RETURN To The Hardest Challenge In HOI4 - 30 Minutes of Hel

Welcome to this video where we'll be taking on the "30 Minutes of Hel" achievement in Hearts of Iron IV. I'm excited to bring you this challenge as I've successfully completed it before, and I'm eager to share with you all the tips and tricks that helped me achieve this challenging goal.
For those of you who don't know, the "30 Minutes of Hel" achievement requires you to play as Poland and survive for 30 minutes against the overwhelming military might of Germany. It's a difficult task that requires careful planning and execution, but with the right strategies, it's definitely achievable.
Throughout this video, I'll be providing a detailed guide on how to survive the German onslaught and secure victory. We'll cover everything from starting setup to army composition and division templates. I'll also share some of the lessons I learned from my previous attempt, including mistakes to avoid and tactics to try.
So, whether you're new to Hearts of Iron IV or a seasoned player, this video has something for everyone. So sit back, relax, and let's take on the "30 Minutes of Hel" achievement together!
00:00 30 Minutes of Hel
00:32 30 Minutes of Hel Guide
2:20 Allies in WW2
3:20 Poland Focus Tree Is Broken
6:10 EVERYONE Vs Poland
9:10 First Counterattack
11:05 First Encirclement
12:22 See The Sea
13:50 PUSH
14:20 Warsaw Uprising
15:10 Greater Poland
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Business email: [e-mail]
Hearts of Iron IV is a grand strategy wargame developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. Released on June 6, 2016, it is the sequel to Hearts of Iron III and part of the Hearts of Iron series of grand strategy games focusing on World War II. The player may take control of any nation in the world in either 1936 or 1939 and lead them to victory or defeat against other countries.
Feedbackgaming is known for his exploits, cheats, unlimited money videos. Is inspired by other successful influencers like the spiffing brit, isp, bokoen and tommykaylive.
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Business email: [e-mail]
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#hoi4 #poland #30minutesofhel

[@DaveFeedBackGaming]

Apparently some other KZbinr has made a video like this recently. My response, Ok

[@DaveFeedBackGaming]

Ok

[@cyanlol.]

Ok

[@II-bu8yf]

W

[@snoopysnax2291]

Ok

[@EvilEgg331]

@@LeroxYT Hel is a Polish city on the coast that held out for a while in 1939.

[@renano95]

Imagine the polish army liberates your town, conscripts literally everyone, then just leaves the town for the germans

[@thevickers7]

reasonable, gotta contribute to the liberation one way or another

[@etherealhawk]

Leave just the women and children lmao

[@dudimenthegreat9886]

I mean... The SS would probably just slaughter everyone in that town, so better to be conscripted

[@NARKYCZ]

​@@etherealhawk And all those horny and lonely germans coming back to the city full of unprotected women *Its free real estate*

[@aychill7357]

​@@etherealhawk No. Conscript the women, and the children too!

[@rollypon4008]

30 minutes of hel is how long the game takes to render a day after 1945

[@oTurkish13x]

The game has been optimized a great deal, i had a total domination sleeping giant post all research world war game that spanned to the 70's and it was only mildly unresponsive while a year ago it was basically unplayable after 45

[@lusianojwkwknan6640]

Or when the soviets capitulate

[@comba5858]

​I don't know, I still have issues running the game after 1940

[@JackoBanon1]

30 Minutes are just a week in late game.

[@itsalmostfun8567]

@@comba5858 same

[@lukzombi8413]

There was a funny thing about Wieniawa-Sługoszewski (general that you picked for first army) - he was famous for his sharp tongue and sense of humor. One time he was chatting with some lady. She told him that she need a true gentleman. Wieniawa respond that he is a polish cavallery officer, so he is already a gentleman. She told him that the gentleman should be rich if he want to impress her. He replied that he is the man of noble blood with own estate. Finnaly she told that she need a man with... horse size "thing". Wieniawa said "That's it! I will not cut off about half meter of my "thing" just to have horse size!"

[@Xoruam]

There are tons of funny stories about Wieniawa. Like how once he supposedly decided to parade inside a restaurant on his horse. There was a quote about a man, whose wife got seduced by Wieniawa, and when he told his friend about it, he only heard "You can't help it... Wieniawa is a force of nature, after all" in response. He was also a poet - Personally, I love this little poem of his: _For in uhlan's heart, if you lay it bare_ _The top spot is taken by his lady, and above her there's only his mare_

[@the-letter_s]

i like the little pushes into neighboring cities for manpower. like, the defenders of Warsaw ride in, say "GET IN LOSERS WE'RE DEFENDING THE HOMELAND" and suddenly the entire able-bodied populations of Plock and Radom are gone.

[@ladywaffle2210]

"They came in for two days. Two days only. Small groups of horsemen in patchwork uniforms rode through the area, carrying aloft banners of the Polish flag. "'Volunteers for the defense!' they called out. 'All able-bodied men and women, follow us!' "I was too young to serve, but I remember clearly the two camps. There were the hopefuls, who marched away with the Home Guard, and there were the hopeless, who remained. "I suppose we needed both, but as the war grinded on, I feel like there were fewer and fewer of the hopeless and more and more of the hopefuls. We rarely got to join the Home Guard, but we helped in our own ways." -Interview with Anna Krazówíe, Polish resistance fighter

[@the-letter_s]

@@ladywaffle2210 "was kind of strange they still had horses after all the years of being sieged, though."

[@MartinHutasoit09]

@@the-letter_s The ghost of Genghis Khan give the horse

[@theEWDSDS]

10:02 you forgot that while doing these "state raids" you can also use scorched earth on it, giving the AI an even harder time

[@theEWDSDS]

wait I got a heart? *"A BLESSING FROM THE LORD!"*

[@FelipeTempestad17]

8:36 How funny to see that the Soviets made a pact with the Germans to split up Poland and they have been waiting for 3 years for their capitulation and their share of the cake. Thinking about it, it would be interesting to add mechanics so that if Germany fails to take Poland in a reasonable time after the Molotov-Riben pact, they are betrayed by the Soviet Union or something similar.

[@Dovoline3]

The problem with that is multiplayer. The Allies have no reason not to lend-lease the hell out of Poland at that point, because as long as Poland can survive long enough for the event to trigger the Allies are guaranteed to win, and probably before Japan can even get into the game proper.

[@benis3551]

Or maybe that Russia just invades Poland and helps Germany out. Just like happened in real life. ;)

[@sausageilluminati2602]

@@Dovoline3 some times people forget the warsaw rise mission too if you time this mission with proppper attacks against the axis on europe you can destroy the supply lines of babarossa

[@blodi2188]

@@Dovoline3 That's why multiplayer games have rules

[@TheArklyte]

Because then 30% of the time Allies would be forced to declare war on USSR too. Because unlike real world, AI treats guarantees as guarantees and would declare war on every side that invades Poland. That means Operation Pike, french and british forces in Finland, another front for soviets somewhere in Iran, no lend lease, no support or mercy to chinese communists, destruction of Vladivostok and Murmansk by 406mm guns of Allied battleships and finally Operation Unthinkable, being called something else in this reality, turning Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad, Ekaterinburg and several others into molten slag and black glass. Truly the best timeline:D

[@maartencuyvers6017]

What a madlad. Doing it all over again :D

[@VanBourner]

"They're nuking Prague!" Welp, that is worse version of the Valentine's Day of 1945

[@adenm8963]

What happened on valentine'svday?

[@VanBourner]

@@adenm8963 Allied bombers bombed Prague by mistake - they were aiming for Dresden, saw a historic city with a river in it (I know, how strange to see something like that in Europe) and just sent it

[@soral94]

Starting the day with a new feedback gaming? YES PLEASE! Thank you, Dave, for blessing us with this glorious video! Cheers!

[@DaveFeedBackGaming]

Enjoy! 🥰

[@zioming]

13:35 From what I recall, Sten guns were made out of metal bed legs and any other random metal pipes people could get their hands on.

[@joshhudson6151]

i just imagined it as the polish people just ripping apart captured german guns to turn it into their own

[@zioming]

@@joshhudson6151 Why rip them apart? They were pretty functional as they were. Plus, all sides were using captured equipment during WW2. Calum has a great video on Jerry Cans, fuel storage containers that were designed for war by the Germans, and were a huge hit with the Allies, since what they were using at the time was pretty shit...

[@janosik9103]

Witold Pilecki (your cavalry expert, second general) was a badass, he was a guy who went to a concentration camp himself, collected materials about what was going on there and then just casually fucked up from there and gave information to the allies, fought until the end of his life for free and independent Poland and unfortunately he was tortured and murdered by Russian communists in prison

[@stigrabbid589]

Yeah, Sabaton made a song about him, Inmate 4859.

[@notyourfox]

Russian communists have nothing to do with the execution. It was carried out by Poland's Ministry of Public Security, and the heads were not Soviet, but Polish communists. Guess those guys were high af. Anyways, try not to confuse the history

[@janosik9103]

@@notyourfox PPR was like a puppet state of soviet russia

[@notyourfox]

@@janosik9103 Yes, but it is similar to the story of the execution of the last Russian emperor, NIkolai II. Despite popular belief of that it was done by bolsheviks, it was carried out by Ural Regional Council (Ural'skiy Oblastnoy Sovet) without any permission from or warning to the main Petrograd's Council in 1918. Also the Ural Council, like many others, consisted of not only the Bolsheviks, but many other revolutionary parties, including, for example, liberals or SRs. The same might be applicable here too. I did not find any quote on trusted resources like Wikipedia, which states that there was an order from Soviets to carry out the execution. Furthermore, being a puppet state does not mean you are under the absolute control of somebody. The puppet government is still the government, and can make their own decisions if it does not conflict with the interests of the master state. So I just think that Soviets weren't at least directly, if not at all, responsible for that terrible event.

[@bleflar9183]

@@notyourfox Some parts of the polish communist government had some degree of autonomy, however MBP (Ministry of Public Security, basically the same thing as russian NKW) which carried it out was directly menaged by the Soviet Union and was one of the main tools of soviet control over Poland.

[@BlackHammer3]

Hatlessspider just yesterday released a video on this achevement too, but with a different new approach. New Polish focus tree makes a big difference

[@hatless_spider]

Dis me! Kinda crazy we released at nearly the same time I love my strat, but Feedback's updated strat here honestly is inspiring me to try some new stuff to hold Poland!

[@jaredjosephsongheng372]

Prepare for the Inevitable???

[@has3n961]

You can store manpower from states at the beggining of the game

[@nickthegreek_f.t8848]

YESSS! I still remember the day I watched the video you made about this challenge. I loved it, and I can't wait to watch this video with the same excitement bro. ❤️

[@duhagumrukcu]

The first and only time i watched a vid from this channel, was this achievement, and i have returned to watch it again :D

[@ianb1390]

Really appreciate you redoing this achievement. Took me 12 tries to replicate the process.

[@Sergiuszwil]

I was literally sitting left of the guy doing the challenge and I remember that he only had cav. It was amazing to be first hand witness to thst tactic

[@LordDaret]

Another alternative spot to hold is in krakow. You can get a defensive line that includes a non-frontline province and you can keep free steel and tungsten down there, if I remember correctly.

[@Sifflkek]

I actually only gained the achievement recently and thus there wasn't yet any useful guide for BBA. So I figured Dave's old guide would still work. Unfortunately I soon realised that the AI wouldn't fall for the ol' encirclement trick. I eventually managed to do the achievement by pushing out of the pocket recklessly and then repelling German counterattacks, which had me pushed back to my capital so I could start all over again.

[@MegaFabulous]

bittersteel did it with another way afaik

[@loquat3287]

just when my day was good, this video comes in and makes it super

[@User-gk1yi]

Thanks for the guide, just got the achievement.

[@emptyemail619]

Love your videos dude

[@Dan-wt7jx]

Hatless and Feedback both drop new 30min of Hell videos in 24hours, I guess it's time to get the achievement

[@AldiePezeh]

2 different solutions to Hel in two days? What a treat.

[@electricVGC]

Hatless Spider made one of these but just capitulated and used the exile features. It was pretty strong

[@r0ck474n5ky]

What is it about the "Z" on 15:43? I don't get it...

[@user-ki8kr6go4w]

He supports Russia

[@t_gabiuel6058]

Imagine being a polish soldier in Warsaw seeing the germans constantly charging your position over and over again.

[@mercdutch3950]

What if you create a field marshall frontline and put all the horsies on garrison order in Paraguay etc? This way you get planning and should be stronger on the offense. It also makes use of grand battleplan and the 10 planning general.

[@Das_war_Kenny]

I did it today first try with your strat ty

[@ChilledfishStick]

Yes! I'm friggin paying attention!!!

[@alexmannen1991]

have u experimented what the minium amount of troops u need on a province to not lose it to org loss? would it be possible to hold radom and extend the defense line along the rivers. maybe put some forts here and there?

[@stephanb9920]

It is a thing of beauty

[@mattslattery3913]

I want to see someone do the Luxembourg world conquest. With the resistance the way it is I'm curious if it's even possible

[@The_Devout]

heres a tip for y'all raiway enthusiasts: when creating a new railway, click from tile to tile. any production - on vanilla - is capped at 15 factories. this means that a 3 tile railroad, like in the begining of this video, will take more and more time to create than 1 rail from lodz to the midway tile, 1 rail from warsaw to the midway tile. this cuts the time in halves as you now have 2 15-capped slots working on the same project

[@henryquecabral9357]

Awesome video, but fuck that Z in the end, I guess that's not the time to be Z,

[@gottatodamki]

Time to ban the letters Z, V from the alphabet

[@spynix0718]

"How are we making these trucks?" Well, have you ever seen the Flintstones?

[@greywolf7422]

From what I can see with what gameplay you've shown, the manpower stockpile exploit seems to have been patched and/or you reducing conscription made the endeavour pointless, maybe due to a patch between now and your past run?

[@MagaldiMateus]

Breaking fast with 30 minutes of hell. Good.

[@kimchi2780]

I'm doing this right now actually! Calvary is underrated.

[@Hi-uv8rv]

i did this totay with your video back than got it on my frist try

[@memazov6601]

Can't wait for no oil trading world conquest remale

[@wowyyyyyyy]

I did this achiev by just capitulating after holding for a bit, and abusing exiled mechanics to build a large army which i used to cause a lot of damage, then did the warsaw uprising, which was enough to get to the required german casualties

[@kylejackson1502]

Star jumps? Not jumping jacks? *Confusion in American*

[@Sven73524]

This reminds me of playing with a friend as poland Romania, the friend was imperial germany at war with the allies, i did the join allies focus and stabbed him in his back

[@rozrywkowyczlowiek1]

As Pole, Thx you for this tutorial

[@user-sb5yd9jn3u]

Another trick with manpower pool! Great! :D

[@carltonleboss]

The Warsaw Horseshoe is back!

[@dragonlukasmapping805]

13:57 Nooo :,(

[@JadenJoestar]

I watched it like this was the old video you did on it lol.. I only realized after checking the date. Also wheres the every click artillery only?

[@brutalexis486]

Thonks dave armoured train meta

[@biscuitnips2461]

i mightve called it the polish corridor

[@ghostduty8359]

The part were the could collapse. Its not because luck, but organization, no matter if u loose or win a battle u still loose organization, so u must keep wach of those green bars in your divisions.

[@FffdXxxx]

Woow just wow

[@Michael_Brock]

Another grind. but hopefully some new or still existing exploits!

[@marcinkrz3140]

This challenge could have been so much better (worse) if you had to keep Hel under your control the entier time

[@gaminwithjacob6626]

For some reason the prepare for the inevitable focus tree doesn't come up what can i do?

[@f.8809]

I wonder if I can make this challenge holding Krakow, Warsaw and actual Hel (Danzig). I know It'd be even harder than It actually is, but hey, its cooler and more accurate (and even more successful if executed right)

[@evanpeacock6103]

BAPTIZED IN FIRE 40 TO 1

[@sapimakan4890]

This is fun

[@flaviusgerhardt9354]

Nice

[@Ryuko-T72]

Another thing you can do at the start of the war if you find yourself strapped for manpower is to recruit a bunch of divisions, which hold the manpower that would otherwise get sucked away during occupation. When the Germans reach Warsaw disband these training units to siphon back your manpower

[@Dante-mr3rz]

Feedback can you do Tojo Shot First and Sunrise Invasion in By Blood Alone?

[@sparx0s]

"The Central European Empire isn't real, it can't hurt you" The Central European Empire: 14:56

[@akivaabraham7739]

Recently did this. If you do this on 1936 historical, both the soviet union and Germany declare war on you, and Germany never declares war on the soviets, except when Romania decides to declare war. I had a battle with the soviets that went on for well over a year, of them constantly attacking warsaw. No matter what I tried, I could not penetrate their tanks. My troops were incredibly worn down after that, and had a massive 50k deficit of guns and Tank Artillery. After I won the battle [ Thanks Romania ] all my tanks returned, and I got something like 100k guns to refill my forces.

[@Drakens123]

ok nice

[@danw.]

I remember I got this achievement on accident and I don't understand how.

[@1Godslayer1]

AAT must have broke the 39 start because I'm starting with 0 focus unlocked.

[@epiclighthd7655]

my man forgets to get field marshall planning 💀💀💀💀

[@user-gy7pv4vm1d]

How do you make naval invasions?

[@Dante-mr3rz]

Is civil war workaround still possible?

[@infapizza336]

Hel is actually a very good place

[@economist9638]

I liked the "Z" at the end

[@user-sb5yd9jn3u]

Whats that vibration in the sound on 3:00?

[@Siler1654]

Fun fact City Łódź in Poland means boat

[@MatiSob09]

I did it on 13 April 1943!

[@deutscherkanzler1625]

That op Focus that gives you guns and factories of Poland i can't find it can somebody help?

[@justalastor7970]

"FeedBackGaming's Bizzare Adventure"

[@DaveFeedBackGaming]

Everyday!

[@mariusztrynkiewicz4862]

Why in this game Brześć Litewski looks a lot bigger than Warsow?

[@Wolfspaule]

The Lodz-Warsaw-Line^^

[@hydronpowers9014]

Finally! Polish Living Space

[@jakov1043]

4:41 those divisions broke ?

[@TheBallSmacker]

Do Siberian tiger. I think its harder (conquer siberia as tannu tuva)

[@koteyka_kycj3705]

This must be an achevment(if its nit yet one)

[@jeremielarin1979]

Did your use proper heritage or whatever the horse spirit of army is.

[@DaveFeedBackGaming]

yee

[@lordtachanka8432]

13:55 - So anyway, I'm dead.

[@panachevitz]

I was going to ask about forts, but 5:30 answered that.

[@mistergrudka3408]

Dave, how u did 30minutes of hell, when video has 15:55 minutes? Time exploit, right?

[@DaveFeedBackGaming]

Speedrun

[@CARL_093]

crazy dude lol

[@Jelkiin]

Whats up with the giant Z at 15:43 ?

[@TheJackHood]

Warsaw uprising but less uprising and more Warsaw

[@ozyaba]

I did this achievement on first try I didnt know this is a hard one lmao

[@ecllipsezxc774]

You look like an off brand Magnus Carlson

[@Martin-vy7mm]

I may have missed it, but is using Maintenance Companies no longer a thing? i remember being able to capture huge amounts of enemy equipment. I also used engineers and support artillery on my encircling divisions, since Poland has a decent stockpile of arty and support equipment after switching the whole army.

[@elduquecaradura1468]

Probably Manteinance Company was nerfed to not be too op

[@Martin-vy7mm]

@@elduquecaradura1468 maintenance company stats are still the same. They're probably even better now due to the reliability and equipment recovery changes

[@JuliusDofarios]

12:53 The Great Polish Corridor

[@wiktorex6656]

Kałach from Poland did it the 1st time

[@solgerWhyIsThereAnAtItLooksBad]

Hatless Spider’s new method seems a bit less… absolutely painful

[@DaveFeedBackGaming]

I enjoy pain

[@solgerWhyIsThereAnAtItLooksBad]

@@DaveFeedBackGaming seek help

[@jackeinessontjader5291]

Are you Goated irl?

[@DaveFeedBackGaming]

Yes

[@sahilhossain8204]

Lore of RETURN To The Hardest Challenge In HOI4 - 30 Minutes of Hel momentum 100

[@giorgikibabidze]

Try playing germany with only 1 division