Advice for not losing as Germany by 1941 in SP

[Adamgerd]

Is there any good guide on not losing as Germany by 1941 in SP. So far whenever I play it, I annex Netherlands by '37 and puppet the West Indies. Then I follow the focuses and through luck and save-gaming, I manage to get the focuses peacefully. I then attack France, I defeat them eventually after invading through Belgium. France is now capitulated, but the superior British navy defeats my navy and naval invades Hamburg. Now they immediately retake Belgium and with Belgium, they march to Germany. By the time I get my army there, they're at Berlin and to make it better the USSR jumps in invading me. Italy capitulates through a British Invasion and now I am fighting o 2 fronts, after much resistance, the allies reach Berlin and I capitulate and lose by 1941. Japan eventually capitulates after more years and it's the end of war. And Germany is supposed to be the easiest nation? So are there any tips or advice on winning as Germany?

 

[Oahkoah]

Garrison ports and build up some coastal defenses, you can make a nice Atlantic Wall and garrison the whole coastline eventually. Even if the British land in Belgium you should still be able to crush them again, making them suffer heavy losses. What forces are you using to respond to these invasions, have you edited your templates? What are your CAS numbers? Are you at war with the Allies before '39? Even as Germany it takes a while to build up forces.
You can help Italy by having some mountain troops down in there, if there are too many troops landed then set up a defensive line and make them suffer.

 

[Fawr]

Have you tried not starting the war so early?

Germany gets some quite big boosts in the prewar period. The more you raise world tension the earlier the US and Russia can start using their economic might to the fullest extent, and that makes things harder than it has to be.

 

[mabus81]

Is there any good guide on not losing as Germany by 1941 in SP. So far whenever I play it, I annex Netherlands by '37 and puppet the West Indies. Then I follow the focuses and through luck and save-gaming, I manage to get the focuses peacefully. I then attack France, I defeat them eventually after invading through Belgium. France is now capitulated, but the superior British navy defeats my navy and naval invades Hamburg. Now they immediately retake Belgium and with Belgium, they march to Germany. By the time I get my army there, they're at Berlin and to make it better the USSR jumps in invading me. Italy capitulates through a British Invasion and now I am fighting o 2 fronts, after much resistance, the allies reach Berlin and I capitulate and lose by 1941. Japan eventually capitulates after more years and it's the end of war. And Germany is supposed to be the easiest nation? So are there any tips or advice on winning as Germany?

1.) Start with following production lines: 15 fighter
15 small arms
5 supply equipment
5 motorized
5 arty (extend to 15 asap)

Justify and DoW against Sweden as soon as possible
Start flipping Romania as soon as possible

spam military factories until load on civilian (due to imports) becomes too high, then build a batch of refineries, continue spamming military afterwards
See that you're the only axis power all the time

go for 13 X INF + 6 X ART template, I prefer maintenance, logistics, hospital, recon and engineers as support batallions
i also go for superior firepower doctrine, mobile sux

bloat up army to anschluss asap
justify against Hungary, timing of DoW should be early-mid '37
go for seizing all of Czechoslowakia and Yugoslavia via NF asap
as soon as Romania flips justify and DOW
after that go for 5th research slot
start justifying against baltic states before Danzig and see that you don't Ribbentrop before you seized the baltic countries
WW2 dawns and already now you should control:
- Sweden
- Austria
- Hungary
- Romania
- Yugoslavia
- Czechoslovakia

now Fall Weiß, see that coastline and Rhineland is garrisoned beforehand, also take control of all air zones (except Balkans probably)
dont let RN sink Kriegsmarine, have your ships in Baltic Sea harbor and take Denmark early to cut off enemy fleets, then set up air superiority over baltic sea and start sinking them ships
by now you should have a sh*tload of fighters and also some medium tank divisions, just see that you dominate the skies when your armies advance
as soon as you've taken France and BeNeLux justify against nationalist spain, you can seize them without allies interveigning

all you have to do now is switch to harsh occupation policies, you will have that many factories that you can't implement total war economic politics because even soviet union does not have 50%+ of your industrial power

from late 39 on i also build naval dockyards and research carrier technology, gotta have a fleet in 42 in order to secure channel for a couple of days (Seelöwe)

If Italy somehow ends up in a war against the western allies, justify and dow against Italy asap
Barbarossa will be a walk in the park now, you got more factories than you need (literally, you'll just make them produce whatever because your manpower is low, you already got decent divisions and dont need more troops)

 

[Adamgerd]

Garrison ports and build up some coastal defenses, you can make a nice Atlantic Wall and garrison the whole coastline eventually. Even if the British land in Belgium you should still be able to crush them again, making them suffer heavy losses. What forces are you using to respond to these invasions, have you edited your templates? What are your CAS numbers? Are you at war with the Allies before '39? Even as Germany it takes a while to build up forces.
You can help Italy by having some mountain troops down in there, if there are too many troops landed then set up a defensive line and make them suffer.

I did add artillery to my infantry and more tanks to panzer. I wasn't sure whether to focus on the coastline or Belgium, so at first I focused on the coast line and then when I was in danger of being cut from Berlin, I raced back and tried to halt the invasion which made them invade France also and to the end, I tried to delay it enough to build nuclear bombs, but at that moment the USSR invaded me from the east splitting my forces into 3, one in the south one in the west and one in the east as they also invaded though balkans from Italy

 

[mar55tin]

The easy way:
Poland in 1936 > USSR (just when they completed "The Great Purge" focus in early-mid 1937) after annexing USSR you are powerfull enough to clean continental europe (France, Romania etc.) building up your naval and air fleet (in my games i stay with my navy in the baltic sea at least till 1940).

 

[rcbricker33]

I would think that you are doing something wrong in the setup phase.

templates - there are metas for each type of unit. I usually duplicate my starting templates (change the name and icon to make it easier to see them on the map) and use those to change from starting template to the metas. I will leave which build up to you.

Production - with the air warfare messed up right now, I do not waste too much on building CAS or Fighters. They are just not really needed in SP. I rush the USSR focuses (after Industry and Austria/Czech focuses) so I can get medium armor up and running. you should slowly (read this as controlled pace) change your templates (get army xp from Spanish CW and constant training) and increase your ART/SUPPORT/INF EQ/ARMOR production as needed. I do produce CAS and NAVs just not as much of a priority.

Factories - I usually stick with MICs during set up I might throw in a refinery but that depends on if I decide to take the NETHs.

Ministers - Germany gets a ton of PP throughout the game, but I usually select the MIC building minister first, then silent workhorse, then any industry boosters, and then land unit boosters, the rest fill as needed.

conquest - IF a historical run, just get Austria and Czechs and then line your borders with troops. I usually station @20 units against FRA, 6 against LUX, 20 Against BEL, 20 against NETH and @15 in East PRUSSIA, rest against POL. Once Danzig or WAR! I use my East front forces to crush POL (you should have set up fronts and battleplans for the bonus) then swing everything west. Once POL falls attack the BENELUX area (you should start that focus as soon as you attack POL). Attack NETHS first ONLY. Once they fall attack BEL and LUX, this allows you to flank BEL. Push on Paris. Once FRA falls sent every to USSR. During the FRA campaign you can start worrying about invading UK not as easy with historical runs as they have had time to build and you are behind the 8 ball cause you wanted to do things historically. Best thing is that the UK will not play historically and will send a ton of guys to colonize the bottom of the channel. If you can't crack the UK or if Italy falls (If you allowed Italy to Join the Axis you will need to send about 20 units south at the start of the war to protect their coast) before you take on the USSR then you are in deep trouble.

NON-Historic!

Your post shows you are willing to go non-historic (I do too). You should still choose a historic game, just make your own decisions. Set up is generally the same.

Conquest - take the NETH as soon as you have around 25 units. DO NOT ANNEX! Take one state that borders BEL and then puppet the rest (be sure to puppet DEI also). When you go to war DO NOT invite them to the war. That should keep you in Rubber and some OIL during the war.

You need 20 units in NW Germany set to naval invade UK. Go ahead and start the queue for it and do not start WWII until it is ready to go. Set all of your navy to get naval sup. in sea zones east of UK. Set all your naval bombers and subs to convoy raid the same sea zones. You are going to invade UK about half way up their eastern coastline. As soon as war starts start the attack. This works something like 80% of the time (although I must admit I have not tried it since 1.3.3). Once your troops are in UK it is basically a done game. You should beat the UK about the same time you finish off FRA. Allies will go to PC annex EVERYTHING!!

TL;DR

Check your templates, production and military setup to align it more with the metas found in these forums. you are making a mistake somewhere in one of those three.

 

[Adamgerd]

1.) Start with following production lines: 15 fighter
15 small arms
5 supply equipment
5 motorized
5 arty (extend to 15 asap)

Justify and DoW against Sweden as soon as possible
Start flipping Romania as soon as possible

spam military factories until load on civilian (due to imports) becomes too high, then build a batch of refineries, continue spamming military afterwards
See that you're the only axis power all the time

go for 13 X INF + 6 X ART template, I prefer maintenance, logistics, hospital, recon and engineers as support batallions
i also go for superior firepower doctrine, mobile sux

bloat up army to anschluss asap
justify against Hungary, timing of DoW should be early-mid '37
go for seizing all of Czechoslowakia and Yugoslavia via NF asap
as soon as Romania flips justify and DOW
after that go for 5th research slot
start justifying against baltic states before Danzig and see that you don't Ribbentrop before you seized the baltic countries
WW2 dawns and already now you should control:
- Sweden
- Austria
- Hungary
- Romania
- Yugoslavia
- Czechoslovakia

now Fall Weiß, see that coastline and Rhineland is garrisoned beforehand, also take control of all air zones (except Balkans probably)
dont let RN sink Kriegsmarine, have your ships in Baltic Sea harbor and take Denmark early to cut off enemy fleets, then set up air superiority over baltic sea and start sinking them ships
by now you should have a sh*tload of fighters and also some medium tank divisions, just see that you dominate the skies when your armies advance
as soon as you've taken France and BeNeLux justify against nationalist spain, you can seize them without allies interveigning

all you have to do now is switch to harsh occupation policies, you will have that many factories that you can't implement total war economic politics because even soviet union does not have 50%+ of your industrial power

from late 39 on i also build naval dockyards and research carrier technology, gotta have a fleet in 42 in order to secure channel for a couple of days (Seelöwe)

If Italy somehow ends up in a war against the western allies, justify and dow against Italy asap
Barbarossa will be a walk in the park now, you got more factories than you need (literally, you'll just make them produce whatever because your manpower is low, you already got decent divisions and dont need more troops)

I'll try this next time I play normal HOI4. Right now I am playing Austria in Kaisserreicn and there I also have so many factories that I have 15-30 factories for absolutely everything. It does cost a lot of resources though

 

[dave1233]

1.)
i also go for superior firepower doctrine, mobile sux

Mobile is awesome, org and breakthrough boosts are massive as is the speed boost. Also, the manpower can be useful later on.

 

[Noble713]

From Day 1 I influence America towards Fascism to keep them from joining the Allies. Almost guaranteed to work, and you end up with a Fascist America that sits out most of the war.
Does anyone else switch to Free Trade as Germany as soon as possible? By 1939 the cumulative effects of the research bonus are worth it IMO....

And you are almost certainly starting the war too early if you aren't covering your Eastern backside with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact while you crush the Western allies. I think I've only been on the receiving end of a Soviet surprise attack ONCE in 500+ hours of gameplay.

 

[mabus81]

Mobile is awesome, org and breakthrough boosts are massive as is the speed boost. Also, the manpower can be useful later on.

I played a couple of times with mobile doctrines, its OK but nothing like having an army organized by superiour firepower. Tanks are faster with mobile, true, but they have a lot more punch with superior firepower. Unsurprisingly, your entire army has a lot more firepower with superior firepower. That 5% bonus on the recruitment pool in the mobile tree is a big deal, though, that is true. However you don't necessarily need that manpower if your entire army has that much punch that you hardly lose any people.

 

[mabus81]

The easy way:
Poland in 1936 > USSR (just when they completed "The Great Purge" focus in early-mid 1937) after annexing USSR you are powerfull enough to clean continental europe (France, Romania etc.) building up your naval and air fleet (in my games i stay with my navy in the baltic sea at least till 1940).

Yeah I saw a video about that, some dude on youtube annexed SU in march '38 (Barbarossa in november 37 or something). Gonna give this a try as soon as the next update is out.

 

[Johuotar]

One thing to note is controlling suez and gibraltar protects Italy from invasions.

 

[henzington]

Military factories and refineries. Volunteers help remake your divisions first Spain then Japan. It helps to complete the focus tree all the way down to puppeting Greece as well as panzer iii by early 1938. Build just sub and put your whole Air Force over the channel to cover your invasion. If England falls quickly enough then India isn't a major power the allies down then move all your forces to Russia.

 

[Teutonizer]

I haven't tried it yet, so can't say much about it, but I think (for quick dissolution of allies) you can try to invade Ireland ASAP, and then, after a short time building you forces on the border, start trashing UK, basically, at their home

As I said, I haven't tried that, but for sometime I'm thinking about the plan (if playing Germany) to rush Allies ASAP, because they'll be pain in the rear if not put down/into the fold quickly

 

[EntropyAvatar]

WW2 dawns and already now you should control:
- Sweden
- Austria
- Hungary
- Romania
- Yugoslavia
- Czechoslovakia

This is a pretty solid indictment of the political model. There is no plausible alternate timeline where Germany does all this stuff and THEN WW2 starts.

 

[dave1233]

I played a couple of times with mobile doctrines, its OK but nothing like having an army organized by superiour firepower. Tanks are faster with mobile, true, but they have a lot more punch with superior firepower. Unsurprisingly, your entire army has a lot more firepower with superior firepower. That 5% bonus on the recruitment pool in the mobile tree is a big deal, though, that is true. However you don't necessarily need that manpower if your entire army has that much punch that you hardly lose any people.

It depends on your tank design. If you go mobile you need less tanks to provide breakthrough meaning you can fit more spgs in. When I play Germany I prefer to have a lot of spam inf, either 10 or 20 width with not massive amounts of artillery and instead have lots of very good tanks, which fits more with the mobile warfare approach.

But yeah, against the current ai, so long as you micro you could go mass assault and still probably win with relative ease.

 

[Blackwhitecavias]

To get rid of Britain just use paratroopers to get all major Britsh ports and afterwards just send like 40 divisions spread around these ports (you might use some to the RN, but just don't send to many large stacks), they won't have more than like 10 across the islands and taking them out should be easy

 

[Merc34]

For one, I almost always try to avoid having a war on both fronts. In a sense, you could try to take down the Soviet Union first and foremost, and then focus on the western front and engage the allies afterwards.

Now if you really wanted to be devious, I suppose you could align with the USSR and have them as potential allies.

Before the war begins however, I would have the following countries in the Axis:

• Austria (via Anschluss)
• Czechoslovakia
• Hungary
• Bulgaria
• Italy
  
• Japan
• Yugoslavia
• Romania
  
• Greece (as a puppet, then delegate myself control if need be)

 

[Adamgerd]

From Day 1 I influence America towards Fascism to keep them from joining the Allies. Almost guaranteed to work, and you end up with a Fascist America that sits out most of the war.
Does anyone else switch to Free Trade as Germany as soon as possible? By 1939 the cumulative effects of the research bonus are worth it IMO....

And you are almost certainly starting the war too early if you aren't covering your Eastern backside with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact while you crush the Western allies. I think I've only been on the receiving end of a Soviet surprise attack ONCE in 500+ hours of gameplay.

So if I shouldn't start in half of 1940, when should I start? 1941, 1942? And what should I do in the meantime, there might be confusion. To clarify, I don't start early, I start in 1940 and lose within one year