HoI4 Guide: Estonia - Esti is Scandi Achievement - No Step Back

#hoi4 #DLC #NoStepBack
A new achievement guide HoI4 No Step Back, Esti is Scandi! Now with 100% more Scandi!
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[@benrayner17]

Watching Bitt3rsteel create and play his own disaster save is certainly interesting

[@eduardpeeterlemming]

Estonia and Finland are brothers

[@mr.hugemustache5152]

@@eduardpeeterlemming yes and they are turks

[@the_lonewonder95.mp47]

@@mr.hugemustache5152 no they are Uralic and they are related more to Hungary

[@patrickdaniel4902]

@@the_lonewonder95.mp47 but magyars are turkic lol

[@theemperor-wh40k18]

No?

[@mrlemurplays952]

27:57 Right as he said “they could guarantee Sweden” THEY DID. RIGHT AS HE SAID THAT THEY GUARANTEED THEM

[@northernleigonare]

I was about to say the same thing. 3 months late tho.

[@yoanawramow8809]

@@northernleigonare Same, but 5 months late

[@Ro_Gaming]

@@yoanawramow8809 same, but 6 months late

[@Eren03eren]

@@Ro_Gaming same, but 2 years late

[@roastedpiggy7291]

So Freakin funny,

[@Archimedes_]

Drinking game: take a shot everytime Bitt3rSteel says this is a worst case scenario

[@pcgaming7680]

take a shot every time he speaks

[@Entenscheiss1]

Take a shot everytime he says he's annoyed and you're dead in 3 min

[@emin166]

I would die

[@Brigtzen]

i died. this blood is on your hands.

[@newolku]

Estonians on a conquest is already a worst case scenario

[@SeshThePole]

There was a point where I had a 3% chance of getting a civil war and it happened... It was my first run as Estonia

[@KlaustheViking]

Same thing happened with my my first time. Just luck of the draw early in the DLC

[@512TheWolf512]

hopefully that will teach you to not play a casino of any sort. lootboxes included.

[@GrosseSose]

Yeah another DLC with RNG... it's no challenge, just plain stupid. "oh, but when you then finally have luck it feels much better"... yeah painkiller feels much better too when you got kicked in the balls

[@vivofoottheseventh7393]

@@GrosseSose XD

[@masterofbalence2723]

It's rigged

[@TheLeastEast]

Don’t you love the feeling of getting overruns and encirclements it’s amazing

[@projectpitchfork860]

That's the main reason why you play.

[@TheLeastEast]

@@projectpitchfork860 couldn’t agree more

[@biharek7595]

The perfect ASMR

[@TheLeastEast]

@@biharek7595 fr

[@Psychonide]

Can we all agree, that this man right here deserves a lot more attention from this community than what has just been given to him. He's actually one of the few KZbinrs that I keep coming back and watching every single video. It's man right here makes good quality videos tries his darnest, And he god dang gots my respect!

[@Psychonide]

And sorry for the spelling. I grew up in a rural area in Texas then moved into a city. I still have a little bit of country tongue to my speech.

[@roosterbooster6238]

Lol for someone with British English it makes me think of John Wayne.

[@Unrea1_Inc]

100% true.

[@Ganjalfiltubo]

1) AI has always been able to guarantee Focus DOWs, I know because they always guarantee Greece in my Italy first runs. 2) AI can enter the baltic because Denmark isn't at war with them.

[@insertsomethingfuni2617]

I think you need to pause as soon as you receive focus war goals so they don't get a chance to guarantee before the war begins

[@lordfreezer9550]

​@@insertsomethingfuni2617 they guarantee mid focus, not when it ends

[@martenkahr3365]

Fun fact: The reason the Allied Fleets were getting in is because Germany was letting them through the Kiel Canal (since they were not at war yet). And then when you joined Axis and called Germany in, the Royal Navy was suddenly trapped in the Baltic and couldn't do absolutely anything besides annoying you.

[@tezix5172]

"they could guarantee sweden" at the exact moment he said it they did XD

[@1kvolt1978]

First, you don't control straits directly, Denmark controls. And Denmark is not at war, this is why Baltics still can be naval invaded. Second, I've seen someone on YT made false claims on demo countries (like Ireland, Greece and so on) to make France and UK become overwhelmed with guarantees and not being able to guarantee his actual target. He started to claim and watched. As soon as country is guaranteed, he stoppped claims and started on another one. And if there is no guarantee for some time, he stopped again and started to claim his target. Cheesy, yes, but it worked. May be useful to get Norway and Sweeden for free.

[@hzcyd101]

Very risky though. Apart from that method spiking the WT through the roof, the spamming guarantee has to be based on luck imo. All UK and FRA needed was to have enough pp before the end of your 70-day focus to guarantee one of the two. (not sure about the mechanism of how AI guarantee focus-claimed countries but I'm guessing it's the same priority as manual justify).

[@1kvolt1978]

@@hzcyd101 IIRC every next guarantee costs more PP, so after first few it will be quite hard for them to get enough PP in 70 days. And I'm not saying it always works, I'm saying I've seen it worked once. But the dude was pretty good at the game and he said it's quite reliable method. This is why I shared it here.

[@arkhaon]

@@1kvolt1978 but! You also need the PP for the justification every time…

[@1kvolt1978]

@@arkhaon Yes, you do. But because you cancel justifications they always cost the same 50 (IIRC). While every new guarantee costs more, and more, and more because AI doesn't cancel those. And eventually UK and France will not have enough PP to give new guarantee, and this is the time when you go for your real target. At least I think how it works. Again, I didn't try this method, just seen it on YT.

[@512TheWolf512]

here's my guide: 1. build 1 dockyard 2. rush the marches in finland, then get vapsid youth while you turn finns to your side (restart if you get civil war in estonia) 3. rush the war goals on the nords, uk WILL NOT! guarantee anyone unless it's 1939 already! forget about the finno-ugra, it's got the same manpower but worse industry and less building slots 4. with your puny fleet of tubs naval invade sweden first, ask for lend-lease from the axis to get convoys 5. DO NOT attack stockholm from the sea! take it with landed troops 6. take over denmark next, the germans will likely send you up to 8 volunteer divisions. annexing iceland is fine, they won't leave 7. cheese norway with 2-width cavalry 8. take the focus for cores on all the nordic states if you're fast enough, the UK will not be at war with you this way. just forget about the industry focuses, what you need is MANPOWER, not guns. the axis will give you guns. taking over the baltics works the same way as bitter said, the UK won't guarantee them when you do focus because of game's scripting, because the UK is not supposed to be at war with USSR on historical, and that can happen easily now that they got focus trees and stuff.

[@Subsandsoda]

speaking from experience, uk will definitely guarantee other people as early as 1938. had it happen in my latvia game

[@dawsontan9265]

Did you mean not going down unite our nations and go down Finno-Estonian supremacy league instead? How do you take Sweden that way?

[@512TheWolf512]

@@dawsontan9265 i meant the path that gives cores on the nordics, the left one

[@dawsontan9265]

@@512TheWolf512 Estonia is Scandinavia? How do you naval invade Sweden then? Finland won’t join, I don’t have enough troops and by the time the first dockyard is not finished so no navy no convoys

[@dawsontan9265]

@@512TheWolf512 I was thinking it’s more doable if I annex Finland, that way I can land invade and have more troops

[@JasonJWhite]

I really love thr estonian focus tree but this Achievment has give me too much trouble thanks for the guide

[@ramsestapsi5283]

The Estonian and the other baltic focus trees are embarassingly underdone. I also don't like the flag's plus the unitary flag is absolute dogcrap. Aesthetics aside, the amount of generals and admirals given to these countries are absolutely depressing too, since despite Estonia basically lacking a navy, we did have Admirals. Also i am very displeased about the fact that finland got no focus tree, cause they were a huge thorn to the soviets, and had a huge part in the eastern bloc countries.. absolutely unhappy with this DLC, despite paradox being a swedish company, they have managed to get absolutely everything wrong about their neighbouring countries. I hope it's just the dev team's nationality diff. but they've literally underwhelmed the baltic countries so bad, despite how much shit actually went down there.

[@Sednas]

I got the achievement on my first try weirdly enough even though I have only 100 hours of playtime (granted I have watched hundreds of hoi4 videos)

[@jesse9638]

I have no idea how you don’t have more subs. You’re one of the best content creators for hoi4. Thanks again for the quality guide, despite your luck.

[@andriesbakker4861]

He doesn't have enough dockyards to get more subs.

[@andriesbakker4861]

@TheLapster it was a joke referencing the vid...

[@DanjasLP]

Fun fact: On this path (and some Latvian paths) you can time the taking over of Lithuania so perfectly, that they capitulate at the same time Germany demands Memel, causing the event popup to go to Lithuania, but since they stop existing aswell, the event popup disappears along with them, allowing you to keep Memel.

[@catrielmarignaclionti4518]

you can always keep memel, as it is not a claim for the territory, is a claim for the territory belonging to lithuania, if lithuania doesnt exists, neither does the memel demand

[@johnnyboy95101]

Honestly it's early enough in the campaign I'd just restart, but kudos to you for showing us it still works.

[@chucknorrismlg425]

I did it a few days ago, but differently. I rushed to unlock the finnish marches and then immidiatly went down to get the wargoals on Latvia and Lithuania and i formed the baltics. Next i rushed down the Scandinavia path and got the wargoal on Sweden, but didnt declare. Then i got the one for Denmark, declared the second it was finished and took them out. Like in your game the allies guaranteed Norway bevore the focus ended so i took Norway out. Then I declared on Sweden and joined Axis. I took Sweden and got the achievment. Then i took out the UK, wich was not easy but I took everything in the peace deal i needed and cored scandinavia (and finland wich you annex after taking the focus). I made a Russian puppet (3%participation only) so that germany would spread its troops and launched assults on Leningrad, Luga, east Prussia and Schleswig-Holstein. I alao naval invaded Pomerania And Danzig and got the achievment for occupying the baltic coast You could build up a little more after taking the baltics and go directly for Sweden, avoiding the guarantee and hopefully then avoiding the ones for Denmark and Norway too, so you wont be at war with the allies

[@kubablaszka]

I got it done without any guarantees because you dont need the baltics for the achievments, you only need denmark sweden norway and finland. Rush fins while justifying on denmark, then do the focus to get war goals on norway and sweden and declare on the same tick so neither gets guaranteed (though if you dally they might get guaranteed on the tick that focus finishes if sudetenland spikes wt. I got the achievment in second half of 1938, without going to war with the allies or joining the axis.

[@Geraduss]

Or just get all the war-goals from the Scandinavian side of the focus tree and declare on all of them at once, can't get guarantees that way.

[@hzcyd101]

Don't you need Kiel and to get the baltic coast achi? I'm looking for ways to do that but siding with USSR won't do the trick. Also annoyingly you would pick up guarantees trying to take both the Scandi and Baltic countries

[@chucknorrismlg425]

@@hzcyd101 You need to take out the UK. Naval invade through the north sea (build bathtubs) into hull and Edinburgh. Then quickly help defeat the USSR and get like 5% warscore atleast. Make a Russian puppet and make the borders as long as possible, much border gore so that germany gas to garrison them. Prepare battleplans as in my og comment and surprise them by declaring on vichy france. You dont need to win just take the coast and you got the achievment

[@ottosalmenkivi8670]

Tried this yesterday, had 8% chance for a civil war when completed the focus. Got a civil war. Love the videos, keep it up!

[@brianjamesward2150]

This might sound weird but I kinda like the fact it went so wrong. I mean the fact that everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, but you still got the achievement shows how well the guide works.

[@wasteddata497]

I learnt how to play hoi4 this year by just following your guides so it feels nice to have completed an achievement before your video. Personally I think the focus finno- Estonian supremacy league is a stronger path because you later in the focus tree annex Finland even though they aren’t a puppet and get cores on all Scandinavia. Nice guide

[@whirsch]

"They could guarantee Sweden." Gets guaranteed right as he says it.

[@hendrikmons4231]

That was a really good vid!!! Last 2 weeks i had to work from 7 to 23.00 and all the time i was so hyped for HoI4! I finally got to play it and played alongside your guide and succes! And the new update is divine, i like how the tank designer works, how the suppy goes and the focus trees are cool too! Estonia seems to be "the easier one" of the baltics, i tried a quick game as lithuania and its euhm, quite a lot harder. Maybe also cause i wanted to create the baltic entente as democratic lithuania... but being squeezed in between ussr and germany seems such a challenging scenario. I would love you try your hand at lithuania (unalligned or democratic) and survive against germany and then ussr :D

[@f0nt]

Doing "It has my name on it" is easiest while playing ad Estonia, and going down the other side of the focus tree where you can get "Estonia is Scandinavia"

[@wh6057]

Best guide maker out there. Thanks Bittersteel

[@rowdyvanderveken7842]

Hy Bittersteel, i love your guides. I yust achieved around eurasia in 80 days, was a lot of conquering, but in the end i was able to do it

[@BringTheRains]

Because your puppet Denmark was not called in they can still traverse the straights. Its still a neutral position.

[@FeARotc]

honestly i love a guide where everything goes wrong and still works out in the end, just shows that the strategy is actually working

[@skmd-420]

in my run with estonia i took out the baltics first and then finland and i got no problem doing that this way

[@erawyi9751]

Thanks Bittersteel good guide i will try this

[@criox6564]

I made this achivement 5 days ago and at every game the scandinavian country were getting guaranties, but i found that if you don't go to war with latvia and lituania you have more chance to not gets the guaranties on sweden, norway and danemark. Get in a faction with finland, declare war via focus tree to sweden, get naval invade and destroy there army, pass by loponia in finland with full cavalry and capitulate sweden with no loss, pupet sweden but take the very south province (scanie?). Declare war on danemark, capitulate them with the "i've a hole in my line help!" Technique to beat them easy, puppet. Then declare on norway and capitulate them. Take the "estonia is scandinavia" focus and boom you're almithy

[@dawsontan9265]

Finland won’t join my war against Sweden

[@Coinfliptails]

I like how Denmark still lives in the Faroe islands, that's nice.

[@FilipH86]

I tried it your way Norway got guaranteed same as you. So did it again but this time skipped unifying the baltics and declared directly against Norway Sweden (at the same time). Quickly found out that the Oslo naval invasion was a no go and I had to take them from the north but it worked, got the achivement. Hmm only 5 more achivements to go, had hoped they would have put in alot more then 20, for this DLC.

[@jacekgedek3872]

Very good guide, even You are extremely bad lucky :) I have little suspicious, that these counts about chance of civil war in Estonia don't matters a lot. I tried this three times (very similar as You - last attemp was succesfull); I had civil wars twice (even there was more then 70% chance to avoid that) and once not (even less then 40%). Very fine achievement, I was very enjoy to do it :)

[@jke5486]

This one time I scored an achievement before you put out a video about doing it :D

[@ninjoe4195]

My first attempt at this guide I landed in Denmark and then my army died because I couldn’t brake out of the port and whenever new units landed they were immediately put into a new defense combat so they de orged. Denmark stronk

[@jpf196]

I really love your achievment videos! I do feel that in the older ones, you playtested more before, the "guides" seemed more thought through, where the first two achievement videos for NSB seemed "rushed" to me. I wouldn't mind waiting longer for new videos if it meant that the guides are more tested. Mad respect for you channel.

[@Bitt3rSteel]

It's mostly the new DLC being more random, even with the historical focusses, and with combat being a bit up in the air still...but i appreciate the feedback

[@jpf196]

@@Bitt3rSteel Yeah the new DLC is great and i feel it ups the difficulty quite a bit. What i have had great success against the AI is "SpaceMarines". So Infantry that have a lot of Armor due to a Heavy Flame Tank Support Company. It's affordable even for minor nations as long as you have the research. Thanks for taking your time to answer the comment, it gave me the feeling that feedback is appreciated. Keep up the great work! :)

[@TB-pn6rs]

Hey Bittersteel, thx for the nice guide. If you want to add another achievement to the list: It has my name on it (conquer baltic sea) is a nice follow up to "Esti is scandi". Short guide: Phase 1 - Unite the North, winter war is coming!) Conquer the scandinavian countries without going to war with the allies. For that, I took Denmark, like in your video and then rushed to the war goals for sweden and norway via focus and took them simultanouesly (a lot of micro ..) and after that took the baltic neighbours. Upside: Less than 10% tension generated when attacking Norway and Sweden. Lithuania and Latvia are non-aligned, the allied didn't care so much as for the democratic countries. Phase 2 - The enemy of my enemy .. ) Join Axis and build up while Germany is preparing Barbarossa (you should have time from around mid 1939 - '41). As Germany has Molotov-Ribbentrop, the Soviets can't attack you for some time. In my game the Soviets finally broke M-R-Pact, I called in Germany and the rest of the Axis. Minus USSR (Collaboration Govs help!). Still not at war with the Allies. ;) I puppeted most of Russia and finally had no manpower worries anymore. As for the Finno-Ugra Focus, check which provinces you need for the focus before the peace deal and make sure to get those. Phase 3 - .. is still my enemy.) Turn on the Axis when you are ready. When you have a nice russian puppet your own border towards Germany is not that big. If Germany took Memel, thats great, you can justify on a 'Retake Core State' then, though this will bring Japan in. Any other Axis target is as good as that. Go and conquer Germany, do not forget to conquer the coast line. You don't need to own it, just control it for the achievement. The Allies even wanted me in their faction, deny that, as you will push through Poland. Though military access is fine. If allied divisions arrive, they will push from your territory. Just don't give Poland access. ;) Phase 4 - Enjoy and may crush the far easter bunny (Japan). Took me till 1945. Hardest part was the Norway/Sweden stunt, as both have around twice the divisions than you have. It's a nice micro war. When there is a better way without getting allied involvment, probably easier. ^^ After that the Axis will push mainly through your terrain, so war participation is not a problem against russia. And after that .. go tanks! Germnay has such a nice terrain and infrastructure. ;) Don't forget to either Annex the scandinavian countries from the start or reduce their autonomy level early. I started late with that, thats why it was 1945 in the end .. politicial power build up takes time .. Keep on fighting! :)

[@XmXStuka2]

When will we get Tannu Tuva forming Siberia? That's gonna be spicy

[@montymechanizedmarines]

I expected this to be informative and entertaining, but hilarious was a bonus - you endured the worst to bring us the best. Coming soon - Siberian Tiger - maybe ?? Thanks MMM

[@Stiann86]

Managed to do this one yesterday after a couple of tries, thank you very much for the guide. Interesting enough the allies didnt guarantee Norway or Sweden if i took them out before i did The Brotherhood focus. So managed to do it without going to war against the allies. But the Red menace was at my door when i was done so had to align with the brown mustache man anyway

[@tmadlegionsoul3255]

I like this strat to get Denmark. But You are leaving a lot on the table later game by joining with Finland. If you do the bare minimum to get finland to civil war, join them in the war, and then let them lose, you will then be able to conquer them. Then you will be able to go down the left path and get annex goals and later cores on Swedden and Norway. And ofc annex Denmark. You can also take the other baltic states out and core them around the time you take out Finland, or before.

[@tmadlegionsoul3255]

Annex iceland right away and puppet denmark, like in video. You can use denmark to garrison support and steal their troops until you annex them through the focus. I still was not able to beat germany with this strategy though. We beat the Soviets together and germany took the important parts like Leningrad, even though I held it the entire war. After beating the allies, using strat bombers, heavy fighters, and subs. I puppeted the brits and the usa. I was beat because the germans took denmark and cut me off from trade and my navy was stuck out to sea. This was a 1952 game when I lost...

[@nazeerkhot3651]

just do the finno-estonian league focus tree paths imo since it gives a free finnish annex when you do estonia is scandinavia

[@AccelEng]

Speaking of unlucky runs for this achievement... I rushed Brotherhood to form the Unitary Baltic State ASAP, then I formed a faction with Greater Finland for cheap wargoals in Scandinavia and got stuck on the Swedish border because they pumped out an unholy number of divisions (around 50 or so); even then, I almost managed to get the achievement... but I did an oopsie and called in Italy that joined my faction half a year ago in terms of game time, and those Las Creaturas took half of Sweden in a peace deal -__- Which made me ragequit on the spot. Thanks for the guide, btw! I haven't considered taking out Denmark first; I just hate naval invading as a concept >< I hope now I'll be able to finally get the achievement without too much headache...

[@pasanaator9874]

My first estonia game was super epic because i used mediums and invaded the soviets and got all the cored lands

[@LieutenantGruber]

I don't know if Bittersteel will read that but I just wanted to say the best guides are the ones where everything "goes wrong" because it will be only easier for people who follow them. Nice video ^^

[@ParanoidMaster]

@Bitt3rSteel: 33:27 the allies were able to naval invade because the straight was actually owned by denmark, which was not at war with the allies ;)

[@Bitt3rSteel]

Treasonous Danes

[@stivakiy5810]

Elagu Eesti! Thanks for the guide

[@benismann]

27:59 "...they could guarantee sweden" GB: i heard GUARANTEE? *instantly throws one at sweden*

[@Snakegg2]

15 is the most efficent combat width but most divisions have too low HP at 15w and die, so most people are going 21 or 22. I personally have been having a lot of success with 9/2 infantry divisions and 41w tank divisions (1 motorized artillery and whatever balance of tanks and motorized gets you to 30 org)

[@klo3496]

Thanks Bittr. Got lucky not having civil war. Got Denmark no problem. By time attacked Norway they were guaranteed so fighting Allies. Joined Axis and attacked Sweden with German help but Russia was justifying on me. Just won and captured the last island before Russia declared was so got achievement. Thanks for great guide.

[@Dominik.S.]

I was trying to copy this. Did most of it exactly the same way and it went pretty well. While I was doing the focus to get war goals on Norway and Sweden, the Sowjets started justifying against me but I still had over 200 days left. While I was at war with Norway, Germany declared war on Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium and France so world tension spiked to 100 and I was at war with the allies. While this was going on, Germany also declared war on Denmark, meaning I went from being at war with Norway only to being at war with the axis and the allies within about 15 days

[@TheUnknownFiddler]

Did this in 1937 by just rushing the finland annexation and only doing a handful of economy focuses. Declared on Denmark by the time I cored finland. Declared war on Norway and Sweden at the same time just before Japan invaded china so UK couldn't guarantee yet. Put a defensive army in Northern finland to just delay the enemy's advance and naval invaded Oslo like you did. A good chunk of their troops stayed in the north and I snaked Norway fast enough to capitulate and puppet them since they don't form a faction with Sweden. From there I just cut the railway on the coast so Sweden lost supplies to its northern army and I ran around the rest of their army with cav and capitulated them.

[@m4r103]

love ur videos

[@desertwandererr7370]

I think it's because you puppeted iceland, for some reason if you both puppet and annex territory, you essentially double the amount of tension you create

[@andrasbeke3012]

For templates, I do a 14/3 infantry/artillery 37 width can 2 divisions in any tile without exceeding the combat width

[@seppafer]

Been Playing a lot of Estonia lately and have been working with a similar path you took. If you justify for the other Baltic states and puppet them you can just barely make it to justify on Denmark and if you time the focus to take Norway and Sweden right you can sneak it out under the allies nose the idea is you wait for the fall of france as world tension shouldnt be high enough for them to join a democratic faction. sometimes Norway will guarantee Denmark though. most important thing to do with your first 150 pp is going to be putting up conscription laws as that ticks up really slow and second is to get the advisor you get with the focus that gives +15% pp as you will need it and honestly unless you take the focuses that gives you civs you wont miss the factory you get with war economy. also for invading Denmark I find a spread out invasion of the islands between Jutland and just outside of Copenhagen works amazing. you can usually pus out anything that's on the port with your supply grace once you landed and no one can pin you. also Feedback had a video on his dumping channel that had some good analysis on combat width. looks like things are leaning towards putting your attackers around 45 width and defenders around 25 so they can fit into all combat widths. finally I've been trying this build to see if I can get the other achievement to take the land on the Baltic sea but somehow even if I can contest the air fight and have aa in divisions and have divisions that are stronger than Germany they keep pushing me off of a fortified position. If you go fast you can get to a point where have all the Scandinavian factions as puppets without fighting the allies which is why I chose Estonia to do this but as I said Germany is able to just run over multiple divisions that are stronger than its own divisions. from the looks of things if the first division in combat is forced out of combat the others in combat are kicked out as well.

[@flukz.z]

I live in Virumaa (Rakvere to be exact) and it was so funny when u said viruuu whatever it is

[@christopherbailey8926]

I watch the ads for bitt3rsteel no skipping for me He deserves the money

[@peterkadlecik7813]

I did this yesterday :-D. It was a lot off fun. I also destroyed Soviets and now I am waiting for complience to unite the Fins :-D

[@512TheWolf512]

you forgot to ask italy and germany for convoys, they give 30 to 50 each depending on how little you cared about building them yourself!

[@512TheWolf512]

Tallinn has the emphasis on the "a" in it, actually

[@benjamingahm8740]

Hi bitt3er steel I enjoy ur walk throughs it very helpful thank you ur awesome long live Belgium eh 😊

[@Bitt3rSteel]

Thanks for watching!

[@jakecarbone4701]

27:56 "they could guarantee sweden" less than a second later:

[@TheCool2ra]

Did it yesterday. Fun achivement.

[@fre8384]

Works. I didn't get UK to guarantee Norway because I was just under 10% generated WT, luckily. Soviets were justifying on me but issued no ultimatum, so it was a race against time to annex Sweden. At this point allies and axis were involved. Good strat, with some bits of RNG here and there which can be frustrating.

[@oneesama3421]

@Bitt3rSteel Try to form a spy agency and rush it to max out Encryption. This way the AI shouldn't be able to see your focuses and won't guarantee Norway and Sweden! Though you will have to declare at the same time, cause unpausing after you complete the focus will let the Brits spit out there guarantees.

[@PJLTU]

Now This is gonna lit

[@philipwester4648]

Surprisingly good pronunciation of "Åland", good job!

[@swedishbloke]

Your pronounciation of places in Sweden is actually pretty good!! One question tho, why is Skåne called Scania in HOI4…

[@Ghost-ut3ti]

You can avoid the UK guarantees by declaring war on sweden and norway at the same time, then either pushing to Malmö from Copenhagen or naval invading them across the Danish Straits. If you set up portguards and a shorter Finnish defensive line in Lappi, it is actually pretty easy to beat Norway and Sweden + you can get it done before 1939, so you have a decent amount of time to prepare for the Soviets

[@Atomika45]

Well lucky me i played Estonia when i was new to the game and was pushed its capital by the onions and yesterday i was going through my saves and found that and fixed my own disaster save managing to take latvia along the way and push the onions one tile inside their territory it was hard though

[@matheusdiastelo5373]

I already have done this achievement, but good video for who is having trouble. Edit: I didn't have to go war with the allies

[@punchbott4422]

This was the first achievement I got for no step back. First I rushed down to the war goals with the baltics in order to improve my manpower and industry. Then I went down the part of the tree where you ally with Finland instead becoming a union together. This is because the final focus actual annexes Finland if its in your faction even without them being a puppet anyway and having them distract the swedes was very useful along with being given war goals for all three nordic countries avoiding the need for justifications. I attacked Sweden first by naval invading their southern-most provinces while their army was distracted at the finno-swede border. Its important to keep units on port guard though as Sweden loves to naval invade you. Horses are good for rushing down them along with Norway. The capitulation was also easier as I used spies to create collaboration governments. I then attacked Norway and then Denmark. This was also done on what I believe my 30th Estonian iron-man save as I was going a-historical to try and get a game with the soviets doing a civil war and a kings government Britain. Its actual really easy to know if your game is going to have a russian /or soviet civil war as after the first 70 days they will most of the time have chosen which branch they are going down which then hides the non-used portions of the tree. If you see the anti-communist branch after 70 days, that'll be a white army russian civil war and seeing the alternate communists branches will lead to a soviet civil war.

[@rileyfriede8288]

Hey while I was watching this I noticed that you were having issues with naval invasions in the baltics and Im fairly certain that to prevent the enemy AI from getting in you had to call Denmark into the war since I believe neutral countries to Denmark are still allowed access

[@stepal6958]

I just tried this and Denmark had the port garrisoned, was just about possible with force attacks and getting another invasion of one division in quickly below the port but I would definitely recommend having an invasion ready on the side or it will be hard to land.

[@alatamore]

My guess is the issue was the civil war. If you avoided that many things would have been just under various thresholds rather than over them. I’d love to see a second go at this where you don’t trigger that to see how it goes.

[@Xinamon98]

I go for 21 combat width, I think it fits nice in forests and plains.

[@Owlr4ider]

In this awful worst case scenario you could still easily get Gotland despite the RN if you just use Paratroopers instead of a naval invasion, that way all you need is air superiority which you can easily get as the allies have no air bases nearby.

[@reapsneakyrg]

Hey what did they change about cas that makes it so busted now, like did they give it some damage increase or what as I haven't heard anything about it anywhere except your videos

[@devriesp9000]

@bitt3rsteel: the Allies could get through the Kiel Canal as Germany was neutral to both you and the Allies. No hacks for the AI there ;)

[@Akkise]

I wonder how'd you do the Bad Romeance achievement now that Thrace has no supply hub. Would you lure the turks in and starve them or build one instead?

[@charlieslegs9487]

You have reached ISP levels of sorrow. I congratulate you.

[@shuvari7707]

Take a shot every time he considers taking the artillery expert guy and then deciding for something else.

[@TheCrazyPhantom]

I just built 50 fighters and 3 transport planes, captured Latvia in 2 days with paratroopers(8 is more then enough) then i did the same with Lithuania. Then i created faction with Finland and got wargolas on every county in Scandinavia and declared war on them at the same time so UK wouldn't guarantee them. I just used paratroopers to occupy Stockholm and some other ports. After winning these wars i joined the Axis and fight soviets for all Baltic coast provinces, at 1942 i had like 250 factories and i just left axis and got wargoal on Hungary(to avoid war with Japan) and occupied other Baltic coastal provinces in Poland and Germany and got "It has my name on it" achievement.

[@timothyhouse1622]

OK, there is a far better way of doing this. 1. At the beginning, if you don't get a 15 - 20 percent increase to fascism on the first march, start over. You are on the clock this whole achievement and it is about maximizing time. Next, if you get a civil war, RESTART. Getting 15-20 means you can take the next focus. Don't forget to do a march before starting that focus to help you just a little bit more. The focus right after the final march one should be the one that gives PP and opens up cabinet members. Get the guy that adds PP gain. 2. Do NOT start a war goal on Denmark when you flip fascist. It takes 240 days. Four focuses take 280 days. The war goals on Latvia and Lithuania do not expire. The ones for Sweden and Norway do expire. You can see where I am going with this. Also, do not join Axis. 3. Prioritize manpower above ALL else. Butts in the field matter most. You will be begging for equipment from Uncle Moustache and Uncle Big Chin. They will give you EVERYTHING you need. Build cas so you can ask for those by having a deficit. You need at least one to make a understrength squadron to appear to have a deficit. When you are waiting for focuses to open up get the focus that increases manpower. 4. RUSH getting Finland. The fourth focus should be the one starting that chain. Manpower is nice but the free divisions and ships are most important. Core them ASAP too. Don't forget the AI is stupid. On one try the civil war last SIX MONTHS because the AI wouldn't take ONE vic point. BTW, not sure if it adds to world tension if you join the war, so I just do the option to send volunteers. Send 3 divisions just to wrap the damn thing up. Helsinki will be wide open and the AI wont take it. While you are working on that manpower focus you will have 140 days to do the marches in Finland. The ONLY land the fascist shouldn't have is the very northern slice of Finland and Helsinki. Each march is a slice of land the fascists start with. When you have four focuses including the two that give war goals, start justifying on Denmark. Like I said, 240 days to complete and four focuses take 280. In my last game this was the focus to core finland, the focus before the one to take on the southern baltic nations, and the focus to get a war goal on Sweden and Norway. 6. The set up before game time: a. Convert the Finnish divisions into the small cav. Use them to man your ports, which is about half of them. The other half, around six, will make a fall back line across the middle part of Finland where it is 5 wide and there is a supply hub. With the extra civs you have, build a supply hub on the other side. Your forces will be split by a lake. They will be able to hold. IT makes ALL the Swedish troops march into Northern Finland. There isn't much up there for you and they will die from loss of supply. You also have less Swedish troops in Sweden. (Seriously, I walked into all the vic points with only TWO Swedish divisions in the way. b. On your southern border set up your main army, try for a full stack of 24 of the infantry. Add an arty support comp for extra bite. You won't have enough at first but you will. Just have enough to hold the line until nice ol' Germany and Italy send you stuff. After coring Latvia and Lithuania I had enough manpower to covert them to 9-3's and Germany and Italy gave me enough stuff to equip them. 7. The fun part. The moment that last focus finishes, the one for war goals on Norway and Sweden, do not unpause the game. World tension will be at 25% but since you are minor Denmark shouldn't have picked up a guarantee. Shouldn't...but don't risk anyone getting one by unpausing. DECLARE WAR ON EVERYONE. And I mean everyone. Let Sweden take northern Finland and naval invade. And they will Naval invade 2 - 3 divisions. By the time I got to Sweden after dealing with the Baltic states they had 9 divisions. All of them in northern Finland except 2. Take out Latvia and Lithuania first, push the button for cores. Latvia can be a tough nut. I found sweeping up their right flank and taking out Lithuania first to be easier. Don't naval invade behind them, the Swedish navy will maul you. Once they are gone, naval invade southern sweden from Memel or the port north of it. On my run no one was home. Sweden was easier than the last two countries. When Sweden capitulates there was a ton of Norwegian troops cut off from supply, they must have allowed Norway access. Don't worry about guarding your rear to Denmark. Matter of fact, let them take land in Sweden after Sweden is capitulated. You can then cut them off and kill their divisions. Denmark was the last country I took out. Use your main army to take southern Norway and your cav will be in a good spot to take the northern vic points after they mop up pockets. Once Norway is out, Denmark is a cake walk if you have been bleeding them by suckering their troops into Sweden. I was finished by Feb 1939 and didn't even have to join the Axis for fight Allies.

[@fredericcote1577]

You know that you can stop your convoy to uses some sea? Clic on the sea and chose between free use, some restrictions and interdictions.

[@reinjaagup733]

Don't the artillery high command guys bonuses only take effect if the majority of the division is artillery doe?

[@Nederlanderssss]

I am really bummed by the enormous amount of bugs, poor unbalanced warfare. I expected a bit more from No Step Back. I was wondering if they themselves play the DLC before releasing it? :P Also I havent made a single tank yet, because well CAS = OP makes everything else melt!

[@Akkise]

Even the falangist side of the spanish civil war has bugs. So I'm not surprised really.

[@laurencesmith7436]

The wargoals in "Unite the Sami" last for two years, so if you got them earlier and just waited till the time was right might the strategy be viable? I've only peeked at the code and checked out the wargoals [by using the console to get them out].

[@eee241]

I think they were able to pass through the straights because the Germans have the Kiel canal and they could pass through there maybe, also denmark not being in the war might have affected it.

[@aoc2player305]

27:59 pause it the same moment you presed this number! As he said that the British guarantes the sweeden.

[@fredericcote1577]

Is it possible that the change in power focus (peaceful vs civil war) odds are calculated at the start and are not changing during the focus with marchs?

[@512TheWolf512]

no, it's not. they're coded properly, the more support you have the less likely civil war will start

[@Roope_]

The way you say "Uusimaa" in 15:19 sounds so funny as finnish

[@DatBoi_TheGudBIAS]

27:57 While he says Sweden might get guaranteed, it gets guaranteed lol

[@Z0mgXenu1]

how do you deal with resistance with such low stability? I guess it doesn't matter much if you're just rushing for the achievment

[@nuur2825]

9:33 I'd argue it's an sub-optimal PP purchase because while you increase your civ count 100% in absolute terms you just spent 150 PP for 1 Civ which is very clearly a bad deal. Some might say the worst deal in the history of deals. Getting an XP guy lets you get the officer spirit for significantly lower cost doctrines or just get you started on your doctrine which would pay greater dividends than that 1 Civ imo.

[@Bitt3rSteel]

Hmm, valid. My lizard brain sees war economy and has to have it

[@Strelo]

This channel's primary purpose is recording Bittersteel's descent into insanity

[@dawsontan9265]

Ok my run was ridiculously easy Rush down annexing Finland, then get the war goals for Sweden and Norway on focus tree, the declare on Sweden, after finishing up Sweden, Norway is guaranteed by France, then justify Denmark, then Denmark gets guaranteed by Norway, declare on Denmark will drag norway in without getting France involved, then you get the achievement!

[@yusef125]

27:58 as soon as you said that uk maybe guarantee they did it😂😂😂

[@ilikesnipers114]

I'm from estonia and i kinda like how you set virü whatever instet of virumaa

[@georgemennenga]

You are aware you can select sea tiles in naval view and in the bottom left disable convoys moving through that tile right?

[@mayanswereoffby8years990]

I think the AI can navel invade even if u own the danish belt because technically u didn’t call in Denmark so Denmark is considered neutral which also considers the allies neutral seeing that neither the allies or danish are at war with each other, if u would’ve called the danish in I believe it would’ve not let them in. Only a theory tho