French already struggles against 3 of the 4 most popular civs at diamond and above.
Against
Mali 34% winrate
Mongol 38%
Ottomams 41%
french also struggle against abbasid at 45% winrate. With the buffs to abbasid this will, i expect, drop below 40%.
Add the english castle age buffs and its likely french will become the worst civ in the game.
What about the buffs to French?..
The late game buff for seigebis a meme and the late game castles could be strong but its super cheesy and doesbt fix french’s eco issues.
The market landmark may be decent
Doesn’t seem like a meme. They went to 30% increased damage. They get their techs and siege faster.
The artillery ability for the cannons is not the main buff there, just free icing on top.
OR they become much more difficult to raid.
I see your point, and you may be right, although it would be nice if you could be more specific regarding why they struggle on these particular match ups and what could be done to balance the scale a bit.
From my experience, the main issue with french is the late game, which is being addressed by the devs. The buffs make so that french no longer is forced to end the game in castle, also guild hall may be viable again too since the royal institute is more aimed at finishing the game in the castle age, so at least vs abbassids for example, even though you can’t rush them you might be able to take the game to late game.
Also it will be interesting to see how the changes to the chamber of commerce will impact the french although i still think school of cavalry will continue to be the primary landmark of choice for french players.