Questions on Tojo Shot First achievement

[eastcoastceojam]

I'm trying for the "Tojo Shot First" Japan achievement. I was thinking I could deploy a nuke on Alaska or Hawaii to get the achievement, but those two states are non-core at the start of the game.

Obviously, I have years before I'll be ready to drop a nuke anywhere, and these states can become cores later in the game. Per the wiki: "Alaska and Hawaii are treated as colony states at the start, However, the US can take statehood decisions to grant them cores." https://hoi4.paradoxwikis.com/United_States#Diplomacy

Does the AI United States ever take this decision? If not, I guess I will have to nuke Washington or Oregon instead.

I started researching nukes in Jan 1936, and I'm taking every research speed boost I can get. Given that the US has more focuses to speed up research, is it possible for Japan to deploy a nuke before the US unlocks the Nuclear Bombs technology? Or does Japan usually have to annex or puppet the US in the early 1940s to get the bomb first?

 

[MattZed]

On historical focuses, no. Off of historical focuses, they prioritize it fairly low, but it's possible.

 

[eastcoastceojam]

On historical focuses, no. Off of historical focuses, they prioritize it fairly low, but it's possible.

Since both didn't become states until the 1950s, that was my assumption as well. Thanks for that confirmation!


Anyone know if this achievement is possible if you rush nukes as Japan, and don't attack the Philippines until the nukes are ready to drop in ~1944?

I assume that delaying the attacks on the Philippines, Malaya, and the DEI would prevent the USA from joining the Allies for quite a while. I'm playing with historical focuses on.

 

[Beil]

As I recall from many late game playthroughs and when I got the achievement The AI does not tend to rush nukes. So as long as you make a focused effort to have them on time/rush the last one this is not too hard to do. I think I just island hopped and was invading the west coast of the US when I got it done.

 

[Voigt]

When I tried it when the Achievment got out, it was only possible completly annexing USA to stop their research, research nukes yourself, and then release them and nuke them with bases in Mexico.

But this was before Man the Guns, maybe now US won't research Nukes so early anymore.

 

[eastcoastceojam]

After some practice runs, I can confirm that if Japan starts nuke research in Jan 1936, and rushes every tech that boosts research speed, you can get a deployable nuke by Jan 1945. This is with historical focuses on, vanilla game mode. In my experience, the USA doesn't unlock the nuclear bombs tech until May-June 1945. So that gives Japan a few months to get fighters and strat bombers to an airfield near a USA core state, so you can drop the big one.

My challenge now has been getting that airfield.

I tried naval invading British Colombia, but thanks to all those mountains, I can't seem to grab the airfield until after the US gets the nuke bombs, invalidating the achievement. Alaska and Hawaii are too far away from the lower 48, and while NW Canada is easy to take, but it has no airfields. Maybe I should try Mexico or the Caribbean instead, and target the US mainland from there? I also tried to get some of the fascist Latin American nations (Peru, El Salvador, Dominican Republic) to join my faction and give me military access, but none of them will accept even at 100 opinion and 100% world tension.

I'm not skilled enough yet to take over a major like the USA, so I was hoping I could sneak my way into this achievement without world conquest. Looks like I might be wrong.

 

[Matoro_TBS]

If conquering Hawaii isn't a problem, you could try to take Panama from there and then Puerto Rico. With the range from there you should be able to nuke dozens of US provinces.

 

[Ivankovsky]

If you find taking out the US too hard you can cheese this one a little, ask Germany to join the Axis, take out the Netherlands, this will give you some territory in South America, you can use that territory (after some upgrading) to stage a naval invasion on Florida and the Panama canal.
The US army early on is not that powerful, so the main challenge is the naval invasion itself, if you manage to get a foothold you should be able to overrun and encircle all they have.

 

[eastcoastceojam]

I was finally able to knock this one out without conquering the entire USA, but it probably would have been quicker if I just learned how to do massive trans-continental naval invasions instead. Here's how:

1. Purge the Kodoha Faction, but skip the focuses that lead to war with China.
   
2. Start Atomic Research in Jan 1936, and then rush each successive Nuke tech ASAP.
3. Prioritize Strategic Destruction Air Doctrine, Fighters, and Computing Engineering (for research speed boosts). Take the ahead-of-time penalties, and always choose the Air Superiority buffs on the doctrine tree.
4. For more research speed, hire the Nuclear Tech advisor, and switch to Free Trade.
5. With no war in China, events will make Manchukuo and Korea independent. Refuse any later requests to join their wars.
6. You can further avoid distractions by returning Taiwan and other occupied land to Communist China, so the Chinas will fight among themselves instead of you.
7. In 1943, you should be on the last nuke tech, and building as many reactors as you can. Boost fascist popularity in Canada, and plan a coup to start in Jan 1945. I chose to start the coup in British Colombia, which was a mistake, since they only have one tiny airfield. It would have been better to start the coup in Ottowa, since they have a multiple larger airfields there.
8. With 12+ reactors churning, I finished my first deployable nuke in Jan 1945, right before the coup launched in Canada.
9. Unitary Canada decided it would rather join the Axis instead of my faction, so I kicked everyone from the Japan faction, joined the Axis, and then joined Unitary Canada's war.
10. Fly your maxed out Fighters and Strat Bombers to Canada's airfield. Put them on the air zone that covers the Dakotas.
11. At this point, the USA has been neutral this whole time, but will join against Unitary Canada. Drop the bomb in South Dakota as soon as they join.

 

[pheonicia]

I just did it by justifying on the phillipines in 1936, taking out america, speed 5 till nukes are done, release usa puppet, declare on allies, wait for canada to take a province, drop nuke.

 

[eastcoastceojam]

I just did it by justifying on the phillipines in 1936, taking out america, speed 5 till nukes are done, release usa puppet, declare on allies, wait for canada to take a province, drop nuke.

Yes, this is definitely the more straightforward strategy, and similar to one mentioned in the wiki. I was thinking my no-war-until-1945 approach would be more relaxing, but it was actually quite frustrating trying to get a nearby airfield without any North American holdings.

My favorite dead end was on another save, when I got Cuba and their empty level 6 airfield (thanks generic focus tree!) to flip to fascism with a coup. But, since they have only a single state, there is no civil war that I can join. The new government refused to join my faction or any other, blocking my access to said airfield.

 

[karimjebari]

If you find the "annex the US in 1937 and wait on speed 5" strategy boring, I can recommend what I did:

* take out the Netherlands for the base in the Caribbean and the oik/rubber.
* boost fascism in the US to 5%. This blocks "the giant awakes" focus, which leads to the Manhattan project focus and deprives the US of a lot of civs, mils and a quick way to get rid of isolation.
* do whatever you want. I added Siam and Venezuela to my faction and attacked the soviets in 41.
* when you have the bomb, declare war quickly and bomb from your base in the Caribbean.

 

[Jenso]

When I tried it when the Achievment got out, it was only possible completly annexing USA to stop their research, research nukes yourself, and then release them and nuke them with bases in Mexico.

But this was before Man the Guns, maybe now US won't research Nukes so early anymore.

This is impossible. You can release USA but you can only release them as a puppet. And then you cant go to war against them! Its really annoying, all the guides on say "Do sunset invation, then release USA and go to war with them" but it seems that is impossible. You cant declare on a puppet. And you can only release them AS a puppet.

 

[Voigt]

When you release a nation there should be two checkboxes to toggle. One "Play As" and one "Release as Puppet". You should be able to uncheck both.

 

[Jenso]

Yes i realize that now, when it is too late. The interface in HOI 4 is one of the worst i know, but that "release nation" modal is the worst thing i have ever seen in gaming. Who ever made that should be ashamed of them self. Both professionally and personally. That stupid crap modal just cost me 8-10 hours and it finally broke my will to play HOI. Im done with this game.