Captured France as Italy, then Germany took it. Help!

[Mirais]

Really new to Hoi4, have tried it a few times but always bump into something that scares me away from the game. Back for another try recently and as title says I was playing as Italy and I wanna form the Roman Empire.

I'll try to keep this short because my writing skills are abysmal and I wanna get the important points across. Also I made a post about this on the Steam Forums for Hoi4.

Captured France as Italy, then Germany took it :: Hearts of Iron IV General Discussions

Trying to form Roman Empire. Need France. So first try I joined Germany's war against Poland, attacked France before they did and captured Paris. France capitulated and Germany took all of it despite not moving a single unit into French soil. So I scoured google and forums for info on whats up...

steamcommunity.com

PLEASE give it a read for further info, screenshots and reference.

So playing as Italy, got to war against France and UK, captured Paris, France capitulates to me and turns all green for a brief 1 in-game hour of pure bliss before turning that weird German shade of black and Vichy France popping up. I've lost count of how many times I restarted to try to work around this and actually get to keep France for myself but no luck. Things I tried include joining Germany's War against Poland and then taking Paris before Germany does; Declaring BEFORE Germany and then taking Paris myself without Germany ever stepping foot in France; Leaving the Axis and going to war against France and UK alone but so far nothing keeps the Germans from snatching France from me once I beat it.

I need to mention I did get a Popup talking about Mussolini walking the streets of Paris and comparing France to Gaul in Roman times in every single one of my tries. I'll post some screenshots for clarification. Also, in my last try I managed to backup my save file to the moment right before I take Paris and I can upload it here in case anyone wants to take a look for themselves and maybe find clues as to what's going on.

I'm not sure if this might be a bug with the Vichy France event and if this is the right part of the forums to post this but I'll be happy to post this elsewhere if that's the case.
I'm hoping this will get the attention of someone at Paradox as I've had no luck so far finding out what's going on.

I am NOT using any mods, own all DLCs but the Resistance one and game version is Husky v1.9.3.

 

[BeauNiddle]

If you are in an alliance with Germany then they get the option to create Vichy (which they pretty much always do). If you're not in an alliance with Germany they shouldn't create Vichy.

Only join the Axis once you've conquered France and got your war spoils

 

[Mirais]

If you are in an alliance with Germany then they get the option to create Vichy (which they pretty much always do). If you're not in an alliance with Germany they shouldn't create Vichy.

Only join the Axis once you've conquered France and got your war spoils

I know that now. I even pointed it out in the post that I've tried conquering France while I was NOT allied with Germany and it still didn't work.

Thanks though ^^

 

[squid_hills]

I know that now. I even pointed it out in the post that I've tried conquering France while I was NOT allied with Germany and it still didn't work.

Thanks though ^^

Did you try capitulating France while Germany was not at war with France? Because I think the trigger for creating Vichy is if Germany is at war with France. Period. Your status as an ally is immaterial at this point. I know that the achievements guides for Blitzkreig (Monarchist England allies Germany and conquers France) all say to start the war yourself and not to call Germany into the war at all, and I'm pretty sure the janky Vichy mechanics are the reason.

If Germany is not at war with France at all and you are still getting this result, it might be a bug and could be worth reporting as such.

 

[Simon_9732495]

There's something wrong with the vichy event. (Better with an hidden event used for the vichy thing)

See here -> https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/vichy-france-wtf.1407946/post-26760146
(And also here -> https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...y-france-event-triggers-fix-included.1408101/ )

 

[Mirais]

OMG A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL YES!

Wait so.. since it is indeed a bug is my game doomed or are they gonna fix it?
Do they take long do fix bugs in general? Do they do it at all?
And if they do fix it am I gonna be able to continue my game?

So many questions x-x

 

[kettyo]

Just a small correction is required in a single text file. If you're not in ironman and don't care for achievements it's easily fixed.

 

[Mirais]

Just a small correction is required in a single text file. If you're not in ironman and don't care for achievements it's easily fixed.

I am in Ironman and do care about achievements ((

I just wanna cry. Beating France was so hard for me :,(

 

[Mousetick]

I am in Ironman and do care about achievements ((

I just wanna cry. Beating France was so hard for me :,(

Well congratulations anyway. You managed to do it once, there is no reason you couldn't it again, even better with the knowledge of hindsight. Think of this run as your dress rehearsal for the real run that you'll do to get your achievement once the bug is fixed.

Oh, but wait...

Wait so.. since it is indeed a bug is my game doomed or are they gonna fix it?
Do they take long do fix bugs in general? Do they do it at all?
And if they do fix it am I gonna be able to continue my game?

Only "they" know the answers. Don't hold your breath if you're expecting a quick fix allowing you to resume your game and get the achievement. You'd be better off forgetting about it for a while. The earliest you could probably reasonably expect a fix would be in the next major game update, which might happen by the end of this year if you're lucky.

So many questions x-x

So few answers

 

[kettyo]

I am in Ironman and do care about achievements ((

I just wanna cry. Beating France was so hard for me :,(

Playing another country for the time being is maybe better now.

Currently you can avoid Vichy only if you can capitulate France without Germany in the war at all.

 

[squid_hills]

Currently you can avoid Vichy only if you can capitulate France without Germany in the war at all.

Maybe OP can make this their new goal? An early-game capitulation of France would set Italy up nicely for restoring the Roman Empire. Just remember to puppet Ethiopia to keep WT as low as possible, because justifying on France is around 22 WT, and UK starts spamming guarantees at 25...

 

[kettyo]

Maybe OP can make this their new goal? An early-game capitulation of France would set Italy up nicely for restoring the Roman Empire. Just remember to puppet Ethiopia to keep WT as low as possible, because justifying on France is around 22 WT, and UK starts spamming guarantees at 25...

Or maybe justify on Czech instead. There is a French guarantee there. And lot less WT.

 

[Evethor]

The best way to restore the Roman Empire is at the start of the game.

Youtuber BiterSteel has a guide to restoring Rome, and many others.

Bitt3rSteel

Hi! I'm Bitt3rSteel and I am very, very fond of Grand Strategy games and I love sharing that fondness with you. On this channel you can find guides to partic...

www.youtube.com

 

[squid_hills]

Or maybe justify on Czech instead. There is a French guarantee there. And lot less WT.

How have I never thought of this? Now I know what I'm doing for my next Italy run!

 

[kettyo]

How have I never thought of this? Now I know what I'm doing for my next Italy run!

Good luck

 

[Trier]

In order to form the Roman Empire as Italy. I kill Ethiopia asap. Then justify against Switzerland as soon as possible and take them. Then focus Novus Imperium Romanum in the tree and get a war goal against France that way. Put 72 divisions on the French border to defend. 6 in Sardinia to defend. Then push in North Africa with 18 (Prioritize this front while you hold in Europe). Make sure you sink their reinforcements to Africa. Once you encircle and take North Africa w/ your navy supporting you should've killed around 20 french divisions. Then send them back up to France and push with around 24-40 divisions in Switzerland to their plains. It's a soft border, then you can exploit weak points along the front and easily take France.

Then you can Annex all french territory for free. Then set your sights on England and take them. All of this can be achieved before Germany goes to war with Poland. Allowing you to own all British and French territory by around 1939. I've formed the Roman empire 3 times, and this was the easiest way. With England and France gone, just stay neutral, build up and suppress the lands you've taken. Then do a massive invasion of Germany once they're in the middle of the war against the Soviets.

 

[Magnificent Genius]

How have I never thought of this? Now I know what I'm doing for my next Italy run!

It is one of the many reasons I am against the further proliferation of game start guarantees. If you are going to play as historical, they don't change anything, and if you are strong enough to 1v1 the UK, USA or France, they are just a low tension way to snap up all those factories. They only would really block minors, who already struggle in the early game.

 

[kettyo]

It is one of the many reasons I am against the further proliferation of game start guarantees. If you are going to play as historical, they don't change anything, and if you are strong enough to 1v1 the UK, USA or France, they are just a low tension way to snap up all those factories. They only would really block minors, who already struggle in the early game.

Or maybe tension generation calculations should take guarantees and faction members into account. So no easy tension way.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Did you try capitulating France while Germany was not at war with France?

It matters in HOI 4, but this should not matter.

If Germany is not at war with France at all and you are still getting this result, it might be a bug and could be worth reporting as such.

If this game has any semblance of honesty or internal consistency, it should be considered a bug regardless!

Playing another country for the time being is maybe better now.

Unfortunately, the way war score and peace conferences "work" is such that no matter who you play, the game will frequently reward complete nonsense.

I've had Australia capitulate to Italy despite Italy never having a single soldier set foot on Australian soil. I've seen France capitulate to USSR without the latter being anywhere near it with troops. USSR routinely gets top war score against Germany from "occupations", while losing territory. Because the degenerate mechanic of getting war score from casualties taken but not dealt isn't enough...this must be double-counted by rewarding failure of losing territory in addition to rewarding failure of combat twice apparently.

So while Germany gets a special/incoherent interaction with France that makes this worse, it will remain a problem that hounds you for every start you play, major or minor, unless you're literally running a solo war in front of standard WW2 timing, winning wars w/o involvement from allies, or cheesing the war score system yourself.

Anyway if you want to take France with Italy it needs to be done quickly. I would even recommend justifying on Czechs before starting a focus, winning against Ethiopia quickly, and then going in on France.

 

[kettyo]

If this game has any semblance of honesty or internal consistency, it should be considered a bug regardless!

This is clearly a bug. See here:

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/husky-v1-9-3-a7a4-faulty-vichy-france-event-triggers-fix-included.1408101/