HOI Germany Strategy? help plez

[Sava]

I've just started playing this game, so I'm not completely familiar with it yet. I wasn't real big on EU, but this game is fun; when played right.

Anyone have any suggestions about the best course of actions for the Germans in the Road to War scenario? How much should I put to research? What should I research first? How many industries should I upgrade? How many military units should I build in the beginning? How many units should I have before I attack? Who is smarter to go after first? (I've had success against Czech, Austria, and Hungary first since the Allies don't go after me...)

Yes, I need a lot of help, bear with me. But please just give me some strategies that you guys have used that work. I"M A TOTAL NOOB!

thanks all!

[St Leo]

How much should I put to research?

The same or more as into production.

What should I research first?

Infantry, Armor, Industry, Artillery, and Land Strategy. You don't really need anything else.

How many industries should I upgrade?

You can upgrade the ones producing under 8 or so at first, but you can ignore that aspect entirely because your IC received is halved for the duration of that upgrade.

How many military units should I build in the beginning?

Not two many. Maybe 24 Light Tanks and 24 Infantry (four Field Marshals-worth of troops). Order more tanks after every breakthrough. It's probably better to build Advanced Light instead of Basic Medium when those become available.

How many units should I have before I attack?

Definetly enough for a holding action on the western front.

Who is smarter to go after first? (I've had success against Czech, Austria, and Hungary first since the Allies don't go after me...)

Don't go after Austria. Leave Czechs alone until the Treaty of Munich. In 1.03, it's probably a better idea to ally with Hungary ran to take it over. Poland's a good target and it will give you a taste of the tactics that you'll need to survive a war with the Soviets.

[Sava]

sweet... thx leo...

[Grumbold]

You only lose 5 IC from any province when you upgrade now so it really doesn't matter too much which you choose. Ones with under 5 IC will be more efficient but Germany doesn't have many of those.

In 1.0-1.2 it paid to put virtually everything into research for 1936-1938 and only start building tanks and aircraft later when you had more advanced models. In 1.03 you need more troops so its best to get started early. Since infantry upgrade automatically as you research buying them first means you won't lose them while they get upgraded. I don't usually build any new armour until I have advanced light tanks.

For a more challenging scenario include naval power in your arsenal. You need to research and build early if you're going to have more than a token navy and that takes a lot of resources away from winning the land war.

[Sava]

Is it better to upgrade more industries early on? And also, do higher industry regions get more of a bonus from industry upgrades than smaller ones?

[Comrade Tribune]

Originally posted by Sava
Is it better to upgrade more industries early on? And also, do higher industry regions get more of a bonus from industry upgrades than smaller ones?

IF you build industries, do it early. (It´s like saving money; the earlier you do it, the longer you will enjoy the interest.)

But when you are at war, or about to go to war, don´t spend anything on building industries -you have more pressing needs.

Very low industry regions are the most efficient to build up. It will cost you less. Weird.

I´d say the best strategy with Germany is: Build a mighty, advanced force, but *do not attack*. War will come to you. But before WWII starts, you will get Austria and Chechoslovakia for free.

If you build up your forces well before 1939, you cannot lose (in SP, that is). (Unfortunately the ai is brain-dead.) Just make sure you concentrate on knocking out one enemy at a time.

[Sava]

Is it possible to influence France and ally with them? Or will they declare war no matter what? I've been using the diplomacy influence cheat

[Sava]

anyone? anyone? Trip?

[Nikolai]

You can't stop them from DoW you. And you can certainly not ally with them.

[St Leo]

You can't stop them from DoW you.

Are you sure? I know that in the old patches the Allies declared war on Germany even if it was the USSR that was misbehaving, but I think they fixed that in 1.03.

And you can certainly not ally with them.

Sure you can. You just need lots and lots of diplomatic influence to spend.

[Dinner]

Some countries are hard coded as to what side they will be on. The soviet Union will always lead the comminturn, Germany will always be Axis, and I believe France & Britian will always be Allies

[Nikolai]

I might of course be wrong, but I still think that none of the Allies can become Axis. That is, not without you as a player conquer and puppeting them first(I have done it yes). And then you have to be at war with them first, of course.

When it comes to the Dows:
You are both right and wrong, Leo. In the older patches Germany was the one to be attacked no matter what and it isn't like that now, but the Allied war readiness is nevertheless rising all the time, and wont stop even if Hitler isn't doing anything offensive. The war will just start later.

[asleepathewheel]

As has been said, sometimes the allies will not declare war on germs, instead the sovs. I think the key is the czech event, if you leave them alone or they join the axis, then poland doesn't join the allies, and so on, IIRC. However, if you have an agressive SU, and with a passive germany, the attack on Finland might trigger an allies-SU war. Of course, since there are no common borders, its mostly a few air attacks, from what I've seen. I recently concluded an incredibly boring game as the Aussies, where nothing really happened besides japan-china the whole game. a real snooze fest.

[Dinner]

I've played several games where nothing really happened except Japan bashing China. While we're on the subject the Chinese almost always get destroyed by the Japanese. They should be balanced so that Japan can conquer China but only with great difficulty.

[mactbone]

It would also be nice to see one of the Chinas get able to finish off the other before Japan tears into them.

About diplomacy, as the SU I tried to get sweden to ally with me (figuring they were socialist already) but even after I got them all the way Commie and influnenced them a couple more times they refused my alliance - are they just hard to get, or hard coded to be neutral? In that same game I was able to get Bulgaria, Turkey, Spain (after the communist coup), and Romania, I also might have convinced Greece to join, can't remember. I thought about influencing and allying with communist china but didn't want to mess with fleets (which I would need to take out Japan, because I assume they attack China every time).

That game was nice - when Germany DoW on me I was able to hold a static front with them before attacking and at the same time all those South Eastern countries were first driven back by Italy and then made a big push and forced them waaay back. At the same time Italy had taken over enough land in Africa to finally border Turkey and the Turks started WAILING on them - I was only able to capture a couple of provinces, while they were using some cavalry to traipse through undefended provinces.