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fflaguna

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Aug 7, 2009
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I'd like to start a thread for everyone to share useful tips that you've discovered while playing. I'll go first!




FFLaguna's favorite, most helpful tip: Did you know that an Autoslider Mod exists for HoI3? It works great! You can see it here: http://www.paradoxian.org/hoi3wiki/Reisender%27s_Smart_Autoslider Now I don't have to check my Production sliders daily... I don't even have to check them monthly! There is one step you have to follow (changing one entry in the file based on the country you're playing) so make sure to read the instructions. Placing the proper files is fast and easy.
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The rest of this post was written by forum user darkspeck, who should be given full credit for having come up with the following list, rolling up some of the most helpful tips on this thread into one ultra-helpful post. Thank you!!! Again, this was written by darkspeck, not FFLaguna.
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Was just wondering if it would not be better to have an overview like the one in this post.

I had the time today to do this so:p , NOT played any HOI3 yet, so after this I will throw myself at it again :rofl:


AIR

Did you know...

- air intercept seems to work just as good as air superiority for intercepting bombers, and fighters will sit at the airbase not burning so much fuel while doing it! (By CookMyLock)


- the air stacking penalty is huge? keep your fighters to 2 or 3 in a group. (By CookMyLock)


- that you're better off with Intercept air mission on interceptors than air superiority? they will sit down and rebuild org/strength in base a lot of the time and not be burning all your oil. (By CookMyLock)

- you can put the air forces of a theatre under AI control while retaining control of the land forces through a bit of command structure fiddling.

Select one of your army HQs. Detach it from the command structure. Click the button to create a new army group. This attaches your loose army to your newly created army group HQ. Detach the army and put it back where it was at the start.

Now, you have an army group HQ which is attached nowhere and which has nothing attached to it. This is now the Oberkommando Der Luftwaffe. Attach to it all air wings which you want to put under AI control. Now, put the HQ to aggressive stance, and it will send out its planes to attack enemies in the vicinity. If you give the HQ specific provinces as objectives, it will get down to bombing enemy troops in the vicinity of those provinces. Interceptors will be sent to fly air superiority of the area too. I've tried it out during Operation Barbarossa, it works quite well. (By KonradRichtmark)

- if you wanted to select all air units in a province, you select 1 air unit in a stack, then hold down shift and drag that multi selection window over the province then release and there you go all air units selected.(By darkspeck)

- naval strike missions suck? the planes never find the fleets, use you CAGs in 'CAG duty' and go in with the carriers...you cruisers screens might get wasted but the carriers stay away(By Szun)


LAND

Did you know...

- that newly built units can be deployed directly into enemy territory at the very frontline of your tank rush to encircle a huge piece of Russia? (By CookMyLock)


- that you could break brigades off divisions down to 2 in a division, and spread them out to conquer enemy territory very quickly that's empty? 1 division with 4 brigades can become 3 territory gaining pieces for quick land grabs.(By CookMyLock)

- that removing the division leader from a division will let you split 2 brigade division up (By darkspeck)


- units in land battles that are in the reserve still count toward your stacking penalty? Don't implement reserve forces till your main forces are nearly defeated! (By CookMyLock)

- the main landing sites of the allies for the Germans, is at Brest, Narvik, and Bordeaux? they sometimes hit Lorient too. (By CookMyLock)


- capturing a port in China as Japan will cause supplies to instantly begin to flow from that port, even if it's FAR less efficient than an overland route? You must capture more ports to increase your supply input or annex Shanxi quickly, before your daily supply drops to zero. (By fflaguna)

- that paratroopers can be on board transports when they are given a "rebase" command? (Change from HOI2)
Since the rebase command has no maximum range paratroopers are the ultimate in rapid response force, as they can fly from the Germany to the West Coast of the USA in a matter of hours as long as you have airfields at both points. (By Firov)

- that paratroopers who are paradropped on an enemy province with enemy troops in it instantly lose their 30-day supply reserve and are out of supply, which causes them to suffer a massive -50% modifier in combat?
It is recommended to drop the paratroops in the nearest empty province to the one you actually want to take and attack that province the old fashioned way (on foot). Also have the transports run constant air supply missions to keep your paratroops supplied. (By Firov)

- that you can't get supply through an allies piece of land that you captured for them? causing your troops to get stuck in Africa after rescuing the Italians from the British? (By CookMyLock)

- that units who are supporting an attack don't get the attack delay when the battle is over.(By darkspeck)

- that Theatre AI can be used to battle partisans, so you won't have to waste a single thought about them anymore ?
All you have to do is:
- Be sure to activate the correct theatre AI for the area you want to cover, redefining theatres after a major conquest can help
- give your theatre AI enough units (and for partisans, give them fast units, so they can actually catch them (Cavalry or Light Armor, if you have the IC, Garrisons won't work).
-detach the Army groups you want to control manually. (By yak)



- sometimes it is possible (when you know you will have trouble with supplying units for example playing Germany and conquering Asia or south America) to retake capital of country you are conquering by paradrop or something. Then you will have tons of fuel and supplies of that country's reserve. Keep there some units and build airfield if they don't have one, so you can pick up paras when you need to run. Now all you need it is to transport supplies using transport planes to where your troops are fighting.(By bct)

- you can build 90 reserve divisions in 90 days with 0.8 ic cost? (each)(By Szun)

(put law to volunteer army and training to basic, then use 20-30 IC after building to get them to full strength with specialized training and 3 year draft, takes about 6 month tho, but you get them to ~20xp at 75% strength) (By Szun)

- if you make Hqs and don't reinforce them quickly they "decay" and you loose your HQ and the general in command? (By Szun)


- you could board transport ships at sea by CTRL+right click on sea zone to board with your division?(By darkspeck)

- that 2 inf brigs and 2 arty brigs have better stats then 3 inf brigs and cost less manpower? (By Szun)

- commando trait doesn't give attack and defense bonuses to "commando" troops(By Szun)

- building AA guns in provinces reduce you arty brig build time and cost? it adds to artillery practical
you get sp_artillery close to the inf.-brig. build time that way 106 days or so... (By Szun)

- the best way to use logistic generals is in corps command-slots and above? you usually don't have enough for that either but it helps a lot(By Szun)


NAVAL

Did you know...

- that you can choose exactly which modules to build your ships with? You don't always have to build your ships with the latest and greatest IC/build time drains. For example, if you want to build a BB with 1918 AA instead of 1940 AA (you can upgrade it over time after it's produced), first click on the BB like normal on the Flotilla Build Orders screen. Then, next to the ship's picture, you can select the exact pieces you want to build your ships with! This only works for ships, not for land or air units.(By fflaguna)

- battleships and subs are all you need for a fleet in the Atlantic? Subs fleets of 30 or so can sink allied fleets , those they don't sink instantly they rip apart and make sit in the dock yards for a year or more.
Battleships have a Hull of 4.0 which allows it to take so much dmg that it can clear fleets of CA, DD, LC etc very easily. (By CookMyLock)

- destroyer techs stop after 3 levels, while sub tech continues to improve, wait till you have electric torpedo's, and watch the fun begin! (By CookMyLock)

- Super-heavy battleships are not affected by research? This can be changed with a quick trip to the modding forum! (By fflaguna)

-Did you guys know, that submarines have a hell of a time sinking Carriers. (By CookMyLock)


GENERAL

Did you know...

- that you can activate AI on any HQ level you want, not just the theater AI? First, make sure theater AI is off. Then go to the HQ unit whose troops you want to automate (can be anything from a Corps HQ to an Army HQ to an Army Group HQ), and turn the AI button on. This helps in accomplishing specific tasks that the computer can't figure out (because it can't read your mind!). This is useful, for example, for telling five different corps (each with five divisions under them) specifically where you want the commanders to focus their operations at. Also, I use it for splitting up defense of my ports. For each "area" of my map that has a lot of ports close by each other, I'll tell the AI to guard them (usually just one or two corps (5-10 divisions)). That way I can assure the AI will guard exactly where I want him to, and won't waste troops by placing them further inland as the theatre-level AI is prone to do. (By fflaguna)

- that an Auto slider Mod exists for HoI3? It works great! You can see it here: http://www.paradoxian.org/hoi3wiki/R...art_Autoslider Now I don't have to check my Production sliders daily... I don't even have to check them monthly! There is one step you have to follow (changing one entry in the file based on the country you're playing) so make sure to read the instructions. Placing the proper files is fast and easy! (You may have to have registered your HoI3 serial with Paradox at the top of this forum page in order to open the download link)(By fflaguna)


- that the only penalty for promoting or demoting a general is loss of accumulated exp? So you can promote and demote your generals to your heart's content before the war. (By Amoral)

- you don't need to upgrade infrastructure to easily get supplies to the war effort in Russia? (By CookMyLock)

- level 10 radar can nearly see to Paris if deployed near the border for intelligence gathering. (By CookMyLock)

- 5 radars with 3 techlvls see to Paris too (you don't need 10) (By Szun)

- the area's that refuse to surrender to you , if bombed still affect your nation unity? As if you care about them! (By CookMyLock)


- if you defeat Russia and get bitter peace, you get some 500+ provinces and each one has 6% chance to revolt, forcing you to keep a majority of your military in Russia and making you hate HOI 3? (By CookMyLock)


- you're better off with collaborative governments so you don't need to keep a bunch of militia all over your provinces? Annexing gives 6% chance of revolt, and they love to revolt. (By CookMyLock)

- to have a better chance of a country surrendering instead of government in Exile, it is best to choose the VP provinces as your main objectives while using spies to lower the country's national unity. It doesn't work 100% but your odds of annexation are far greater with this method. (By evlboy)



- some events for Japan are bugged and won't occur? However, it is easily fixable with 90 seconds of work. Edit the Japan.txt file in your "events" folder. Change the two entries that say "has_alliance = GER" (might not be exactly that, but very close) to "faction = axis". When Japan is in the Axis, it is not in an alliance with Germany as far as the engine is concerned, and you cannot request Germany to ally with you if you are in the Axis. You don't have to restart your save game, either. Just make the changes and reload! (By fflaguna)

- that with a major, theory is not really worth researching, except atomic energy and Jet engine in the later game? (By daboese)

- can skip events . Just save before you answer then reload and it will vanish (By Balota Grigore)

- that, to defeat Great Britain, you do not only have to conquer the British Isles, but also India and Egypt?(By daboese)

- that, even if France and Great Britain surrender and there is no major left in the allies, they will still fight on, and you have to defeat also South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia? (By daboese)

- you can modify the country.txt with the division defaults so Japan AI wont build tank divisions if you add sp_arty to the default model (1939 tech)
usually it wants 18 tank divisions for 1 theater :p only problem with that might be that Japan wont research sp_arty and never builds tank divisions... (By Szun)





I can confirm there is an off the map +5 IC.
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=417226

to search for country in Save game folder use
flags={
Then look for your country abbreviation.

Did you know that FAQ concepts/ tutorials can be found here:

Command structure
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=416326
Diplomacy & Intelligence
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=418374
Supply
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=421775
Trading
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=421982
Research:
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=422797
Radar
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=422611
Air Power
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=422921
Anschluss requirements
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=422976
CHEAT CODEs
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=416918
(By GLENN)
 
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I'd like to start a thread for everyone to share useful tips that you've discovered while playing. I'll go first!

Did you know that you can choose exactly which modules to build your ships with? You don't always have to build your ships with the latest and greatest IC/buildtime drains. For example, if you want to build a BB with 1918 AA instead of 1940 AA (you can upgrade it over time after it's produced), first click on the BB like normal on the Flotilla Build Orders screen. Then, next to the ship's picture, you can select the exact pieces you want to build your ships with! This only works for ships, not for land or air units.

Did you know that you can activate AI on any HQ level you want, not just the theater AI? First, make sure theater AI is off. Then go to the HQ unit whose troops you want to automate (can be anything from a Corps HQ to an Army HQ to an Army Group HQ), and turn the AI button on. This helps in accomplishing specific tasks that the computer can't figure out (because it can't read your mind!). This is useful, for example, for telling five different corps (each with five divisions under them) specifically where you want the commanders to focus their operations at. Also, I use it for splitting up defense of my ports. For each "area" of my map that has a lot of ports close by each other, I'll tell the AI to guard them (usually just one or two corps (5-10 divisions)). That way I can assure the AI will guard exactly where I want him to, and won't waste troops by placing them further inland as the theatre-level AI is prone to do.

Did you know that an Autoslider Mod exists for HoI3? It works great! You can see it here: http://www.paradoxian.org/hoi3wiki/Reisender%27s_Smart_Autoslider Now I don't have to check my Production sliders daily... I don't even have to check them monthly! There is one step you have to follow (changing one entry in the file based on the country you're playing) so make sure to read the instructions. Placing the proper files is fast and easy! (You may have to have registered your HoI3 serial with Paradox at the top of this forum page in order to open the download link)


What other great tips have you discovered over the past couple weeks of playing? Spread the wealth! :)

Awesome idea bro, unfortunately I don't have any tips, but this is definitely a sticky thread in my opinion.
 
Did you know that the only penalty for promoting or demoting a general is loss of accumulated exp? So you can promote and demote your generals to your hearts content before the war.
 
- did you know that you could break brigades off divisions down to 2 in a division, and spread them out to conquer enemy territory very quickly thats empty? 1 division with 4 brigades can become 3 territory gaining pieces for quick land grabs.

- did you know that newly built units can be deployed directly into enemy territory at the very frontline of your tank rush to encircle a huge piece of russia?

- did you know you dont need to upgrade infrastructure to easily get supplies to the war effort in russia?

- did you know hoi 3 is very buggy :rofl:

- did you know air intercept seems to work just as good as air superiority for intercepting bombers, and fighters will sit at the airbase not burning so much fuel while doing it!

- did you know lvl 10 radar can nearly see to paris if deployed near the border for intelligence gathering.

- did you know battleships and subs are all you need for a fleet in the atlantic? Subs fleets of 30 or so can sink allied fleets , those they dont sink instantly they rip apart and make sit in the dock yards for a year or more.
Battleships have a Hull of 4.0 which allows it to take so much dmg that it can clear fleets of CA, DD, LC etc very easily.

Destroyer techs stop after 3 levels, while sub tech continues to improve, wait till you have electric torpedo's, and watch the fun begin!

- did you know the area's that refuse to surrender to you , if bombed still affect your nation unity? As if you care about them!

- did you know if you defeat Russia and get bitter peace, you get some 500+ provinces and each one has 6% chance to revolt, forcing you to keep a majority of your military in russia and making you hate HOI 3?

- did you know that while you may not run out of supplies in Russia while advancing 1500km's , your 2 brigade division of motorized infantry will run out of supplies after moving a 100 km's in German occupied France, and not get a resupply truck coming there way for over a week sometimes...

- did you know that the main landing sites of the allies for the germans, is at Brest, Narvik, and Bordeaux? they sometimes hit Lorient too.

- did you know the air stacking penalty is huge? keep your fighters to 2 or 3 in a group.

- did you know units in land battles that are in the reserve still count toward your stacking penalty? Dont implement reserve forces till your main forces are nearly defeated!

- did you know your better off with collaborative governments so you dont need to keep a bunch of militia all over your provinces? Annexing gives 6% chance of revolt, and they love to revolt.
 
Last edited:
Did you know, to have a better chance of a country surrendering instead of Govt in Exile, it is best to choose the VP provinces as your main objectivs while using spies to lower the country's national unity. It doesn't work 100% but your odds of annexation are far greater with this method.
 
Did you know capturing a port in China as Japan will cause supplies to instantly begin to flow from that port, even if it's FAR less efficient than an overland route? You must capture more ports to increase your supply input or annex Shanxi quickly, before your daily supply drops to zero.
 
Did you know some events for Japan are bugged and won't occur? However, it is easily fixable with 90 seconds of work. Edit the Japan.txt file in your "events" folder. Change the two entries that say "has_alliance = GER" (might not be exactly that, but very close) to "faction = axis". When Japan is in the Axis, it is not in an alliance with Germany as far as the engine is concerned, and you cannot request Germany to ally with you if you are in the Axis.

You don't have to restart your savegame, either. Just make the changes and reload!
 
-Did you know that paratroopers can be on board transports when they are given a "rebase" command? (Change from HOI2)

Since the rebase command has no maximum range paratroopers are the ultimate in rapid response force, as they can fly from the Germany to the West Coast of the USA in a matter of hours as long as you have airfields at both points.


-Did you know that paratroopers who are paradropped on an enemy province with enemy troops in it instantly lose their 30-day supply reserve and are out of supply, which causes them to suffer a massive -50% modifier in combat?

It is recommended to drop the paratroops in the nearest empty province to the one you actually want to take and attack that province the old fashioned way (on foot). Also have the transports run constant air supply missions to keep your paratroops supplied.


Excellent idea for a thread, by the way. Keep up the good work.
 
Why does it seem that Cookmylock, evlboy and fflaguna are the same person? Or is it just me.
 
Why does it seem that Cookmylock, evlboy and fflaguna are the same person? Or is it just me.

Thanks for the bump, but if that were the case I probably wouldn't have posted three times in a row with the same account... I'm trying to revive this thread during peak hours of the day. Feel free to add some advice of your own, rather than paranoid accusations! :cool:
 
Thanks for the bump, but if that were the case I probably wouldn't have posted three times in a row with the same account... I'm trying to revive this thread during peak hours of the day. Feel free to add some advice of your own, rather than paranoid accusations! :cool:

dude, let the truth be known. :rolleyes:

you got me.

-Did you guys know, that submarines have a hell of a time sinking Carriers.

- Did you know that your better off with Intercept air mission on interceptors than air superiority? they will sit down and rebuild org/strength in base alot of the time and not be burning all your oil.

- Did you know that you cant get supply through an allies piece of land that you captured for them? causing your troops to get stuck in africa after rescuing the Italians fromt he british?
 
Did you know that Theatre AI can be used to battle partisans, so you wont have to waste a single thought about them anymore ?

All you have to do is:

- Be sure to activate the correct theatre AI for the area you want to cover, redefining theatres after a major conquest can help
- give your theatre AI enough units (and for partisans, give them fast units, so they can actually catch them (Cavalry or Light Armor, if you have the IC, Garrisons wont work).
-detach the Armygroups you want to control manually
 
-Did you know that paratroopers can be on board transports when they are given a "rebase" command? (Change from HOI2)

Since the rebase command has no maximum range paratroopers are the ultimate in rapid response force, as they can fly from the Germany to the West Coast of the USA in a matter of hours as long as you have airfields at both points.


-Did you know that paratroopers who are paradropped on an enemy province with enemy troops in it instantly lose their 30-day supply reserve and are out of supply, which causes them to suffer a massive -50% modifier in combat?

It is recommended to drop the paratroops in the nearest empty province to the one you actually want to take and attack that province the old fashioned way (on foot). Also have the transports run constant air supply missions to keep your paratroops supplied.


Excellent idea for a thread, by the way. Keep up the good work.

Really nice to know this, cheers!
 
Really nice to know this, cheers!

Suggestion to the OP:

Cherry pick the hints and tips you feel appropriate that get posted here and edit them into your opening post (with attribute to the poster of the tip, if you're feeling all integrity driven or some such).

The easier you make it for folk to quickly find what you're wanting to collect, the more you should end up collecting.
 
Sometimes it is possible (when you know you will have trouble with supplying units for example playing germany and conquerying asia or south america) to retake capital of country you are conquering by paradrop or something. Then you will have tons of fuel and supplies of that country's reserve. Keep there some units and build airfield if they dont have one, so you can pick up paras when you need to run. Now all you need it is to transport supplies using transport planes to where your troops are fighting.