Hearts of Iron 4

Dave_The_Sheep

Thanks. I may take you up on that at some point, if the youtube tutorials aren't doing it for me. I watched a few games of an Irish lad playing Ireland and taking over the UK and France prior to the war starting, it was rather entertaining.

SpannerMonkey

there is a steam workshop mod called millennium dawn i think its a modern day mod . when you play as Ireland you start off with Bertie as your leader and later enda kenny and all the generals and admirals are real irish army personel its very entertaining . i managed world domination as ireland although it took a while and you start slow by invading a few weak african countries and using their factories and manpower

Shiminay

SpannerMonkey wrote: »

you start slow by invading a few weak african countries and using their factories and manpower

World Colonialism 101 right there, exploit the shte out of Africa, sure aren't we already making Guinness there


I've watched some people playing HOI4 and I think I got it on a Humble Monthly, but haven't had a chance to start into it myself. There's a part of me that wants to see the Hill of Tara as the centre of a world Empire

SpannerMonkey

Shiminay wrote: »

World Colonialism 101 right there, exploit the shte out of Africa, sure aren't we already making Guinness there


I've watched some people playing HOI4 and I think I got it on a Humble Monthly, but haven't had a chance to start into it myself. There's a part of me that wants to see the Hill of Tara as the centre of a world Empire

hahaha yup it can be done . takes a lot of time and patience though . it is a hard game to get into if you havent played a paradox game before , as there is a steep learning curve and no tutorial but its excellent once you figure it out

troyzer

Anyone else simply give up on the late game? By the time you're Germany invading the likes of the US or China, the amount of AI unit spam just crashed the game repeatedly.

SpannerMonkey

Shiminay wrote: »

World Colonialism 101 right there, exploit the shte out of Africa, sure aren't we already making Guinness there


I've watched some people playing HOI4 and I think I got it on a Humble Monthly, but haven't had a chance to start into it myself. There's a part of me that wants to see the Hill of Tara as the centre of a world Empire

thats a screenshot i took about 80% through my world domination as ireland . all that was left was the EU and US which i later conquered

SpannerMonkey

troyzer wrote: »

Anyone else simply give up on the late game? By the time you're Germany invading the likes of the US or China, the amount of AI unit spam just crashed the game repeatedly.

it can happen on some games . in the very late game . very annoying when it does happen . usually doesnt happen until about 75 years in or later though

Shiminay

That's rather funny It's funnier cause I've known Enda all my life and whilst it was difficult to accept him as Taoiseach, it's even more absurd to see him as a world conqueror

SpannerMonkey

Shiminay wrote: »

That's rather funny It's funnier cause I've known Enda all my life and whilst it was difficult to accept him as Taoiseach, it's even more absurd to see him as a world conqueror

hahaha priceless
should show him what he could have achieved if only he had invaded africa

killanena

In my first Ireland play through I adlo invaded Africa xD South Africa to be exact. Built tank divisions for days and eventually took over the planet lol.

SpannerMonkey

killanena wrote: »

In my first Ireland play through I adlo invaded Africa xD South Africa to be exact. Built tank divisions for days and eventually took over the planet lol.

i started smaller by invading Guinea Bissau with some marines built from there. infrastructure in africa was poor so i found tanks got bogged down. also found south africa was too far away for the tiny navy i had at my disposal . got there in the end though .

Dave_The_Sheep

One of my first let's play's I watched in HOI4 was an Irish lad (not sure if he's on here) who conquered Britain and France prior to the outbreak of the war in 1939. Quite enjoyable to watch.

Part 1 (complete playlist on his page).

SpannerMonkey

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

One of my first let's play's I watched in HOI4 was an Irish lad (not sure if he's on here) who conquered Britain and France prior to the outbreak of the war in 1939. Quite enjoyable to watch.

Part 1 (complete playlist on his page).

ya i used to use that tactic too . its not as easy now unfortunately they limited how many special forces you can train . so you cant build many paratroopers any more

ancapailldorcha

Hope it's ok to bump this.

It's on sale at the moment. Worth a buy? I asked elsewhere but got told that HOI3 was better because 4 apparently plays itself.

troyzer

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Hope it's ok to bump this.

It's on sale at the moment. Worth a buy? I asked elsewhere but got told that HOI3 was better because 4 apparently plays itself.

Yes, it's amazing. 4 doesn't play itself. In the beginning it was a bit shallow and you couldn't get as nerdy. But if you get all of the DLC you can get drowned in detail. I'm struggling to figure out the Man the Guns DLC which just came out that introduces a load of new fuel and naval mechanics.

SpannerMonkey

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Hope it's ok to bump this.

It's on sale at the moment. Worth a buy? I asked elsewhere but got told that HOI3 was better because 4 apparently plays itself.

yes its well worth buying , very in depth and detailed game , there are a few dlcs out that make it even more detailed . i have over 600 hrs in it now . its my default game to go back to when i get tired of the new games that come out . like troyzer im struggling with the new dlc man the guns it changes the game quite a bit and makes managing navies very detailed . if youve never played a paradox game before it can be overwhelming at the start and you may be best to play a few games with someone who knows the game as there isnt really any tutorial .

troyzer

SpannerMonkey wrote: »

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Hope it's ok to bump this.

It's on sale at the moment. Worth a buy? I asked elsewhere but got told that HOI3 was better because 4 apparently plays itself.

yes its well worth buying , very in depth and detailed game , there are a few dlcs out that make it even more detailed . i have over 600 hrs in it now . its my default game to go back to when i get tired of the new games that come out . like troyzer im struggling with the new dlc man the guns it changes the game quite a bit and makes managing navies very detailed . if youve never played a paradox game before it can be overwhelming at the start and you may be best to play a few games with someone who knows the game as there isnt really any tutorial .

My first Paradox game was EU4 with all of the DLC to that point.

It's terrifying jumping into your first game. You just get absolutely rinsed.

SpannerMonkey

troyzer wrote: »

My first Paradox game was EU4 with all of the DLC to that point.

It's terrifying jumping into your first game. You just get absolutely rinsed.

yup i was totally overwhelmed myself . i didnt like the game at first because i couldnt figure it out . i was a member of an irish gaming community and one of the guys there came on and sowed me how it worked and i was totaly hooked . such good strategy games once you figure out the basics . i have got a few other paradox games since and they really are the masters of strategy games


how are you finding the new dlc?

Blowfish

troyzer wrote: »

My first Paradox game was EU4 with all of the DLC to that point.

It's terrifying jumping into your first game. You just get absolutely rinsed.

I think all the Paradox Grand Strategy stuff is like that, Stellaris is probably the most approachable. If you put the time in though, they are all well worth it.

troyzer

SpannerMonkey wrote: »

troyzer wrote: »

My first Paradox game was EU4 with all of the DLC to that point.

It's terrifying jumping into your first game. You just get absolutely rinsed.

yup i was totally overwhelmed myself . i didnt like the game at first because i couldnt figure it out . i was a member of an irish gaming community and one of the guys there came on and sowed me how it worked and i was totaly hooked . such good strategy games once you figure out the basics . i have got a few other paradox games since and they really are the masters of strategy games


how are you finding the new dlc?

I dunno, I'm erring on the side of too much micromanagement. And I can't understand why I'm not allowed to put as many dockyards on my battleships as my destroyers. They must be trying to realistically nerf the number of capital ships you're allowed.

Also, while the fuel mechanics are way more realistic, it also realistically makes it impossible for Germany to win a protracted war.

TLDR: it makes the game far more realistic but I can't decide whether or not it's gone too far and just made it a chore.

ancapailldorcha

Hope it is ok to bump this.

Played the tutorial today. Still quite confused and not really sure how I did what I did. Working my way through some tutorial videos now.

SpannerMonkey

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Hope it is ok to bump this.

Played the tutorial today. Still quite confused and not really sure how I did what I did. Working my way through some tutorial videos now.

ya, it's quite confusing at the start. the main thing to start with is economy, bolster your production and construction speed. basically the industry tech . and choose an easyish country to start with, one of the big powers. maybe avoid France or USSR as they get invaded. if you're stuck I can set up a multiplayer and show you sometime.

PS: DONT START WITH IRELAND !!!! ireland is hard to play as and slow. that's for when you have a strong grasp on the game

troyzer

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Hope it is ok to bump this.

Played the tutorial today. Still quite confused and not really sure how I did what I did. Working my way through some tutorial videos now.

As has been said, the key in the early game is to research industrial tech as quickly as possible and build factories.

It's a hard game to get into and most people think a small country is the way to go. It's not. You're better off picking a relatively strong country to begin with.

Go with America to learn the mechanics maybe. But don't worry about navies yet. They're properly awkward and I haven't figured them out properly yet.

ancapailldorcha

SpannerMonkey wrote: »

ya, it's quite confusing at the start. the main thing to start with is economy, bolster your production and construction speed. basically the industry tech . and choose an easyish country to start with, one of the big powers. maybe avoid France or USSR as they get invaded. if you're stuck I can set up a multiplayer and show you sometime.

PS: DONT START WITH IRELAND !!!! ireland is hard to play as and slow. that's for when you have a strong grasp on the game

Thanks! I might try and finish Quill18's video tutorials as I seem to be actually retaining information from them.

Shame. I fancied Ireland. Would be quite difficult being so close to the UK.

troyzer wrote: »

As has been said, the key in the early game is to research industrial tech as quickly as possible and build factories.

It's a hard game to get into and most people think a small country is the way to go. It's not. You're better off picking a relatively strong country to begin with.

Go with America to learn the mechanics maybe. But don't worry about navies yet. They're properly awkward and I haven't figured them out properly yet.

That might have been skimmed over in the tutorial if I even saw it mentioned.

How does it compare to the previous HoI games? If it's simplified I might stick with this one as there is still quite a lot going on here.

SpannerMonkey

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Thanks! I might try and finish Quill18's video tutorials as I seem to be actually retaining information from them.

Shame. I fancied Ireland. Would be quite difficult being so close to the UK.



That might have been skimmed over in the tutorial if I even saw it mentioned.

How does it compare to the previous HoI games? If it's simplified I might stick with this one as there is still quite a lot going on here.

Ireland is probably one of the hardest countries to play as . it can be done ive conquered the world as ireland but my god it was a long hard slog .

as said america is easy as you are left alone . germany is easy if you want to be peaceful and even easy in war at the start , same with italy . britain is easyish . france can be a bit harder but if you play it right its good too , ie turn facist and join the axis or build forts everywhere , or attack germany when they reoccupy the Rhineland but you may need uk help for that last one .


remember if playing facist keep world tension below 24% above that and the big boys will get involved and it gets a lot harder

ancapailldorcha

SpannerMonkey wrote: »

Ireland is probably one of the hardest countries to play as . it can be done ive conquered the world as ireland but my god it was a long hard slog .

as said america is easy as you are left alone . germany is easy if you want to be peaceful and even easy in war at the start , same with italy . britain is easyish . france can be a bit harder but if you play it right its good too , ie turn facist and join the axis or build forts everywhere , or attack germany when they reoccupy the Rhineland but you may need uk help for that last one .


remember if playing facist keep world tension below 24% above that and the big boys will get involved and it gets a lot harder

Need to get back to Quill18's tutorials.

He's actually celebrating his birthday in Edinburgh this weekend!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYknLa1U46E

killanena

I recommend Italy for a newcomer. They have a new easy claims off the bat and get you used to how fighting works against smaller nations. They are fairly protected as well from invasion by land with just 2 small choke points to defend.

I wouldn't be against playing Ireland early on as a first just to get a feel for how the game plays without worrying about the rest of the world. Gives you plenty of time to mess around and see how construction, production and politics work.

If you have a friend that also has the game you could play an online campaign together and help each other out. I had a more experienced friend help me learn the ropes back near release.

ancapailldorcha

killanena wrote: »

I recommend Italy for a newcomer. They have a new easy claims off the bat and get you used to how fighting works against smaller nations. They are fairly protected as well from invasion by land with just 2 small choke points to defend.

I wouldn't be against playing Ireland early on as a first just to get a feel for how the game plays without worrying about the rest of the world. Gives you plenty of time to mess around and see how construction, production and politics work.

If you have a friend that also has the game you could play an online campaign together and help each other out. I had a more experienced friend help me learn the ropes back near release.

I did the tutorial as Italy. Didn't learn a whole lot but that's what the videos and forums and so on are for. I'll probably continue and see how it goes.

ancapailldorcha

This appears to be going poorly. I tried to invade Yugoslavia as Italy. As I took territory, they recaptured it and one of my armies disappeared as it ran out of supplies.

troyzer

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

This appears to be going poorly. I tried to invade Yugoslavia as Italy. As I took territory, they recaptured it and one of my armies disappeared as it ran out of supplies.

Are you forming front lines and making attack plans or are you just directing individual attacks?

It's usually the later if you're getting encircled. Or you've got too many spearheads. The trick is a low risk general advance combined with mechanised pincers to encircle and destroy.

It's not uncommon to encircle 50 divisions doing it that way.

ancapailldorcha

Was meant to go to bed nice and early last night. I only logged on to check which doctrine I should go for and spent 90 minutes on that war with the Yugoslavs.

I made a front line and then started ordering units around individually as it said my front line was losing. I've 2 armies in northeastern Italy and one on the French border. I even allied with Germany as it's my first game so having a strong ally nearby might be a good idea.

Sounds like I might need a panzer division or several.

troyzer

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Was meant to go to bed nice and early last night. I only logged on to check which doctrine I should go for and spent 90 minutes on that war with the Yugoslavs.

I made a front line and then started ordering units around individually as it said my front line was losing. I've 2 armies in northeastern Italy and one on the French border. I even allied with Germany as it's my first game so having a strong ally nearby might be a good idea.

Sounds like I might need a panzer division or several.

It's difficult to make panzer divisions as Italy to be fair.

Individual ordering units around is your issue.

ancapailldorcha

troyzer wrote: »

It's difficult to make panzer divisions as Italy to be fair.

Individual ordering units around is your issue.

Ah. Ok. So if I just ordered an offensive line I would likely have won? The little circle was red but it does seem changeable.

troyzer

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

troyzer wrote: »

It's difficult to make panzer divisions as Italy to be fair.

Individual ordering units around is your issue.

Ah. Ok. So if I just ordered an offensive line I would likely have won? The little circle was red but it does seem changeable.

Well you probably would have taken loads of casualties.

You could also concentrate your mountaineers into pincer attacks. Stack them with plenty of arty.

ancapailldorcha

troyzer wrote: »

Well you probably would have taken loads of casualties.

You could also concentrate your mountaineers into pincer attacks. Stack them with plenty of arty.

You mean changing the templates? I only really have what I started with. Maybe I need more varied troops.

troyzer

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

troyzer wrote: »

Well you probably would have taken loads of casualties.

You could also concentrate your mountaineers into pincer attacks. Stack them with plenty of arty.

You mean changing the templates? I only really have what I started with. Maybe I need more varied troops.

The trick is just to approach every front and see where the weak spots are and go for them.

Mountains for example give you a massive penalty as an attacker, so do rivers, hills and stuff like that. If you have tanks, concentrate them into a spearhead and go for a plain with no negative buff. You can park your fleet offshore as well and they'll bombard coastal areas. Your air force, particularly dive bombers, is important for softening them up.

The general idea is that unless you have a huge numerical and quality superiority, you're not going to just batter them into submission. It's about pinching and choking them off. Concentrating your best troops in the easiest areas against their weakest troops and then using fast units like cavalry or light tanks to sweep around and encircle the units still on the front line.

It's a complicated game, it's difficult to walk you through it via text. Just keep trying and failing, you'll get there and it's worth it when you become good at it

ancapailldorcha

troyzer wrote: »

The trick is just to approach every front and see where the weak spots are and go for them.

Mountains for example give you a massive penalty as an attacker, so do rivers, hills and stuff like that. If you have tanks, concentrate them into a spearhead and go for a plain with no negative buff. You can park your fleet offshore as well and they'll bombard coastal areas. Your air force, particularly dive bombers, is important for softening them up.

The general idea is that unless you have a huge numerical and quality superiority, you're not going to just batter them into submission. It's about pinching and choking them off. Concentrating your best troops in the easiest areas against their weakest troops and then using fast units like cavalry or light tanks to sweep around and encircle the units still on the front line.

It's a complicated game, it's difficult to walk you through it via text. Just keep trying and failing, you'll get there and it's worth it when you become good at it

Ok. This makes sense.

I thought I'd organised things properly but there are a lot of buttons and things. I only have a few tank divisions and more don't seem forthcoming.

Thanks for the advice. It's certainly complicated with all the stuff you need to keep an eye on. I even had the Germans assisting and I still lost. I'll give it another go.

troyzer

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

troyzer wrote: »

The trick is just to approach every front and see where the weak spots are and go for them.

Mountains for example give you a massive penalty as an attacker, so do rivers, hills and stuff like that. If you have tanks, concentrate them into a spearhead and go for a plain with no negative buff. You can park your fleet offshore as well and they'll bombard coastal areas. Your air force, particularly dive bombers, is important for softening them up.

The general idea is that unless you have a huge numerical and quality superiority, you're not going to just batter them into submission. It's about pinching and choking them off. Concentrating your best troops in the easiest areas against their weakest troops and then using fast units like cavalry or light tanks to sweep around and encircle the units still on the front line.

It's a complicated game, it's difficult to walk you through it via text. Just keep trying and failing, you'll get there and it's worth it when you become good at it

Ok. This makes sense.

I thought I'd organised things properly but there are a lot of buttons and things. I only have a few tank divisions and more don't seem forthcoming.

Thanks for the advice. It's certainly complicated with all the stuff you need to keep an eye on. I even had the Germans assisting and I still lost. I'll give it another go.

Did you finish the war against Ethiopia?

ancapailldorcha

troyzer wrote: »

Did you finish the war against Ethiopia?

I did. Moved most of my units back to Italy. A few are there and I sent 2 to assist Franco.

troyzer

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

troyzer wrote: »

Did you finish the war against Ethiopia?

I did. Moved most of my units back to Italy. A few are there and I sent 2 to assist Franco.

Quick tip on Ethiopia. It makes no sense to annex them. Puppet them instead and give them 10% or so of your infantry equipment in lend lease.

By the time WW2 starts you'll have a puppet in Africa with possibly an entire army. That way you won't have to worry about sub Saharan Africa for the whole war, they'll take care of it for you. In the real WW2, Italy pulled all of their troops out and lost it in a matter of months.

Only send tank units to Franco, he needs them more than infantry. You can control the tank units individually instead of forming front lines. They're extremely useful for patroling around and looking for weak spots for encirclement while Franco's troops hold the line and pin them down. This is basically what you should be doing in proper wars except with your own troops instead of Franco.

killanena

Sounds like you had supply issues to your men and that's why your front line lost. You want to make sure your covering yourself by air and sea also.

ancapailldorcha

troyzer wrote: »

Quick tip on Ethiopia. It makes no sense to annex them. Puppet them instead and give them 10% or so of your infantry equipment in lend lease.

By the time WW2 starts you'll have a puppet in Africa with possibly an entire army. That way you won't have to worry about sub Saharan Africa for the whole war, they'll take care of it for you. In the real WW2, Italy pulled all of their troops out and lost it in a matter of months.

Only send tank units to Franco, he needs them more than infantry. You can control the tank units individually instead of forming front lines. They're extremely useful for patroling around and looking for weak spots for encirclement while Franco's troops hold the line and pin them down. This is basically what you should be doing in proper wars except with your own troops instead of Franco.

Thanks. I didn't send tanks but Franco won anyway.

I already annexed Ethiopia so that's to late, unfortunately. I can restart if things get desperate.

killanena wrote: »

Sounds like you had supply issues to your men and that's why your front line lost. You want to make sure your covering yourself by air and sea also.

Yeah. Any progress I made was countered by the AI trying to cut my guys off.

I think I've my air force set up properly. Never used my navy though.

ancapailldorcha

Right, I'm having fun with this now. I managed to deposit a few infantry units in the little patch east of the Aegean sea that I only just saw Italy had. I managed to keep micromanagement to a minimum and took Yugoslavia. Might have been nicer if I'd gotten the focus for Albania but Britain is protecting them for now.