as a ruler though. Stay independent otherwise. At this point, if you're at peace with France, they will declare a Reunification war. This will call Castile and Austria in, so this will be extremely easy. The Emperor will almost always demand the Lowlands at this stage. When this happens, take the Great Privilege choice. This will inherit ALL of your PU subjects, allowing you to upgrade to Kingdom rank and state some extremely wealthy land. Congratulations, you are the strongest nation in Western Europe. You can now enter the HRE to attack in there, continue pressing your claims in France and move into Italy. If you want to continue expand in France take provinces that have Gascon and Toulousian cores and repeat the strategy you used with Champagne to take over most of France. Note that if you enter the HRE you will lose your Kingdom rank and the government capacity that comes along with it. Hopefully you have seized enough land from your estates to grant the privileges that give government capacity boots. This will mean the Emperor will no longer be able to interfere with your expansion, however. You could also expand into Italy when it leaves the HRE, which has some incredibly rich lands. However, it is very easy to run into a powerful coalition there since a lot of provinces are high development.

During the midgame, you should be an extremely powerful nation who is Emperor of the HRE or a lone Kingdom pressing its claims. You can either choose to become Protestant or stay Catholic, but try to stay away from the Reformed religion as it is notably less powerful than Protestantism's customisable Church Aspects and it can only become the Emperor's Religion if Religious Peace is signed or a Protestant Emperor abdicates in favour of the Reformed religion via The Reformers Protest. Your strategy is dependent on which religion you pick. If you chose Catholicism, it would be best to integrate into the HRE and vie for Emperorship when Marie's heir takes charge, and start rooting heresy out. Try to keep any and all newly appearing heretic religions away from the electors, because if an elector becomes Reformed, Protestant or Anglican, the League Wars will start up and you will have no way to avoid it. If you successfully prevented the League Wars from firing, the Imperial Diet will proclaim Catholicism the official HRE religion as if the Catholic League won the war. This will allow you to enforce religion on any heretical prince (if any exist), and continue centralisation of the HRE. However, Protestantism is a different story. You will incur extra AE because you will be taking Catholic lands as a Protestant nation, and converting will trigger the Dutch Revolt disaster. This is extremely easy to avoid by moving your capital into the Lowlands for a short period of time, converting your provinces and moving back to the old Burgundian capital of Dijon, or you could choose to set up a new court in the old French city of Paris, move somewhere with high development or even stay in the lowlands. You can alternatively ride out the disaster and spend some diplo points to culture convert 4 provinces to Burgundian culture. When possible, try to use the Reconquest CB as that will allow you to take more lands for much less AE, and try to force-vassalise a nation that has a lot of cores or release one that has many cores. If your endgoal is be to become Emperor of the HRE, you will want to influence the League Wars to your outcome, which should be a victorious Evangelical Union. If it goes awry, you can always choose the Peace of Westphalia which sets Religious Peace. Switzerland may choose to leave the Empire, but you can either leave them out of it or declare to bring them back into the imperial fold. As always, you should try going for the provinces needed to form Lotharingia, taking as many provinces as possible without incurring the wrath of a coalition.

You can choose any idea groups you want, although if you want to go for colonialism you should no-cb an Irish OPM like Munster and take it for yourself as a forward colonisation base. If you did that you should take Exploration ideas and Expansion ideas first, followed by a military idea or Religious ideas. Your fourth idea can then be whatever you want, although if going for a colonial Holy Roman Empire of Lotharingia run you should take Exploration ideas, Expansion ideas, a military idea/Religious ideas, Religious ideas/a military idea, Diplomatic ideas. The other three idea groups are up to you, although if going for a pure HRE run you should take Diplomatic ideas, Religious ideas and then a Military idea. Burgundy has several good choices for ideas, and since they will be able to control the wealthy lowlands provinces Economic ideas is a good pick. Influence ideas makes another good pick since it decreases subject LD if you forced a union/vassalage on a nation and reducing costs of unjustified demands is generally good for a vassal swarm. Espionage ideas are only good purely for the reduced AE, but the ideas are completely up to the player as Burgundy is good for a range of ideas and playstyles.

Alternative strategy[edit]

As Burgundy, you should focus the first 10 or so years on weakening your strongest neighbour, France. Unless you have gotten very lucky with early alliances, you would not ordinarily be a match for France's superior manpower and large amount of vassals, however through your mission tree and with smart movements you are able to effectively cripple the French for the remainder of the game in a single decade.

Assuming you have either the Res Publica or Common sense DLC, you should set your focus to military points to reach military tech 4 faster and lower your army maintenance, as doing so will give you a huge advantage against the French while keeping your treasury filled. A military advisor may also assist you, but this is not mandatory. You could also choose to delete all of your northern forts to save your economy, as they are fairly difficult to defend and are usually free war-score for France. Afterwards Burgundy's first main focus should be its "English alliance" mission. This can be accomplished by allying, or by rivalling then insulting both France and England. While an English or French alliance may at first seem tempting, doing so will hinder your expansion, and only serve to empower your future targets. Therefore it is recommended to first rival England and France, and insult them afterwards. Doing so will give you an improve relations modifier for 20 years, which may seem minor but is vital in the upcoming move.

To complete your next mission "League of the Public Weal", it is necessary for you to improve relations with 3 of France's vassals until they gain 100 opinion of you. After this is done, you may complete the mission which gives you claims on much of northern France, and increases liberty desire of every single one of the French duchies by 50%. This liberty desire will begin to tick down rapidly therefore you should only complete it once you have managed to hit military technology 4 before France has, and are prepared for war. The League of the Public Weal is less useful as a tool to cause mass rebellion against French rule, but rather an opportunity for you to invade without the duchies becoming involved. While the war is now significantly easier the loss of France's subjects does not guarantee a win, especially if you are not able to secure a victory quick enough.

During the war it is recommended you focus on defeating France and Provence's individual stacks while they are separated from the rest of their army. If you are not able to catch them split from each other you should still be able to win battles even with a numbers disadvantage due to your starting traditions and tech advantage. It is not recommended to race for forts against the French due to their superior siege general they get at game start, therefore you should have one army focused on pushing Provence out of the war as soon as possible, and a second army (ideally with your subjects armies attached) focused on combat. Do not be afraid to take out loans and hire mercenaries as the French will likely outlast you in terms of manpower. Due to France's ability to stay in the war for a very long time, it is recommended that you siege down Paris and your war-goal soon after knocking Provence out of the war. This should give you the war-score to take 3 provinces and as much money as you can possible take. Ideally you would be able to take more land however a large coalition may form, which you are in no position to face. If the war is still too difficult for you keep an eye for an Aragonese French rivalry, as if this exists the former would usually be more than happy to assist you in your struggles.

After the initial French war has been completed, Burgundy has many paths for conquest and diplomacy. They are able to join the HRE assuming you are on good terms with the emperor, or force their way in via Subjugation and restoration of the union wars on electors if your relations have been sour. They may choose to become Holy Roman Emperor, or have a very easy time in dismantling it. You can choose to continue conquering your way west, claiming the title king of the Franks for yourself, or you may even choose to restore the kingdom of Lotharingia, which comes with a very powerful idea set of its own. You can even colonise as you are situated directly next to the best trade node in the entire game (the English Channel). Burgundy's location puts them in a very flexible and versatile position, which when combined with its powerful ideas makes it a great candidate for a long term campaign, and can lead to many interesting runs.

War[edit]

"A wise king never seeks out war, but must always be ready for it" -- keep that in mind, Burgundy's strategy isn't dependent on who has rivaled you, but depends on who you target first. To expand into England, Austria and/or France, player should rival your rivals first and then decide your ally through that.

Your starting ruler is a 5 5 5 strong but old king, so make sure you're ahead of your enemy's military tech and keep the king safe. Remember! A wise king could turn a bad condition into a good one. Most of the time, you would want to start a war with England or France first, it is advisable to do so when the Surrender of Maine event has escalated.

Diplomacy[edit]

Never start a war against either country even if their allies wouldn't join as Burgundy is simply too weak in the beginning, even with the help of its subjects Brabant, Flanders, Holland and Nevers. HRE Diplomacy is important, but at the start, Burgundy is not ready for it, especially the emperor Austria always defend for it.

France and England on the other hand are fighting each other, so the chance is obvious. Crushing France basically is a must for Burgundy, while England is not much a threat due to weaker army. Castile often rivals England and France, sometimes both, so they make a great ally. They will become even more helpful in wars when the Iberian Wedding wedding has escalated and they have Aragon and Naples as junior partners. If for some reason allying Castile is not possible, Austria sometimes is friendly with Burgundy from the beginning and thus make a good ally, especially against France Aggression whom Austria will often rival from the beginning. Besides, as a Catholic nation, it is better to get pope supporting you. Savoy is a good short term ally as they usually friendly with you and may find useful to kill big nations such as Austria and France. However, Savoy might be a target for Burgundy, so don't hesitate to kill them after the shadow kingdom event, if you want to.

Expansion[edit]

Mercenaries are very crucial, even in the first battle. Don't hesitate to take out loans often, because you will need them. Declare the first war on France could be tricky, as France could get strong allies such as Aragon, Castile, Venice or even Denmark. However, declare Provence could bring Savoy and Papal States to fight with you. France should be broken by that. You might want England taking some French lands, so that when you declare them. They could give a high price.

If you just want the achievement, after your invasion on French and English one by one, player could take steps in Italy and HRE to reach Austria. The Burgundian Conquest requires both France and Austria becoming vassals. Poland, Bohemia or even Ottomans could be your future ally. However, the further expansion at this stage should be no big problem.

Ideas[edit]

Burgundy's idea is more focused on economy and mercenary while having good diplomacy, so a small Burgundy could do many style as you want.

Economic ideas is a powerful idea group allowing the player to build a strong economy just to be prosperous .
Influence ideas allows you a vassal swarm as well as getting faster inheritance from your PU subjects.
Diplomatic ideas helps you to control HRE electors and thus expand eastern without the need of colonization.
Innovative ideas may be desired for a further mercenary cost reduction and cheaper technology.
Exploration ideas is usually tough for Burgundy because of survival and mediocre location. However, after Annexing France, their economy should be great to hold colonies.
Expansion ideas with exploration ideas, Burgundy has the best trade nodes, money from the new world should overcome the cost of colonization.
Administrative ideas would be a very good choice for its mercenary benefits. If the player is very aggressive, the core-creation cost reduction will also be beneficial.
Quantity ideas a small Burgundy could do huge army with many forts, essential to defend big nations and expand rapidly.