I'm not having fun

[LiberiusX]

I've tried 4 different campaigns in HOI3. I just can't seem to get into it. I've played around with managing Brazil, putting around the Pacific with Australia, and conquering Poland as Germany. I decided to go back to trying an Allied campaign as Brazil. For some reason though, the UK refuses to invite me to the Allies, even though I have over 100 relations and am well within the Allies' influence.

I'm not really interested in managing a huge country at this time. Maybe I need to better familiarize myself with the AI controlled armies.

I really want to get into a campaign I'll enjoy without being overwhelmed, but I just don't see how. Any suggestions?

 

[JanKaas]

Try to play along with this excellent tutorial from misterbean, I believe you will it enjoy a lot better when you understand the mechanics... It's very well written and teaches you the fundamentals if you like to try a different country afterwards. This tutorial is what helped me truly enjoy this game. W/o it I was equally lost and basically just guessing.
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/germany-tutorial-take-2.577185/

 

[Oof]

Though opinions on this forum vary, I never recommend to start with a minor in your first game(s). Start with either the USA or Germany. Playing those countries will help you understand the mechanics of the game and you can do your planning using the historical timeline. I don’t recommend the USSR, Japan or the UK as first countries to play. The problem with minor countries like Brazil is that you have to make choices straight away and if you don’t know how the mechanics work, you’ll make the wrong ones and your game isn’t much fun.
But if you really wanna learn to play the game:
1. Play the Polish campaign as Germany and keep replaying it till you beat the Poles in two weeks. Give the AI control of everything except warfare/movement.
2. Play the Fall Gelb scenario as France a couple of times to learn how to defend. Give the AI control of everything except warfare/movement.
Once you know how to attack and defend, you’re ready. The good thing is that you also learn about unit composition, which units are important, etc. This will help you to make the right choices in full campaign games.
Another thing, except you’re gonna mess up the first couple of games. It happens to everyone playing the first couple of games.

Good luck

 

[Kovax]

I find playing the major countries to be tedious, and prefer a smaller minor country. The idea, in my opinion, is to see how much impact you can have on the war by concentrating your meager resources in the right places. Playing GER during Barbarossa or the UK with all of its scattered colonies is either micromanagement hell, or requires turning most of it over to the AI, in which case why bother to play it at all?

Hungary, Romania, and Nat. China provided decent games, where I was able to do a "reasonable amount" without scrolling around the map constantly and dealing with multiple fronts, etc. You need to focus on doing the basics well (basic Infantry techs and doctrines, some industrial essentials, and possibly Artillery), and forget about armor, air, and navy for the most part. You don't need to conquer the world, just assist your faction in doing so.

In my opinion, Brazil is fine for learning the economic aspects of the game, but once you've gotten the hang of it, it's time to get involved in the war. Brazil's Neutrality is too high to be of much interest unless you use the "Prepare for War" built-in exploit, and if you do go warmongering around your own half of the world, the US will intervene.

 

[Oof]

As posted "opinions vary on this forum"

 

[Paglia]

Try Italia.
It's a small Major... or a big Minor...

So you won't be overwhelmed, while you will get to play all the aspect of the game (land/air/naval).

I too don't recommand Minors to start with. They lack too many things to allow you to get high profile games since you don't master the game's tricks. Once you have some games in your bag, you can easily switch to Minor and get all the juice out of them and you get very interesting games.

I also don't recommand to play the game on NORMAL for too long. AI is weak in HoI3 and, without some proper help, it tends to be easily defeated. VERY HARD is unforgiving, so you can try HARD once you get a better feeling of the game.

When I 1st bought the game, I remember trying a game as Turkey to start with... probably one of the worst pick for a start. I ditch the game after a few weeks. And came back only later. There, I picked Italy, got my butt kicked but had a lot of fun.

Try Italy, and don't fear to read about how to play it. Lot of good ideas in the Forum. You just need to dig them a little.

 

[Snow Wolf]

Try Italia.
It's a small Major... or a big Minor...

So you won't be overwhelmed, while you will get to play all the aspect of the game (land/air/naval).

I too don't recommand Minors to start with. They lack too many things to allow you to get high profile games since you don't master the game's tricks. Once you have some games in your bag, you can easily switch to Minor and get all the juice out of them and you get very interesting games.

I also don't recommand to play the game on NORMAL for too long. AI is weak in HoI3 and, without some proper help, it tends to be easily defeated. VERY HARD is unforgiving, so you can try HARD once you get a better feeling of the game.

When I 1st bought the game, I remember trying a game as Turkey to start with... probably one of the worst pick for a start. I ditch the game after a few weeks. And came back only later. There, I picked Italy, got my butt kicked but had a lot of fun.

Try Italy, and don't fear to read about how to play it. Lot of good ideas in the Forum. You just need to dig them a little.

This, so much this.
I had exactly the same issue like you did, then I focused my effort a last time and I picked italy.. and here i am

 

[LiberiusX]

Thanks for all the advice. One thing that bothers me is that the hoi3 wiki is a mess of information. Since I'm hopping on board Hoi3 after the end of its development cycle, there's no way for me to tell just what is good information and bad information. Vicky 2's wiki is more or less filled with good information that made learning it a much easier experience.

 

[Paglia]

Well... the wiki pages I often use are :

http://www.paradoxian.org/hoi3wiki/Strategy
http://www.paradoxian.org/hoi3wiki/Reference
http://www.paradoxian.org/hoi3wiki/Country_guides

 

[LiberiusX]

Though opinions on this forum vary, I never recommend to start with a minor in your first game(s). Start with either the USA or Germany. Playing those countries will help you understand the mechanics of the game and you can do your planning using the historical timeline. I don’t recommend the USSR, Japan or the UK as first countries to play. The problem with minor countries like Brazil is that you have to make choices straight away and if you don’t know how the mechanics work, you’ll make the wrong ones and your game isn’t much fun.
But if you really wanna learn to play the game:
1. Play the Polish campaign as Germany and keep replaying it till you beat the Poles in two weeks. Give the AI control of everything except warfare/movement.
2. Play the Fall Gelb scenario as France a couple of times to learn how to defend. Give the AI control of everything except warfare/movement.
Once you know how to attack and defend, you’re ready. The good thing is that you also learn about unit composition, which units are important, etc. This will help you to make the right choices in full campaign games.
Another thing, except you’re gonna mess up the first couple of games. It happens to everyone playing the first couple of games.

Good luck

I accepted your first challenge and was getting ready to come back here to gloat that I did it on my first try. I launched my attack on Warsaw(after capping the other VPs) on September 12. The battle took 2 weeks. Poland conquered in 3 1/2 weeks. I stand chastened.

I don't know how else I could have gone about it. I used armor to breakthrough in the Southeast and in East Prussia, followed with motorized to exploit the hole. The pincer met at Lodz, enveloping most of Poland's army on her northwestern front. I then launched an attack on Warsaw with 2 motorized divisions and a panzer division, with air support. I'll have to think on it.

EDIT: Ok I reloaded my Sept 11 save. I didn't change anything except leading the attack on Warsaw with my panzer division. Last time I lead with a motorized division, and it took forever for the panzers to reinforce the battle. This time the battle concluded around noon on the 15th. Not perfect, and lesson learned.

 

[Oof]

That's the idea, you need a couple of tries to get the hang of it.

 

[Paglia]

Yeah and better techs/doctrines are a must if you want to prevail

 

[markkur]

I'm still learning and you've already received some good ideas but maybe my newbness is also a good perspective to share?

I used the USA to "begin learning" the game. There's no pressure since the War is far off and resources abound. But also...there was one other thing I did that I think was helpful to me; before I began, I conditioned myself first by telling myself <S> this game has one heck of a learning curve and so everything I do for a while will be Learning. Because, most any game I've ever played with the exception of CK2 I just jumped in and started playing (in some ok fashion) but not so with this beauty. Btw, It was given as a gift to me and my 1st thought was hmmm, some kind of torture dear brother? <L> But now? Best game ever - bar none. However, I like great strategy- that actually matters.

One other thought; Which aspect of the game interests you atm? i.e. The A.I. handles Trading well but I kinda like that action so after my first run to war with the USA, I used Romania to learn how to make a small economy go and had great fun just doing that...till the war.<L> Currently I am in my second "real" game as Italy and enjoying a new level of challenges. Italy is a small Major player but Air Land and Sea are all important but not the massive headache of the USA at war. Maybe after you have done the learning stages Italy might be a good choice? Atm it is Sept 39, the war is here and for the first time I feel I am beginning to get a handle on this game.

Many thanks to the fellows, like here in this thread, that help the newcomers get going!

Cheers

 

[Felicity84]

My suggestion is, do not speed up above 2x speed. And try to micromanage absolutely everything. That speed will leave you like huge amount of time to read all the tooltips, research techs and whatnot. Biggest adavantage is the error correction, if you mess something up it easier to correct it on 1x speed. I never hit pause when i play on 1x i have time for everything whether playing as SOV or GER. Use control groups (ctrl+1, 2 and so on) this will make browsing armies easier. What to do during peace time on 1x speed? Rearrange your OOB to your liking, have constant look up on your trades, and production queue, intelligence and tech. Rearrange, maximise and take your TIME. Do not rush. Ever.

 

[RELee]

You should probably go back to Victoria.

 

[LiberiusX]

^Hah! Probably. I am enjoying HOI3 a bit more. Playing the Case Yellow campaign now, and holding my own. Rommel is steamrolling everything he runs into though.

 

[Had a dad]

You should probably go back to Victoria.

There is nothing better than HOI.... you miscreant

 

[Paglia]

There is nothing better than HOI.... you miscreant

Indeed Watson.

 

[RELee]

^Hah! Probably. I am enjoying HOI3 a bit more. Playing the Case Yellow campaign now, and holding my own. Rommel is steamrolling everything he runs into though.

There is nothing better than HOI.... you miscreant

Indeed Watson.

I've been playing HOI3 almost exclusively for the past two months ya sorry bunch.

 

[Had a dad]

I've been playing HOI3 almost exclusively for the past two months ya sorry bunch.