What's a useful thing you know about HOI4

[Simon_9732495]

Recently this Forum saw this thread:

What's a useless thing you know about HOI4

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forum.paradoxplaza.com

It was great fun and I thought in a game as complex as HOI4 there might be a lot of things that are very useful but not "common knowledge".

I'd like to start with:

Design company bonus is not only applied to newly researched stuff but also to new variants

Took me 2000 hours to figure this out.
I can make a Fighter 1 with Design company agility bonus even if Fighter 1 is already researched at game start. I just have to select the design company and make a variant. *head explodes*


Or have you seen this Checkbox:

Checking the "Auto Upgrade" Checkbox on Tank (and ship) designs gives free designs with upgraded modules upon researching the module.
(Feedbackgaming did a Video (->

) on this, credits to him)

 

[Saevynn]

As UK you can get cores on USA if you completed "Unite the Anglosphere" focus, annexed the USA and gave its territories to Canada via decision, forming the Pan-North American State and then completed the Imperial Federation with Canada accepting the unification.

 

[Wellington]

A lot changed for me when I finally found out about support attack: CTRL + Right-click on the battle "bulb". The unit attacks but stay put in present province. Played only 1200 hours before I figured that out, by accident.

 

[jacekgk]

Cool, I was thinking about thread like this
From me - if You want to steal manpower from Your puppet, You can deploy them on Your own territory - event if it is not lighting this is very useful, if You want steal for example indonesian manpower - You don't have to move them from half of the world

 

[Ringwraith_JP]

A lot changed for me when I finally found out about support attack: CTRL-Right-click on the batle "bulb". The unit attacks but stay put in present province. Played only 1200 hours before I figured that out, by accident.

I know the feeling. To make matters worse, the "Support Attack" mechanic is old in the HoI series (since HoI2 at least, never played HoI1), but its so counterintuitive in HoI4 that for my first 1000 hours in the game I was mumbling about how the support attack mechanic from previous games was great and I couldn't understand why they had removed it from HoI4. They hadn't, just made it massively hard to find on your own.

 

[Wellington]

I know the feeling. To make matters worse, the "Support Attack" mechanic is old in the HoI series (since HoI2 at least, never played HoI1), but its so counterintuitive in HoI4 that for my first 1000 hours in the game I was mumbling about how the support attack mechanic from previous games was great and I couldn't understand why they had removed it from HoI4. They hadn't, just made it massively hard to find on your own.

It is actually written in plain English when one point at the "bubble". Maybe we should feel ashamed.

 

[Sunsteel]

Oh, look it's a spin-off of my thread. Anyways as fascist UK, you can form the EU and as Finland, you can peace out with the Soviets with a decision that gives you some land and renames Leningrad to Mannerheim.

 

[Ringwraith_JP]

It is actually written in plain English when one point at the "bubble". Maybe we should feel ashamed.

Well, it didn't work. Did it?

 

[Volbound]

One thing that I do that is not well known is with your ships, you can actually use a button where they will automatically join a fleet when they are done building.

You can even assign them to fleets on the other side of the globe and they will automatically join that fleet as soon as they are done with production instead of having to move them there.

I also use the Area Defense a lot for transporting armies to regions across the globe prior to the war. I play UK a lot so I will area defense so that when the army is done, I just click them into the division and they automatically take off to that area. It is also the best way to handle retreats. If France is losing the Battle of France and you have troops there, just cancel all orders and area defense South England, they will head back. This is especially true if you got the fast transportation option clicked. (I can't remember the name of the fast transportation option, it is the railroad button in the division screen).

 

[safe-keeper]

Holding the middle mouse button (IIRC) lets you pan the map. Hugely useful, and one of HoI4's "hidden features" lots of people don't know about.

edit: I mean the mouse wheel, obvs. Brainfart.

 

[Wellington]

Well, it didn't work. Did it?

Nope

 

[pro.gamer.69]

Design company bonus is not only applied to newly researched stuff but also to new variants

Took me 2000 hours to figure this out.
I can make a Fighter 1 with Design company agility bonus even if Fighter 1 is already researched at game start. I just have to select the design company and make a variant. *head explodes*

this is new to Barb which is why you probably never "noticed" before

CTRL-Right-click on the batle "bulb". The unit attacks but stay put in present province. Played only 1200 hours before I figured that out, by accident.

it doesn't have to be on the bulb, the province can be clicked too

 

[Simon_9732495]

this is new to Barb

You mean new since nsb?
Ok, that explains my surprise

 

[pro.gamer.69]

You mean new since nsb?
Ok, that explains my surprise

it was changed with the update "Barbarossa," so yes and no, it isn't a DLC feature or anything

 

[Simon_9732495]

Another one:

If you are attacked from a tile, you can’t right click the tile to attack it.
BUT you can still counterattack by clicking the tile behind and ordering your division to move through the tile it gets attacked from.
This can be very helpful…

 

[elektrizikekswerk]

You can chain commands with SHIFT. This includes switching between "Strategic" and "Normal" movement.

Assume you are Germany and invaded the US east coast. Now your progress gets stuck in the great plains. You want to reinforce.

1 Click on your freshly trained unit in Berlin.
2 Switch to Strategic movement
3 Right click on Wilhelmshaven to move it there.
4 Shift-Right click on the port (not province) of New York
5 Shift-Right click on any province near the front
6 Shift-Click on "Strat move" to toggle to normal movement
7a Shift-right click on frontline province (if you need it as a defender)
7b Shift-right click into enemy territory (if you need it as an attacker)

Result:
1 Unit is selected (duh)
2 Unit will now move strategically
3 Unit moves to WHV strategically
4 Unit will be transported to NYC by boat once it reached WHV
5 Unit will move strategically to that province once it reached NYC
6 Unit will now move normal once it reached target province
7a/b Unit will normally move to the front and defend/attack

This is very useful if you want to redeploy units without the need to constantly monitor them or to set up a battle plan involving them.

 

[Panther G]

This solved my naval XP shortage as Germany:
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/naval-experience-gain-by-training.1534372/

You can easily create 220 additional naval XP until September 1939 with very low fuel consumption.

In the Spanish Civial War and China you can create about 1.900 air XP.

Spanish Civial War:
1) Send only fighters, the maximum number from the start (don't go past 3:1 versus the Soviet planes). Raise that number, as your air force grows. Keep them as one squadron, until you have gained at least 3 aces. Then go for 100 planes per squadron.
2) Use the air superiority mission (day and night) versus the Soviet planes with later mostly 100% reliability planes (your Bf 109 variant).
3) Always use additional ground personal for them.
4) Make sure the SCW lasts as long as possible, July 1939 is enough for 1.900 air XP.
5) Check when the Soviets swap the air zone and relocate your planes and missions.

China:
1) Start with 200 fighters, then as the Chinese fighters are reduced, send tactical bombers, up to 500 or more.
2) Don't worry about bringing them back in time for Poland, they will be teleported back, once you declare war.

I can unlock all air doctrines with the full price of 100 XP, create a Bf 109 variant and do the air officer corp stuff. Ideally, you invest your first air XP into the Bf 109 variant, this will minimize your losses.

One very easy way to capture Malta as Germany is to use paratroopers from the most Western airfield in Greece. You just need to know, when the AI has no troops there.

I use 80% reliability planes only on day missions and 100% reliability planes on day and night. According to my experience, does going from day missions to day and night missions proportionally raise the losses on both sides, loss ratio nearly unchanged.

When the game runs extremely slow, I do zoom out to the maximum and then zoom in to the maximum, mostly the problem is then gone.

When you save the game before a new agent can be recruited and reload, then you get a different set of agents presented for recruitment.

ASW DDs do fight subs while retreating and subs fire torpedos while retreating.

There are big and small rivers, giving different penalties for combat.

 

[brantodb01]

Things I know that I also don't want patched out?

"Treading the Narrow Path" is really easy if you go minor democracies because you get a bunch of entrenchment and you can unite the benelux diplomatically

 

[LordWahu]

You can chain commands with SHIFT. This includes switching between "Strategic" and "Normal" movement.

Assume you are Germany and invaded the US east coast. Now your progress gets stuck in the great plains. You want to reinforce.

1 Click on your freshly trained unit in Berlin.
2 Switch to Strategic movement
3 Right click on Wilhelmshaven to move it there.
4 Shift-Right click on the port (not province) of New York
5 Shift-Right click on any province near the front
6 Shift-Click on "Strat move" to toggle to normal movement
7a Shift-right click on frontline province (if you need it as a defender)
7b Shift-right click into enemy territory (if you need it as an attacker)

Result:
1 Unit is selected (duh)
2 Unit will now move strategically
3 Unit moves to WHV strategically
4 Unit will be transported to NYC by boat once it reached WHV
5 Unit will move strategically to that province once it reached NYC
6 Unit will now move normal once it reached target province
7a/b Unit will normally move to the front and defend/attack

This is very useful if you want to redeploy units without the need to constantly monitor them or to set up a battle plan involving them.

I did not know you could shift click from land to port to port
Incredibly useful

 

[jacekgk]

Exploit alert - how to make naval invasion with one crappy submarine?

Everyone knows submarine spam as a META for naval invasion... but what if I tell You, that You can do succesful naval invasion with one (literally one) shitty submarine?
This is not the same as sneaky naval invasion, which I know and love

This is what You need to do:

1. Crucial thing: ask country, which You want to invade, for military access. For example, if You play as a warlord, You can declare war on nationalist China and ask Japan for military access.
2. Prepare naval invasion, but do not click "approve the plan" yet!
3. Justify on Your enemy.
4. Prepare naval invasion.
5. Ensure, that You have at least one ship per sea region. Give Your ships order: "support naval invasion".
6. Now You can click "approve the plan". Very important: ensure, that Your troops are on the sea.
7. Declare war.
8. Your troops will be landing, even if You have 1% naval supremacy.

Sorry, if it is known. I discovered this today as PRC and I think that will be my favourite strategy for warlords