Heart of Iron 4 (Man the Guns) Germany Fast World Conquest 2nd Try

Basic order

  • Poland, Belgium
  • France, Netherland, UK, Czechoslovakia, Canada
  • US, Australia, New Zealand
  • Switzerland, Italy, South Africa, Romania, Turkey
  • Soviet Union
  • ...

Detailed gameplay (important decisions)

  • 19360319 justify Poland and Belgium (use cancel justification trick to control world tension below 20%)
  • 19360628 MOFO Bill extension
  • 19361225 MOFO Bill extension
  • 19370401 war Poland Belgium
  • 19370607 Poland capitulated
  • 19370728 wait for Maco Polo Incident until world tension increase and Belgium joins Ally, then taking the capital and Belgium capitulated
  • 19370802 France starts the war
  • 19370807 France capitulated
  • 19370815 Vichy France established
  • 19370901 war Netherland
  • 19370907 Netherland capitulated
  • 19370929 cross English Channel
  • 19371217 UK almost capitulated, hold force, 1 division invade Canada
  • 19380111 Czechoslovakia justified
  • 19380119 Czechoslovakia joins Ally
  • 19380126 1 division attack Czechoslovakia and takes capital, US justified, take the final victory point from UK and Ally capitulated, puppet UK established, colony sovereign transferred and everything else annexed
  • 19380406 war US
  • 19380625 US capitulated
  • 19380904 naval invade Australia
  • 19381020 naval invade New Zealand
  • 19381109 Switzerland Italy justified, Ally capitulated, puppet US established, colony sovereign transferred and everything else annexed
  • 19390321 war Italy
  • 19390821 war South Africa
  • 19400210 war Turkey, justify Romania, Ally capitulated (later puppet Romania)
  • 19400411 German East Indies annexed
  • 19400911 France annexed
  • 19400913 Turkey released
  • 19410125 Soviet starts war against Finland, start the war against Soviet, call Romania to join the war
  • 19410310 German Raj annexed
  • 19410709 free attack
  • 19410721 Führer Directive 21 finished
  • 19410810 Sevastopol circled
  • 19411007 Soviet capitulated, puppet Soviet established

Notes for basic gameplay

  • Don't research Navy and Oil, and should be able to keep up with all other researches. Still going to own the strongest navy by annexing France, UK, and US. Still going to have more than enough oil after conquering US.
  • Don't do Rhine land focus because it increases world tension. When the war kicks off it's automatically bypassed. Also, don't set any National focus before 19360319 for the earliest war goal justify.
  • Ally starts war actively if leaving Belgium until Marco Polo incident, which is highly favorable. If world tension is still not high enough, justify Netherland.
  • Use national focus 'Befriend Denmark' for Greenland port access so we can naval invade Canada.
  • 1 division invade Canada, Czechoslovakia, Turkey before Ally capitulated for instant victory.
  • Always remember to justify war goals before Ally capitulated as it cost only 10 or 25 days when at war.
  • Establish Vichy France, UK, US puppet for their navy; Romania for focus (8 bonus military factories); Turkey as buffer country against Soviet; US, Soviet for their manpower (give full territory back before drawing manpower), annex others
  • Draw manpower from German East Indies and France before going to war with Soviet

Notes for invading Soviet

  • Remember to deploy all aircrafts captured before war kicks off.
  • Attack Soviet when it's attacking Finland and its north defence is almost gone. And they still have debuff from Great Purge by then.
  • When invading Soviet leave an army to circle Sevastopol but don't attack. After Moscow falls (so are Leningrad and Stalingrad) the new Soviet capital will be Sevastopol. Block its land access from north and east each with a total of 80 width divisions (1 block width), raiding Black Sea convoy, and the whole Soviet army will be out of supply.
  • Build 40-width tank division for aggressive attack, 20 width infantry division for normal attack, 20-width motorized infantry division for cautious attack (so they don't actively engage and can follow the tank push really fast).
  • 40-width tank divisions are composed of 8 medium tank divisions, 4 SPART divisions, and 6 motorized infantry divisions. 20-width (motorized) infantry divisions are just normal 7+2.
  • The main force composed with 1 army of 24 tank divisions for pushing, 3 armies of 3 tank divisions for micro-management, 1 army of 24 motorized infantry divisions for fast catch up, 5 armies of 24 infantry divisions for holding position and normal attack.
  • Don't try to circle Soviet divisions in large scale until very late, because it's almost impossible when they have a huge amount of backup divisions and will definitely be a supply nightmare. Just do small scale circle that covers 1 to 10 provinces would be good enough. Always build infrastructure when pushing.
  • Don't use a lot of force to invade Soviet from Turkey because the infrastructure is so awful and takes too much to fix. Instead, use a 3 tank divisions army to flank and circle Soviet army just after the main force pushes over Stalingrad.

To continue

In Oct. 1941 China is still resisting Japanese invasion. A navy composed of German, France, UK, US navy should already be overkill for the Japanese navy. Raiding Japanese convoys and their main force will be out of supply. Literally there's no other major which can pose any threat at this point.

To improve

  • This gameplay ensures there is always only 1 main front line so it's easy to micromanage. For ultimate fast conquer multiple frontlines are necessary.
  • Paratroopers are worth considering for even fast early conquer.