Soldato
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Hearts of Iron 4
- Thread starter JimJoeRooney
- Start date
Soldato
You can actually justify as soon as you start the game, put all your troops on the front line, give them an attack order, when the justification is complete, just press go! Its pretty easy that way and Poland aren't guaranteed at that time either. Minimal effort.
Just watched this....absolutely dismantled the 7/2 "meta" that I may have to stop using it!! Opened my eyes a bit....
Mainly used because lots of old youtube guides were made before an arty nerf in 2018...
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Man of Honour
What he said /\ but just take into account once the new patch arrives you will need to adapt your division templates, so it would be wise to learn how they work.
So for instance, needing a more careful template for tricky terrain. No longer will you be able to get away with using an armoured division in the mountains..
Logistics should play a huge part and mulberry harbours can be constructed too but all that is for the future.
I rarely use 20 width now unless manpower is low. I prefer 24. It’s what The ai tends to field. Organisation tends to be higher and defensive capability is increased, so it offers more staying power. Important for the longer campaign.
Just some advice to begin with, build fighters. Try and understand air superiority. Understand doctrines as these are incredibly important, not just for infantry but air and navy too. But focus first on what’s important to you.
So for instance, needing a more careful template for tricky terrain. No longer will you be able to get away with using an armoured division in the mountains..
Logistics should play a huge part and mulberry harbours can be constructed too but all that is for the future.
I rarely use 20 width now unless manpower is low. I prefer 24. It’s what The ai tends to field. Organisation tends to be higher and defensive capability is increased, so it offers more staying power. Important for the longer campaign.
Just some advice to begin with, build fighters. Try and understand air superiority. Understand doctrines as these are incredibly important, not just for infantry but air and navy too. But focus first on what’s important to you.
Man of Honour
I read a while back that the old 7x2 is now redundant. It’s still relevant if you have low manpower but maybe use integrated artillery.
Soldato
Yeah, actually, I found it really useful as Yugoslavia when taking over Romania as my manpower was so low, a 7/2 was a good way of having more divisions as I had pumped a good chunk of my factories in arty.
I've also tended never to really use any 40 width templates too much or used anti-air either. In fact, I've never every had a game where I've built anti-air - I know it also offers piercing too.
I kind of find it difficult with air power and anti-air in gauging quite how much of an impact it has. I can obviously see on regions how many fighters I tend to shoot down against our losses in real-time, but that's about it really. I struggle with the "deep dive" into the stats for battles and tend to just sledge hammer it half the time (more>better!). Simplifies things bit isn't necessarily optimum.
I've also tended never to really use any 40 width templates too much or used anti-air either. In fact, I've never every had a game where I've built anti-air - I know it also offers piercing too.
I kind of find it difficult with air power and anti-air in gauging quite how much of an impact it has. I can obviously see on regions how many fighters I tend to shoot down against our losses in real-time, but that's about it really. I struggle with the "deep dive" into the stats for battles and tend to just sledge hammer it half the time (more>better!). Simplifies things bit isn't necessarily optimum.
Man of Honour
Have you seen the new upcoming Soviet tree dev diary? It's absolutely enormous. Should be good.
Some people don't bother with AT, and instead focus on AA. The level III AA is almost as powerful as late AT and much cheaper to build, plus it can shoot down aircraft. I still build both however, depending on my nation. AA has a fairly substantial impact - if you have a support company in your division you will see its benefit - its a few percent of the attack/defend, so it's definitely worth investing in.
You're not the only one who thinks like that, but with the new patch/DLC everything will change, so I'd imagine our strategies will have to change too. It will be like a new game, which is a bit daunting, but cool after so many years.
Some people don't bother with AT, and instead focus on AA. The level III AA is almost as powerful as late AT and much cheaper to build, plus it can shoot down aircraft. I still build both however, depending on my nation. AA has a fairly substantial impact - if you have a support company in your division you will see its benefit - its a few percent of the attack/defend, so it's definitely worth investing in.
You're not the only one who thinks like that, but with the new patch/DLC everything will change, so I'd imagine our strategies will have to change too. It will be like a new game, which is a bit daunting, but cool after so many years.
Associate
I've got about 220 hours into the game and think it's absolutely incredible. A mate of mine got it so we've been hammering multiplayer the last month or so. I tend to watch FeedbackGaming on youtube as he's quite funny and has really helped me understand the mechanics of the game a lot better, even though I still play on Civilian difficulty 
Soldato
Feedback tends to go for the really extreme loophole finding methods, or at least lately. I love Bitt3rSteel though, he's so engaging. Some people just think of methods and gameplans way above my level of brainpower!
The Soviet update looks absolutely immense, but I've only really played one game as Soviets as I found them pretty hard (see my earlier post on the topic!!). Most looking forward to railways and supply mechanics as well as Mulberry Harbours. When the game is towards the later years it can be almost impossible to naval invade a port.
Cannot wait for them to revamp Italy though. HOI4 will be pretty much complete after that.
The Soviet update looks absolutely immense, but I've only really played one game as Soviets as I found them pretty hard (see my earlier post on the topic!!). Most looking forward to railways and supply mechanics as well as Mulberry Harbours. When the game is towards the later years it can be almost impossible to naval invade a port.
Cannot wait for them to revamp Italy though. HOI4 will be pretty much complete after that.
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Soldato
I've got about 220 hours into the game and think it's absolutely incredible. A mate of mine got it so we've been hammering multiplayer the last month or so. I tend to watch FeedbackGaming on youtube as he's quite funny and has really helped me understand the mechanics of the game a lot better, even though I still play on Civilian difficulty
Is that the easiest difficulty? Take the step up to normal or whatever it is. I played at easiest level for a while but didn't really notice much difference moving up. I dont move it any harder than I have to when achievement hunting though.
On achievements, I reckon i have another 15 in me, after which the last 17 or so might be painfully soul crushing.
Alright so I went and bought the base game on the current Humble Bundle deal for 74p. Feel free to go through the thread to dig up the post where I say I would never ever buy this game, based on how dumbed down it looked compared to my beloved HOI3 
It will probably still sit in my steam library unplayed for several years, but at least it has found itself there now.
It will probably still sit in my steam library unplayed for several years, but at least it has found itself there now.
Man of Honour
I wouldn't necessarily say dumbed down. More "abstracted" in parts. I believe it's a more complete game than HOI3. I do miss the extreme micro management however, but I can see why it was removed to account for the majority of players.
Italy will be coming, but not until next year at the earliest I'd say, although I'd love to be corrected on that. The south american continent needs some love, as does Finland and Norway/Sweden.
Italy will be coming, but not until next year at the earliest I'd say, although I'd love to be corrected on that. The south american continent needs some love, as does Finland and Norway/Sweden.
Soldato
Some other cool game mechanics they could do could be land minefields that maybe inhibit enemy movement speed or cause attrition, or some kind of scorched earth mechanic would be cool.
I'd also quite like to see if there could be some kind of commando raid / special forces mechanics that could be implemented. They could be sent in to destroy an airfield on a tile, or a port, or infrastructure, or rail bridges, etc. and could use PP and equipment to implement a plan.
Or maybe even to disrupt peoples research trees through commando raids or special operations....e.g. dambusters, SAS desert raids, Doolittle, heavy water attacks, attack on sub-pens, Bismark breakout, etc. I don't know how that could be implemented, but it could be quite fun.
Naval ports could be better implemented too. You cannot base your fleet in one place necessarily, sometimes they go to whichever port was nearest rather than having a home base. Maybe some ports could be fortified (e.g. sub pens) - maybe make sub pens the only facilities that can repair damaged submarines, for example.
I'd also quite like to see if there could be some kind of commando raid / special forces mechanics that could be implemented. They could be sent in to destroy an airfield on a tile, or a port, or infrastructure, or rail bridges, etc. and could use PP and equipment to implement a plan.
Or maybe even to disrupt peoples research trees through commando raids or special operations....e.g. dambusters, SAS desert raids, Doolittle, heavy water attacks, attack on sub-pens, Bismark breakout, etc. I don't know how that could be implemented, but it could be quite fun.
Naval ports could be better implemented too. You cannot base your fleet in one place necessarily, sometimes they go to whichever port was nearest rather than having a home base. Maybe some ports could be fortified (e.g. sub pens) - maybe make sub pens the only facilities that can repair damaged submarines, for example.
Man of Honour
Land mines have been debated before, but we may see something a bit more scorchy when the DLC drops. The raids are already implemented via the La Resistance DLC. You can sabotage etc.
Now, the naval side is complex and I'm still learning my way. Each port can only repair a certain number of ships - so if the nearest port is full your damaged fleet will go elsewhere. You can control how many naval bases do the repairs at the cost of dockyards working on building ships. I'm guessing you knew that already? You can already fortify naval bases too, effective against naval invasions. But I like your idea of being able to micro a bit more.
Now, the naval side is complex and I'm still learning my way. Each port can only repair a certain number of ships - so if the nearest port is full your damaged fleet will go elsewhere. You can control how many naval bases do the repairs at the cost of dockyards working on building ships. I'm guessing you knew that already? You can already fortify naval bases too, effective against naval invasions. But I like your idea of being able to micro a bit more.
Soldato
Hey @philstanbridge got any ideas? I'm thinking I might go for the axis!!
Trying to complete Bad Romance - puppet Romania, Italy and Soviet Union....! Eeeek!
Trying to complete Bad Romance - puppet Romania, Italy and Soviet Union....! Eeeek!
Soldato
Well, the above run messed up about 5 mins after that screenshot and had to start again!
Basically, as soon as you occupy the border states of Romania with Russia, the Soviets start justifying on you, followed by the Italians, which makes this run terminal.
However, what I have found is that you can release Romania as a puppet with about 10 days to go with the Soviets justification - this voids their justification and they are no longer an issue anymore. The Romanians still cede Bessarabia to the Soviets, but you are safe for now, until Italy justifies via a focus. This gives you enough breathing room to build up your armies and I've managed to recruit lots of 14/4 divisions (they absolutely tear the AI in half). I've created my own faction with Yugoslavia (& Hungary and Romania) and we are just holding the north Yugoslavian border against relentless German attacks. I've inflicted over 1 million casualties already for <30k losses. I'm going to keep this going until Barbarossa (presuming that the Germans continue down that focus) at which point their forces will be really thin and I should be able to invade Italy and puppet them.
The next point will be to attack the Soviets. Hmmmmm. Could be interesting that - but again will use 14/4s and hope they keep smashing their head against the Byzantine wall!!
Basically, as soon as you occupy the border states of Romania with Russia, the Soviets start justifying on you, followed by the Italians, which makes this run terminal.
However, what I have found is that you can release Romania as a puppet with about 10 days to go with the Soviets justification - this voids their justification and they are no longer an issue anymore. The Romanians still cede Bessarabia to the Soviets, but you are safe for now, until Italy justifies via a focus. This gives you enough breathing room to build up your armies and I've managed to recruit lots of 14/4 divisions (they absolutely tear the AI in half). I've created my own faction with Yugoslavia (& Hungary and Romania) and we are just holding the north Yugoslavian border against relentless German attacks. I've inflicted over 1 million casualties already for <30k losses. I'm going to keep this going until Barbarossa (presuming that the Germans continue down that focus) at which point their forces will be really thin and I should be able to invade Italy and puppet them.
The next point will be to attack the Soviets. Hmmmmm. Could be interesting that - but again will use 14/4s and hope they keep smashing their head against the Byzantine wall!!
Soldato
Also, I've been trying out new things. I've been using the support anti-air in my divisions to protect against a vastly superior air force but also give me that piercing to get their early tanks. Another is that I've been using maintenance companies within my 14/4s and 7/2s in order to capture a higher percentage of enemy equipment and I think its been working!
Soldato
Bad Romeance completed - with the help of the allies I absolutely smashed Germany and because I wasn't in a faction with them I got to keep most of Italy and a bit of Vichy France. Next up was Soviets who capitulated easily and by the end of 1944 I had Soviets, Italy and Romania as puppets! Another one in the bag.
101/132
101/132
Man of Honour
Yes, experimenting is key, but remember soon we will all need to re learn it. A lot will change behind the scenes I expect. Maintenance is also good in high attrition areas like jungle,swamps and deserts. When ou say 14/4 what is your composition? Is that 4 arty brigades per division?
Soldato
Yeah, 4 arty to 14 infantry, support arty, support engineers, maintenance company and support anti air.
Man of Honour
I thought arty was nerfed though? What about engineers? Also, which doctrine do you follow? I tend to favour Superior Firepower, but it's not suited to all nations.