How To Not Suck At Hearts Of Iron 4

[@ISPuv]

Heres my link, if you buy any steam code from here I get a cut (apparently) and you get a discount (not sponsored): paradoxinteractive.i38e.net/21nWBG

[@nerpe9946]

I'll make sure to use honey on my purchase 👍

[@aguy2735]

Fyi - i never move my spgs to the spg role because they take up an extra combat width. A 34 width with 2 high armor piercing tds and mediums with spg guns (not on spg role) can easily stomp an spg (with mediums set to spg role) division in soft attack, and actually handle tank divisions with hard attack and piercing for a cheaper cost

[@potato88872]

Now do the same butbin equestria at war

[@ronaldkerssens4617]

rat

[@the1upist]

All lies, just replace your infantry with artillery and battle-plan to victory.

[@MeLoNarXo]

1800 hours and still watching it just to make sure

[@fluffygigglesmckoolcid5394]

I feel too called out. please dont tell anybody how i live

[@diredestroyer88]

I’m at over 2000 and I’m still only mediocre. There’s honestly a good chance he’ll give me a tip that I don’t know yet.

[@MrBlamed]

I've almost 3000 hours. It's good to refresh memory.

[@WorkersofAmericaRise]

1400 hours here, not one unique experience istg

[@yummyprovolone7867]

2000+ hours and still feel like a mid player lol

[@Ushmadand]

Instructions unclear, willingly became a German puppet as Czechoslovakia

[@tnza2k19]

Instructions unclear, willingly became a Czech puppet as Germany.

[@ivorycxxxx]

Funnily enough that path can be extremely powerful

[@totolias2010]

Instructions unclear: I got an event that annexed me into Italy and ended the game in 1936.

[@agenttommy1]

@totolias2010ahh the famous anschluzzi

[@thedude5able]

@@agenttommy1I thought this said “Anschlussy” and I nearly died from laughter

[@zluurkeaksz]

Finally, I'll learn how to play HOI 4 after playing it since around 2020.

[@Ars_RmCf]

Lol I’ve been playing since 2018 and I still don’t fully know how to play the game all the way

[@theswdishwarrior]

Facts been playing since release haven't even gotten most of the achievements mods are too fun 😂😂

[@MrOceMcCool]

I've been playing since 2022. I have 4036 hours in the game. But I still suck balls at the game.

[@ronaldkerssens4617]

rat

[@MasterTheSwag]

*1920

[@dup1ex]

currently have 2823.9 hours in hoi4 but cant stop that isorrowproductions grind

[@Ma_Zhongying]

Pathetic. I have 2,968.7 hours. That’s a real number.

[@lupusalbus3795]

Those keyboard shortcuts have changed my life. Shift is love Shift is life.

[@kamikazesopp]

Maybe my most used key after the spacebar.

[@ronaldkerssens4617]

rat

[@Kalbot84]

So many times I'm like oh wait if I shift click this.... Yay

[@williampavlik9734]

Designer time stamps Ship design 22:32 Fighter Design 19:35 Cas Design 25:11 Tank Design 29:37

[@isimperialist]

When I first bought Hoi4, it took me a year to learn how make a Frontline.

[@baybam1]

That's not that bad, I played Switzerland in my first game in 2018 and refused to play because it was boring for a year.

[@isimperialist]

@@baybam1 My first game was Germany. I got capitulated by the Netherlands

[@ch4os395]

@isimperialist an absolute hoi4 classic

[@haydeis5230]

@isimperialistI got capped by Yugoslavia. Never ended up going west.

[@DarthRaptor22]

I did the tutorial and couldn't figure out how to speed up or unpause the game, so I gave up and refunded it. I came back to it about 6 months later and haven't stopped playing since. That was like 2020 lol

[@darthteej1]

At 10:40, the quip about just deathstacking if you're a new player reminds me of my first UK game. I didn't know you had to delete previous naval mission regions so by the time I ended the run in '44 I had red convoy and strike force missions daisy chained all the way from the home islands to Japan

[@piggysew797]

Rule Brittania type shi

[@21Bango]

Explaining to newbies what the heck all these stats mean would be great! Explaining focus trees and micro would be good too

[@geraintthomas4343]

It's a very spreadsheet heavy game definitely 😅

[@ImBouncy]

800 hours and gotterdammerung destroyed my ability to perform operation barbarossa

[@goji3908]

that profile picture is an accurate rendition of the feeling of not being able to push past the Volga river

[@zachdrago8130]

800 hours means ur still basically a beginner to hoi anyway

[@yaboi672]

it destroyed my ability to sealion, its so over (about the same hours as you)

[@charleynilsson5543]

I haven't changed my play style at all and I still steamroll the soviets in no time with a fuck ton of tanks and cas.

[@isakhylander]

@yaboi672 yeah, I struggled with sealion as well. But I did learn a strategy! (Build actual marines! Learnt the hard way) About 1400 hours.

[@progemer_18]

500 hours and still have no idea how navy works. I always just spam submarines

[@Sharpthingy]

900+ hours, i think im starting to get the hang of it

[@_jpg]

So you do know how navy works

[@19Magnitus85]

I'm nearly 600h into HOI4 and still learned so much from your video. Thanks for that.

[@ProfessorGreg_]

This is genuinely the only Hoi4 tutorial that has made any sense to me. Great job making a simple yet informative video that is actually helpful and doesn't waste too much of your time.

[@Eyclonus]

It seems to be one of the few that isn't immediately outdated by a hotfix that changes two values.

[@Knownthingg]

Finally I'll be able to play the game I've been watching for the last 8 years

[@niku4154]

ALWAYS use Field Marshal Frontlines. Don't even bother with General Frontlines. ALWAYS check your Supply, try to capture Supply Hubs first and foremost ALWAYS check your Oil, tanks/ planes/ Trucks without fuel don't work. ALWAYS check Combat Width! > Where you're fighting and how many Units can fit into the Battlefield. WHENEVER you're doing bad: PAUSE and read the Tooltips, click on the Red Bubble (The Battle) and hover over all the Numbers (Attack, Breakthrough, etc.) Reading is the most important part in HOI4 Read, don't speculate.

[@Eyclonus]

Also if things look like they're going bad, stop pushing and focus on defending and recovery of your divisions.

[@mrwri]

This is a great video. I've shared it with a few friends to help them learn. Thanks ISP!

[@hotandsillycinnamonrollget6697]

I feel old. Last time I actually played hoi4 was before no step back. I have no idea how any of the new mechanics works.

[@cheemsburger7261]

Thank you Mr. ISorrowProductions, I have now done 100 world conquests as Bhutan using all of your advice

[@markkonya8605]

The MIO shift click tip was 10/10. Thx ISP.

[@SoraHermit]

Thank you for making this video! I've been wanting to buy the game for ages because of your videos on your other channel, but was unsure if I'd find a good tutorial. You've solved this!

[@Finn_the_Cat]

My recommendation is never play the game on easy difficulties because it's too much of a crutch and you'll likely not learn much about some of the systems with it. An easy ai mod would be better if you want an easier game

[@Eyclonus]

Agreed, it teaches really bad habits like enabling really bad division templates and not properly budgeting your construction queue. Plus I think a few nations get like extra starting factories, techs, or divisions that give a wrong impression on their starting situation. Also Easy gives the wrong impression for Australia and New Zealand,

[@jimtalbott9535]

Despite your natural disposition to NOT engage in helpful activities, you’ve created a helpful, clear, and thorough tutorial.

[@TheThrillernights]

Thanks! I was one of the people asking for it in the comments, thank you for taking the time to explain!

[@ChronosSk]

Important tip for planes: Self-Sealing Fuel Tanks makes planes cost more rubber. If you're strapped for rubber, removing that lets you make a lot more planes.

[@zigzera7757]

One thing about planes which can be important for like Germany where your Air Force will be out numbered by 5 to 1 train your air wings! Even with massively better planes if you’re sending up green pilots your not going to get a kda your looking for a green end game jet might only get a 3/1 kda where a train one will be pulling 10/1 Training air wings goes pretty fast all things considered make like 3 maxed out air fields as trainer bases and keep restocking with green pilots then ship them out to fighting air fields and set them up for defense You can get away with not training cas but not training fighters is BRUTAL when your try to solo a massive alliance

[@Ne_Ne_Vova_UA]

5:26 nah Italy is a really good startung nation, you get to learn combat in Ethiopia, sure it's not good for your first playthrough, but it is really good to learn a bit of combat once you get used to interface

[@Eyclonus]

I think the caveat is that Ethiopia can do that thing where if it drags on too long you're stuck in perma war.

[@germanmilkman58]

Crazy I’ve been watching him for like 7 years and “played” hoi for like 2. Now a couple days after I decide to try Ironman he posts this. Perfect timing

[@IianaDRK]

Finally. Been waiting for the tips and tricks video thats been long time coming.

[@reverendroar]

Happy New Year to ISP, the Rat and everyone!

[@zanlo1824]

I have like 200 hours and still have no idea how navy works

[@TinyTank77]

I have 2000 hours and I am the same

[@herbertschulz4313]

Same weth 2000 hours

[@adhdegrees]

I am the same with 800

[@isimperialist]

I have 1000 hours and still don't have an idea about how air works.

[@aight4494]

Build cruisers with lots of light attack if you're a big nation If not; naval bombers

[@guerra5152]

maybe after 5 years of playing this game i'll understand the navy

[@Sc0ts]

3000 hours, still making sure that I'm not making any of the mistakes or missing any tips in this guide.

[@goldnimso]

i really never knew how to do navy so this helped a bit, should of told people about sub spamming too

[@VoidicHerald]

Have never played the game. You were my second most watched channel last year. I will finally understand wtf you're talking about😂😂

[@jeremyglass4283]

I would just do normal medium tanks with lots of speed and the howitzer for lots of soft attack. You don’t need the SPG’s, or the medium cannon on the mediums because hard attack against the AI is pretty much useless. The reason why you should do normal medium tanks is because although the SPGs give you a +20% soft attack, their battalion is 3 instead of 2 combat width, which means per the the combat width, you actually get less soft attack in the battle, because you would get 33% less combat width to work with, which the 20% soft attack doesn’t make up for. So just go with normal improved mediums with the improved medium howitzer and try to keep speed above 10 km/hr and reliability over 80%. You should prioritize speed, soft attack, and reliability above things like breakthrough and armor, as you will have more than enough to not be pierced by the AI and won’t take much damage.

[@pko6596]

for cas a better option is bomb locks since they are much cheaper to produce and large bomb locks allow you to both naval and port strike

[@haydeis5230]

Thank you. Genuinely. I’m gonna watch this tonight as I play a game and hopefully not get capped by Yugoslavia as Germany like I did in my first game.

[@Eyclonus]

I got stalemated by Poland and invaded by France on my first German run. As much as everyone says to play Germany first because you dictate the pace, a lot of people just don't advise things like micro, or how to tell what the right window is to invade Poland where you're built up enough to win, but haven't given them enough time to setup or the allies to get their shit together and stop your pivot to the west and north africa.

[@dstinnettmusic]

Helpful video is helpful. I struggle with all the paradox games except for CK3 because they aren’t like…person/family based.

[@pluemas]

My HOI4 experience was being told to play it by a friend and picking Napal as a random nation to start. 7 hours later, I quit the game, uninstalled, refunded, and haven't touched it since. I think this was the optimal outcome.

[@ryansearle6157]

I remember my first game, as France. I had no idea what numbers meant contextually and didn’t know how or what to prioritize so I made a lot of questionable decisions like keeping the Matignon agreements indefinitely and not doing anything about the air or navy. But my worst mistake of all was that I had no idea how many divisions I should have or that you could set a line to make a limited number so I just passively made like 3 divisions at a time so when war broke out with Germany I only had like 50 divisions.

[@SgM-1000]

ive played this game since 2017 and im still watching this

[@Fewrfreyut]

Oh my god i forgot they fixed Canada’s focus tree by deleting the ridiculous mutually exclusive restriction between national steel car and send in the zombies. I had actually gone into the game files myself in the past and deleted that mutual exclusive restriction, so now that it’s gone by default i forget it so much.

[@nickmargaritis3263]

1000hrs and I am just sitting my ass down and listening

[@therandompersona]

My first game was back before Waking the Tiger came out, I played as Brazil, conquered Uruguay with the starting templates. I did a few other South American countries to try and get a feel for things, before moving onto my first major-France-where I built level 10 forts all long my border and because the AI wasn't the sharpest tool it kept attacking so I could easily counterattack and win.

[@harikeshg3823]

my first game consisted of me declaring war on austria as germany and getting rolled over by france(did not know what guarantees were.)

[@reverendroar]

ISP you should do more beginner tutorials and then do Intermediate and Advanced tutorials too

[@volodyadykun6490]

Maybe Britain is good for beginners too? Maybe Germany have a bit more chances to invade you but still somewhat similar to Canada and US

[@colinbatliner8295]

I feel like Britain has too much going on around the whole world for a beginner

[@volodyadykun6490]

@colinbatliner8295 oh that's probably a good point

[@grishapronin2978]

Also, the main point of Britain is The Royal Navy, and navy is… navy… Navy… Yeah, so Germany is better

[@BadQualityStudios]

he knew i was a league player, because i love da slop thank mr. pro ductions

[@natewaite4178]

Praying that I can finally learn how the navy works. (I've had the games and all dlc since 2017)

[@memer7987]

I never realized frontlines were a thing (6000 hrs) I just manually micro'd everything without pausing on four speed

[@RK-cj4oc]

Wtf?

[@charlesrupp3976]

So you just raw dogged it huh? You bought the game, and taught yourself how to play it entirely without watching one single tutorial video on the game or just watching people play it. That’s ballsy

[@memer7987]

@@charlesrupp3976 Pretty much - I did watch videos on it (Mostly entertainment not tutorials or playthroughs)

[@crudinon5887]

Didnt know about the navy alert thing. Thank you rat man !

[@huni1939]

As a player with more than 1000 hours, I have no idea why I am watching this

[@vikkij5221]

1.5k hours and i still get puppeted by Poland as Germany... this video opened my eyes how to make planes, thanks!

[@PointyHairedJedi]

I play Blackice pretty much for the navy, is there any cure for me?

[@LanternOfLiberty]

I have played for two years, on and off. Mostly Kaiserreich, though. My experience: the devs are doing heavy drugs and console commands make it worth it. My challenge is to not tilde myself more advantages than I "realistically should have". I'm sorry I just made all true fans puke. 😂 Hey, I'm 57, IDGAF. ✌️

[@Junkinian]

I've got 2,000 hours on hoi4 and I had no idea you could select all of your unassigned units at once with shift+click.

[@FatheredPuma81]

I think Paradox should provide super simplified focus trees for new players. Focuses that do things like combine 5 focuses into 1 like the Purge did before the Soviet update.

[@The_Engl1shman]

thank god I can now suck less at Hoi4

[@volodyadykun6490]

Always go for the ports - should've added because there will be no supply otherwise

[@timeadd2965]

1:40 also if you super poor you can have them for "free"and its not soo hard

[@Bonkus..]

Fitgirlrepacks is reliable I have heard

[@FalkyRocket2222]

by far the best option imo even if youre not poor

[@grishapronin2978]

Yeah, I downloaded DLCs for free, but it’s just to test, and I will definitely pay for them after some time, for real, not irony, not sarcasm, not mocking Paradox for 20 dollar DLCs

[@mauriciopimentel6451]

Ngl this was very useful despite me having a fuck ton of hours in HOI4 because I normally just play cheated for the fun of it

[@Writer-Two]

I have 700 hours in the game and I still haven't figured out how to for sure win the game... yet

[@w5527]

Over 3k hours and I’m still watching to make sure I haven’t missed anything Apparently I don’t know how to tank efficiently

[@yeeted9466]

When I first bought the game I remember somehow losing to Canada and Britain as the US

[@Eyclonus]

1812 Redux mod when...

[@mango4586]

700 hours and I just learned I could shift click to select all unassigned divisions

[@JimmyMcGlll]

Instructions unclear, 800 hours don’t know air

[@peaceanquiet4528]

21:22 notice how much faster conversion is!

[@jamesbennet3937]

3000 hours in, and I learnt loads from this video!

[@felix0940]

1050 hours, I'm here to understand navy.

[@АрхивСпутника]

Would ISorrow slap me if do a super heavy battleship that costs half world GDP

[@leserb9228]

I like putting air-to-air radar on my later game fighters, idk if it does anything good for me, i just like doing it.

[@definetlynotamainacc8773]

Step 1 hire army xp guy Step 2 produce guns and rifles Step 3 draw frontline Stel 4 profit

[@milo20060]

I think a country like Romania is one of the best to start. Not too big but not too weak either. From majors, I think Germany is probably the most fun for starters too. I think US might be on the bottom of the list. You need to do navy stuff and Europe is more fun imo.

[@somebody5332]

I have 3.3k hours but I'll stick around

[@jeremyglass4283]

38:35 concentration of force is the first rule of warfare, from the ancients to the modern era, if you concentrate more force in a specific area, you will win in that area. This is the first thing you learn in warfare 101, if you don’t understand this, you probably shouldn’t be playing this game lmao.

[@tenacity25]

i liked this comment before reading the last sentence, because i was like "hey, thanks for saying that so that people who don't know can maybe learn" but that's not a reason for them to not be playing the game. its a reason for them to get better at it (especially before playing multiplayer with people they don't know personally)

[@Serusshi]

​@@tenacity25yeah, pretty rude for basically no reason at all

[@tenacity25]

@@Serusshi its the kind of thing I'd excuse if they said it in a moment of anger at a teammate that just threw the game for them as a result of it, but isn't fair to actually mean to all players who need to learn that generally (and isn't even fair to anyone, really, just... sometimes anger gets to people, and that's ok, even if its better to work on that, its understandable).

[@buffalo1423]

Finally a new video I can watch and hopefully understand why I suck (it's probably because I'm dumb)

[@SirHelpMe]

If only this was uploaded a few months ago my life would be easier

[@jugnot_was_taken]

700+ hours on hoi4, this video was super helpful!

[@Ars_RmCf]

685.3 hours and this actually does help me a lot lol. Context I play with a lot of mods.

[@dominikkopal3941]

1500H on the game, found the navy tips extremely helpfull 👍.

[@Nathan-lp2iz]

31:20 I do kind of the reverse I use Mediums for max soft attack and do crazy breakthroughs, and in the division designer I slap a single Heavy Tank batallion to give the division more Armour The Heavy Tank I design maxes out the Armour and I give it enough speed to be as fast as the Mediums (usually 7km/h with the basic techs, and then upgrade it to 8km/h when I get the better chasis)

[@vlr4631]

Why do you try to make fast heavies if you only use them as inf support? Its more expensive than necessary

[@Nathan-lp2iz]

@vlr4631 I use them along side the Mediums, that's why I make them just as fast

[@nemotastic86]

why is there an image of sonic putin at the end?

[@grzegorz.grzybek]

500+ hours on my account - thanks for the tutorial, I needed it desperately.

[@Chuck12312]

I'm playing as Germany for the 2000th time and I still clicked on this video

[@markothegamer441]

Watchet the whole video and was like daamn i could have used a video like this a few years ago (it wouldve been different strats but you know what i mean)

[@a.cunningham4974]

Mass assault left side gives -20% supply consumption Thats pretty bonkers

[@enigmastudiosgaming]

I know I didn't absorb nearly as much as I should. >_< Probably gonna have to re-watch it a few times. But thanks for doing this!

[@loremastertimmy4048]

instructions unclear Joe, i cant figure out how to open the alex the rambler tab to instantly research like you did

[@BohemianCrown]

After 700 hours of playtime, I feel ready for a tutorial.

[@albertgroenwold5849]

damn that means isorrow can slap me in the face for every game i made battleships..... my lord is my face going to look beat up

[@cc0767]

The biggest issue with learning PDX games so long after their initial launch is really all the DLC bloat. You dont want to buy a subscription just to play a game you already bought, yet without it all the content you see will be different. And all the guides will be outdated

[@Eyclonus]

HOI4 is the worst for that because each system added is often significant in its impact of play. Like the "oil to fuel" change made a lot of stuff redundant.

[@cc0767]

@Eyclonus that and they arent even good system, like ISP said about MIOs, set it up right at the start and never look at it again. How is that a good system? PDX games arent actually deep, there is just so much all at once which you atleast have to acknowledge it exsist or you will fail. But once you do its always the same, thats why I dont even play anymore.

[@t3d585]

6:43 1100 hours and I didn’t know that…

[@Samopesh]

When's the show feet reveal tutorial?

[@foxtrotflies]

2500 hours in but gotta confirm the strats are stratting

[@NotKnafo]

he finally made a a tutorial but wasn't isp supposed to do it for vic2?

[@Nicius-]

Man, i learned to play using poland, because, it's do or die, best choice.

[@dumper_man178]

my first nation was italy

[@Plachno85]

1000 hours in the game and still have no idea what the air and sea metas are… I just… keep sending mass infantry waves with no cas, bob semple license, scraping the barrel flicked on, and the sheer strength of will… this has seen me to victory… but at what cost? My sanity.

[@oneballimann6425]

thank you to explain everything for LOL players. what happened with your Achievement series? I just made COD wars with iceland, but had to get back to 1.13.7 because of territorials in GB. thats impossible on the newest version

[@MarcosJoaquindeVargas]

Finally, after 4000 hours spended, i can finally learn