I absolutely understand I am one of the last people able to give people advice about this game, particularly accomplished content creators, but I am going to offer something up anyway. I know you don't like fiddling with Navy, but separating your subs off from everything else will make them both much better. Once they are trained put the subs in the most obvious regions for convoy raiding and leave them until your major enemy changes. For this run through the only other thing I do is pull about 40 DDs and put them in Roti so they can secure Aegean supremacy later, then split the main fleet in two so one can cover Cent Med, and one East Med, when invasion time happens.
bellissimo video, complimenti sia per l'uso della lingua che per le spiegazioni chiare. Nonostante duri 3 ore e mezza è comunque abbastanza scorrevole. Grandissimo compà
Uno dei migliori video che abbia mai visto su HOI IV, assurdo come fai sembrare semplici cose complicatissime dove io impazzisco ahahahah, finisco questo e mi sparo i tuoi tutorial
Conquering Ethiopia in early 1936 is the really important part, since as was mentioned in the video, if the player doesn't conquer Ethiopia fast enough, then Ethiopia can form a government in exile. The really bad thing about Ethiopia forming a government in exile is that a government in exile can eventually join a democratic alliance, and then be used as a pretext for a democracy to declare war against Italy. Making things a little bit worse, even though 1936 is a leap year, there is never a February 29 in Hearts of Iron 4, so the player has 1 day less than he might think to get a victory over Ethiopia before the game autosave that happens at the end of February 1936, which is a good time frame to try and meet in order to get on faster with beginning the attempt to re-create the Roman Empire. As was mentioned in the video, making use of the Italian colonial airfields near Ethiopia is really useful, and not just for the close air support value. More specifically, when one puts the enemy into a position of having 0% Air Superiority, enemy army divisions can have a 35% penalty to Breakthrough and Defense, and a 25% penalty to Speed. There is an option, for the sake of improved close air support damage, of assigning extra personnel to airfields, resulting in 10 percentage points of improvement to the Air Mission Efficiency of all airwings - including the close air support airwings. Also, if the Addis Ababa airfield or Harar airfield gets conquered from the south (or from the north, which is also possible), either of those two airfields are in excellent geographical position compared to the southern airfield to give some close air support in making the final series of attacks in Ethiopia. Small airframe airplanes have poor range, so an airfield with a good geographical position is especially valuable. A close air support airwing cannot drop bombs outside of its combat radius circle, often eventually resulting in the close air support from the southern airfield eventually becoming useless when the southern front advances far enough north into Ethiopia.
You are welcome. One note of caution regarding extra ground crews in an airzone is that, like a High Command or Chief of Navy or Chief of Air Force position that might not really be needed to be filled anymore, having extra ground crews in an airzone will lower the upper limit on Command Power by 20, until removed. As such, once the fighting is done in Ethiopia (hopefully in late February 1936), the extra ground crews should be removed in any Ethiopian airzone that you placed them in. The airzone that has the northern airfield will be the most likely airzone to have been given extra ground crews, but maybe the southern airzone got extra ground crews for the less important southern airfield, and maybe once you conquered one of the central airfields you put extra aircrew in that airzone as well in order to improve the chances of conquering Ethiopia before Ethiopia potentially on March 11 1936 completes its focus to have a chance at a government in exile. That's a potential unintended total reduction of 60 Command Power across 3 airzones if one forgets to turn off the extra ground crews option after the fighting is done in Ethiopia in early 1936. There might also be a user interface problem if one forgets until after the airwings have been sent back to Italy from Ethiopia. If that user interface problem occurs, it only takes 1 airplane stationed on some airfield in an airzone to be able again to turn off extra ground crews in that airzone. Even an incomplete airwing is good enough. Normally, invoking the extra air crews option is often not worth the risk of forgetting to turn back off that option when no longer needed, but in the case of Ethiopia, achieving a quick victory is important enough to take that risk.
You make awesome videos! Keep doing this awesome job! Also, I think you should start doing non guide runs, like doing memey and fun stuff, I think people would really like it but that’s up to you. Either way thanks for helping me learn the game!
Thank you so much for your comment! I really like the idea, I wish I had more time to dedicate to this project! Hopefully the channel will keep growing well and I will be able to make it my main occupation!
I have been having the strangest issues with the naval invasion... First run through I got all the way through to starting the naval invasion before I realized there were no units assigned to it. I have no idea why. I had convoys, and I only used 10 divisions, so it wasn't that. I restarted the game and got to setting up the pairs of divisions in each of the regions. I put two pairs on the first two target tiles, then when I placed the third instead of doing what it was supposed to, it replaced one of the existing two invasion paths I already set up. I tried half a dozen times and it kept doing the same thing. What I finally got to work was putting 2 pairs of divisions in Messina, 1 in Catania, 1 in Palermo, and 1 in Reggio Calabria and setting them up from all 4 naval bases. Now all 5 invasions are finally set, but they all say 0 transports assigned. I'm going to have to save the game here so I don't go through that again. Any idea why I couldn't just send them all from Messina like you did?
@@davidpiening3827 hi! Naval invasions can be a little tricky... First if all, make sure that the divisions you are assigning to the naval invasion do not have any other order (like a fallback line). So cancel all orders before assigning them. Then make sure that you click an empty space in the province of Messina every time you assign a group of 2. If you misclick and select an existing group of 2, it will cancel their command and give them a new one instead. Zoom in to make sure you are clicking the right thing, and check that all 10 divisions are assigned to the invasion.
@@MachiavellianStrategist This guide definitely still works. Using your guide Italy is an absolute beast. So much fun I've started a second run. Italy is definitely my favourite power to play now. Also, your voice is very easy to listen to even on repeat, as I have watched this video many times. Thank you so much for your massive contribution to the HOI fan base.
The fact that I play HOI4 on Toaster and the game seems so hard to be a decent player, made me not try it too much, however, I like this game and with this guide, I'll try to give it a try again. Thank you or the content!
@@MachiavellianStrategist honestly I have had absolutely no problems in my run so far. I have just secured North Africa, everything has worked exactly as you have shown in your guide. I can tell you have really optimised this run and I'm looking forward to browsing all your other vids after this.
@@jylehansen7328 I'm really glad to hear that! You can find several country guides in the same Playlist. For Germany I also made a step by step guide similar to this one!
@@MachiavellianStrategist I really appreciate that you keep the unedited versions of your videos. I enjoyed the confederacy USA video. Would love to see some Scandinavian strategies.
Amazing video, thanks to you I play again with this game also if I don’t have all DLCs. I tried several time in those days to replicate your game, but I have at least three issues: - I’m not able to complete Balkan Wars within the end of 37, but 4-5 months later (that means 5 months less on preparation) - in WW2 French defense is very strong (I used your templates). You look you a knife in the butter 😂 - After WW2 Vichy French is a German puppet, declare war on it means a war with Germany… no thanks! Are there any actions that I miss? I will try again in the next week, your guides are very accurate! Ora che mi è tornata la voglia di HoI4 sei diventato praticamente il mio canale preferito delle ultime settimane, continua così!
Ciao! Thank you so much for you comment, I'm really glad you enjoyed the guide! As for the issues you mentioned: - do not worry about the timing for the Balkan wars, it might take a little practice to take them down faster but it's no big deal if it takes you a little longer! - I never really had issues with the French defenses, however, in the earlier versions of this guide I used not to push them so much in the south. The Germans (with your aid) will eventually take them from the north in any case. Maybe you lack the right fighters and CAS? They are very important to get that push done! The only difference is that you will have a bit less warscore for the peace conference, but you will still have plenty to get the stuff you need for the Roman Empire! - I've never seen Vichy France becoming a German puppet, that's very strange! Usually they are just guaranteed by Germany. You can attack them while you are in the Axis, so that Germany cannot help them. Let me know how it goes!
Grazie! Yes, in my version (I don’t remember the DLC name) Vichy France is a German Puppet and is a axis member. In this case is more difficult because I’m absolutely not ready to face Germany…I you want, I can send a picture on instagram to show it. Another question: what if Spain become communist? Also in this case there is a risk of Russian intervention. Thanks again!
@@MachiavellianStrategist I did it, thanks! I’ve been lucky in a few situations, but I created Roman Empire and then, step by step I conquered all the world within 1949. It’s been funny! Grazie ancora
wow i never knew that you could puppet east africa through the focus tree.... i guess i just dont pay attention to some of these things. thank you for teaching me a new trick!
Couple of observations. First, England is definitely harder to crack now that the update dropped. Ground war was harder but still the issue was not in doubt. Getting naval superiority though? A bloodbath. I lost almost all my subs and destroyers, and a number of cruisers and a battlecruiser. Finally got the invasion landed but wow, my navy is in bad shape for future campaigns, even with what remained of the UK fleet. Second, every time I have tried to run this scenario, Hungary allies with Axis and I can't justify on them. Don't know how you stop that. Finally, I did multiple reloads but could never get Vichy France or Spain as part of the losing side. I'm going to have a whole different war just to get those two nations. Don't know why.
@@davidpiening3827 yep I would expect the invasion of the UK to be much harder, should be fun though! The royal navy should suffice for our future naval needs. As for Hungary, they always join the Axis if you reload the game, it's okay though, you can join leave an extra army there when you take down the Axis.
Thank you for these guides! One thing that would be helpful is if when you use dlc mechanics you just mention if its essential or if its ok to continue without doing that specific bit i.e. collab on turkey. Love the videos thank you for the soviet guide as well
Thank you for your comment! You are right, I usually try to mention it if a dlc is absolutely needed. But usually the overall strategies work even without most of them. The collaboration government is a good example, it makes things a bit easier and faster, but it is absolutely not mandatory. Same for plane and tank designers. The only really mandatory dlcs are the ones directly affecting the focus trees. That being said, I was actually planning to try a run completely without dlcs, to see how it feels!
@@killerdc1165 they could actually just implement the same exact system they are using for MIOs, it would be pretty convenient. It could be done for researches too possibly. The next step could be to allow players to save and load their preferred "builds" so that you do not need to do it every time.
@@MachiavellianStrategist I 1000% agree, I’m about to reach my 1000th hour and I’ve been wanting a feature like this. It becomes a bit tedious having to go back and click through the focus tree and the focuses you want every time one finishes. I believe that a feature like that would definitely simplify gameplay even a little with how confusing hoi4 can be between everything. I appreciate the content btw, I followed up with your napoleon guide and it was super effective. I’ve done it before but yours made it look easy 😂 much love bro
Thank you!! I would really like to make a guide about the Byzantine Empire. Actually, I was planning to make a guide for each formable nation in the game at some point! I hope I will find the time to do it soon!
@@JohnSmith-el2ct I can't want to make it too! As well as some achievements series! The future of the channel is looking good, we just need to be patient a bit longer!
Initially I decided to delete all air wings and just reform them at the African bases. They show up January 3rd after which I combine them and launch the air war. Saves almost a week.
That's a good suggestion! The only issue with disbanding and recreating air wings is that they lose the xp they had. But since this is at the very beginning of the run it should not be a problem!
Attempted this for the first time, unfortunately Germany randomly declared war on Hungary just before Danzig or War, so they didn't immediately declare on Poland and it messed up the timings :(
That happened to me too, although very rarely. It usually happens when you reload the game after (or during) the wars in the Balkans. However, you should have a claim on France and Poland, you can use them to start the war yourself if Germany is not doing it. Then they will all join the Allies and you will be able to attack Poland from Germany. You can still take Hungary in the peace conference too!
Great content as always! I think one of the most cured channels on the topic. Do you have (or plan to have) any guide to share a strategy as Italy, after WWII, to invade Germany? This one ends right before it, and if IIRC your video on Italian Barbarossa starts right after it.... I'm struggling with what's in the middle: how to defeat Germany to fully reintegrate cores connected to the Roman Empire (plus some more) and puppet the rest of Germany, before starting against URSS and then against USA... big plans here :D
Thank you! I think this is the video you are looking for: th-cam.com/video/BHh3ePJv3Co/w-d-xo.html Unfortunately, I do not have an unedited version for this one, so might decide to continue this Roman Empire run with more unedited videos!
@@MachiavellianStrategist thanks a lot! maybe it's just valuable to me, but assembling an end to end Roman Empire "over the world" playlist, from Ethiopia to only superpower, would be fantastic! With this piece here I think we'd miss only to see Romans vs Japan and USA (unless you did it already and I missed it?)... Something like 1. First steps, 2. WWII, 3. Germany, 4. URSS, 5. & 6. for Japan and USA (no idea in which order).
@@ettoredemaio1830 It is one of my oldest series! An updated version would be nice indeed, but meanwhile you can check these out: - Rome VS Germany: th-cam.com/video/rsLFlY10qn8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=0oKPxKz-Yv9wZAPU - Rome VS The USSR: th-cam.com/video/iKDmUuMyIjk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=UWTC3j9HUi_ibvM0 - Rome VS The US: th-cam.com/video/GAJUAr3rfkE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=X2W59pAwSHntVpmo - Rome VS Japan: th-cam.com/video/yX6YXd_ASwg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=azbD7GgRC9jSsLBA
This is probably one of the best if not the best guides for beginners. My first few attempts with Italy didn't go well, but following this guide I managed to revive the roman empire first try. Even though it was in civilian difficulty. Now I have the confidence to do it in regular difficulty. Thank you again for this wonderful guide.
@@ICBM_launcher thank you so much for your comment! I'm very glad to hear that! There are now more step by step guides available on the channel, for Germany and for the USSR!
Couple more observations. First the game is telling me I don't control all the north african states in the med and all Libyan cores when I appear to have annexed the entire African continent aside from Liberia. Must be missing something but I can't find it. Second, both times I did this run after capping Vichy and Spain I am somehow at war with Brazil. Does this happen to you?
@@davidpiening3827 hi! Liberia is not needed for the Roman Empire, there must be something else missing along the coast (you actually only need the coastal provinces to form the Roman Empire). Brazil joins the Allies at some point during the war, but that usually happens much later, did you finish WW2 around the same time as I did?
I'm fairly new to the game and watched quite a few videos about how it works yours is definitely informative. I'm curious if these strategies work well if you don't have the dlcs. Particularly the Ethiopia one
Thank you! I plan to attempt a no-dlc run because I am curious myself. I actually never played the game entirely without dlcs! For this strategy in particular I believe "By Blood Alone" is quite important, since it directly affects the Italian focus tree. Some other dlcs are convenient but not absolutely necessary!
@@MachiavellianStrategist Understandable I only just got it and I'm still uncertain about adding more to the game when I'm still just only getting to know the basics
@@story_appreciator6666 it totally makes sense! I think I will also make a basic tutorial for new players with all dlcs off in future! By the way, for when you decide to get some of them, I made a dlc tier list a while ago (arms against tyranny is not in it):th-cam.com/video/SjF3RdpB9xs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=jbXZ5zKZC92yNYjd
The optimization progress is quite time consuming, but it is also gratifying to create and share highly optimized guides! And the feedback I get from you guys is amazing!
**somehow** I pacified ethiopia without making it a puppet and also did "italy first" alongside most of this. I managed to even squeeze in a conquest of austria but it was really close lol
Thank you! I would say that Turkey is the only fairly tough opponent in the Balkans (Romania too, but not if we quickly take them from Bulgaria). If you get both naval invasions done, and you grind them a bit, they will collapse in the end!
Great video! I’m super new to the game. I’m in the early stage (May 1936, after winning the war against Ethiopia) and I realised that none of the infantry actually trained because there is a severe lack of artillery. How do you produce it so quickly for the new troops? If the deficit continues I’m afraid that I won’t have enough troops for the future wars….
Hi! First of all, welcome to hoi4! It can be tough at first but it is a great game, it will be a lot of fun once you start getting its mechanics! As for your question, by may 1936 it is impossible to produce a lot of artillery, do you find it to be very different from the one I have in my video? Did you follow my guide in terms of production too? (like how many factories to each equipment) Are you still using the default starting templates for your divisions? (you should be using the default ones for now) Let me know how it goes, I'll try to help whenever I can! Consider joining our discord maybe, other player can also give you useful advices!
Hi again! Thank you for your response! It seems like the problem resolved by itself, it was just a matter of production efficiency. Now that I advanced a bit, one thing that differs from your guide is that a civil war has started in Yugoslavia in January 1938. How should I manage this?
Realy good guide, i`m trying to recreate roman empire for a long time... But i have many questions, and some of Them: How you breaked alps??? And:How you invaded vichy france????!!! I`m also readed coments, one guy got the same questions, how you just can invade vichy france that is in axis and protectorat of Germany? I may need La resistant?So it is things that make me sufer even with this guide, anyways this video much better then others)
@@Мохнаболотах thank you! First of all, let me say that breaking through the Alps and into France is absolutely not necessary. It is cool to do, and it will give you a higher final score, but you can still claim everything you need in the peace conference even without doing it. Invading Vichy France later on is easier because they don't have many divisions. For these pushes I used my offensive infantry divisions (both 27w and 30w) perform very very well! I would recommend watching my best templates guide (you can find it on the channel). Let me know if you have any more questions!
@@MachiavellianStrategist I think i will do something with it, and i`m also don`t interested in high war score, i found 30% and a bit less war score is enough. But what is with Vichy France?How it possible(i`m edited my original coment where i described all before this coment)
@@Мохнаболотах about Vichy France, they are actually not in the Axis, and they are not a protectorate of Germany. They are just guaranteed by Germany, but if you attack them while you are in the Axis, Germany will not be able to intervene.
@@Мохнаболотах really? You mean that without it Vichy France is an actual puppet of Germany? I did not know that... But you can still take Vichy France from Germany when you attack them!
I was slightly ahead of your guide because the war in turkey and Greece went a bit faster but interestingly Romania joined the allies. Not sure what I could do to prevent it from happening.
Hi! Romania joining the Allies is something that can happen if you reload the game at any point after starting that series of wars. You can avoid it by either not reloading, defeating Romania before Turkey, or waiting until Romania becomes non-aligned before capitulating Turkey. I dedicated one if my first videos to it: th-cam.com/video/ekyvfND6kLw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=qivSnXiRzZcxHtYP It is a bit old, but still valid!
You can first form EU as Italy by just chain fighting everyone in Europe and by switching to Dem after you conquer every necessary territory. Then you can go and form the Roman Empire with the focus tree. This should be all doable by 1937-8
It is indeed possible to form the Roman Empire a lot earlier than I did in this guide, but that usually involves either cheesy tactics (spamming paratroopers on victory points and/or being a very pro player). I think the strategy I shared in this video has 2 main advantages over that: - it is very easy and consistent, even newer players can succeed. - it does not abuse any game mechanics. And well, I think it is also more fun, but that is subjective!
I believe that is mostly rng related, sometimes Hungary joins the Axis early, sometimes not at all, and sometimes it is Germany which declares war on them. But that should not affect our overall strategy, so nothing to worry about. You might have to send a few more divisions and maybe build some forts to protect against the Axis when you decide to go after Germany.
Nothing special, other than the advisor and the Professional Officer Corps spirit. There is a little bit of rng in how much army experience you get, but with Italy we fight a lot, so I'm sure you will have enough for everything necessary by the beginning of WW2!
Invading Turkey is such a pain, I can never successfully land and if I do it’s short lived and get encircled. Oddly I beat Greece and Ethiopia a bit quicker than you so I don’t think it’s a skill issue
@@ZejnMikail hi, Turkey is the hardest of our opponents for sure. There is also a little bit of rng involved. If you have a save try naval invading in different areas to see if you can find a weak spot. The early phases of the invasion are the toughest, but eventually you will break them!
Hi, thank you! It is normal that the fuel drops to 0 from time to time, the debuff is relevant in general but in our case we are not actively engaging with our navy, we only have limited planes and virtually not tanks, so you do not need to worry about it!
is there a reason you don't annex Albania before attacking the Balkans/Greece? It seems like maybe the Greek war would go quicker if you invaded them from both the north and the east/south with naval invasions, no? I'm not a "noob" but I'm just plain bad at the game. I've tried recreating the Roman Empire numerous times and something always inevitably goes wrong. I guess I have to stop playing in ironman mode and just save it every 10 minutes because it's getting old going back to the beginning after screwing something up. Anyways, thanks for the guide. I'll keep trying!
I've also seen, and agree, that getting Turkey as part of the Balkan wars is tough for people who aren't as good at the game as you. Do you think it's a viable strategy to just get Greece, Romania, and Bulgaria, and then save Turkey for when WWII starts, and time it so you can get them at the peace conference?
Hi! It's a matter of timing and world tension. If we take Albania first, there is a good chance that the world tension will be above 25% when we go after the others (Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania) and the UK might guarantee/join against us. Also, the terrain from Albania is very bad, so we would surely get stuck in the mountains and struggle to advance from the north (exactly like the real Italy did). A couple of naval invasions are the best way to go against Greece in my opinion. About Turkey, I agree that it is the toughest of those wars. I think it is very good practice for learning the game, but I would also recommend against going Ironman while you are still not confident you can do it (you can test it a few times first and then go Ironman). Leaving them for WW2 should be doable, I only see 2 issues with that: - we will need to spend additional points during the final peace conference, meaning we might be unable to take some other things. - taking Bulgaria and Romania without having capitulated Turkey might prove to be challenging. Other than that, it is an experiment worth trying! If you do try, let me know how it goes! And good luck with the Roman Empire, don't give up! The glory of Rome is eternal!
@@MachiavellianStrategist Thanks so much. I was able to annex Albania and attack Greece from there as well-- I think it did it right after Yugoslavia submitted to the the ultimatum so I probably just got lucky with the timing since it didn't spike world tension enough for anyone to call the Allies into the Balkans wars (thankfully I didn't get stuck in the mountains too badly). I still struggled with Turkey, but I eventually got them. I followed the rest of your excellent guide and was finally able to create Rome for the first time. I've watched many hoi4 channels, and I feel like I've only actually gotten better at the game by watching yours. I really appreciate your long and unedited runs-- they are extremely easy to follow, and your English is also fantastic and extremely easy to understand. Thanks so much!
@@SmytheAlbert thank you so much for your nice comment! I'm really glad the guide was helpful too, I will surely make more step-by-step unedited runs in future!
This was a great guide but right after I capitulated Turkey Romania joined the Allies. I don't know if I did something wrong or if I capitulated them too early (Oct. 8th) But I hope this is something that is Easily fixed, do you know anything I could do? Thank you!
Hi! I covered this issue in a dedicated video, it is an old one, but nothing changed since then. Here is the link: th-cam.com/video/ekyvfND6kLw/w-d-xo.html The good new is that there are multiple ways to prevent it from happening (not reloading the game after starting the war, taking down Romania before Turkey, delaying the capitulation of Turkey until Romania turns non-aligned in DEC 1937). The bad news is that if it has already happened, and you do not have an older save, it cannot be fixed, and it will be a major issue. Let me know how it goes!
I'm really glad it was helpful! I will try to make more step by step guides in future! Germany will be next since I already have the strategy (although I'm making some improvements)!
Hi, I really liked this guide, kept me awake during class 😂😂 however I have one question. In my run I was able to annex all the territories needed to form the Roman Empire however after researching mare nostrum, the decision to form the Roman Empire never appears. Is this because I’m playing the game without any DLC? Or is there something else I’m doing wrong. Thanks
Hahaha I had not thought about that potential use for my videos! Great job with getting all the land (without DLCs it is actually harder to do so!). Unfortunately, you are right, you need either Waking the Tiger or By Blood Alone for the option to reform the Roman Empire to appear. If you want my personal opinion, By Blood Alone is actually a good DLC, so I'd consider getting it.
@@MachiavellianStrategist haha thanks for the quick response, it actually encouraged me to get all the DLCS and while I was able to now form the empire, I've unlocked so many new things. Its kinda overhwelming but im excited to learn about using them. Do you have a video talking about the DLCS?
@@zarmo5045 hi! I have one in which I rate them, but I haven't made a dedicated guide about dlcs features. That might actually be a good idea for a future video! Here is my video about the best dlcs:th-cam.com/video/SjF3RdpB9xs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=J3L9bYVGrvyiVZeg And here is one about spies:th-cam.com/video/e-beChNhJOQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=-7udbcA6ld96UXPw
@@MachiavellianStrategist thanks! Spy video was really useful. You make it very easy for new players to learn to play the game better, truly appreciate it. Take care and looking forward to new uploads 🤞
Hi, that happens if you reload the game after starting the wars in the Balkans. You can prevent that by not reloading the game, by defeating Romania before Turkey or by waiting until Romania becomes non-aligned before defeating Turkey (it should happen in winter 1937). Waiting is probably the easiest, just do not capitulate Turkey until then and you will be fine!
Hi machiavellian! Here we go again! Thank you and compliment for the video, it s very well made! I got my first doubt when, by the time i start justifying on bulgaria and going down to claims on turkey, romania is already guaranteed by france and it s not guaranteeing.any of the 3 nations...i think i ll have to invade it in the ww2 right?
Hi and thank you! Romania being guaranteed should not matter too much, but they really should guarantee at least one between Greece and Turkey. I heard that this might be affected by some of the dlcs, so that might be the issue. Unfortunately I did not have time for any further research on the matter... If they do not join the war with Greece or Turkey, you will most likely have to wait for WW2 before you can invade them, that's correct!
@@MachiavellianStrategist hei man so i managed to follow your strategy and get all the core territories! With the alpinis' help democratic spain won the war and by the time i got Mare Nostrum focus done i was at war with spain and the whole comintern so i didnt exit the axis yet...anyway i dont get the decision "reform roman empire"...is it because i m in a faction still, or do i need a specific dlc for this run?
Actually it could be cause i still didnt get the mediterranean regions of spain as the war is still going on...if it s not a dlc related issue i guess that when i finish conquering russia and the war is over i ll get the decision shown
@@giovannipardolesi4561 my guess would be that maybe you still do not control all the required territories (you also need the Islas Baleares). Being still at war and being already in a faction should not prevent you from seeing the "realize Roman ambitions" decision. Provided that you: - have either the "waking the tiger" or the "by blood alone" dlcs. - have completed the Mare Nostrum focus. Let me know if you can get it to work! By the way, we always want fascist Spain to win the civil war, I help democratic Spain just to make the war longer and gain more exp from it hehe!
@@MachiavellianStrategist yeah sweet so having by blood alone it s not this the issue...sure it s because of the ongoing axis-comintern war...i ll let you know how s gone once it s over!! Thank you bro!!
@@vader439 hi! Not much, we can take it later from the Axis, it is not required for the Roman Empire. The only annoying thing is that we will need to save some divisions for that additional front when fighting Germany.
I've finally gotta past the Balkans and ww2 but I'm not sure how you get war goals on both Hungary and Vichy France. Those no option that shows up did I miss a national focus or is it what I dread and it can only be done through a dlc?
Great job in the Balkans! For Vichy France and Hungary I just justify regular war goals on them, like we did for Bulgaria earlier in the run. The important thing is to start getting them while you are still at war, since fascist countries get a massive justification time reduction while at war with a major! In the case of Vichy France you should be able to get a non-expiring claim on Corsica since it is our potential core!
@@MachiavellianStrategist see I thought I did that with France before the war started but now nothing. Course that's the least of my problems now Republican Spain won the Civil War and now that I declared war on them they (and Portugal) both called on the Soviet Union. Man my run is becoming a hot mess
@@story_appreciator6666 haha sounds like a great candidate for a "disaster saves" episode! The first claim you got was on France before the war, but you need to get another one on Vichy France once its formed (since it counts like a different country). Spain, however, is a bigger issue. How come they won the civil war? They never do on historical! At this point I would do one of two things: - ignore the USSR (only cover the common borders if you have any (maybe in Turkey?) and take Vichy France, then Spain. Then call the Axis and go for a more or less historical Barbarossa (not entirely historical hopefully). - Alternatively, ignore Vichy France, call the Axis, take Spain and then go for Barbarossa.
@@MachiavellianStrategist I pretty much did that. I must have a bug on my game because there's nothing for a war justified on the nation's page. I got Spain and Portugal down and with a reload save I kept Russia back and then just didn't know what to do but wait for the decision to load. Unfortunately the "realize Roman ambitions" didn't show up either so I've pretty much given up on that one. Might take a break from the game for now and see if the one mod I've got is screwing things up. Not sure how since it's something that affects only ships.
@@story_appreciator6666 which dlcs do you have? I'm not sure about mod conflicts because I am not using any mods. In any case, getting to that point on one of your first attempts is already a great achievement! Let's me know when you give it another try!
When playing on historical this never happened to me in recent patches, however, I made a video about it a while ago: th-cam.com/video/IZ0-2wuCSHU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=J4v-2dLMAd-WNNBH In short, just ignore them and continue with the rest of the strategy. Then you can easily conquer them in WW2!
@@mysticalrandomness4282 you will have a bit less divisions since you can't request their forces, but I don't usually use them in any case! You may also have to move the defensive army I keep in Italy to counter naval invasions in WW2. Let me know how it goes!
@@MachiavellianStrategist Will do, thanks for taking the time to respond. Great vid, I just got By Blood Alone and this one is the most recent and best walkthrough!
Ciao solo un consiglio. Reforming in inglese vuole dire si riformare, ma nel senso di mettere in atto riforme, non nel senso di ricreare. Ottimo video comunque
Ciao, grazie! Sì, in teoria dovrebbe essere scritto come "re-forming" per la piena correttezza grammaticale, ma non era l'ideale in termini di SEO quindi ho optato per la scritta unica!
Awesome video thx, tho i followed it step by step as good as i could i was in august when it was time to invade turkey, prob a bit noobines on my part since i didnt micro managed as much as you did (although i certainly tryed) :)
Hi! Do not worry this guide is designed to be pretty safe and allow some room for mistakes. The worst thing that can happen is usually that it takes you a bit longer to conquer the Balkans and you have less time to prepare for WW2. But even if you arrive to WW2 completely unprepared, Germany is going to win it for you, all you need to do is invade the UK. Ultimately you may have less warscore than me in the peace conference, but you don't really need that much for the required territories for the Roman Empire!
So i used this guide and after taking yugoslavia and then having my troops in spain, yugoslavoa errupted intona civil war.. Why does that happen? Was that because i joined the Axis after completing the pact of steel focus?
Hi! No that's okay it just happens sometimes, it is rng you didn't do anything wrong. Luckily it is not a problem, you can just quickly help your Yugoslavia win the civil war and annex the rest!
@MachiavellianStrategist alright, thanks a bunch! I thought I had go restart again haha, you're probably one the best youtubers for hoi4 on here, you're guides are exact, but they aren't so hand holdy where you won't get any game experience either! I can't wait to watch your future videos, and your English is really good!!
I tried taking turkey as quick as you have about 30 times now but my troops are stuck in a stalemate east of Antalya. Even though Im 7 days ahead of you before invasion in Turkey starts when you start taking Romania I'm still half way through turkey. What am I doing wrong?
Turkey is probably the trickiest part of our wars in the "Balkans". I'm not sure exactly what could be the issue in your case but I would guess it's something to do with supplies. My suggestion would be to open multiple fronts for them, since you have more divisions than they do. I would do it with several naval invasions. As you know, I usually go for 2 naval invasions (Antalya and Izmir) and most of the time that's enough, but if you are really struggling, you could try to go for another one (10 divisions from your main army) to the area of Adana, and see if that helps. It's also okay to take a little longer to defeat Turkey, we will have plenty of time to prepare for WW2 in any case! Let me know how it goes!
@@MachiavellianStrategist ok i will definitely try that. The weird thing is i tried to literally copy what you do day by day. Only difference was I was lucky and ended the war in Greece 1 week earlier. and I may be missing some minor DLCs that you have. These are the DLCs I have, is there any major ones im missing? By Blood Alone, La resistance, No Step Back. I am attacking in the same exact formation as you do. I think because we send those 7 Militia in the beginning to the border, they seem to be piling up around Antalya. It's very hard to expand, especially towards east. They have 3-7 divisions per block around Antalya. Even with shore bombardment it takes them weeks to even start expanding. My mobilized divisions seem to have 0 effect. They just go into stalemate. I don't think supply is the issue. Especially in the beginning. I only get debuffs from Naval, Terrain and everything else is green
@@bugra1989 there is always a bit of rng in every run unfortunately, so sometimes Greece is a bit tougher, sometimes it happens with Turkey, sometimes with Romania. I'm my experience Turkey is the hardest one to take down, but opening multiple fronts should help. Also, make sure you have full planning and you have as many planes as possible assigned to that region. It happened to me to struggle and remain stuck in there sometimes, but eventually you should be able to break them, at least on one front (Izmir or Antalya). After you break them once, the rest of the war will be much easier!
@@MachiavellianStrategist I will keep trying and I will try sending 10 more divs to invade from adana. Also is it weird that I got no Spanish Civil war? I have a save right after the war in Ethiopia and I played that save at least 30 times. I get no Spanish Civil war triggering. So no XP for me
The Spanish Civil war not triggering really never happened to me! I think it can happen that it triggers late, but it cannot happen that it does not trigger at all (with historical focuses). I would wait a bit longer and see if it eventually triggers, not having that extra XP is alright, it is not that important, but I am not sure what is going to happen if Spain remains democratic when we need to conquer them. Other than that, consider that the only way to "fix" this kind of things is to go for a completely new run, as these events seem to be rooted in the "seed" of the run (I am talking about the civil war).
I ended up realizing that Romania doesn't get involved with the war. Is that because if the right dlc isn't installed that they don't guarantee anyone or is there something else that is going on?
Oh that's very interesting, it never happened to me! So, in your run, Romania does not guarantee Greece nor Turkey? I don't think guarantees are dlc-related, but I'm not 100% sure to be honest. I will have to try once without dlcs, which ones do you have?
@@MachiavellianStrategist I got the "Together for Victory" for the ability to do more with puppet states then recently got the "Death or Dishonor" one because I read it effects the main countries in the Balkan area susch as guarantees. But it's still not doing anything I fear I may not be able to use it mid game.
@@story_appreciator6666 yeah, it probably won't affect a run which is already ongoing. You may have to restart... By the way, not taking Romania is not an issue, their land can be integrated in the Roman Empire, but it is not mandatory to reform it!
@@MachiavellianStrategist just yesterday it happens that I was conquering Ireland and a moment before its capitulation she called Brazil in the war out of nowhere.
@@MachiavellianStrategist yes, after that Prtugal and Saudi Arabia join the Brazil Union but not Vichy France and Natianalist Spain. The interesting thing is that the Vichy France was guaranteed by Germany but they did not intervene in their defence.
@@MachiavellianStrategist at first when i saw the civil war notification i was scared but then i realized since neither yugo has any divisions its an easy way to steal some land lol
Ciao, bel video solo una cosa io ho seguito filo e per segno questa guida e fino alla turchia tutto bene, l’ho conquistata un mese dopo rispetto al video ma non credo sia un grosso problema. Le cose cominciano ad andare male quando inizia la seconda guerra mondiale, non riesco ad invadere la francia perché le mie truppe rimangono ferme al fronte e compaiono le bolle rosse, a volte verdi ma comunque non mi muovo di un singolo centimetro, metto tutti gli aerei per la superiorità aerea e per il fuoco assistito ma niente, a volte diventa verde, a volte giallo e altre volte rosso, mentre quando la germania conquista la francia provo l’invasione navale al regno unito e all’inizio tutto bene, conquisto londra e altre città importanti ma dopo un po’ fanno un contrattacco assurdo e mi distruggono tutte le divisioni. Puoi darmi qualche consiglio per favore? Grazie💪🏻
Ciao! Per quanto riguarda la Turchia assolutamente nessun problema! Per l'offensiva in Francia è strano che tu non riesca proprio a sfondare il fronte, stai usando le mie divisioni offensive da 30w vero? Con air superiority e supplies non mi è mai capitato che non riuscissero a sfondare in Francia. La motorization priority è la più alta? Le unità hanno abbastanza supplies? Per quanto riguarda lo UK, di solito oppongono davvero poca resistenza, a che punto sono riusciti a fermarti e contrattaccare? Se gli lasci troppo tempo è possibile che riescano a mandare molte divisioni prese dai territori coloniali, quindi ti consiglierei di avanzare il più possibile subito dopo l'invasione! Stai giocando a regular difficulty vero?
@@MachiavellianStrategistCiao grazie per la risposta! Una domanda scusa è che sono nuovo ahahah. Praticamente io avevo assegnato due armate al fronte della francia ( una offensiva e una difensiva) e ho notato che assegnano solamente quella offensiva da 30 W la descrizione dell’offensiva è passata da superior enemy -50% a inferior enemy +50% (in verde quindi avendo un vantaggio enorme) o qualcosa di simile quindi conviene assegnare solamente un armata per fronte? Inoltre ho fatto un salvataggio prima della WW2 e ho fatto vari test, praticamente avevo 400 fighter e 200 cas in meno al video e assegnando solamente l’armata da 30 W e con gli stessi aeroplani del video (prendendoli con i comandi della console) sono riuscito ad invadere facilmente e nella stessa maniera del video la Francia, credi che sia un problema di aerei oppure sia perché avevo assegnato due armate per l’offensiva? Tra un po’ proverò a ricominciare un’altra volta da zero e facendo tutto pulito senza cheat
@@Cristian-ff8hr ciao! Figurati, chiedi pure per qualsiasi cosa. In realtà è difficile risponderti esattamente senza vedere il save. Però sicuramente gli aerei sono molto importanti, avere la superiorità aerea ed avere CAS a support fa una differenza enorme. Quindi quello potrebbe senz'altro essere un motivo. Assegnare l'armata difensiva non dovrebbe sfavoririti in generale MA: 1) potresti avere problemi di supplies con due armate, in quel caso una sola armata potrebbe performare meglio. 2) è possibile che vedendo più unità dalla tua parte anche loro ne abbiano mandate di più, anche in questo caso è possibile che una sola armata performi meglio. Ultima cosa, essere arrivato fin lì al primo try vuol dire che hai fatto un ottimo lavoro, complimenti!
@@historysecrets822 ciao! La strategia rimane la stessa, certo sarà un po' più difficile sconfiggere la Germania, ma nulla di impossibile. Tieni conto che per farli capitolare ti basta prendere i core state in Germania, la Russia la puoi completamente ignorare.
@@lordhaseky7706 no worries! English is not my native tongue either. Usually I have a members only unedited version of my videos. But in this case the main guide is in the unedited step by step format, so there is no members only video. If you have a tier 2 membership you can still access the dedicated spreadsheet with all additional instructions!
@@historysecrets822 ciao, può capitare. Pazienza, non ti serve per l'impero romano. La puoi prendere dopo quando attacchi la Germania (ricordati però di assegnare qualche divisione a protezione di quel fronte).
Nice, but I want to achieve the same without going historical and doing the Pact of Steel... I prefer going "Italy First" (which requires to do the Albanian occupation earlier) and is more in line with the "roman ambitions" because we don't need to ally with the Nazis to achieve greatness 😉☺️
Hi! You could give this a look: th-cam.com/video/rqIPkcW2piw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=W-MXk36mJyOWwS0n It is one of my older videos and it does not offer the same level of optimization. However, in this non-historical run Hitler lost the civil war and I went for the Roman Empire without Germany (and with "Italy first")! So it is definitely possible!
@@MachiavellianStrategist Your strategy won't work any more as with the latest patch, you need to occupy Albania to get Italy First. As for mine, I usually take Austria asap before Germany can get the Anschluss. Just before the war with Austria, I first require Dalmatia from Yugoslavia, then I send her the ultimatum to puppet her. Italian irredentism increases world tension by 4% so after Austria there is little room for justifications... So I then turn against Spains then wait for WW2 to start to sneak my claims against Greece and Turkey whilst UK is busy guaranteeing the Benelux, Norway and Denmark...
@@ManuelSchulte007 that's true, so you can easily take Spain without guarantees issues, but taking the Balkans might be tricky if you go for Austria early. Also, Austria is not required for the Roman Empire (although it can be cored). Playing around guarantees is always a little tricky as you never know what the UK or France will prioritize. And waiting until WW2 to take the Balkans and Turkey will significantly weaken our industry. Are you sure that you need Albania for Italy first? According to the description, that doesn't seem to be the case. It says "one of the following must be true: Owns Albania (or subject) Owns North Slovenia (or subject) Owns Ljubljana (or subject)" So having Yugoslavia as a puppet should satisfy the requirements, without any need to take Albania.
@@MachiavellianStrategist Haaaa thank you so much mate, now it seems to me you actually mentioned it in the guide but i couldn't find where exactly. Great content btw, as a fairly new player at hoi4 ( ~150h gameplay mostly as France ) your vids taught me a lot :)
@@s.p4524 the strategy works without dlcs too! I made a dedicated video for that if you are interested. th-cam.com/video/EPmC_uWsVsc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=eIpf0PWxXAt21NmR
@@s.p4524 by blood alone and no step back are very important dlcs overall. But the base game feels great too. Maybe try the run I sent you first, and see how it goes.
@@s.p4524 no step back adds the tank designer, which is arguably one of the most important features in the game. Same as by blood alone with the plane designer. Blood alone also adds the possibility to steal resource rights and enemy fleets in the peace conference. These are all very impactful features, regardless of the country.
Mmh, you can pick it but I am not fully convinced, we have some precise timing with focuses, so an extra 35 days could affect the rest of the run. In the end we just need to capitulate Ethiopia before the government in exile, which is fairly simple using my strategy.
@@MachiavellianStrategistthe dang United Kingdom keeps declaring Bulgarian independence for them to just join the axis anyways I’ve done like 5 plays throughs it’s so weird I keep selling it’s hard though cuz I’m just basing my run off you cuz I did get it done the first time when I did it step by step but Russia is one tough son of a gun
Sorry I forgot to add the link, here you go: hoi4.paradoxwikis.com/Formable_nations#/media/File:Roman_Empire_map.png It is now also in the description of the video!
Hehe I stopped playing Ironman a long time ago while recording my guides, since one mistake could nullify hours of recording... The good thing is I still have most achievements locked, so I could go for some achievements oriented runs in future!
The most common issues with that are either low supplies or low strength/training. Make sure your units are all at max training before starting the push. Also, make sure you have air superiority with enough planes assigned. The first push, in the mountains, can be hard, but after that it will be much easier. That being said, pushing France is not really mandatory, since Germany will do it from the north in any case. It is just to get some extra war score!
@@davidecentomo6429 Which infantry are you referring to as the normal one? The default template? Italy actually starts with a very good template, but without artillery it is a bit harder to get enough offensive potential.
@@MachiavellianStrategist ok maybe I just have low organization (I'm new to the game so I'm struggling a bit especially to understand the things that are in the DLC and the things that aren't)
@@Snaki27 hi! If you mean that they join (or better invite Romania in the Allies) i made a dedicated video on how to prevent that: th-cam.com/video/ekyvfND6kLw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=AqLjyo8Rmvml7C77
Your English is great by the way. I find it super easy to understand what you are saying.
Thank you, I am glad to hear that!!
same 4 me, im not native speaker as well, easy to understand
Best guide ive seen so far... easy to follow, especially if ur a beginner
Thank you!! I always try to make consistent and easy to follow guides, so I'm really glad this helped!
Saving some spots, as I'm a little behind.
1:59:26
2:01:50 (Factory Distribution After Planes)
2:07:25
@@unliati
I absolutely understand I am one of the last people able to give people advice about this game, particularly accomplished content creators, but I am going to offer something up anyway. I know you don't like fiddling with Navy, but separating your subs off from everything else will make them both much better. Once they are trained put the subs in the most obvious regions for convoy raiding and leave them until your major enemy changes. For this run through the only other thing I do is pull about 40 DDs and put them in Roti so they can secure Aegean supremacy later, then split the main fleet in two so one can cover Cent Med, and one East Med, when invasion time happens.
Thank you for the suggestion! That is definitely a good advice, and I still have much too lean, especially when it comes to the navy!
Dude your guides are awesome and really explanative, everyone else's have been pretty bad. Only guides I use for HOi4 have been from you my good sir
Thank you for your comment! It is great to hear that!
bellissimo video, complimenti sia per l'uso della lingua che per le spiegazioni chiare. Nonostante duri 3 ore e mezza è comunque abbastanza scorrevole. Grandissimo compà
Grazie mille! Se vuoi ne ho fatta anche una versione edited in italiano! th-cam.com/video/Jgzh2_jdSjc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=4Mprla-a1Xop4HDa
Watched the whole video. Appreciate the detail that you go into, lots of opportunities to learn and improve. Thanks
@@matass95 thank you for your comment! And for exploring the whole video hehe!
Just started playing this week and I’ve been struggling so much because everyone tells you little parts but not everything this was great thank you
@@aidan7450 I'm really glad to hear that my guide was helpful!
Welcome to the game by the way, let me know if you have any questions!
Thank you so much! Even ignoring forming the roman empire, this helped me learn micromanaging a war a ton.
@@unliati you are welcome! I'm glad it helped!
Thank you so much you are the only channel that makes specific country path guides. You help me so much as a begineer
@@pageostrich3333 thank you for your comment! I'm really glad to hear that the videos are helpful!
Uno dei migliori video che abbia mai visto su HOI IV, assurdo come fai sembrare semplici cose complicatissime dove io impazzisco ahahahah, finisco questo e mi sparo i tuoi tutorial
@@FuturLollo-wk2kf grazie mille!! Scrivimi pure se hai domande!
Conquering Ethiopia in early 1936 is the really important part, since as was mentioned in the video, if the player doesn't conquer Ethiopia fast enough, then Ethiopia can form a government in exile.
The really bad thing about Ethiopia forming a government in exile is that a government in exile can eventually join a democratic alliance, and then be used as a pretext for a democracy to declare war against Italy.
Making things a little bit worse, even though 1936 is a leap year, there is never a February 29 in Hearts of Iron 4, so the player has 1 day less than he might think to get a victory over Ethiopia before the game autosave that happens at the end of February 1936, which is a good time frame to try and meet in order to get on faster with beginning the attempt to re-create the Roman Empire.
As was mentioned in the video, making use of the Italian colonial airfields near Ethiopia is really useful, and not just for the close air support value. More specifically, when one puts the enemy into a position of having 0% Air Superiority, enemy army divisions can have a 35% penalty to Breakthrough and Defense, and a 25% penalty to Speed.
There is an option, for the sake of improved close air support damage, of assigning extra personnel to airfields, resulting in 10 percentage points of improvement to the Air Mission Efficiency of all airwings - including the close air support airwings.
Also, if the Addis Ababa airfield or Harar airfield gets conquered from the south (or from the north, which is also possible), either of those two airfields are in excellent geographical position compared to the southern airfield to give some close air support in making the final series of attacks in Ethiopia. Small airframe airplanes have poor range, so an airfield with a good geographical position is especially valuable. A close air support airwing cannot drop bombs outside of its combat radius circle, often eventually resulting in the close air support from the southern airfield eventually becoming useless when the southern front advances far enough north into Ethiopia.
It is definitely very important to take them down early! Thank you for the suggestions!
You are welcome.
One note of caution regarding extra ground crews in an airzone is that, like a High Command or Chief of Navy or Chief of Air Force position that might not really be needed to be filled anymore, having extra ground crews in an airzone will lower the upper limit on Command Power by 20, until removed.
As such, once the fighting is done in Ethiopia (hopefully in late February 1936), the extra ground crews should be removed in any Ethiopian airzone that you placed them in. The airzone that has the northern airfield will be the most likely airzone to have been given extra ground crews, but maybe the southern airzone got extra ground crews for the less important southern airfield, and maybe once you conquered one of the central airfields you put extra aircrew in that airzone as well in order to improve the chances of conquering Ethiopia before Ethiopia potentially on March 11 1936 completes its focus to have a chance at a government in exile. That's a potential unintended total reduction of 60 Command Power across 3 airzones if one forgets to turn off the extra ground crews option after the fighting is done in Ethiopia in early 1936.
There might also be a user interface problem if one forgets until after the airwings have been sent back to Italy from Ethiopia. If that user interface problem occurs, it only takes 1 airplane stationed on some airfield in an airzone to be able again to turn off extra ground crews in that airzone. Even an incomplete airwing is good enough.
Normally, invoking the extra air crews option is often not worth the risk of forgetting to turn back off that option when no longer needed, but in the case of Ethiopia, achieving a quick victory is important enough to take that risk.
You make awesome videos! Keep doing this awesome job! Also, I think you should start doing non guide runs, like doing memey and fun stuff, I think people would really like it but that’s up to you. Either way thanks for helping me learn the game!
Thank you so much for your comment!
I really like the idea, I wish I had more time to dedicate to this project! Hopefully the channel will keep growing well and I will be able to make it my main occupation!
@@MachiavellianStrategist if you have enough dedication and persistance it sure will!
I have been having the strangest issues with the naval invasion... First run through I got all the way through to starting the naval invasion before I realized there were no units assigned to it. I have no idea why. I had convoys, and I only used 10 divisions, so it wasn't that. I restarted the game and got to setting up the pairs of divisions in each of the regions. I put two pairs on the first two target tiles, then when I placed the third instead of doing what it was supposed to, it replaced one of the existing two invasion paths I already set up. I tried half a dozen times and it kept doing the same thing. What I finally got to work was putting 2 pairs of divisions in Messina, 1 in Catania, 1 in Palermo, and 1 in Reggio Calabria and setting them up from all 4 naval bases. Now all 5 invasions are finally set, but they all say 0 transports assigned. I'm going to have to save the game here so I don't go through that again. Any idea why I couldn't just send them all from Messina like you did?
@@davidpiening3827 hi! Naval invasions can be a little tricky...
First if all, make sure that the divisions you are assigning to the naval invasion do not have any other order (like a fallback line). So cancel all orders before assigning them.
Then make sure that you click an empty space in the province of Messina every time you assign a group of 2. If you misclick and select an existing group of 2, it will cancel their command and give them a new one instead. Zoom in to make sure you are clicking the right thing, and check that all 10 divisions are assigned to the invasion.
This is the best guide to Italy I've come across.
@@considerthis9007 thank you so much! It is now a fairly old guide, but it is still one of my favorite!
@@MachiavellianStrategist This guide definitely still works. Using your guide Italy is an absolute beast. So much fun I've started a second run.
Italy is definitely my favourite power to play now. Also, your voice is very easy to listen to even on repeat, as I have watched this video many times. Thank you so much for your massive contribution to the HOI fan base.
@@considerthis9007 thank you so much for your kind comment! I'm very glad to hear that!
The fact that I play HOI4 on Toaster and the game seems so hard to be a decent player, made me not try it too much, however, I like this game and with this guide, I'll try to give it a try again. Thank you or the content!
Don't give up on it hehe! Let me know how it goes, or if you have any questions!
Dude your videos are so in depth. Love this guide, I always struggled with Italy but this video makes if seem so easy
Thank you! Let me know if you have any questions if you attempt this run!
@@MachiavellianStrategist honestly I have had absolutely no problems in my run so far.
I have just secured North Africa, everything has worked exactly as you have shown in your guide. I can tell you have really optimised this run and I'm looking forward to browsing all your other vids after this.
@@jylehansen7328 I'm really glad to hear that! You can find several country guides in the same Playlist. For Germany I also made a step by step guide similar to this one!
@@MachiavellianStrategist I really appreciate that you keep the unedited versions of your videos.
I enjoyed the confederacy USA video. Would love to see some Scandinavian strategies.
@@jylehansen7328 thank you! I'd like to play Scandinavian countries, I'll make sure to include them in future polls!
Amazing video, thanks to you I play again with this game also if I don’t have all DLCs.
I tried several time in those days to replicate your game, but I have at least three issues:
- I’m not able to complete Balkan Wars within the end of 37, but 4-5 months later (that means 5 months less on preparation)
- in WW2 French defense is very strong (I used your templates). You look you a knife in the butter 😂
- After WW2 Vichy French is a German puppet, declare war on it means a war with Germany… no thanks! Are there any actions that I miss?
I will try again in the next week, your guides are very accurate!
Ora che mi è tornata la voglia di HoI4 sei diventato praticamente il mio canale preferito delle ultime settimane, continua così!
Ciao! Thank you so much for you comment, I'm really glad you enjoyed the guide!
As for the issues you mentioned:
- do not worry about the timing for the Balkan wars, it might take a little practice to take them down faster but it's no big deal if it takes you a little longer!
- I never really had issues with the French defenses, however, in the earlier versions of this guide I used not to push them so much in the south. The Germans (with your aid) will eventually take them from the north in any case. Maybe you lack the right fighters and CAS? They are very important to get that push done!
The only difference is that you will have a bit less warscore for the peace conference, but you will still have plenty to get the stuff you need for the Roman Empire!
- I've never seen Vichy France becoming a German puppet, that's very strange! Usually they are just guaranteed by Germany. You can attack them while you are in the Axis, so that Germany cannot help them.
Let me know how it goes!
Grazie! Yes, in my version (I don’t remember the DLC name) Vichy France is a German Puppet and is a axis member. In this case is more difficult because I’m absolutely not ready to face Germany…I you want, I can send a picture on instagram to show it.
Another question: what if Spain become communist? Also in this case there is a risk of Russian intervention.
Thanks again!
@@MachiavellianStrategist I did it, thanks! I’ve been lucky in a few situations, but I created Roman Empire and then, step by step I conquered all the world within 1949. It’s been funny! Grazie ancora
@@BBluemars great job! The glory of Rome finally rules over the entire world!
wow i never knew that you could puppet east africa through the focus tree.... i guess i just dont pay attention to some of these things. thank you for teaching me a new trick!
You are welcome! I keep discovering new stuff in each run myself!
Couple of observations. First, England is definitely harder to crack now that the update dropped. Ground war was harder but still the issue was not in doubt. Getting naval superiority though? A bloodbath. I lost almost all my subs and destroyers, and a number of cruisers and a battlecruiser. Finally got the invasion landed but wow, my navy is in bad shape for future campaigns, even with what remained of the UK fleet. Second, every time I have tried to run this scenario, Hungary allies with Axis and I can't justify on them. Don't know how you stop that. Finally, I did multiple reloads but could never get Vichy France or Spain as part of the losing side. I'm going to have a whole different war just to get those two nations. Don't know why.
@@davidpiening3827 yep I would expect the invasion of the UK to be much harder, should be fun though!
The royal navy should suffice for our future naval needs.
As for Hungary, they always join the Axis if you reload the game, it's okay though, you can join leave an extra army there when you take down the Axis.
WOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW nice video dude keep doing this tutorials you explain very very good the mechanicals of this game nice work dude
Thank you!! I really appreciate the enthusiasm hehehe! More content will be coming soon!
Thank you for these guides! One thing that would be helpful is if when you use dlc mechanics you just mention if its essential or if its ok to continue without doing that specific bit i.e. collab on turkey.
Love the videos thank you for the soviet guide as well
Thank you for your comment! You are right, I usually try to mention it if a dlc is absolutely needed. But usually the overall strategies work even without most of them. The collaboration government is a good example, it makes things a bit easier and faster, but it is absolutely not mandatory. Same for plane and tank designers.
The only really mandatory dlcs are the ones directly affecting the focus trees.
That being said, I was actually planning to try a run completely without dlcs, to see how it feels!
I followed through. Thank you so much for this !
You are welcome! I'm glad to hear that it worked!
You can make them use the trains when moving, called strategic deployment, with selecting the division and pressing B
@@shreeharimittal2419 oh yes I know, but they usually do that automatically!
great guide as always, how did you get the 50% boost on medium tank 1938?
@@doom-xh9im thank you! I can't remember actually, probably through one of the focuses though!
Hi just wanted to ask if i should accept the faction request and non aggression pact from germany. btw great video, keep up the good work!
Thank you!
No, you can join them whenever you want in any case so I wouldn't accept!
The Shift clicking focuses is such a great idea… paradox please
@@killerdc1165 they could actually just implement the same exact system they are using for MIOs, it would be pretty convenient. It could be done for researches too possibly.
The next step could be to allow players to save and load their preferred "builds" so that you do not need to do it every time.
@@MachiavellianStrategist I 1000% agree, I’m about to reach my 1000th hour and I’ve been wanting a feature like this. It becomes a bit tedious having to go back and click through the focus tree and the focuses you want every time one finishes.
I believe that a feature like that would definitely simplify gameplay even a little with how confusing hoi4 can be between everything.
I appreciate the content btw, I followed up with your napoleon guide and it was super effective. I’ve done it before but yours made it look easy 😂 much love bro
@@killerdc1165 thank you so much for your comment! More guides will be coming soon!
Will you somewhen also make a Byzantine Empire reform guide? I love your work and would love to see a video like that. ❤
Thank you!! I would really like to make a guide about the Byzantine Empire. Actually, I was planning to make a guide for each formable nation in the game at some point!
I hope I will find the time to do it soon!
@@MachiavellianStrategistbro i know u are probably busy but we are still waiting for a formable a-z series. Much love from Turkey ❤
@@JohnSmith-el2ct I can't want to make it too! As well as some achievements series! The future of the channel is looking good, we just need to be patient a bit longer!
Initially I decided to delete all air wings and just reform them at the African bases. They show up January 3rd after which I combine them and launch the air war. Saves almost a week.
That's a good suggestion! The only issue with disbanding and recreating air wings is that they lose the xp they had. But since this is at the very beginning of the run it should not be a problem!
I was in 1941 when the DLC update dropped and invalidated all my saves for all my run-throughs. Sigh. Starting the Italy one over.
@@davidpiening3827
Let me know how it goes! The strategy should still work as intended but I'm curious to hear if the new dlc affects it somehow!
Attempted this for the first time, unfortunately Germany randomly declared war on Hungary just before Danzig or War, so they didn't immediately declare on Poland and it messed up the timings :(
That happened to me too, although very rarely. It usually happens when you reload the game after (or during) the wars in the Balkans.
However, you should have a claim on France and Poland, you can use them to start the war yourself if Germany is not doing it.
Then they will all join the Allies and you will be able to attack Poland from Germany. You can still take Hungary in the peace conference too!
Great content as always! I think one of the most cured channels on the topic. Do you have (or plan to have) any guide to share a strategy as Italy, after WWII, to invade Germany? This one ends right before it, and if IIRC your video on Italian Barbarossa starts right after it.... I'm struggling with what's in the middle: how to defeat Germany to fully reintegrate cores connected to the Roman Empire (plus some more) and puppet the rest of Germany, before starting against URSS and then against USA... big plans here :D
Thank you!
I think this is the video you are looking for: th-cam.com/video/BHh3ePJv3Co/w-d-xo.html
Unfortunately, I do not have an unedited version for this one, so might decide to continue this Roman Empire run with more unedited videos!
@@MachiavellianStrategist thanks a lot! maybe it's just valuable to me, but assembling an end to end Roman Empire "over the world" playlist, from Ethiopia to only superpower, would be fantastic! With this piece here I think we'd miss only to see Romans vs Japan and USA (unless you did it already and I missed it?)... Something like 1. First steps, 2. WWII, 3. Germany, 4. URSS, 5. & 6. for Japan and USA (no idea in which order).
@@ettoredemaio1830 It is one of my oldest series! An updated version would be nice indeed, but meanwhile you can check these out:
- Rome VS Germany: th-cam.com/video/rsLFlY10qn8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=0oKPxKz-Yv9wZAPU
- Rome VS The USSR: th-cam.com/video/iKDmUuMyIjk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=UWTC3j9HUi_ibvM0
- Rome VS The US:
th-cam.com/video/GAJUAr3rfkE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=X2W59pAwSHntVpmo
- Rome VS Japan:
th-cam.com/video/yX6YXd_ASwg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=azbD7GgRC9jSsLBA
@@MachiavellianStrategist great! I missed those, surely the last two... thank you!
This is probably one of the best if not the best guides for beginners. My first few attempts with Italy didn't go well, but following this guide I managed to revive the roman empire first try. Even though it was in civilian difficulty. Now I have the confidence to do it in regular difficulty. Thank you again for this wonderful guide.
@@ICBM_launcher thank you so much for your comment! I'm very glad to hear that! There are now more step by step guides available on the channel, for Germany and for the USSR!
Excellent guide, trying out Italy next, one of my favorite countries
Thank you! Let me know if you need any help!
Couple more observations. First the game is telling me I don't control all the north african states in the med and all Libyan cores when I appear to have annexed the entire African continent aside from Liberia. Must be missing something but I can't find it. Second, both times I did this run after capping Vichy and Spain I am somehow at war with Brazil. Does this happen to you?
@@davidpiening3827 hi! Liberia is not needed for the Roman Empire, there must be something else missing along the coast (you actually only need the coastal provinces to form the Roman Empire).
Brazil joins the Allies at some point during the war, but that usually happens much later, did you finish WW2 around the same time as I did?
I'm fairly new to the game and watched quite a few videos about how it works yours is definitely informative. I'm curious if these strategies work well if you don't have the dlcs. Particularly the Ethiopia one
Thank you!
I plan to attempt a no-dlc run because I am curious myself. I actually never played the game entirely without dlcs!
For this strategy in particular I believe "By Blood Alone" is quite important, since it directly affects the Italian focus tree.
Some other dlcs are convenient but not absolutely necessary!
@@MachiavellianStrategist Understandable
I only just got it and I'm still uncertain about adding more to the game when I'm still just only getting to know the basics
@@story_appreciator6666 it totally makes sense!
I think I will also make a basic tutorial for new players with all dlcs off in future!
By the way, for when you decide to get some of them, I made a dlc tier list a while ago (arms against tyranny is not in it):th-cam.com/video/SjF3RdpB9xs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=jbXZ5zKZC92yNYjd
@@MachiavellianStrategist Appreciated
I'll definitely take a look
Thank you for helping me defeat Ethiopia 🙏
@@rylandfajardo8114 you are welcome!
Sad thing is there isn't much you can do (as far as I know) to gain back the stability you lost with the reintagrations.
Yeah, sadly there are limited ways to regain stability. Which means that it is probably better to integrate only the richest parts of the empire.
Wow, it must take you a long time to create these videos. I gotta get the DLC's so mine version matches this.
The optimization progress is quite time consuming, but it is also gratifying to create and share highly optimized guides! And the feedback I get from you guys is amazing!
**somehow** I pacified ethiopia without making it a puppet and also did "italy first" alongside most of this. I managed to even squeeze in a conquest of austria but it was really close lol
@@MsMommyMemer amazing job!
How can u pacify?! Everyone says it is impossible!
@@AnoopThiruonam I just create the east Africa puppet and automatically complete the mission.
first couple tries turkey would not let me in, felt like rng. but good vid
Thank you!
I would say that Turkey is the only fairly tough opponent in the Balkans (Romania too, but not if we quickly take them from Bulgaria).
If you get both naval invasions done, and you grind them a bit, they will collapse in the end!
Great video!
I’m super new to the game. I’m in the early stage (May 1936, after winning the war against Ethiopia) and I realised that none of the infantry actually trained because there is a severe lack of artillery. How do you produce it so quickly for the new troops? If the deficit continues I’m afraid that I won’t have enough troops for the future wars….
Hi!
First of all, welcome to hoi4! It can be tough at first but it is a great game, it will be a lot of fun once you start getting its mechanics!
As for your question, by may 1936 it is impossible to produce a lot of artillery, do you find it to be very different from the one I have in my video?
Did you follow my guide in terms of production too? (like how many factories to each equipment)
Are you still using the default starting templates for your divisions? (you should be using the default ones for now)
Let me know how it goes, I'll try to help whenever I can! Consider joining our discord maybe, other player can also give you useful advices!
Hi again! Thank you for your response! It seems like the problem resolved by itself, it was just a matter of production efficiency. Now that I advanced a bit, one thing that differs from your guide is that a civil war has started in Yugoslavia in January 1938. How should I manage this?
@@thomassauliuc6072 hi! You can just help your Yugoslavia and annex the rebels!
Realy good guide, i`m trying to recreate roman empire for a long time... But i have many questions, and some of Them: How you breaked alps??? And:How you invaded vichy france????!!! I`m also readed coments, one guy got the same questions, how you just can invade vichy france that is in axis and protectorat of Germany? I may need La resistant?So it is things that make me sufer even with this guide, anyways this video much better then others)
@@Мохнаболотах thank you!
First of all, let me say that breaking through the Alps and into France is absolutely not necessary. It is cool to do, and it will give you a higher final score, but you can still claim everything you need in the peace conference even without doing it.
Invading Vichy France later on is easier because they don't have many divisions.
For these pushes I used my offensive infantry divisions (both 27w and 30w) perform very very well!
I would recommend watching my best templates guide (you can find it on the channel).
Let me know if you have any more questions!
@@MachiavellianStrategist I think i will do something with it, and i`m also don`t interested in high war score, i found 30% and a bit less war score is enough. But what is with Vichy France?How it possible(i`m edited my original coment where i described all before this coment)
@@Мохнаболотах about Vichy France, they are actually not in the Axis, and they are not a protectorate of Germany.
They are just guaranteed by Germany, but if you attack them while you are in the Axis, Germany will not be able to intervene.
@@MachiavellianStrategist I think i need La-Resistance...
@@Мохнаболотах really? You mean that without it Vichy France is an actual puppet of Germany? I did not know that...
But you can still take Vichy France from Germany when you attack them!
I was slightly ahead of your guide because the war in turkey and Greece went a bit faster but interestingly Romania joined the allies. Not sure what I could do to prevent it from happening.
Hi! Romania joining the Allies is something that can happen if you reload the game at any point after starting that series of wars. You can avoid it by either not reloading, defeating Romania before Turkey, or waiting until Romania becomes non-aligned before capitulating Turkey.
I dedicated one if my first videos to it: th-cam.com/video/ekyvfND6kLw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=qivSnXiRzZcxHtYP
It is a bit old, but still valid!
You can first form EU as Italy by just chain fighting everyone in Europe and by switching to Dem after you conquer every necessary territory. Then you can go and form the Roman Empire with the focus tree. This should be all doable by 1937-8
It is indeed possible to form the Roman Empire a lot earlier than I did in this guide, but that usually involves either cheesy tactics (spamming paratroopers on victory points and/or being a very pro player).
I think the strategy I shared in this video has 2 main advantages over that:
- it is very easy and consistent, even newer players can succeed.
- it does not abuse any game mechanics.
And well, I think it is also more fun, but that is subjective!
Hello, my Hungary turns fascist and joins the axis and does not stay unaligned. Why is that?
I believe that is mostly rng related, sometimes Hungary joins the Axis early, sometimes not at all, and sometimes it is Germany which declares war on them.
But that should not affect our overall strategy, so nothing to worry about.
You might have to send a few more divisions and maybe build some forts to protect against the Axis when you decide to go after Germany.
What to do when Hungary joins Axis just after the war?
@@oro88 great job!
How do you get army experience so fast? I was getting it at the same rate as you till bold attack but after that i fell far behind
Nothing special, other than the advisor and the Professional Officer Corps spirit.
There is a little bit of rng in how much army experience you get, but with Italy we fight a lot, so I'm sure you will have enough for everything necessary by the beginning of WW2!
Invading Turkey is such a pain, I can never successfully land and if I do it’s short lived and get encircled. Oddly I beat Greece and Ethiopia a bit quicker than you so I don’t think it’s a skill issue
@@ZejnMikail hi, Turkey is the hardest of our opponents for sure. There is also a little bit of rng involved. If you have a save try naval invading in different areas to see if you can find a weak spot. The early phases of the invasion are the toughest, but eventually you will break them!
Hi, great video! When invading Greece/Turkey, is your fuel at 0 at all times? Is the debuff for air, naval, and tanks not so significant?
Hi, thank you!
It is normal that the fuel drops to 0 from time to time, the debuff is relevant in general but in our case we are not actively engaging with our navy, we only have limited planes and virtually not tanks, so you do not need to worry about it!
is there a reason you don't annex Albania before attacking the Balkans/Greece? It seems like maybe the Greek war would go quicker if you invaded them from both the north and the east/south with naval invasions, no? I'm not a "noob" but I'm just plain bad at the game. I've tried recreating the Roman Empire numerous times and something always inevitably goes wrong. I guess I have to stop playing in ironman mode and just save it every 10 minutes because it's getting old going back to the beginning after screwing something up.
Anyways, thanks for the guide. I'll keep trying!
I've also seen, and agree, that getting Turkey as part of the Balkan wars is tough for people who aren't as good at the game as you. Do you think it's a viable strategy to just get Greece, Romania, and Bulgaria, and then save Turkey for when WWII starts, and time it so you can get them at the peace conference?
Hi! It's a matter of timing and world tension. If we take Albania first, there is a good chance that the world tension will be above 25% when we go after the others (Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania) and the UK might guarantee/join against us.
Also, the terrain from Albania is very bad, so we would surely get stuck in the mountains and struggle to advance from the north (exactly like the real Italy did).
A couple of naval invasions are the best way to go against Greece in my opinion.
About Turkey, I agree that it is the toughest of those wars. I think it is very good practice for learning the game, but I would also recommend against going Ironman while you are still not confident you can do it (you can test it a few times first and then go Ironman).
Leaving them for WW2 should be doable, I only see 2 issues with that:
- we will need to spend additional points during the final peace conference, meaning we might be unable to take some other things.
- taking Bulgaria and Romania without having capitulated Turkey might prove to be challenging.
Other than that, it is an experiment worth trying!
If you do try, let me know how it goes! And good luck with the Roman Empire, don't give up! The glory of Rome is eternal!
@@MachiavellianStrategist Thanks so much. I was able to annex Albania and attack Greece from there as well-- I think it did it right after Yugoslavia submitted to the the ultimatum so I probably just got lucky with the timing since it didn't spike world tension enough for anyone to call the Allies into the Balkans wars (thankfully I didn't get stuck in the mountains too badly). I still struggled with Turkey, but I eventually got them. I followed the rest of your excellent guide and was finally able to create Rome for the first time. I've watched many hoi4 channels, and I feel like I've only actually gotten better at the game by watching yours. I really appreciate your long and unedited runs-- they are extremely easy to follow, and your English is also fantastic and extremely easy to understand. Thanks so much!
@@SmytheAlbert thank you so much for your nice comment! I'm really glad the guide was helpful too, I will surely make more step-by-step unedited runs in future!
This was a great guide but right after I capitulated Turkey Romania joined the Allies. I don't know if I did something wrong or if I capitulated them too early (Oct. 8th) But I hope this is something that is Easily fixed, do you know anything I could do? Thank you!
Hi! I covered this issue in a dedicated video, it is an old one, but nothing changed since then.
Here is the link: th-cam.com/video/ekyvfND6kLw/w-d-xo.html
The good new is that there are multiple ways to prevent it from happening (not reloading the game after starting the war, taking down Romania before Turkey, delaying the capitulation of Turkey until Romania turns non-aligned in DEC 1937).
The bad news is that if it has already happened, and you do not have an older save, it cannot be fixed, and it will be a major issue.
Let me know how it goes!
@@MachiavellianStrategist I do have quite a few older saves, so I'll seeing which of those works best, thank you so much for the tips!
@@GoblinShark86 no worries, let me know how it goes!
@@MachiavellianStrategist I loaded to before the war because I don't like being behind and it worked great!
@@GoblinShark86 great! I'm glad to hear that!
This guide has been really helpful for me, and i hopee to see your guide on tsarist russia soon too if possible.
I'm really glad it was helpful! I will try to make more step by step guides in future!
Germany will be next since I already have the strategy (although I'm making some improvements)!
@@MachiavellianStrategist looking forward to the next vid man, hope to see you famous one day.
@@Dottheoriginal hehe I hope so too!
@@MachiavellianStrategist wishing you the best of luck man
@@Dottheoriginal thank you!!
Hi, I really liked this guide, kept me awake during class 😂😂 however I have one question. In my run I was able to annex all the territories needed to form the Roman Empire however after researching mare nostrum, the decision to form the Roman Empire never appears. Is this because I’m playing the game without any DLC? Or is there something else I’m doing wrong. Thanks
Hahaha I had not thought about that potential use for my videos!
Great job with getting all the land (without DLCs it is actually harder to do so!).
Unfortunately, you are right, you need either Waking the Tiger or By Blood Alone for the option to reform the Roman Empire to appear.
If you want my personal opinion, By Blood Alone is actually a good DLC, so I'd consider getting it.
@@MachiavellianStrategist haha thanks for the quick response, it actually encouraged me to get all the DLCS and while I was able to now form the empire, I've unlocked so many new things. Its kinda overhwelming but im excited to learn about using them. Do you have a video talking about the DLCS?
@@zarmo5045 hi! I have one in which I rate them, but I haven't made a dedicated guide about dlcs features. That might actually be a good idea for a future video!
Here is my video about the best dlcs:th-cam.com/video/SjF3RdpB9xs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=J3L9bYVGrvyiVZeg
And here is one about spies:th-cam.com/video/e-beChNhJOQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=-7udbcA6ld96UXPw
@@MachiavellianStrategist thanks! Spy video was really useful. You make it very easy for new players to learn to play the game better, truly appreciate it. Take care and looking forward to new uploads 🤞
@@zarmo5045 thank you!! More content will be coming soon!
Great guide but I got ptsd flashbacks from watching your fuel stay at 0 for so long 😅
@@discoScrew hahah don't worry about it, we got it when we needed it hehe!
Romania joined the allies in OCT 11 1937, i did something wrong ?? Great video, you explain Very good!!!
Hi, that happens if you reload the game after starting the wars in the Balkans. You can prevent that by not reloading the game, by defeating Romania before Turkey or by waiting until Romania becomes non-aligned before defeating Turkey (it should happen in winter 1937).
Waiting is probably the easiest, just do not capitulate Turkey until then and you will be fine!
@@MachiavellianStrategist oh thanks a Lot, It worked smoothie, you are Very good in This game thanks for awnsering 5 months later hahahaha
@@charmingdus738 thank you! I'm glad it worked!
Hi machiavellian! Here we go again! Thank you and compliment for the video, it s very well made! I got my first doubt when, by the time i start justifying on bulgaria and going down to claims on turkey, romania is already guaranteed by france and it s not guaranteeing.any of the 3 nations...i think i ll have to invade it in the ww2 right?
Hi and thank you!
Romania being guaranteed should not matter too much, but they really should guarantee at least one between Greece and Turkey. I heard that this might be affected by some of the dlcs, so that might be the issue. Unfortunately I did not have time for any further research on the matter...
If they do not join the war with Greece or Turkey, you will most likely have to wait for WW2 before you can invade them, that's correct!
@@MachiavellianStrategist hei man so i managed to follow your strategy and get all the core territories! With the alpinis' help democratic spain won the war and by the time i got Mare Nostrum focus done i was at war with spain and the whole comintern so i didnt exit the axis yet...anyway i dont get the decision "reform roman empire"...is it because i m in a faction still, or do i need a specific dlc for this run?
Actually it could be cause i still didnt get the mediterranean regions of spain as the war is still going on...if it s not a dlc related issue i guess that when i finish conquering russia and the war is over i ll get the decision shown
@@giovannipardolesi4561 my guess would be that maybe you still do not control all the required territories (you also need the Islas Baleares).
Being still at war and being already in a faction should not prevent you from seeing the "realize Roman ambitions" decision.
Provided that you:
- have either the "waking the tiger" or the "by blood alone" dlcs.
- have completed the Mare Nostrum focus.
Let me know if you can get it to work!
By the way, we always want fascist Spain to win the civil war, I help democratic Spain just to make the war longer and gain more exp from it hehe!
@@MachiavellianStrategist yeah sweet so having by blood alone it s not this the issue...sure it s because of the ongoing axis-comintern war...i ll let you know how s gone once it s over!! Thank you bro!!
What happens if Hungary joins the Axis?
@@vader439 hi! Not much, we can take it later from the Axis, it is not required for the Roman Empire.
The only annoying thing is that we will need to save some divisions for that additional front when fighting Germany.
@@MachiavellianStrategist I see, thanks alot !
@vader439 no problem, let me know how it goes!
@@MachiavellianStrategist I already played it, currently conquering China.
I've finally gotta past the Balkans and ww2 but I'm not sure how you get war goals on both Hungary and Vichy France. Those no option that shows up did I miss a national focus or is it what I dread and it can only be done through a dlc?
Great job in the Balkans!
For Vichy France and Hungary I just justify regular war goals on them, like we did for Bulgaria earlier in the run.
The important thing is to start getting them while you are still at war, since fascist countries get a massive justification time reduction while at war with a major!
In the case of Vichy France you should be able to get a non-expiring claim on Corsica since it is our potential core!
@@MachiavellianStrategist see I thought I did that with France before the war started but now nothing.
Course that's the least of my problems now Republican Spain won the Civil War and now that I declared war on them they (and Portugal) both called on the Soviet Union.
Man my run is becoming a hot mess
@@story_appreciator6666 haha sounds like a great candidate for a "disaster saves" episode!
The first claim you got was on France before the war, but you need to get another one on Vichy France once its formed (since it counts like a different country).
Spain, however, is a bigger issue. How come they won the civil war? They never do on historical!
At this point I would do one of two things:
- ignore the USSR (only cover the common borders if you have any (maybe in Turkey?) and take Vichy France, then Spain.
Then call the Axis and go for a more or less historical Barbarossa (not entirely historical hopefully).
- Alternatively, ignore Vichy France, call the Axis, take Spain and then go for Barbarossa.
@@MachiavellianStrategist I pretty much did that. I must have a bug on my game because there's nothing for a war justified on the nation's page. I got Spain and Portugal down and with a reload save I kept Russia back and then just didn't know what to do but wait for the decision to load. Unfortunately the "realize Roman ambitions" didn't show up either so I've pretty much given up on that one. Might take a break from the game for now and see if the one mod I've got is screwing things up. Not sure how since it's something that affects only ships.
@@story_appreciator6666 which dlcs do you have?
I'm not sure about mod conflicts because I am not using any mods.
In any case, getting to that point on one of your first attempts is already a great achievement!
Let's me know when you give it another try!
What do I do if Yugoslavia refuses the ultimatum? Everything was going good until then
When playing on historical this never happened to me in recent patches, however, I made a video about it a while ago: th-cam.com/video/IZ0-2wuCSHU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=J4v-2dLMAd-WNNBH
In short, just ignore them and continue with the rest of the strategy. Then you can easily conquer them in WW2!
@@MachiavellianStrategist Ah ok thanks!
@@mysticalrandomness4282 you will have a bit less divisions since you can't request their forces, but I don't usually use them in any case!
You may also have to move the defensive army I keep in Italy to counter naval invasions in WW2.
Let me know how it goes!
@@MachiavellianStrategist Will do, thanks for taking the time to respond. Great vid, I just got By Blood Alone and this one is the most recent and best walkthrough!
@@mysticalrandomness4282 😉
i didnt get the spys on 24 jul 1936, even tho i have the dlc. Is it normal or do i have to wait longer?
@@s.p4524 to get the spies you need the agency (you get it through a focus as Italy) did you get the agency?
The dlc is la resistance
Ciao solo un consiglio. Reforming in inglese vuole dire si riformare, ma nel senso di mettere in atto riforme, non nel senso di ricreare. Ottimo video comunque
Ciao, grazie!
Sì, in teoria dovrebbe essere scritto come "re-forming" per la piena correttezza grammaticale, ma non era l'ideale in termini di SEO quindi ho optato per la scritta unica!
Awesome video thx, tho i followed it step by step as good as i could i was in august when it was time to invade turkey, prob a bit noobines on my part since i didnt micro managed as much as you did (although i certainly tryed) :)
Hi! Do not worry this guide is designed to be pretty safe and allow some room for mistakes.
The worst thing that can happen is usually that it takes you a bit longer to conquer the Balkans and you have less time to prepare for WW2. But even if you arrive to WW2 completely unprepared, Germany is going to win it for you, all you need to do is invade the UK.
Ultimately you may have less warscore than me in the peace conference, but you don't really need that much for the required territories for the Roman Empire!
@@MachiavellianStrategist oh ok, thanks:) awesome guide btw, really good explaining
if you didnt start the war justification goal in time with poland, do you still join the war aug 23?
So i used this guide and after taking yugoslavia and then having my troops in spain, yugoslavoa errupted intona civil war.. Why does that happen? Was that because i joined the Axis after completing the pact of steel focus?
Hi! No that's okay it just happens sometimes, it is rng you didn't do anything wrong. Luckily it is not a problem, you can just quickly help your Yugoslavia win the civil war and annex the rest!
@MachiavellianStrategist alright, thanks a bunch! I thought I had go restart again haha, you're probably one the best youtubers for hoi4 on here, you're guides are exact, but they aren't so hand holdy where you won't get any game experience either! I can't wait to watch your future videos, and your English is really good!!
@@Spectrumlx thank you so much for your nice comment! Good luck with your run, let me know how it goes!
Was this played in patch 1.13.7? Does the plane designs work?
Hi! Yes, everything is entirely up to date!
I tried taking turkey as quick as you have about 30 times now but my troops are stuck in a stalemate east of Antalya. Even though Im 7 days ahead of you before invasion in Turkey starts when you start taking Romania I'm still half way through turkey. What am I doing wrong?
Turkey is probably the trickiest part of our wars in the "Balkans". I'm not sure exactly what could be the issue in your case but I would guess it's something to do with supplies.
My suggestion would be to open multiple fronts for them, since you have more divisions than they do. I would do it with several naval invasions.
As you know, I usually go for 2 naval invasions (Antalya and Izmir) and most of the time that's enough, but if you are really struggling, you could try to go for another one (10 divisions from your main army) to the area of Adana, and see if that helps.
It's also okay to take a little longer to defeat Turkey, we will have plenty of time to prepare for WW2 in any case!
Let me know how it goes!
@@MachiavellianStrategist ok i will definitely try that. The weird thing is i tried to literally copy what you do day by day. Only difference was I was lucky and ended the war in Greece 1 week earlier. and I may be missing some minor DLCs that you have. These are the DLCs I have, is there any major ones im missing? By Blood Alone, La resistance, No Step Back.
I am attacking in the same exact formation as you do. I think because we send those 7 Militia in the beginning to the border, they seem to be piling up around Antalya. It's very hard to expand, especially towards east. They have 3-7 divisions per block around Antalya. Even with shore bombardment it takes them weeks to even start expanding. My mobilized divisions seem to have 0 effect. They just go into stalemate. I don't think supply is the issue. Especially in the beginning. I only get debuffs from Naval, Terrain and everything else is green
@@bugra1989 there is always a bit of rng in every run unfortunately, so sometimes Greece is a bit tougher, sometimes it happens with Turkey, sometimes with Romania.
I'm my experience Turkey is the hardest one to take down, but opening multiple fronts should help. Also, make sure you have full planning and you have as many planes as possible assigned to that region. It happened to me to struggle and remain stuck in there sometimes, but eventually you should be able to break them, at least on one front (Izmir or Antalya). After you break them once, the rest of the war will be much easier!
@@MachiavellianStrategist I will keep trying and I will try sending 10 more divs to invade from adana. Also is it weird that I got no Spanish Civil war? I have a save right after the war in Ethiopia and I played that save at least 30 times. I get no Spanish Civil war triggering. So no XP for me
The Spanish Civil war not triggering really never happened to me! I think it can happen that it triggers late, but it cannot happen that it does not trigger at all (with historical focuses).
I would wait a bit longer and see if it eventually triggers, not having that extra XP is alright, it is not that important, but I am not sure what is going to happen if Spain remains democratic when we need to conquer them.
Other than that, consider that the only way to "fix" this kind of things is to go for a completely new run, as these events seem to be rooted in the "seed" of the run (I am talking about the civil war).
I ended up realizing that Romania doesn't get involved with the war. Is that because if the right dlc isn't installed that they don't guarantee anyone or is there something else that is going on?
Oh that's very interesting, it never happened to me! So, in your run, Romania does not guarantee Greece nor Turkey?
I don't think guarantees are dlc-related, but I'm not 100% sure to be honest.
I will have to try once without dlcs, which ones do you have?
@@MachiavellianStrategist I got the "Together for Victory" for the ability to do more with puppet states then recently got the "Death or Dishonor" one because I read it effects the main countries in the Balkan area susch as guarantees. But it's still not doing anything I fear I may not be able to use it mid game.
@@story_appreciator6666 yeah, it probably won't affect a run which is already ongoing. You may have to restart...
By the way, not taking Romania is not an issue, their land can be integrated in the Roman Empire, but it is not mandatory to reform it!
@@MachiavellianStrategist that was what I was afraid of and tried it out.
It indeed doesn't activate mid-game
Oh vey...
That ultimatum message never comes for me.
@@AnoopThiruonam Yugoslavia? If you picked the focus it should come. What happens instead?
It seem now that the Brazil is going guarantee nations like Portugal and Ireland. I do not know if it is a bug coming after the latest dlc.
@@alessandrocalamida4938 mmm, Brazil is always kinda annoying but this never happened to me. I will need to check it out at some point!
@@MachiavellianStrategist just yesterday it happens that I was conquering Ireland and a moment before its capitulation she called Brazil in the war out of nowhere.
@@alessandrocalamida4938 was Brazil then considered a major?
@@MachiavellianStrategist yes, after that Prtugal and Saudi Arabia join the Brazil Union but not Vichy France and Natianalist Spain. The interesting thing is that the Vichy France was guaranteed by Germany but they did not intervene in their defence.
@@alessandrocalamida4938 are you still a member of the Axis?
Yugoslavia split into 2 due to a civil war for me…?
It can happen don't worry, just help your puppet Yugo quickly win the war and annex the other one.
@@MachiavellianStrategist at first when i saw the civil war notification i was scared but then i realized since neither yugo has any divisions its an easy way to steal some land lol
@user-db4lk7yg3o exactly! In the end that's free land for us, earlier than usual!
Ciao, bel video solo una cosa io ho seguito filo e per segno questa guida e fino alla turchia tutto bene, l’ho conquistata un mese dopo rispetto al video ma non credo sia un grosso problema. Le cose cominciano ad andare male quando inizia la seconda guerra mondiale, non riesco ad invadere la francia perché le mie truppe rimangono ferme al fronte e compaiono le bolle rosse, a volte verdi ma comunque non mi muovo di un singolo centimetro, metto tutti gli aerei per la superiorità aerea e per il fuoco assistito ma niente, a volte diventa verde, a volte giallo e altre volte rosso, mentre quando la germania conquista la francia provo l’invasione navale al regno unito e all’inizio tutto bene, conquisto londra e altre città importanti ma dopo un po’ fanno un contrattacco assurdo e mi distruggono tutte le divisioni. Puoi darmi qualche consiglio per favore? Grazie💪🏻
Ciao!
Per quanto riguarda la Turchia assolutamente nessun problema!
Per l'offensiva in Francia è strano che tu non riesca proprio a sfondare il fronte, stai usando le mie divisioni offensive da 30w vero? Con air superiority e supplies non mi è mai capitato che non riuscissero a sfondare in Francia. La motorization priority è la più alta? Le unità hanno abbastanza supplies?
Per quanto riguarda lo UK, di solito oppongono davvero poca resistenza, a che punto sono riusciti a fermarti e contrattaccare? Se gli lasci troppo tempo è possibile che riescano a mandare molte divisioni prese dai territori coloniali, quindi ti consiglierei di avanzare il più possibile subito dopo l'invasione!
Stai giocando a regular difficulty vero?
@@MachiavellianStrategistCiao grazie per la risposta! Una domanda scusa è che sono nuovo ahahah. Praticamente io avevo assegnato due armate al fronte della francia ( una offensiva e una difensiva) e ho notato che assegnano solamente quella offensiva da 30 W la descrizione dell’offensiva è passata da superior enemy -50% a inferior enemy +50% (in verde quindi avendo un vantaggio enorme) o qualcosa di simile quindi conviene assegnare solamente un armata per fronte? Inoltre ho fatto un salvataggio prima della WW2 e ho fatto vari test, praticamente avevo 400 fighter e 200 cas in meno al video e assegnando solamente l’armata da 30 W e con gli stessi aeroplani del video (prendendoli con i comandi della console) sono riuscito ad invadere facilmente e nella stessa maniera del video la Francia, credi che sia un problema di aerei oppure sia perché avevo assegnato due armate per l’offensiva? Tra un po’ proverò a ricominciare un’altra volta da zero e facendo tutto pulito senza cheat
@@Cristian-ff8hr ciao! Figurati, chiedi pure per qualsiasi cosa.
In realtà è difficile risponderti esattamente senza vedere il save. Però sicuramente gli aerei sono molto importanti, avere la superiorità aerea ed avere CAS a support fa una differenza enorme. Quindi quello potrebbe senz'altro essere un motivo.
Assegnare l'armata difensiva non dovrebbe sfavoririti in generale MA:
1) potresti avere problemi di supplies con due armate, in quel caso una sola armata potrebbe performare meglio.
2) è possibile che vedendo più unità dalla tua parte anche loro ne abbiano mandate di più, anche in questo caso è possibile che una sola armata performi meglio.
Ultima cosa, essere arrivato fin lì al primo try vuol dire che hai fatto un ottimo lavoro, complimenti!
Io sono un po' in ritardo e la Germania ha vinto e annesso l'unione sovietica, come posso fare?
@@historysecrets822 ciao! La strategia rimane la stessa, certo sarà un po' più difficile sconfiggere la Germania, ma nulla di impossibile. Tieni conto che per farli capitolare ti basta prendere i core state in Germania, la Russia la puoi completamente ignorare.
@@MachiavellianStrategist Ah ok, molte grazie
@@historysecrets822 di nulla!
Is there a country guide for members?
@@lordhaseky7706 hi! What do you mean by a country guide for members? Which country?
@@MachiavellianStrategist For Roman Empire, this video. My english very bad, sorry.
@@lordhaseky7706 no worries! English is not my native tongue either.
Usually I have a members only unedited version of my videos. But in this case the main guide is in the unedited step by step format, so there is no members only video.
If you have a tier 2 membership you can still access the dedicated spreadsheet with all additional instructions!
@@MachiavellianStrategist ok thanks, last question. .What's ASAP?
@@lordhaseky7706 as soon as possible 😉
A me l'Ungheria sta nell' asse e non le posso dichiarare guerra, qualcuno sa come fare?
@@historysecrets822 ciao, può capitare. Pazienza, non ti serve per l'impero romano. La puoi prendere dopo quando attacchi la Germania (ricordati però di assegnare qualche divisione a protezione di quel fronte).
@@MachiavellianStrategist Ok, grazie mille
@@historysecrets822 😉
Nice, but I want to achieve the same without going historical and doing the Pact of Steel... I prefer going "Italy First" (which requires to do the Albanian occupation earlier) and is more in line with the "roman ambitions" because we don't need to ally with the Nazis to achieve greatness 😉☺️
Hi! You could give this a look: th-cam.com/video/rqIPkcW2piw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=W-MXk36mJyOWwS0n
It is one of my older videos and it does not offer the same level of optimization. However, in this non-historical run Hitler lost the civil war and I went for the Roman Empire without Germany (and with "Italy first")! So it is definitely possible!
@@MachiavellianStrategist Your strategy won't work any more as with the latest patch, you need to occupy Albania to get Italy First. As for mine, I usually take Austria asap before Germany can get the Anschluss. Just before the war with Austria, I first require Dalmatia from Yugoslavia, then I send her the ultimatum to puppet her. Italian irredentism increases world tension by 4% so after Austria there is little room for justifications... So I then turn against Spains then wait for WW2 to start to sneak my claims against Greece and Turkey whilst UK is busy guaranteeing the Benelux, Norway and Denmark...
@@MachiavellianStrategist BTW I'm playing Iron man with historical focus...
@@MachiavellianStrategist UK never guarantees Fascist or Communist regimes. Only democracies or non aligned...
@@ManuelSchulte007 that's true, so you can easily take Spain without guarantees issues, but taking the Balkans might be tricky if you go for Austria early. Also, Austria is not required for the Roman Empire (although it can be cored).
Playing around guarantees is always a little tricky as you never know what the UK or France will prioritize. And waiting until WW2 to take the Balkans and Turkey will significantly weaken our industry.
Are you sure that you need Albania for Italy first? According to the description, that doesn't seem to be the case. It says "one of the following must be true:
Owns Albania (or subject)
Owns North Slovenia (or subject)
Owns Ljubljana (or subject)"
So having Yugoslavia as a puppet should satisfy the requirements, without any need to take Albania.
Anyone knows a way around Romania automatically joining allies after defeating Turkey ? Coz it's ruining my playthrough hahaha
Hi! I made a video about it a while ago: th-cam.com/video/ekyvfND6kLw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=ISq0CX4rVpPs2KcW
@@MachiavellianStrategist Haaaa thank you so much mate, now it seems to me you actually mentioned it in the guide but i couldn't find where exactly. Great content btw, as a fairly new player at hoi4 ( ~150h gameplay mostly as France ) your vids taught me a lot :)
Sappi che Bittersteel sta copiando la tua guida senza menzionarti
@@alessandrocupolo9843 ciao! Mi ha menzionato nella descrizione in realtà, una menzione anche nel video sarebbe stata carina ma va bene così haha!
do i need any dlc to do it?
@@s.p4524 the strategy works without dlcs too! I made a dedicated video for that if you are interested.
th-cam.com/video/EPmC_uWsVsc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=eIpf0PWxXAt21NmR
@@MachiavellianStrategist thank you, should i buy the dlc by blood alone as a beginner or should i wait?(i have 50h)
@@s.p4524 by blood alone and no step back are very important dlcs overall. But the base game feels great too. Maybe try the run I sent you first, and see how it goes.
@@MachiavellianStrategistdo I need no Step back even tho I don’t play as the udssr
@@s.p4524 no step back adds the tank designer, which is arguably one of the most important features in the game. Same as by blood alone with the plane designer.
Blood alone also adds the possibility to steal resource rights and enemy fleets in the peace conference.
These are all very impactful features, regardless of the country.
I feel like you need Ethiopian war logistics to make sure you can win the war even faster
Mmh, you can pick it but I am not fully convinced, we have some precise timing with focuses, so an extra 35 days could affect the rest of the run.
In the end we just need to capitulate Ethiopia before the government in exile, which is fairly simple using my strategy.
@@MachiavellianStrategist I feel like I’m watching this step by step and still failing. Italy is rough
@@mattdamon3398 really? Feel free to ask if you are encountering issues! Which part are you struggling with?
@@MachiavellianStrategistthe dang United Kingdom keeps declaring Bulgarian independence for them to just join the axis anyways I’ve done like 5 plays throughs it’s so weird I keep selling it’s hard though cuz I’m just basing my run off you cuz I did get it done the first time when I did it step by step but Russia is one tough son of a gun
@@mattdamon3398 wait aren't you annexing Bulgaria early in the run? What is happening with the UK?
im trying this on iron man and Yugoslavia just declined lmao
It is very rare but it can happen sometimes. It's still OK, you can take them later in WW2 if you prefer not to restart.
Where's the map?
Sorry I forgot to add the link, here you go: hoi4.paradoxwikis.com/Formable_nations#/media/File:Roman_Empire_map.png
It is now also in the description of the video!
You can find it in the description of the video!
8:40 u cannot save the game on ironman :)
Hehe I stopped playing Ironman a long time ago while recording my guides, since one mistake could nullify hours of recording... The good thing is I still have most achievements locked, so I could go for some achievements oriented runs in future!
I can't break through France like this
The most common issues with that are either low supplies or low strength/training. Make sure your units are all at max training before starting the push. Also, make sure you have air superiority with enough planes assigned. The first push, in the mountains, can be hard, but after that it will be much easier.
That being said, pushing France is not really mandatory, since Germany will do it from the north in any case. It is just to get some extra war score!
@@MachiavellianStrategist If I can say one thing, the normal infantrymen convinced me more than those with the artillery
@@davidecentomo6429 Which infantry are you referring to as the normal one? The default template? Italy actually starts with a very good template, but without artillery it is a bit harder to get enough offensive potential.
@@MachiavellianStrategist ok maybe I just have low organization (I'm new to the game so I'm struggling a bit especially to understand the things that are in the DLC and the things that aren't)
@@davidecentomo6429 let me know how it goes! These guides are made specifically for new players, so I'm alwyas happy to help!
sometime great britain join de war -_-
@@Snaki27 hi! If you mean that they join (or better invite Romania in the Allies) i made a dedicated video on how to prevent that: th-cam.com/video/ekyvfND6kLw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=AqLjyo8Rmvml7C77