Putting the Band Back Together. The story of sh*tshow achievement

[shepherd352]

The AI can be beaten even by a player Hungary with their 30% strength divisions, so even a few full-strength volunteers will make all the difference in the world.

The first time I assisted Hungary, with 8 standard divisions, I held but could not attack. The second time, with 7/2 divisions, I could easily break Austria.

Yeah but they still need to pick the Balanced Budget in the first place, otherwise they will be locked out of that part of the tree.

Agreed. Balanced budget, Railroads, Hapsburg and pushing the issue before Anschluss. I've seen every one of these go the wrong way. The referendum decision also requires a reasonable opinion so one person suggested pushing ideology, to improve it (don't know if that helps.

Any way you look at it, this is the most RNG achievement of the lot.

 

[Voigt]

The events can't be savescummed since 1.7, so their outcome is predetermined. If you got the "random" seed that says Austria votes no, then no amount of reload will help.

This is wrong, you can still savescum and reload for different event outcomes. You just need a decently early save, since you need to delay the focus picks so it conpletes on another day. So wait 11 or more days before picking the focus (10 days are saved up).

 

[Aeroclub]

Agreed. Balanced budget, Railroads, Hapsburg and pushing the issue before Anschluss. I've seen every one of these go the wrong way. The referendum decision also requires a reasonable opinion so one person suggested pushing ideology, to improve it (don't know if that helps.

Yeah but only Austria's opinion of Hungary matters, and it is not something that you can affect. At least not push it over the required threshold of 75.

Any way you look at it, this is the most RNG achievement of the lot.

For sure. Even if there was nothing else, just Hungary taking the Balanced Budget focus is something that a player has no control over, and to me sounds like a pretty bad design.

This is wrong, you can still savescum and reload for different event outcomes. You just need a decently early save, since you need to delay the focus picks so it conpletes on another day. So wait 11 or more days before picking the focus (10 days are saved up).

Yes, the time of decision is still a factor that the game takes as an input. I just thought that he was trying to reload the game before the same event over and over again.

 

[Duke_Dave]

I played the game about 20 times with non-historic focus Hungary did not go for balanced budget once, it's super weird because previously I would say Hubgaty picked that focus 20-50% of the time (though I also have never seen them go democratic). Seriously it's really annoying if we have focuses that the AI almost never picks on alt-historical. Germany opposing Hitler 0.14% something like that? Going down the Mittelmachte path 0.043%? So just roughly one in 2000 games (I am bad at math bite me).

 

[Metalmonni]

Same for me, I restarted about a 100 times now, Hungary never picks "Balanced Budged" first (V1.10.2)
Is there some kind of trick?

 

[Aeroclub]

According to the game files, the AI factors of picking the initial Hungarian foci are as follows:

Economic Intervention - 100
Industrial Revitalization - 90
Secret Rearmament - 80
Balanced Budget - 50

So as far as I understand, the actual chance for BB being the first focus is 50 out of 320 or roughly 1 in 6.5.

 

[GianpietroU90]

According to the game files, the AI factors of picking the initial Hungarian foci are as follows:

Economic Intervention - 100
Industrial Revitalization - 90
Secret Rearmament - 80
Balanced Budget - 50

So as far as I understand, the actual chance for BB being the first focus is 50 out of 320 or roughly 1 in 6.5.

Hi! Can you find for me the same statistic but for Germany?

 

[shepherd352]

Same for me, I restarted about a 100 times now, Hungary never picks "Balanced Budged" first (V1.10.2)
Is there some kind of trick?

Start a new game, don't do anything with your own country and advance one day. Check if Hungary selected "Balanced Budget". If not, quit and then start a new game. This first choice is the most critical and it is visible straight away. It will not take long to get a workable start.

 

[TK421ImperialHero]

Start a new game, don't do anything with your own country and advance one day. Check if Hungary selected "Balanced Budget". If not, quit and then start a new game. This first choice is the most critical and it is visible straight away. It will not take long to get a workable start.

He may have done so. The problem is that not all focuses are created equal. See: Oppose Hitler

 

[shepherd352]

He may have done so. The problem is that not all focuses are created equal. See: Oppose Hitler

Except we aren't talking of "Oppose Hitler". In the case of this achievement, my suggested start is the least painful way of getting a viable start. He may be playing without checking the Hungarian focuses each time they change but, to succeed in this achievement, you need to start with Balanced Budget and then you need a few others to go the right way, within a reasonable time. If he was to confirm that he is already doing this, it would indicate an achievement breaking bug that nobody else has reported.

 

[Aeroclub]

Hi! Can you find for me the same statistic but for Germany?

This (as well as all the other ones) is available as simple text files at "[you game folder depending on the OS]/common/national_focus"

 

[GianpietroU90]

This (as well as all the other ones) is available as simple text files at "[you game folder depending on the OS]/common/national_focus"

Thanks for the info!

 

[pheonicia]

They just need to add a decision to the ottoman empire where if both germany and hungary are your puppets, you can re-add the rekindle imperial sentiments spirit.

 

[Metalmonni]

Start a new game, don't do anything with your own country and advance one day. Check if Hungary selected "Balanced Budget". If not, quit and then start a new game. This first choice is the most critical and it is visible straight away. It will not take long to get a workable start.

Did just that about fifty'ish times or so... Never got the Balanced Budget tho.
Well, Seems like I am just unlucky.

I even went the painful way through, conquered the World without taking the complete Sultanate Path (Who needs free Manpower or 4 Research Slots anyhow), annexing Germany and liberating Austria, Hungary and Tschechoslovakia. Then I went for the rest of the Foki to rekindle imperial sentiment and waited the three years, even boosting neutral with my spies but the countries just did nothing. Well...

 

[GianpietroU90]

They just need to add a decision to the ottoman empire where if both germany and hungary are your puppets, you can re-add the rekindle imperial sentiments spirit.

Why not adding tho possibility to "controll" just for the player the puppet focus tree? I mean it will just be as EUIV with mission focus tree and it will finally solve 99% of problem with puppets I guess

 

[shepherd352]

Did just that about fifty'ish times or so... Never got the Balanced Budget tho.
Well, Seems like I am just unlucky.

Were you ahistoric? I don't think it will go "Balanced Budget" without being ahistoric. I tested ahistoric just now and got it in about 18 attempts. This high number of attempts is why I suggested just forwarding it to the next day - no point organizing anything when you are just going to back out most of the time. One "lost" day isn't important. You can probably get "Balanced Budget" later but you lose all your invested time if it doesn't go that way.

 

[Metalmonni]

Were you ahistoric? I don't think it will go "Balanced Budget" without being ahistoric. I tested ahistoric just now and got it in about 18 attempts. This high number of attempts is why I suggested just forwarding it to the next day - no point organizing anything when you are just going to back out most of the time. One "lost" day isn't important. You can probably get "Balanced Budget" later but you lose all your invested time if it doesn't go that way.

Yep, always ahistoric. Just as I said, maybe I am just unlucky.

I Think I will just try again in time.

 

[Lawgun]

I had around 30 tries to get "Balanced Budget" as a first focus for Hungary, it was useless so I just accepted Industrial Revitalization and decided to wait. I was pretty lucky because even though Hungary decided to end the whole economics tree first at the same time Germany started a civil war. So in the end of the day Hungary and Germany went through monarchist tree with Austria-Hungary restoration focus. So there is nothing else to say since you can't do much for a such achievement. Lottery-tier achievement.

 

[Ricardinhou]

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the story of the most broken and lazy thought achievement in the history of HOI4: We're Putting the Band Back Together. I'll leave some pictures to ilustrate.

At first look, seems like a non-issue, go the Ottoman route and just be in a faction with Germany and Hungary, right? WRONG! It has to be Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Ok then, no problem, you get a focus as Ottomans that rekindles imperial sentiment, so they will eventually form Austria-Hungary, right? WRONG!, by the time you get to that focus, even if you beeline it, Austria and the Czechs are gone, so only Hungary gets the national spirit, meaning they cannot reform AH even if they want to.

Well, if that is the case, maybe you have to go the hard route, defeat the entire Axis and the Allies (so they don't screw you with the absolutely not broken peace deal mechanic), puppet Germany, puppet Hungary, feed them the necessary territories and they will reform AH, right? WRONG! Since Hungary has capitulated they no longer get the national spirit, meaning they won't form AH.

Ok ok, how about this, instead of feeding Hungary the necessary territories, you puppet Austria, Hungary and the Czechs, and since you already took the focus to rekindle imperial sentiment, they will form it on their own, right? WRONG! They need to be fully independent to access the decision

Alright man, then instead of puppeting them, just liberate them with the required territories, boost non-aligned popularity with your spies in the free and democratic Czechs and the free and fascist Hungary, and they will do it then, right? WRONG! They don't have the national spirit, so they don't reform AH

Damn, you got me in a box here... wait a minute! Why don't you do something absolutely insane, the stuff of legends, and you capitulate the Axis and the Allies WITHOUT taking the rekindle imperial sentiment focus, that will lock you on the Ottoman Sultanate, not being able to access either the weekly manpower bonus nor the coring decisions, then you liberate all 3 and ONLY THEN you take the focus to rekindle imperial sentiment focus so they get it, while of course making sure Germany doesn't exist so they don't automatically annex Austria again, that will do the trick right??? WRONG AGAIN! Even if you meet all those requirements, and push their non-aligned support over 70%, they will do absolutely NOTHING.

Jeez man, it seems Paradox really made sure this time there's absolutely no way to get this achievement on historical, why don't you try it on non-historical? Of course! Who doesn't want to restart a game a million times until they hit that 0.13% of games where Germany opposes Hitler, and pray you got the one where they decide to revive the Kaiserreich instead of going democratic, and then also make sure the decide to Focus on the true enemy instead of expatriating the communist, also make sure that in the absolute madness of non-historical nothing stupid happens while you do that like, I don't know, the soviets rushing you. Why did I never think of that?

Something is definitely wrong when you accidentaly get Hardly Anything Sèvres while trying to get this.

If I could get a wish granted, it would be to see the guy who thought of this achievement and designed it obtaining it. I would pay good money for that.

One of the biggest jokes they have done in a while

 

[AhmetJann]

I had to restart 21 time