Constructing a HoI4 Germany Guide

[GreenWhite1899]

I would like to make a further alteration suggestion to rush Anschluss as second focus with no "time waited penalty" to national focus (ie within the 10 day grace period), this will allow the control of the most CIC/MIC/NIC and largest manpower pool possible:

*Note keeping the guides basis form BUT dont remove artillery support from infantry, cancel the tungsten importing, and altering production lines so its:
- 2 slots of infantry weapons one set to 15 factories, 1 set to 4 factories, (original at 15, new one at 4)
- 1 slot support supplies set to 15 factories,
- 1 slot artillery set to 3 factories,
- 1 slot light tanks set to 1 factory,
- 1 slot motorized set to 1 factory,
- 1 slot fighters set to 1 factory,
- all starting naval but subs set to make a single ship with 1 dockyard each , then subs set to infinity run with a full 15 dockyards (so it auto adds new dockyards)

Before game is unpaused a few small things can make a big difference:

0. Cancel the tungsten importing, set up oil trade from Venezuela and rubber from Siam to fill your needs after setting up production lines as out lined. Queue up building 8 civilian factories

1. Convert the 1 unit of starting mountaineers and 1 unit of cavalry into infantry divisions (the few extra thousand men will be a massive help speeding towards 550K fielded men)

2. Put everyone but 2 panzer divisions under a field marshal and exercise them, also fill recruitment queue to the max (should be 21 additional devisions, set for 1 recruitment run) set to deploy directly into field marshals army to maximize army exp gains, micromanage recruitment window and deploy them all at 20% training, note when only 10 units remain in queue set it to an infinity run. you will need to have global reinforcements and upgrades set to lowest priority, and the current recruitment runs reinforcements set to highest priority.

3. Put the 2 remaining panzers in an army under Von Manstein (best starting panzer general) and send them as volunteers for Italy in Ethiopia, it will be basically world tension free due to the treaty reduction being greater than the increase of sending them and its a GREAT source of starting army experience

4. as soon as you have the needed 50 political power fabricate against Netherlands and invade them for the oil and rubber they control, send a holding force of 5 infantry divisions to South America and 10 infantry divisions to the pacific islands to take French/English holdings there and hold them when war starts

5. As soon as you hit 5 army experience add an addition infantry to your infantry divisions to boost manpower in field, then when when you have 5 more army experience and/or Rhineland finishes add another addition infantry to your infantry divisions to tip fielded manpower over 550K

**** NOTE at this point Rhineland will have finished and you will have about 538K manpower in the field, not enough for Anschluss, dont panic, you have 10 days to choose a national focus with no penalty (its basicly going to bank those 10 days to put towards your next national focus), watch your fielded manpower under the army window in the manpower/equipment and as soon is it goes to or over 550K select Anschluss national focus.

6. continue early recruitment until you hit 850K men (then we will fix up infantry divisions to an ideal 20 or 22 combat width, i prefer 7x infantry, 2x artillery, 1x heavy tank, with engineers, recon, anti-tank, anti-air and artillery supports for 22 width, under a -10% own combat width field marshal for infantry divisions) this allows the demand XX and fate of XX national focuses. When you have the 850K manpower fielded set global reinforcements and upgrades set to highest priority, and the current recruitment runs reinforcements set to normal priority, until all equipment shortages are taken care of then set all to normal priority

7. when Spainsh cilil war starts help Franco with as many troops as possible, hopefully all your starting panzers and SS divisions, taking Madrid and Barcelona, plus maybe 1 other victory point should end it fast

So national focuses in order should be this, roughly, its the focuses to Reassert Eastern Claims that matter:

1. Rhineland (0 to 70 days)
2. Anschluss ((70 to 140 days)
3. Demand Sudetenland (140 to 210 days)
4. Demand Slovenia (210 to 280 days)
5. First Vienna Award (280 to 350 days)
6. Fate of Czechoslovakia (350 to 420 days)
7. First Ljubljana Award (420 to 490 days)
8. Fate of Yugoslavia (490 to 560 days)
9. Reassert Eastern Claims (560 to 630 days)
10. Danzig or WAR (630 to 700 days, THATS FINISHING DECEMBER 1ST 1937, 19 months early Historically)
---- past here its really up to playstyle---- i would go for:
11. Autobahn
12. Westwall
13. Army innovations 1
14. Soviet Treaty
15. Industry 1
16. Industry 2
then directly towards 5th research slot

And then political power spending in order should be this:

1.War Economy
2. Schact, the civilian factory building guy
3. Krupp, for faster industrial research
4. Walther Funk, the civilian military building guy
5. Guderian Army Chief, for faster tanks and army exp/land doctrine bonuses
6. Werner Von Fritsch, to reduce attrition
... past this its really upto your playstyle, bu i would start taking heavy tank, motorization, light fighter research bonuses

PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THIS CAN BE IMPROVED ON

Soooo, i managed to follow your guide in my latest game. And it's working perfectly!
I had to switch 7. First Ljubljana Award (420 to 490 days) & 8. Fate of Yugoslavia (490 to 560 days) to Autobahn & Westwall because Yugoslavia refused to cede Slovenia and instead joined the Allies, but that actually worked better for me. With about 20 Divisions on the French border, 24 Divisions on the Yugoslavia border and the rest on the Polish border, i managed to take alle three + Belgium & Luxemburg before April of 1938. Then i used the "convoy escort"-trick to get my troops to GB. Capitulation of GB was in June/July of 1938.

Now i have Vichy France owning all of the former french lands, me owning everything of Poland, GB, Belgium, Luxemburg and half of Yugoslavia (Italy has the 2nd half). Manged to attack Soviet Union at the Start of 1939. Now i'm steamrolling my way through their lands and hope to finish this war befor 1941, so i can take on the US.

This Guide is perfect if you want these achievements off your List: "True Blitzkrieg", "Operation Sea Lion" & "New World Order". Maybe even "Mine is bigger than yours".

So thanks for the Guide!

 

[lihp]

I know this might be considered too gamey, but there's a very good way of completely dominating with Germany, and I don't think there exists any other way of achieving the same level of dominance so fast.

What you do is, with the very first 50 political power you get, you start justifying war against Britain. You continue more or less like how this guide suggests, though I kept artillery production to make sure my infantry was strong enough early in the game. You then get war economy with the next 150 PP, and then also start justifying against the Netherlands. Right before your war justification with Britain finishes, you set your fleet to patrol the English Chanel, and declare war.

Move over 10 of your infantry divisions as a naval invasion to Britain,

<snip>

Naval invasion in '36? Seriously?

 

[GreenWhite1899]

Naval invasion in '36? Seriously?

Actually possible, try setting all your fleets on "convoy escort". They won't be attacked and you will get naval suppremacy in that sea zone.
But be fast, that's probably something that is going to be fixed in patch 1.1.0.

 

[Buttons12345]

Anyone got a France guide?

Personally I fared pretty well by focusing on heavy static defences against Germany (along the German and Belgian border) and bumrushing Italy and Spain as well as their colonies, quickly sending divisions from Africa to Europe once the colonies are secured. Using motorized and mountain divisions alongside decent numbers of infantry divisions I can generally smash through Italy and split it in two before German troops can arrive allowing me to march down the peninsula and secure the rest of Italy without German interference, Spain can be defeated easily enough or held in place until Italy collapses allowing for divisions to be moved to Spain to finish them off. The Alps and static defences outside of Italy make holding off against Germany relatively easy and access to Italian and Spanish industry means that you should be able to defeat Germany in a protracted war.

My main issue was manpower due to political influence or whatever it is called I had difficulty changing draft laws effectively meaning that for several months I was sitting at zero manpower and my divisions were fighting without replacements.

 

[lihp]

Actually possible, try setting all your fleets on "convoy escort". They won't be attacked and you will get naval suppremacy in that sea zone.
But be fast, that's probably something that is going to be fixed in patch 1.1.0.

And your naval invasion tech?

 

[bristolduke]

As the guide says make sure the starting cav/mountaineers are converyed to inf, then add 1 extra as soon as you get 5exp, add the 2nd after rhineland finishes, you should have over 550K by march 19th/20th.... on the 19th or 20th your manpower in field should jump from 538k to over 560k. I have tried it myself over 5 times from a new start to make sure it was not a fluke. If you dont get it somehow a 2nd attempt should get you there

The key was the 24 Feb date for the first 5 experience points. I didn't get that as early the other times. I think micro managing von-Manstein to be sure he is always engaged is necessary to get the experience points as soon as possible. At least in my games he had a tendency to be idle.

Now I can check out the rest.

Thanks

 

[aazard]

The key was the 24 Feb date for the first 5 experience points. I didn't get that as early the other times. I think micro managing von-Manstein to be sure he is always engaged is necessary to get the experience points as soon as possible. At least in my games he had a tendency to be idle.

Now I can check out the rest.

Thanks

making sure your new early deployed troops go directly to a field marshals army automatically with orders (front line on netherlands boarders) that is exercising will also speed up exp alot.

Note if you are lucky the end of spanish civil war will be before netherlands fabrication is done, raising world tension, and france will guarantee them b4 france joins allies.. allowing a fast naval invasion of a northern france port (i would plan this before the fabrication is even done just to ensure its ready if this happens), and then the normal ferrying of more men to that port (remember to hold the frence boarder also though), if your quick with the french invasion you can VP rush them before any real fighting or losses even take place.
This would give you a fast war with 2 peace conferences allowing you to take all states controlled by france and the netherlands, all before you have finished demanding the Sudetenland. Just remember to send troops to all these new colonies to hold them against the allies when a real war comes....

NOTE 2..almost forgot...:
waiting until you have helped japan defeat china before starting a war with allies is greatly suggested..

 

[Bandus]

Is this guide still up to date/viable?

Edit: It looks like at least some of it is not, sadly. For example, War Economy can't be enacted as rapidly anymore as a pre-requisite for it is 15% world tension.

Also, for the last bullet "The land doctrine research bonus general" , I think that might be the guy from the 4th bullet as well. Guderian gives me +0.05 army experience daily and -7% land doctrine research time.

Furthermore, in the research section where it states "For armored tech, don’t worry about *any* of it until you’ve unlocked the armored research bonuses from the Army 1 and 2 national focuses." It appears that Army 1 no longer gives an armored research bonus. Army Innovations now gives 2x 50% Land Doctrine bonuses and a new person available as chief of army. However, Army Innovations 2 gives 1x 50% bonus for Panzerkampfwagen III, IV, V, and Sonderkraftfahrzeug 11.

For "Military factory dude appointment for MIC cost bonus", I think his name is Walther Funk. He gives Military Factory Construction Speed +10% and Dockyard construction speed +10%.

 

[ltccone]

Is this guide still up to date/viable?

Edit: It looks like at least some of it is not, sadly. For example, War Economy can't be enacted as rapidly anymore as a pre-requisite for it is 15% world tension.

Also, for the last bullet "The land doctrine research bonus general" , I think that might be the guy from the 4th bullet as well. Guderian gives me +0.05 army experience daily and -7% land doctrine research time.

Furthermore, in the research section where it states "For armored tech, don’t worry about *any* of it until you’ve unlocked the armored research bonuses from the Army 1 and 2 national focuses." It appears that Army 1 no longer gives an armored research bonus. Army Innovations now gives 2x 50% Land Doctrine bonuses and a new person available as chief of army. However, Army Innovations 2 gives 1x 50% bonus for Panzerkampfwagen III, IV, V, and Sonderkraftfahrzeug 11.

For "Military factory dude appointment for MIC cost bonus", I think his name is Walther Funk. He gives Military Factory Construction Speed +10% and Dockyard construction speed +10%.

I would love to see this guide updated for 1.1 too.

 

[Morwys]

Great guide. Needs an update.
Also, IMO your guide is good, but too verbose. HoI4 is played in such a way that it's not difficult to do good with majors like Germany, so guides are meant to either give a general notion - which your guide does - for complete and utter newbies or to minmax. Your guide seems to be between the two: you show a lot of concern for new players, but worry about best PP usage, proper CIC/MIC directives... things that only minmaxers really worry about. The problem is that minmaxers will be well past the point of wanting verbose, useful comments on basic stuff. We want numbers. I think your guide would benefit from focusing in either one or the other: mimmax or newbie guide.
But, of course, this is my opinion. Thanks for the guide anyways.

 

[Pnzrldr]

Thank God!! Look, I am OLD SCHOOL. I am NOT the guy who can wait through a 1.5 hour stream to learn to play the game. I like to READ things! This ROCKS! Thanks a ton for starting this. Exactly what I was looking to find.

 

[Tanicius]

Hey Pnzrldr, this guide is super outdated at this point. PM me and we can hit up on Steam if you'd like more in depth advice now that the game has changed.

 

[mhbzester]

So are there plans to update this guide?

 

[Meglok]

Hey Pnzrldr, this guide is super outdated at this point. PM me and we can hit up on Steam if you'd like more in depth advice now that the game has changed.

And it is about to become even more out of date as soon as 1.2 is released. That patch should fix a lot of the exploits and poor performance issues.

 

[Tanicius]

Yeah, sorry guys, I know it's been a while since I've updated things. I stopped bothering because the thread got buried. Now that it's back to the top, I'll update it a little, but bear in mind that Meglok is correct -- there's about to be a second update that will throw things in flux again.

 

[Tanicius]

Guide has been revised. Notable changes are a modification of the strategy with War Economy (it's now delayed a few months, basically until you can help Nationalist Spain win the Spanish Civil War), and I no longer suggest not producing any artillery right away.

The most substantial change I now recommend is NOT producing any CIC, ever. As Germany, it will never be necessary to make your own CIC. National Decision awards, annexation of Austria and Czechoslovkia, and conquering territory will give you all the CIC you ever need. Just start making MIC right out of the gate to maximize the weapons and vehicles we have our disposal by Fall 1939.

 

[ltccone]

Is there a way we can get this thread pinned?

 

[Forster]

I have tried fabricating plays on two countries (Belgium & Netherlands) as others have suggested. Every time I do that and conquer taking all provinces, tension shoots up to 60 - 80%. Just doing one country doesn't seem too bad, 30 - 40%. How are you doing this and keeping tension level reasonable?

 

[Tanicius]

Well, I refuse to put that in my guide because it's so cheesy and un-historical. There's just no way it could have happened IRL, and it's gonna get patched eventually anyway.

 

[Blastaz]

Naval invasion in '36? Seriously?

Not that quick myself as I went for Holland first, followed by Belgium+France+GB annex but I managed it by April '37. Note how I'm at peace and all that land is annexed, with the allies breaking up and just consisting of the Raj...

I found the key being building 40 odd 1 infantry battalion divisions then converting them to your standard infantry division to boost you deployed manpower score to let you do Anschluss and Sudentenland before the war starts in late 36. First war dec is against Holland for quick annex. Second war dec against Belgium. France and GB will guarantee but as no one is in a faction you can annex France and Belgium as soon as they capitulate (ie very soon). GB is then the only major in the allies so they will peace out as soon as they capitulate, getting rid of the Royal Navy. Then build infrastructure and two lvl 10 ports in Nova Scotia so you can invade Canada + US without hassle, although I went after USSR first. Had taken out USSR and US by Sep '40 and got New World Order in August '42 but had slowed down due to mistime justifications and messing around with clearing Oceania.