Dominating as Prussia in 1938 - Hoi4 France Speedrun Commentary

Hoi4 France speedrun guide, but it's actually Prussia. Defeating Germany in May 1936 via Rhineland Challenge and having some fun as the French Empire before playing as a chunky Prussia. Not recommended, since Prussia doesn't even get cores on the rest of Germany. It's nevertheless a good occation to demonstrate how to easily take over an overlord as a former puppet nation.
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Unedited run: • France / Prussia Speed...
Be warned if you want to watch the unedited video. The war against Germany is really slow. Needed plenty of time to think to avoid needing to start over. Baby-related breaks included, but I've cut those out at least to not make you stare at the menu.
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Chapters:
00:00:00 - 00:01:21 Explanation & Strategy
00:01:21 - 00:06:58 Preparations
00:06:58 - 00:12:26 Rhineland Challenge
00:12:26 - 00:13:31 Remilitarisation of Rhineland Explained
00:13:31 - 00:28:41 Side-Quests
00:28:41 - 00:33:05 Dominating as Prussia

[@m3an]

I went a bit overboard with editing and I'm not sure about the 2x speed. I wanted to show as much frontline management as possible, but I'm not sure if it's still watchable that way. Let me know! And thank you guys so much for 5k subs =)

[@waltuh2.3bviews3secondsago3]

It's great imo

[@bszemeg8228]

dont worry too much, great vid, im glad the alghoritm recommended your channel to me

[@brenny2347]

Man, the quality of this video Is fantastic! I love the edit! Subscribe And like.

[@m3an]

@@brenny2347 Thank you very much!

[@quichrlyn]

I really like it!

[@TommyKay]

Some really good editing man, awesome work on the video!

[@yt_tenshi]

OMG tommykay

[@GrindingWolves]

He is really fast man

[@Gunnart]

Hi Tommy Kai I am Valdemar

[@RosnyTheChief]

Can you make a video conquering the world as france?

[@sneed457]

Hello Markoni

[@get_youtube_channel_name]

the editing and presentation is so damn good

[@m3an]

Thank you! Means a lot after all that time I put into it.

[@TheVoodooMaker]

I always thought this game was designed in such a way that France can't do shit in 1936 so that WW2 happens reliably. Hats off !

[@m3an]

Thank you! =)

[@chippen1985]

Yet again you bring a very good video into the HOI4 community. You do not have to worry about the length of the video, as this never gets tedious. Keep up the good work!

[@m3an]

Thank you very much for the feedback. Much appreciated!

[@malicharton4403]

"NOOOOOOOOOOO YOU CANT JUST WIN 3 TIMES AGAINST A COALLITION OF THE ENTIRE EUROPE!" napoleon:"ok can i time it?"

[@dorktriogamer2865]

Napoleon: "fine I'll do it 4 times then"

[@Chorutowo]

Man i cant dream of how long it takes someone to design these runs. (Also a suggestion, could you try Turkey? Possibly getting the hardly anything sevre achivment)

[@youtuberobbedmeofmyname]

That can be easily done by 1941 already. Maybe he can break 1940??

[@Chorutowo]

@@youtuberobbedmeofmyname my best attempt stretched deep into 45 before my comp physically couldn’t run it above like 2 speed

[@AS-dr1cp]

@@Chorutowo same it took me til 46

[@denizmergen418]

@@Chorutowo how do yo kill yugo

[@Chorutowo]

@@denizmergen418 Eh its not that hard. Keep some token divisions on the yugo border, but dont bother trying to push too much as the mountains and supply in macedonia is ass. I use naval invasions all along the Yugo coast, followed with reinforcements and snaking. The Yugos wont have much divisions on your border or the coast as they are railroading them from Italian border. I would watch Bittersteels video on the achievment, its outdated but strat overall holds

[@daedricdanny8954]

The editing is incredible. This is your best video yet. Like a Prima guide to HOI4

[@m3an]

Wow, thanks!

[@darthvader7787]

Bro your editing skills are super impressive, love the content, you've got yourself another sub

[@m3an]

Thank you very much! Happy to have you on board =)

[@corentinlinder7363]

Excellente vidéo, cela fait plaisir de voir des Speedrun clairement expliqués !

[@m3an]

Merci beaucoup!

[@gerardginnette4500]

@@m3an ouais seulement y a pas moyen de la reproduire pour ma part ta run déjà l'idée d'envoyer des coloniaux pour exploser la gueule de cette putain de guerre civile rien que ça déjà voilà quoi le truque ça ne perce pas et même avec de bonne infanterie ça prend vlà le temps du temps pendant lequel l'allemagne se réorganise alors j'ai pensé balancer l'invasion navale directement et contenir cette putain de guerre civile mais pas de suprématie navale à un moment j'ai finis par les péter avant avril sauf que la faction de rebelle n'était apparut qu'au nord et ensuite l'allemagne avait repris la plupart des territoires que je lui avais pris bref de la merde mais ça c'est certainement parce que je dois être un attardé mentale j'imagine qui sait pas jouer..., après plusieurs centaines d'heures (l'idée de profiter du réarmement de la rhénanie et balancer une invasion navale j'avais déjà test mais j'utilisais les motorisé pour l'invasion navale et pas pour s'étendre en allemagne au final ça ne fonctionnait pas et pourtant j'avais pris pas mal de villes, les para très intéressant et c'était mon plan pour 38 enfoncer un peu la rhénanie lors de la guerre contre la tchecoslovaquie ensuite une invasion navale comme diversion et enfin para sauf que: il faut la suprématie aérienne ainsi que 50 avions de transport pour pouvoir faire 1 parachutage) pas la peine ça m’énerve mais à un point quoi au final je fais le débarquement mais je n'ai pas pu ouvrir un vrai front obligé de foncer et de faire du des trous par ci par là

[@m3an]

@@gerardginnette4500 Tu peux préparer et lancer une invasion maritime à Calais après que la guerre civile a éclaté et ainsi mettre rapidement fin à la guerre civile. Avec l'équipement supplémentaire et les unités motorisées en Rhénanie, tu devrais progresser rapidement. Bonne chance !

[@gerardginnette4500]

@@m3an merci de répondre mais non parce que pas la suprématie navale j'ai déjà essayé il y a quelque chose par contre que je voudrais te demander mais j'ai conscience que c'est un peu excessif est ce que tu pourrais faire un live dans une partie hoi IV avec la france contre l'allemagne en 1936

[@theweirdclasher3955]

Pruessens Gloria, Love your speedruns

[@m3an]

Thank you!

[@Stouzough]

Kudos for the plentiful comments, including corrections in the texts. Extremely well done.

[@Hussar117]

This was really fun to watch, I would love to see more videos like this with the complexity of strategies and such.

[@m3an]

Thank you! Family and work keep me busy, but I'll try to keep the videos coming =)

[@aravindhanil7235]

Love the new editing style man Well done

[@PoofPoof187]

Such a detailed Battleplan, mate! Extremely good edited

[@dylan.s4898]

great video, definitely subscribing and cant wait to see what else this guy does

[@quintiax]

Thank you for the video! If I could add one extra thing: when you made the garrison division at 15:10 you could've selected Proper Heritage from the Army Command and filled the entire division full of cavalry for less army XP than you did (35 compared to the 40 you spent), meaning you saved army XP and support equipment.

[@comandantepepperoni8104]

Well, you would later need to change it back to another so it would be 70 exp

[@quintiax]

@@comandantepepperoni8104 If you want to change it back, then yeah, that's fair. But you don't necessarily need to.

[@AmpdVodka]

Really love the video dude! It's just such a shame the recent patch completely and utterly bust this strat. Firstly, the civil war now only fires in the north and it's simply impossible to fight on that front and with the Germans. Not only that but the German divisions arrive so much faster now so you can't advance as far. And because you have divisions bogged down in the civil war, the Germans completely surround your divisions and just start pushing back. I've tried many times and it always ends the same. I'm not amazing at micro but I just can't possibly see how it can be done given the strength of the German divisions. You just can't hold against them. I'd really love an update on this as I'm super keen for a good France strat!

[@bobmichelle]

as a beginner (~50hrs) this was very, very impressive to watch. Such a complex game ! Hats of for mastering it this much.

[@reckless20]

the effort to these is admirable

[@stannisotk3530]

First video ive seen of yours and the presentation and editing is outstanding! So informative and entertaining so ive subscribed.

[@m3an]

Awesome, thank you!

[@killuazoldyck7705]

Really great editing and structure of the video. Maybe the frontline management and warfare couldve been a bit faster but the rest was really very good.

[@SmashingCapital]

Nice videos man

[@thumnas8693]

This is your best vid keep it up 👍

[@mrsigmagrinder8737]

Love the editing

[@JC-bt3gv]

my guy, you need to hire an editor. this kind of hoi4 gameplay/commentary is amazing keep it up!

[@ulfzurirksourzukfzofzoufzo5377]

14:34 funny moustache right there France

[@taskifymulti1271]

bro put alot of effort into a hoi4 video usually i dont try to algorithm boost but this deserves one rise and grind brutha u will be bigger and bigger till the plateau hits then start playing multi games (idk this the first video i see of yours) to expand

[@m3an]

Thank you very much! I really appreciate the support!

[@mohsen3901]

amazing editing

[@sirllamaiii9708]

23:05 >Details how to fight a campaign against Italy during the China war >"We aren't doing any of that though. Instead we use the divisions in Europe to prepare naval invasions into the United Kingdom" The definition of "never let them know your next move"

[@abhorash1]

Great video and gameplay, thank you

[@m3an]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@sotali3080]

I don't know why but I really enjoyed this video good job

[@khaledalhamdan2627]

Thank you, very nice video

[@seba11321]

I tried playing HOI, but I just can't have a second job now 😂, I spent time learning Stellaris and thats about it, so I have zero, to vague idea whats happening on the screen, but its very entertaining, you are very knowledgable and it's a nice video, thanks for the content. 👍

[@eliomarmion5485]

Very good !

[@IronTiger22]

You’ve inspired me to do a Scotland game now

[@kayatroydincer]

This video is proof youre an under rated youtuber

[@eytankollin342]

Well done. Thanks.

[@hatless_spider]

Love your editing! Did you perchance take inspiration from my releasing and playing as another nation in my carlist spain guide?

[@glue6528]

This video is so high quality, you will blow up in time my friend. Keep it up!

[@m3an]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@shear3644]

One small tip I'd like to offer: at around 15:25 when you make your garrison division, you could have spent 35 Army XP to get the Proper Heritage perk allowing you to fill the template out with cav. Fantastic video of course! I look forward to trying this!

[@m3an]

That's a great tip, honestly! Thanks =)

[@shear3644]

@@m3an

[@scott3017]

One thing I always do as france on day 1 is to release algeria as a puppet so you can get cores later with some extra factories.

[@ABPHistory]

fire video

[@luketerrance]

Very nice

[@CoffeeSuccubus]

Its like how the French Revolution, it was under civil unrest, but the borders expanded anyways

[@nathan5770]

thanks good video

[@joaocabral3541]

Amazing

[@Stouzough]

Looking forward to a French world conquest guide with BBA and new peace conference system. Or with soon to be released AAT DLC 🙂

[@Flatfoal]

I’m enjoying the run lil napoleon

[@aleaiactaest6503]

My man speedran anti-appeasement

[@superminer1993]

Another plan that is good is to make a fallback line in france to draw the germans in and encircle them

[@betxverse]

I might actually try this rn

[@Thegoldenaerobar2]

I like life size napoleon popping up eevry now and then

[@Kris-qn4bn]

enjoyable

[@jeremiahkivi4256]

Focus convoys to max early so you can annex Germany's fleet after puppeting them? Only takes about 1500 convoys, idk if you can possibly make that much but would be worth.

[@lalad0]

Great

[@ViktorEnns]

I tried this strat last night and the research swap time seems to be different. Has it been patched since? Also the uprising was so strong that I couldn't get to Calais in time or naval invade. They even pushed me back a bunch of tiles. While I was messing with them the Germans reinforced and pushed me back. However, I did get "UK backs down" on the first try. That was nice.

[@lepagepierre1018]

Great strategy! I succeeded with the updated method in the comments to beat Germany in August 36. However, I have a problem later because it is impossible to enter the faction of the Chinese United Front. There are -200 for distance and -50 for neutrality. A solution?

[@SithEmpiredidnothingwrong]

Imagine being a Frenchman in that timeline. First you survive not only communist civil war, but also war against Germany. You think the worst is over? Think again! You see death of French democracy and rise of Napoleon IV, costly wars against Japan, Britain and her puppets. But okay, perhaps now fate of the world truly belongs to the mighty French. That's funny, but no. Coming back from nowhere, Prussia declares war on you and completely unopposed marches into Paris with no resistance whatsoever. Nicely done run, well done.

[@mishagamer5208]

Are there any plans for the Everything Serves achievement speedrun?

[@vladthecrab6275]

17:40 Remember Austerlitz? In response I ask, "Remember Borodino?"

[@reckless20]

Wait, what's the point of mp support? Saving army xp via mp div template for garrisons?

[@sadgoose9949]

The things a man will do to play as Prussia

[@tombstone3echo]

Good video, sadly I was unlucky, tried 8 times, never got it, gave up.

[@BlackManLover]

Do yugo next i love this

[@nickmullenofficial6330]

does this still work in the current patch of by blood alone?

[@Gyratus]

In the end is there a benefit to play prussia or is it just a way to play as prussia while getting massively big in one go ?

[@m3an]

Just to play a big Prussia. It's not really worth it if you look at stats, especially industry.

[@persianguy3081]

Bro really playing like the high command army general

[@accurategamer7085]

Can you make a real life world domination tutorial speedrun? I'm trying to do it but it's so hard.

[@m3an]

I have a world conquest speedrun strategy ready to go, but I want to wait for 1.12 to see if it still works afterwards before I make a video on it.

[@accurategamer7085]

@@m3an no I'm talking about real life 😈

[@alexcovey1200]

15:15 get the proper heritage army spirit. For 35 army xp you can fill out the whole template.

[@blackspirit4531]

Salut ! Great video as always. Being a good Frenchman, I have been trying for a long time to defeat Germany in 1936 WITHOUT Czechoslovakia, but it has always failed. I don't know why, but even if I copy 100% of your setup, there is a big difference: The French Communists don't take a piece of southern France (which makes them strong in the north). As a result, I can't defeat them in time and Germany pushes me back.... If you have a suggestion, I would be glad to hear it ;)

[@m3an]

Bonsoir! I haven't touched Rhineland since making this video. I assume you're playing on the most recent version? I haven't read anything in the patch notes that suggests a change here, but that doesn't mean much. I'll look into it when I'll eventually give up on my current run for today later this evening :D

[@blackspirit4531]

@@m3an Hi , thanks :D Yes, up to date and the dlc :/ I’m also playing this evening, enjoy and let me know if you have some news :) By the way, it must be a difficult move because before yours I never found a “decent” video on youtube showing the france defeating Germany without the little entente, so thank you for that 🙌

[@m3an]

@@blackspirit4531 So, I've tried it out and you're right. It's a lot harder in 1.12, because all the civil war divisions are in that single province. Maybe it's worth a try to naval invade behind the frontline into Calais. You can still crack the civil war by force, but you need to use all horses, tanks and colonial templates. And don't give them time to dig in.

[@blackspirit4531]

@@m3an Bien le bonjour :) Thanks for your answer. I finally found a solution: 1 - January 1, 36 at 12:00 I spam the recruitment queue with a few colonial divisions and give them priority, then directly release all colonies by having those colonial divisions take all the weapons. 2 - Bunker level 3 on the 5 tiles in the north of France where 7 colonial divisions will stay leaving all the rest available for Germany (the cavalry covers the southern Magino line). 3 - Just after the civil war, I removed most of the recruitment lines to reinforce my army (so I think no arms went to Comunist France since 01/01/36). I also dropped 5 colonial divisions to send them to Germany. 4 - Penetrate deeply into Germany along the rivers with many more troops, thanks to the previous steps. 5 - Send all the tanks and trucks to the north of France to push Lille and win the war quickly while the Germans waste their troops and weapons stocks on our lines. 6 - Send a naval invasion one by one using the exploit. 7 - Finishing Germany! :D After trying for so long, I've managed to beat Germany "quickly" several times in a raw. Of course, I am not a speed runner and a lot of optimization could be done to reduce the time of the war. Liebe Grüsse !

[@m3an]

@@blackspirit4531 Thank you very much for the update! Very impressive that you figured out another way. How long did it take you? :D

[@234sd21sc]

Cool

[@rickybobby9649]

27:13 I went to take a piss, accidentally leaving the video playing, and when I came back, half of the world was French. Closest I've ever had a heart attack seeing French America.

[@gerardginnette4500]

that's because america is based on propaganda in fact it is not hard to take usa because of large territory easy encerclement and their divs are not too OP as the germans divisions... america is not as people think in fact they take all benefit of the most important act of war for example naval invasion of france it had canadian england belgium french and american soldier but america claim all the merit it is the same for german capitulation or even japan the truth is germany had urss on his territory at the est and coalition (not only american) on the west side and french resistance for japan the true reason of their capitulation is again urss not nuclear bomb in fact japan would continue the path of war against america until urss begin to be hostile against them so they give up and one more time america say we are too strong see how our bomb make japan give up but it is not the truth the same for debarquement and for victory against germany. In fact i think the fall of france was planified and organised by some rich and influent people

[@sorasora2048]

I would like to see you speedrunning Siberian Tiger)

[@FxTR22]

amazing strat, love how agressive you are with a democratic country xd

[@Vaipts]

can you also do a speed run as super-prussia?

[@thatonedudenextdoor7840]

They must have changed something, I tried this guide and Britain just keeps supporting me and the Rhineland just stays demilitarised..... But now I have less stability and pp

[@dc.I9]

Bro is the best player 🗣️

[@lekou8755]

what is the mod you are using to get the monarchy tree ?

[@m3an]

Not a mod. It's part of the La Resistance DLC.

[@aronmirk2161]

I experienced when i assign all the divisions on the homeland to the rhineland, germany always backed down.

[@m3an]

Did you restart from scratch or reload? Because the latter never has different outcomes.

[@PunishedValentine1871]

Germany has backed down from militarization of rhineland 5 times now, am i doing something wrong?

[@m3an]

Can't tell, since I don't know the details, but I'd guess it's just bad luck. Believe me when I say that it took me plenty attempts myself. The odds are 1-to-4, but that doesn't mean it will always work once in four attempts. On bad days, I had to try up to 10 times.

[@Stouzough]

Issue with that strategy is that you can't core the European Union anymore as Napoleon. So best run is to unite the EU before getting Napoleon as head of state. Means that you must endure lower PP for much longer...

[@xAthaz]

10/10

[@LordOuro]

Preußens Gloria

[@hecticscone]

will you be uploading the unedited version?

[@m3an]

Didn't expect anyone to ask about it so soon :D Yes, I will. Usually I have it ready when the video releases. I'll add it to the video description this evening.

[@hecticscone]

@@m3an glad to hear it! i watch your commentary videos when coming up with ideas of what i want to do in the game that day, but nothing beats watching a full playthrough done by someone who is much better at the game than me 😁

[@m3an]

@@hecticscone It's online now. Link in the description. But I don't think you are going to like it very much. Compared to my other unedited runs, the war against Germany is played extremely cautious, to avoid restarts.

[@hecticscone]

@@m3an much appreciated!

[@spooxer]

2 things: 1. great. even better then great. even better then that. this is how i feel about of the video. 2. what are your specs?

[@m3an]

Thank you! My specs aren't that good. I want to upgrade this winter. I have a Ryzen 7 2700X, 32GB RAM and a Radeon RX Vega 64.

[@spooxer]

@@m3an no, thank YOU! no youtuber has given me their specs, and i dont have that good of a pc, so yes, thank YOU!

[@vasilyevdmitry3242]

Why you didnt libirate Vietnam to take their MP for garrisons?

[@beingw1friday862]

Napoleon effect!

[@jamesk400]

17:30 I died

[@668771]

I've never seen ANYONE use MP's. Are they not just for garrisons? Or lowering resistance. Just use Martial Law, eventually you can lower it after time. Train others.

[@m3an]

I'm only using them for the garrison template to reduce the manpower needed to fullfil garrison demands. It's not needed, mostly a habit relic from 1.10. This was also recorded before the rebalance and expansion of garrison laws.

[@sylvainduret9880]

*VIVE LA FRANCE !*

[@edenv.8415]

Vive la France, Vive l'Empereur !

[@user-zf8vw8jv5y]

There is one awful thing, such run as monarchy requires DLC, what I need to buy additionally to expensive game as many other DLC's

[@ExclaimThePain]

May 17 is my birthday lol

[@henrywieman2454]

Does difficulty level affect Britain's likelihood to agree? They've said yes like 8 times in a row

[@henrywieman2454]

In the initial rhineland demilitarization, that is. I haven't watched past the victory, since I'm trying to do something different

[@rogofos]

you're telling me that Rhineland is 50/50 yet in my games UK had always backed down and Germany had always stood on militarisation either I'm astronomically lucky or it's more complicated than that

[@m3an]

Did you restart from the beginning each time or did you try to reload before the event to change the outcome?

[@rogofos]

@@m3an oh yeah that makes sense I would load a previous save

[@m3an]

@@rogofos I've read somewhere that it's possible to have different outcomes when reloading, but I haven't tried myself. If I understood it correctly, you need to make the save a couple of weeks before the event chain fires. But again, haven't tried. Also, some things have changed in the recent patch. You have to combat the civil war a bit differently (naval invade around into Calais) and you can't join the CUF anymore because of the new distance modifier. Good luck!

[@mesterb8624]

​@@m3anNormal & Chain events can have different outcomes if you reload a save before it started. Ahistorical gameplay cannot have different change paths if you reload a save file. I found that recently playing as Austira Ironman with the german CW, reloading the save file will result the same, while restarting it as new will have different outcomes.

[@jibblessss]

Prussian Raj

[@ADWYETYATRIPATHYBEI]

Plz do something with the Raj!!1

[@k_benze9615]

I don't understand. Why did you annex Japan?

[@m3an]

You mean why not puppet them? Like I say in the video, it only make sense if you want to continue playing as France. Puppet Japan would not suffer from the 'crippling' later in the video, possibly ruining the take-over of France by Prussia.

[@k_benze9615]

@@m3an I meant why do you needed to attack Japan?

[@m3an]

@@k_benze9615 No need. Like I said in the video, it's mostly to kill time, since otherwise there's just nothing to do as democratic France until we flip to monarchy.

[@johnroach9026]

@@k_benze9615 Kills time and prevents a late-game Japanese Empire that's tough to get past, since Japan is built for late-game scaling

[@bigbadbaron8416]

Attacking Germany is so hard

[@ueueudk]

!