HOI4 Guide | Beginners Tutorial (2024 Version) - P1

How to play Hearts of Iron 4 - 2024 edition. I am GOOD at making tutorials (my 2023 version helped over 300,000 people)....
So gve me a chance, Watch these tutorials, and I'll give you the knowledge to play Hearts of Iron 4, and play it well enough to win.
This playlist is for Beginners - HOW TO PLAY HEARTS OF IRON 4. I understand there are lots of "quick start" videos out there, but they are no good. Do go and watch them if you like, but you'll come away with more questions than answers....
I do NOT skip things, or edit bits out.
This video is designed so that you can follow along, or just watch, whichever you prefer. You will both learn how to play HOI4, as well as have a step-by-step walkthrough, which shows you click-for-click, how we can issue orders, commands and governmental decisions to take over half the world!
The first episode covers some introductory basics, as well as covering 1st Jan - 11th Jan, 1936
Subscribe to the channel to catch all future updates to this playlist, which can be seen in full on the following link: • HOI4 Guide - Beginners...
Remember there is an element of randomness to this game. I've uploaded ALL my save games to a simple page, that means you can follow along at any point throughout this tutorial series, or if you're playthrough goes wonky for whatever reason, no sweat. See the link to grab any savegames you like, and simple instructions on where to put them gamesbrains.com/index.php/com...
Contents:
0:00 Beginners Guide to HOI4 - Welcome
0:14 Many Players Found my 2023 Tutorial Helpful
0:52 The 2 Big Improvements to Help New Players
1:29 You Can't Rush with a Half Hour Quick Start Tutorial!
3:41 Starting Hearts of Iron 4 - Without DLC
6:55 Setting up Resolution and UI Scale
8:32 Starting the 1st Game of HOI4
11:43 HOI4 Difficulty Settings
19:46 Put Me onto Your 2nd Screen!
21:02 Learning the 3 Most Important Controls
22:48 Issuing Orders to Individual Divisions
30:27 Divisions vs Generals (IMPORTANT!)
53:47 Combining Generals with Field Marshals
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[@gameswithbrains]

IMPORTANT MARCH 2024 UPDATE - SAVEGAMES: I made this Beginners Guide so it can be watched or followed along, click for click. It's a groundbreaking series in that regard, however on the 7th March 2024, Paradox released a new "Minor DLC" for HOI4 which added focus trees for South America, called Trial of Allegiance. 1st Good News - Hearts of Iron 4 (so this tutorial) still plays the same, so all videos are correct and updated to the latest gameplay mechanics, and don't need redoing. Bad News - The update has broken EVERYONES Savegame files, which of course includes any progress players made through this HOI4 video tutorial series. Thus all our savegames (as with everyone in HOI4) are now incompatible with latest version of the game. No big deal right? Just start over? If the game plays the same? Well.. YES! (except if you were 10 episodes in, that becomes a BIG deal...) To fix this, I'm going to play the game from scratch (off camera, in my own free time, so you don't have to) and I'll upload each new savegame file - just like before, thus making available new updated savegames for the updated HOI4 - for EVERY episode. This means nobody has to go back to replay the series from start.... apart from me! This will take a little while to get done, and I will appreciate anyone leaving us a word of encouragement nudging us along. Although this is obviously frustrating for everyone, including myself - I could of course just leave things and say "just watch the video" but that only leaves a half baked, out dated solution online. By redoing the savegames, anyone can download any episode and continue with (or start off from) any episode they like. That way everyone gets to enjoy this tutorial series, in the way I had intended. I appreciate your patience while I catch up on this task in the coming days. Cheers!

[@midnight-starlight]

Great idea, and yes, I think this approach really does make this a ground-breaking tutorial.

[@celerun]

This is so awesome. Even though I just started today

[@celerun]

Doom scroll through the Steam spring sale, aimlessly searching for something to waste my money on and further add to my already massive backlog of games that I'll likely never touch? Or buy a six-pack of beer as a token of gratitude for this gentleman and scholar who can at long last assist me in embarking on my journey into Hearts of Iron 4 that's been one of those games for almost 6 years? Part 1 nearly completed, your tutorial has given me the motivation and determination to finally, hopefully, master this game! Thank you!

[@austx290]

I'm overwhelmed by this game but determined to learn it at the same time. Wish me luck. Great tutorial and thanks for not going too fast.

[@otalaedwin]

Yeah and i'm a seasoned paradox and overall grand strategy gamer but damn is there a fucking ton of variables and things to keep track of. I think i'm just gonna launch a game and un pause and see whatsup cause i've booted it a few times and never un-paused lmao

[@Moskiman]

This is the perfect tutorial series for me - HOI4 has sat barely touched in my Steam Library for ages because initially I struggled with the complexity and "why things work the way they do". I've even managed to screw up the Italy tutorial in the past! Playing along with you at your pace has really helped me understand the base mechanics a whole lot more. I'm up to about Part 16 and loving it - really hope you get the appreciation you deserve for the effort you've put into this series

[@C-141B_FE]

Just started playing the game this month. The 2022 tutorial was so great it's on a constant loop while figuring this game out. Thank you for putting a new series together!

[@gameswithbrains]

The new series, of which I'm minutes away from hitting record to continue with, as well as being updated, is more detailed. I never knew how many people could be helped, and it's a good feeling - so we'll include bits that may have been missing from before.

[@ed_ms]

A massive thank you for all the work and the great tutorial you've set up here. HOI4 was on my wishlist for quite some time. I stumbled on this series, and was about 10 of your video's deep into the series until I finally decided to buy the game. Tried it out, but I'm going to start over again with part 1, it is a rather complex game. Thankfully I have one of the best game tutorials I've ever seen as a learning companion.

[@TPSans-souci33]

Thanks for putting the time & effort into making this entire tutorial. I'm 5 episodes along & I've found each one of them incredibly useful & informative. I'm glad I started straight from the top instead of jumping around in search of specific answers to any questions as they might've arisen. I'm left with little doubt that the patience for doing so is going to save myself, as well as any other HOI4 beginner, ample time & frustration in the long run! So thank you again! Now... on to the next video I go! Cheers!

[@Xeribolous]

I love that you really take the time explaining even what UI scale stands for etc. So many tutorials gloss over little things like that, you never know what people don't know :)

[@yoepdeligt682]

I just finished your 2023 tutorial the day before yesterday and properly made it into my first war. This is immaculate timing to see the changes I noticed accurately explained!

[@SergiusXVII]

Wow! This certainly takes dedication, especially after all the savegames have been rendered unusable. For someone who‘s getting into strategy games more and more, this is the best guide out there! Thank you very much :)

[@westr70]

This was excellent. Glad I found you, already makes a big difference in confidence.

[@MrRhoidRage]

Currently taking over the world as Brazil after watching this video

[@kiwinesss]

Ahhh there you are, I just wrote I hadn't seen any new video for a while. Hearts of Iron beginner tutorial was the very first video I ever saw of yours a cuppla years ago. Thank you for this, I will go and install this game again, I haven't played in a while, but you have inspired me again with this video.

[@carlolaput2597]

Just picked up HOI during the sale, This series is a god send! THANK YOU

[@chiiv999]

Thank you for this! Was looking for an updated guide

[@theOzz13]

Watched your 2023 which helped me along and I was making strides but got away from the game. Glad to have found this 2024 version. Your tutorials are outstanding in every way.

[@erikwiley586]

You are awesome!! Only one I can find doing 2024 tutorial. I just bought it so this is so helpful. I subbed, thanks

[@arektofil6122]

Hello and thank you for a wonderful and very detailed Gaide. Thank you very much for doing this.

[@Milan74]

Hi, been playing this game since the beginning and still learned a couple of things thanks to your tutorial. Many thanks and greetings from Belgium.

[@btmarine]

These videos are great, thank you for sharing them!

[@hookt422]

This is exactly what I needed! Love it, I will be going through the whole series I am sure.

[@midnight-starlight]

I followed your tutorial up to episode 11, and then Disaster struck! A patch came out for HOI4 that meant my save would no longer load! But I'm going to start again. I am determined to learn this game, and fortunately, your tutorial is entertaining and rich enough to get a lot out of a second viewing.

[@petralawson2044]

you can go into the steam settings for the game and "opt into the beta" of any previous version, if you'd like to play your existing save

[@budlikycz2445]

Well thats a fucking bad design if a patch can fuck up your save.... No reason to learn this game if thats the case.

[@SeanLally]

Thanks very much for these! I'm up to episode 9. Very helpful.

[@MoolsDogTwoOfficial]

I can't wait to watch this whole series! All the other HOI4 tutorials I've watched were either too fast, expected you to have prior knowledge and generally missing out on a bunch of things. From what I can see in the comments, this is hopefully going to be a good series!

[@Trebor5388]

I've always wanted to play this game thank you for taking the time to go through everything and trying to make it fun.

[@djib8549]

Appreciate this, bought this game a while ago but never really got a grip of it but this helped alot.

[@thegreekscholar]

Thank you for making this series. Best Hearts Of Iron tutorials on You Tube. Love the pace and detail. Can you do one for Victoria 3. That is also very confusing. :D

[@jepsmusicjp]

Thank you kind sir for taking the time to do these for us!

[@mattmanshaw]

GREAT TUTORIAL!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[@Jens_Heika]

About being back in 30 minutes, I actually went into the game without watching a tutorial, and without even doing the ingame tutorial. Played a 9 hour game where I got to 1948 with my initial borders intact and having capitulated one of the major seven. I were however playing as the USA, and the country I capitulated was Japan. The hardest part was naval invading Japan, and then trying to wrangle the frontline system. My field Marshal, Eisenhower, moved the entire army group move onto Shikoku, meaning we basically got encircled there as Japan retook the Nagasaki. It was a bit of a mess. But when I took manual control of the armies I easily managed to retake Kyushu. However I only finished 13th, and the German Reich sort of took over all of Europe (including Britain) and capitulated the Soviet union. Germany never declared war on me so I never got involved, didn't even provide lend lease. Although, the major reason for my "success" is that I am a Paradox Veteran, and have also watched a good amount of Gameplay videos.

[@Exonok-ji7xm]

Thank you! This video helped me a lot 👍

[@MM-qr9vq]

You are soooo goood and helpfull i will watch all videos tyyyy so much❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@TisNi]

Thanks man, 52j. old game veteran and needed some guidance. Just bought the game and this is so helpful. Subscribed and liked....

[@Serial1977]

Thank you for making this sir!

[@franckijpelaar]

Thank you for the tutorial. I've just bought the game and I'm sure it will help a lot.

[@seancoleman2276]

i am really looking forward to this series. Thank you for doing this

[@celerun]

Dude me too, it's been sitting in my library for years but now is the time to finally learn it!

[@WapsiWillie]

Thank you for your patient and wonderful videos.....I did not have an interest in playing HOI4 until I started watching your tutorials!

[@hudooguru2]

Thank you for taking the time to put this together.

[@gameswithbrains]

Thank you for taking the time to leave me a couple comments. It's nice for me to find out that people, like yourself get something from these videos.

[@youssef26my63]

thanks mate it really helped me

[@webdevj]

Thank you for this. Every guide I've found either rushes through or has dlc enabled. I don't want to pay for dlc, until I learn the base game, so this is exactly what I've been looking for.

[@richardherlihy8416]

Cheers mate, thanks for this 👍

[@felixcomet7268]

My man, I've been trying to get into this game for years, you're the only one who knows how to explain things effectively

[@philb7789]

me playing on a second monitor "you can follow along on a second monitor and play on another" dude get out of my head lol thanks for the video... on to part 2.

[@redconnor3629]

I was just thing about getting back into this game but was worried that i'd forget how to play. So thanks for refreshing my memory on this game.

[@o_O29866]

Nice!

[@o_O29866]

what a good job!

[@SuperKrisNOR2]

Thank you so much for making this 😍

[@gameswithbrains]

Absolutely - I hope you find it useful, I just recorded the episode that knocked France out today, next episode to do - UK invasion!

[@SuperKrisNOR2]

@@gameswithbrains amazing work brother! Finally i can learn this game 😂

[@a..6102]

Thank you.

[@lukeroar9347]

25:36 "escape is your best friend in this game"... real

[@C-141B_FE]

Thanks!

[@gameswithbrains]

Wow! That's so incredibly kind. Thank you so much for helping to support what I do here on the channel.

[@Largecow_Moobeast]

I felt dumb needing a tutorial for this game, but if you think about it most board games that are big and complex you need someone who's played before to walk you through your choices and how the game works. Anyhow, thank you, I've had this game in my library for a long time and just now dusted it off with this video to play.

[@T0tenkampf]

Dang It I just finished watching the 2023 updates...a synopsis of what may have changed to this base game in the 2024 version would be cool. Your series is really good in that it provides enough depth but not too much. Good timing as the game and most of the DLC are on sale this week in preparation for the new DLC to be launched on 7 March.

[@Armydog-wc3hd]

I was going to pass on this game because of the overwhelming menus. But i found your game walkthrough videos and now its my next buy. Thank you

[@Andre-wu5ng]

I just bought the game and your tutorial is very helpful

[@davepask4706]

Great video series. Learning heaps. Quick question. When forming armies at the beginning should i set them on training mode?

[@FreePigeon]

Most valuable guide ever. I'm only sad that you don't have a similar tutorial for other Paradox games. But I get that this is very time intensive. I must say as well that I'm happy that you manage to keep your personal politics out of it, very refreshing.

[@tedats]

Okay lets give it a shot

[@jolmanus]

As an older fart I use this to get me going on a playthru. Thanks for the time spent making it. You do help us newer players 🤓

[@gameswithbrains]

Thanks for taking the time to let me know. I hope you continue to find them useful.

[@Azqalihm]

In a short 20 hours you too could learn the basics of the game thanks to this guide!

[@Aiphiae]

Looking forward to seeing how you manage to invade the UK. If there's one part of playing Germany that I struggle *IMMENSELY* with, it's landing in the UK. I have watched so many tutorials that say "this way is guaranteed - super easy!" but can never seem to make them work. You seem to avoid cheesing and utilize a good strategy throughout the game. I will be eagerly watching :)

[@thebluntrealist7180]

I give up....I'm gonna restart here and play Germany. USA & the navy stuff will have to wait, but it's cool. At least I'll have a sort of a glance at a clue by the time this series is done! :) Thanks loads for doing it, and I'm fine with the cat visiting....I have two and they're lovable little trolls aren't they? lol

[@SunkHippo]

Excellent mate, maybe this’ll help with my fear of getting into this game lol

[@Rellings]

Now if only there was a similar tutorial for every other Paradox game :)

[@TheRealXartaX]

As someone with almost 10 thousand hours in EU4, what I'd really love to find is a tutorial that basically just plays the game, but explicitly goes through every consideration you make as you do. To learn how to actually play the game, rather than completely basic stuff like "how to choose what to research". I'm fairly confident I could get someone up to speed fairly quickly in EU4 who is a competent HOI4 player, for example. Even though you have no idea how to play EU4 (if anyone is actually interested in this, maybe I will make a guide). Despite EU4 being considered the more complicated game from what I can find people saying online. Of course, you won't know how to do everything and how everything works, but you'd not feel totally lost in how to proceed. EU4 is a game where you don't play it while you understand everything, you learn new mechanics as they become necessary to learn (or you're just curious). That said, due to the lack of any such primers I'll be watching your tutorial. What frustrated me to the point of seeking out a tutorial is that battles seem to take way too long, and even when I'm flanking an enemy from 3+ sides and the estimate is clearly showing yeah you're winning hard, it still takes ages to win (I don't play huge countries like Germany, though). So I'm unable to really make any real gains and if I ever break through I'm worn down by lack of supplies etc. before I can really solidify them and have to do very complicated maneuvers like withdrawing troops to supply rich areas to regain organization and keeping reserves for rotational purposes to try to somehow not lose all my gains. This is also why I'd like to see a tutorial from the perspective of a smaller nation with more equal or superior neighbors. As that's how you really learn how to play.

[@TheRealXartaX]

Having watched it, this is a great tutorial for beginners. A bit slow paced as a grand strategy vet, though.

[@wesb2823]

This is the best tutorial I have seen for this game so far. Keep up the great work and thanks for the help in learning this complicated game!

[@Adar7400]

Cool

Do you have in depth tutorials for individual DLCs? I've a strong grasp of base mechanics but once I move to the DLC there's a ton of detailed stuff that I find confusing.

[@mrsullied]

I'm here after 300hrs on steam a few years ago and having forgotten virtually everything 😂

[@thebluntrealist7180]

yeah there's no way to make a 30-min tutorial for this. I finally figured I'd just play a game as USA so I'd at least learn about the interface and pick up a FEW clues at least & since I got the game ON Steam, w/some of the DLC, I turned the DLC all off FOR tutorials, but older tutorials are indeed outdated and confused me. Looks like I'll be watching this CURRENT tutorial in all (ten?) parts so things will at least have some context. Thanks for posting!

[@gameswithbrains]

The tutorial series is (as of 27/Feb) still ongoing, cos HOI4 while easy to play "once we get it" has a very steep initial learning curve, and that puts many new players off. I thought putting EVERYTHING a new player needs to know into 1 simple to follow series, will be helpful for those new to HOI4, if they appreciate a less-than-hectic style of video. A tutorial combined with walkthrough, that is a 1-stop-shop to cover every aspect of the core game. As the episodes tick onwards, we slowly ramp up the pace (dates covered are in description, near the top of each episode). As of me writing this reply (27/Feb/2024) I have no idea when the series will end, other than to say, players who followed along will control half the world, and know exactly how, why and what because! (I hope!)

[@thebluntrealist7180]

@@gameswithbrains Thanks so much for doing this. It so deep with all the inter-related things. I'm a veteran of an ancient/1980's-era war game called "Pacific War." Tiny icons and using an obvious hex-grid for movement and such. Took MONTHS to plot and play an entire game b/c you were manually controlling even supplies. I'm finding I learned a lot of if not all the things you've spoken of thus far in my first play-through, but your relaxed, all-encompassing explanations are gonna start paying off when you get to things like how the navy works and land combat. I'm STILL tinkering w/my navy but at least I've learned a FEW things there on my own. I did try other tutorials but they leave so much out, yeah, they'll teach me some ideas but not the step-by-step "how to do it" like you're doing. I REALLY appreciate it, man....btw....you actually are almost a dead-ringer for ME when I was younger. you could almost be a twin or something except you're not 57 yrs old, I'm pretty sure lol I'm along for the entire ride here...and will watch as long as you post new ones. Also, thanks for going w/o any DLC....I got a 'pack' of HOI4 on the steam sale over Christmas holidays so I figured I'd play w/no DLC until I get the basics right. THEN I'll add the DLC since i'll THEN know what the base game's about.

[@tuesday0846]

I'm sending this video to my friends who bought HOI4 recently. They don't know how easy they have it lmao. It was painful being a beginner of this game back in the day.

[@gameswithbrains]

Yeah it's getting the basics down that's the hardest part about HOI4. It just has too many weird things about it, combined with an unusual interface, making it such a challenge. Feeling the game out, without help is almost impossible, at least I thought so. I don't think I've ever played a game before (or since) that I couldn't gradually figure out alone, with a bit of trial & error and a healthy dose of common sense.

[@T0tenkampf]

36:35 Is the +1 attack for "Harsh Leader" on Bock already included is his Attack rating of 5 in the line of 4 general stats or is it in addition effectively becoming a 6?

[@gameswithbrains]

Great question...

[@robnoel9306]

This game has more stacking than Tetris.

[@BenjaminCrosse]

i want a modern version of this game so bad.

[@proxona3227]

Hellooo is there any way to play 2024 with modern borders? I would be so happy to receive an answer thank you ♥

[@To13ias]

is that an intentional sclong drawing? 26:03

[@ponczos_2293]

It's slow but definitely helped understand already more than the absolutely mogged tutorial in the game if you can even call that 😂

[@Schicksal0]

Did I watched a tutorial on how to make a tutorial?

[@mett420]

25:40 C=3 💀

[@Thumper770]

@13:07 why do you refer to save/reloading as cheating? I mean, I understand the concept of Ironman mode by making choices permanent but, giving the player, especially a new player, the chance to go back and fix mistakes that they player may not have realized was a mistake is cheating in no way, shape or form. You call it save scumming but, I call it learning how to play the game.

[@duckfliper696]

I have 100 division and can't invade poland😭

[@belphegor_tv]

I think turning off the DLCs is a bad idea for what youre trying to do. Most people who have hoi4 and are serious about learning it have all the important dlcs.

[@muffinesser7186]

I dont have thenm

[@mariooliana]

me neither

[@sh36]

No

[@b99andla]

I dont

[@Henrybuibui]

I don't either so shh

[@01535016151189]

Thanks very much for the terrific tutorial! You are making this game much more accessible for me! I really appreciate that you take the time to explain things in detail, slowly and thoroughly. As you pointed out, so many of the tutorials out there go very quickly and make lots of assumptions about what the viewer knows already. Also, that cat is very cute! What’s her name?