Forging massive Imperial Federation in 1937 - Hoi4 UK Speedrun Explained

Hoi4 United Kingdom speedrun to form the Imperial Federation, the European Union and gain cores on all of North America. One Empire and Imperial Federation achievements just got a lot easier! The run was recorded in By Blood Alone (v.1.12). Enjoy!
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Unedited run, help & sources:
Unedited run: • Imperial Mega Federati...
survivalMichi: / @swagorath
Old Naval Treaty Exploit: • Hearts of Iron 4 BIGGE...
Join my Discord: / discord
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Strategy talk:
A couple of notes for those who want to attempt this as well. I had to cut quite a bit from the script to make it somewhat coherent, but it might be important to you if you want to give this a go yourself.
Doing just the Imperial Federation though can be done in 1936, but you need to take Reinforce the Empire before the civil war and fully puppet the dominions during the conference. See here: • HOI4: The FASTEST and ...
The RNG elements often go in your favor, but after something goes wrong, a multitute of possible developments can unfold that all have cascading effects.
For example. If the USA doesn't join the war against the Netherlands, they will automatically declare the second France makes the Netherlands into a puppet. Oh. By the way. If the war goes especially bad, France might not be able to fully puppet Netherlands, leaving a tiny island untouched where the original Netherlands still exist. Having a war goal on them is pretty useless in that situation. Anyway. If the USA and France are at war, you can still cap France and annex them, but France won't be allowed into the Allies, since Canada is scared of the US. In turn, you're still at war with all the minor nations that resulted from the fragmentation of the Netherlands and Dutch East Indies. I think you see where this is going.
The other fail conditions are more straight forward. Not gaining enough pp from the civil war decisions is going to prolongue the civil war itself and push the date back at which you can take the Backroom Stabber for reduced justification time. If Ethiopia falls quickly, Italy is going to have a civil war while you fight them, resulting in a puppet you can't refuse. That's bad, because we don't have the pp to diplo-annex two nations.
In case there are still questions around "why the netherlands". We can't get a war goal on France directly through the London Naval Treaties. But if France puppets the Netherlands, we can still go to war with them regardless. The principle applies to other nations that you send warnings to as well, but only the Netherlands are close enough and easy for the AI to beat.
I also didn't explain the rather large amount of divisions that we get from puppet France. Well, I explained the why, but not why there are so many available. The answer is pretty simple: France has lots of overseas territories and had divisions on oceanic transit to react to our war with them.
About the French. If you release them as a puppet, they'll achieve independence after gaining enough autonomy from fighting, since their puppet status is higher compared to puppets that are created during a peace conference. Do not give in the temptation to send convoys to prevent a change in puppet status. You'll need all of them to quickly diplo-annex them.
Lastly, if you only want to form the Imperial Federation and European Union as the British Empire, you can ignore the Unite the Anglosphere focus branch. But it only saves very little time, since you'll have less equipment to fight Germany.
Feel free to ask questions in case I overlooked something!
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Music:
Hearts of Iron IV Soundtrack
"Main Theme"
"The Royal Airforce"
"We are Soldiers"
"Heroes of El Alamein"
"Shatter the Empires"
"Heavy Waters"
"Operation Compass"

[@romulusnuma116]

The idea of the UK scuttling their whole navy then demanding all other nations do the same is really funny

[@2Links]

I love disarmament

[@christoperwallace6197]

Hate that loophole. Makes zero sense, as UK would never do it. Byzantium coming back is more elite then UK scuttling their whole navy

[@zacharysilver911]

Kinda like the fake US president blowing up all the US’s nukes mid flight in GI Joe Retaliation.

[@francis5600]

Peak Britain.

[@TheoHawk316]

...and realistic

[@peperoni_pepino]

I'm surprised forming the EU still gave you 'The Empire' instead of turning you into the blue EU. I thought the last name change takes priority, but I guess the Empire has a higher internal ranking or something like that.

[@stepanmalyarovskiy3369]

I think UK's decision to form EU is unique, cause other nations only have it while being democratic

[@detroitdave9512]

I know right I was waiting for it to ruin the map but it still looks badass

[@colBoh]

While I'm glad that it doesn't change the color, it's disappointing that it doesn't change the name, either. Fascist EU is called the European Global Hegemony, which sounds a lot cooler than just "The Empire" IMO.

[@jellyrolls2765]

There's no 'internal ranking'-- each country can only have one cosmetic tag active at a time, and using the set_cosmetic_tag effect automatically replaces the current tag with the new one. As other folks said, this must be a unique decision that does not set the cosmetic tag. Source: am modder

[@detroitdave9512]

@@colBoh That is pretty metal

[@Pydgin]

No exploits... anyways, here's how to exploit the naval treaty system. 🤣 Love the intro by the way!

[@christoperwallace6197]

Should really patch that.

[@hatless_spider]

M3an limiting O66 AND paradropping? This feels wrong! 😂

[@m3an]

Using them wouldn't make it any faster. No worries, the next one is going to be full of exploits again!

[@ChalleonPlays]

​@@m3anI just wanted to ask how much quicker it would be with those strategys

[@jellyrolls2765]

@@ChalleonPlays He said in the comment above yours that it wouldn't have been any faster. This challenge is timegated by focuses, not by conquest speed.

[@BubblesZest]

Watching this strat evolve is awesome, wouldn't have believed it when I first found it. Weldone!

[@m3an]

Thank you and thank you also for reminding me that I wanted to link your video in the description as an example for when only the Imperial Federation is the goal.

[@endzor]

1:13 you can hold shift, and left click all four air groups in top right corner, instead of searching them on map

[@m3an]

You don't know just how much I love you rn.

[@endzor]

@@m3an ur welcome

[@andrew3203]

Not only this was done by 1937, but the OP never changed laws, keeping 'Volunteer only' and 'Civilian economy'. And likely didn't build any factory or infrastructure. Nor used any tanks...

[@HerrXenon_]

You got a new subscriber. A very skilful and clearly explained run with amazing editing. Better than many Hoi4 youtubers with hundreds of thousands of subs. Can't wait to see more!

[@m3an]

Thank you and welcome aboard!

[@joshual9976]

Of course you post this two days after I get the UK world conquest achievement 😂

[@Darik_ioi]

Man I love your videos! keep on making such videos, I will always support you.

[@MrDoubleblades]

Just wanna say you are hilarious, and i had a Hella fun time following this tutorial. It didn't work 100%, but that was my fault. Still set me up good enough to take over the entire globe. Thanks!

[@Stouzough]

Nice one. Again. Nice touch also to put the stats in the end.

[@rinopro5556]

No exploits? This isn’t what I watch hoi4 speedruns for!

[@m3an]

I'd say it's still pretty exploity. But I guess you guys want to see me use exploits whenever possible =D Noted! In this particular case, using exploits wouldn't have changed anything about the end result though. Probably should've mentioned that as well.

[@alatamore]

Depends on what you think is an exploit. Scuttling the fleet to get the CB was an exploit, as was the mechanics of Canada and US, release, and attack to get cores. I’d also say how he handled the Allies by leaving a rump minor who takes over and is then made into a major was an exploit. But that’s what makes it fun to watch.

[@jjthefish446]

Now, I can knock off two of the longest achievements using your strategy.

[@moinsenmittag8683]

Finally it's here. I am very interested in your strategy.

[@Link9058]

i remember that i accidentally did the Imperial conference bypass in my first ever blackshirt UK run. was a lot slower ofc and i unfortunately didnt form the pan-north american state, but forming imperial federation and instantly outshining all other nations was good fun

[@maier]

Great video! I am always trying to find new ways to beat the game faster in private runs so it's nice to see what other people do.

[@m3an]

Danke! Wenn ich mal behilflich sein kann, jederzeit =)

[@chaoticflorius]

Great video mate!

[@user-fb7mz6gc7q]

I KNEW IT LETS GOO

[@tomato1158]

love how your mouse immediately shot for brutal oppression the moment you noticed the netherlands lmao, great videos!

[@feldty]

Great content. Congratulations, mate!

[@m3an]

Thank you =)

[@EnduringGamer]

My score for exactly same challenge is April 1938. I am now pretty proud of my record because my strategy is vastly inferior to yours. Good job!

[@Negativitie]

Great guide, thanks!

[@rollacp947]

Love your content

[@Avalanche_Mudder04]

Thanks for the explanation for how to bypass unwanted Italian puppet.

[@Idoexist._.]

M3an: Largest ÏF in 1937. Me: Laughs in Focus.nochecks, fa, Focus.ignoreprerequisites, annex ALL.

[@JamesH-ub4ir]

Well that was a wild ride

[@Salking85]

Great video as always

[@m3an]

Thank you =)

[@tahafazlollahi8182]

My guy you are the peak of hoi4 content

[@dilenic4367]

I had just played the UK when this uploaded

[@Hoi4291]

Cool, i will try this and try to get the kne empire achiment

[@Hoaxe72]

There’s a quick way I knew of, where you get the civil war, annex all the land including dominions by declaring war volunteering and it bypasses a lot of the focuses

[@user-wg1ed5lc8u]

Art of speedrun

[@alfredandersson875]

Another M3an upload YEEEESSSSSS

[@Lucastardin]

men, you are my hero! there is no one like you on youtube, brazil loves you!!!

[@sahilhossain8204]

Lore of Largest Imperial Federation in 1937 (EU & NA Cores) - Hoi4 UK Speedrun Explained momentum 100

[@anttiskate]

Incredibly frustrating experience trying get through this. :D The US more often than not doesn't declare on the Netherlands. France joins allies where declaring the NED puppet. Italy doesn't join Albania immediately, and your'e stuck there. Anarchists manage ruin your Spain, and if you finally manage to get to the last capping of the Allies, Poland becomes major. Stopped bashing my head on a brick wall after about two dozen tries. :D

[@alfredandersson875]

Greatest hoi4 content creator with a beautiful accent

[@bltsevdallarfanclub641]

Would you try to do a Turan speedrun?

[@AlcatrazAndDexter]

this time at "how to break HOI4": the Empire in 1937

[@Mintas_]

GOAT

[@ChalleonPlays]

6:40 I will take your word on that

[@ChalleonPlays]

LIES

[@normalermann1623]

Weil done my Lord

[@xander1O1O7]

that peace deal with the french disturbed me

[@orrorsaness5942]

And that’s how Britain restored Rome and conquered the world in 1938

[@gramps6016]

good video

[@user-ke5fk4ct3c]

Nice video we want more

[@Not_Evil_]

The Empire would be a dope nation to live in lol

[@lordodin5755]

"now we hold all of north america" meanwhile mexico out there chilling

[@apoivre]

Very impressive work, thanks a lot. One question though: You could have taken the Imperial Federation Focus as soon as you annexed The North American Dominion. That would give you cores earlier. Yet you took another focus (Colonial Elites) and waited until you got all the states required for the EU. The wiki says, Mosley can form the EU if the Brits have completed Imperial Federation. My understanding is you need to have completed the focus at any time and THEN control all the states. What happens if you form the Federation and annex all the puppets first and then take all the land you need? Or do you need to wait for the states in Europe first?

[@m3an]

Colonial Elites is a focus in the branch of the focus tree that leads up to the Imperial Federation focus. I couldn't have taken it earlier and there's no option to bypass Colonial Elites. Hope that cleared it up =)

[@apoivre]

@@m3an thanks, I should have gotten some sleep last night rather than play Hoi4. Amazing strategy, m3an!

[@ayoob6517]

The goat of hoi 4🥵

[@hamper6511]

Ah the expansion of the british empire I can feel the royal navy scuttling inside of me

[@iliasbora8709]

Yugo and Poland became major :)

[@Diaz88]

great video how many hours do you have in hearts of iron 4

[@whyareallofthegoodnamestaken]

Connection terminated. I'm sorry to interrupt you, Canada, if you still even remember that name, But I'm afraid you've been misinformed. You are not here to be a puppet of us, nor have you been called here by the country you assume, although, you have indeed been called. You have all been called here, into a labyrinth of sounds and smells, misdirection and misfortune. A labyrinth with no exit, a maze with no prize. You don't even realize that you are trapped. Your lust for victory has driven you in endless circles, chasing the cries of natives in some unseen continent, always seeming so near, yet somehow out of reach, but you will never find them. None of you will. This is where your story ends. These wars will not be remembered, and the memory of everything that started this can finally begin to fade away. As the agony of every tragedy should. And to you imperialists trapped in this world, be still and give up your political career. For most of you, I believe there is peace and perhaps more waiting for you after everything clears. Although, for one of you, the darkest pit of Hell has opened to swallow you whole, so don't keep the devil waiting, old friend. This ends for all of us. End communication.

[@sogagamer]

For some reason if i leave Canada with the one state you showed makes france not join the alles at all. If i give them about four it works but the canadians spawn some divisions and it takes a bit more time. You need about 12 instead of 7 divs

[@m3an]

It's all a bit wonky and has plenty of RNG to it. France is only allowed into the faction by Canada if the US joined the war against Netherlands.

[@christoperwallace6197]

Uk should recieve a massive debuff if your navy goes below a certian threshold

[@Aero3435]

Can you get the United the world under the Biritish Empire achievement if you form the Federation and/or Eu?

[@ling_long_long_long]

may i ask you something? why i only got 1386 score when getting france? (no other victors) it make me cant get the full parts of france, wired!!

[@awpace3765]

Can you do a world conquest based on this tactic?

[@Idoexist._.]

How can one reach that power?

[@alexmcjuicy]

trying this out, some reason when i defeat france the netherlands puppet is not included in peace deal? in peace deal screen, the netherlands is suddenly it's own country again. playing on same version

[@Ar_Tank]

Could you do a Austria Hungary speedrun please? If it exists

[@awesometurtle2887]

while people are doing this im tring to figure out why im left in stalemate trying to get around the maginot.

[@CaptainBritain1283]

If only this could happen irl

[@azDanqs]

my head hurts

[@krayevskii]

If I just want to annex all the colonies quickly and then "play normally" I should after winning the civil war just take all the colonies in the treaty and rush the Imperial Federation focus to get most of the colonies cored, right? Even skipping the Netherlands stuff and disbanding own navy.

[@asgardplays7139]

Would be possible to make a guide for communist Mexico? 🙂

[@viniciuswilck3758]

My god, you are good at this. Second, why do you have so few subs? Why don't you make a call for people to subscribe right at the beginning of the video?

[@m3an]

Thank you! I'll try to remember this for the next script =)

[@christoperwallace6197]

Because people know how to subscribe if they want? And it's repetitive?

[@viniciuswilck3758]

@@christoperwallace6197 thank you! Next time, I'll ask you and not the Guy who posted the video.

[@arsenalgonner2277]

I deleted all my capital ships but there wasnt an option to dend a warning to the netherlands

[@stuartjohnson6822]

Go M3an Go

[@AlcatrazAndDexter]

Why dont you lend/lease ships to your puppets in order to improve Compliance? That way, you can get those ships back, right after civil war? Sorry, dont know if this is even possible 😅

[@AlcatrazAndDexter]

Uh noob mistake - No you cant lend/lease war ships 😅

[@finleygrayling1279]

When I send the warning to the Netherlands they have twice committed disarmament, am I doing something wrong?

[@m3an]

No, that's the expected outcome. See 2:19. The AI won't follow through and let the decision run out, leading to a war goal against them.

[@finleygrayling1279]

Thank you :)

[@Michaterex]

How he do invite usa to war

[@poqwrig2078]

This wokred perfectly on my first run outside of my own mistakes, but on every run since then I cant get Canada to guarantee any nation? Does anyone know why?

[@m3an]

Did the US join the war against the Netherlands in time? Because if they don't, it kicks of a chain reaction. You'll only notice the effect once you get to the Canada part.

[@cnarbaba905]

Turan speedrun gelsin

[@tristanamatzke2512]

I really wanted to try this... but when I cap the democratic UK in civil war, and annex all dominions (apart from that one Canada province), somehow Australia bugs out. It says that its annexed in the peace deal. But it still lists as an allied member (with Canada). But it doesnt show as a nation in diplomacy tab. This messes that whole strat up. Anyone knows why Im facing this or how I can avoid it?

[@m3an]

It's a byproduct of the strategy and doesn't matter as long as Canada is faction leader. If you look closely, it was the same in my run. It can only come back and haunt you if the US doesn't join the war against the Netherlands.

[@tristanamatzke2512]

@@m3an thx for answering. Yes, canada remained Leader. But they didnt guarantee anyone (i thought that was somehow connected to the Australia Thing. I gave them enough time to gain some PP for it). So i also justified on canada to get them in the Second war, which worked. But then after leaving beglium in the Peace Deal, Australia became the Leader, which prevented belgium from guaranteeing and also belgium didnt Count as Major then 😐

[@m3an]

@@tristanamatzke2512 Sounds like the US did not enter the war against the Netherlands and instead declared on the Batavian Republic. It first appears as a non-issue since you can nevertheless go for and annex France. The problems arise exactly where you've encountered them. Canada won't guarantee anyone in that case. I think it's because they're either afraif of being dragged into a war with the US or because they're still at war with the tiny islands that you couldn't take during the peace conference with France.

[@tristanamatzke2512]

@@m3an hm, i thought they did, but im Not Sure. I'll Check and If so, retry. Looks really fun to pull this Off. Thx for the Help, and ofc for the nice Video!

[@m3an]

@@tristanamatzke2512 Thanks and good luck! Let me know if I can help at some point. I've written most of the important stuff that didn't make it into the video into the description.

[@JimmyChad]

literally 1984

[@swit5711]

Holy shit, code geass reference

[@sprites75]

doing the empire focus somehow allows you be democratic, enabling european union?

[@m3an]

No. The UK is the only country that can form the EU as a non-democratic country, but only with Mosley as leader.

[@darthnater9819]

I never get the cores on the US, I secure the dominions, unite the Anglo sphere, declare war, win, form the pan-north American state, do the federation, but only Canada gets those cores, they don’t get transferred to me

[@m3an]

But you did conquer and annex the Pan-Am state before forming the Imperial Federation? Or did you do a peaceful takeover? Did you take any of the Appeal to Imperial Loyalists or Ally the Imperial Uprising decisions?

[@darthnater9819]

@@m3an no didn’t conquer them before federation, kept them as a puppet and ticked down autonomy by imperial conscription, federal integration, lend lease, and construction. No imperial loyalists decisions but like I said, I secured the dominions via “Moving to secure the dominions focus”

[@m3an]

Just to make sure: You didn't diplo-annex them before the conference, correct? You aimed at them agreeing to be be absorbed through the conference mechanic? As far as I know you only inherit cores if you annex the Pan-Am state before the Imperial Federation through war or by them agreeing to it through the conference. If the latter doesn't work, I can't help much since I've never taken that approach. But according to the wiki, it absolutely should.

[@darthnater9819]

@@m3an no I didn’t diplo annex them before conference, I annexed them because they agreed to the federation, and annexed them and all the dominions once I completed the imperial federation focus

[@MRKS_TV]

seems not to work anymore. netherlands are no part of the naval treaty, so you have to invite them first and warn them directly after that, but france wont start a war against them

[@Ololplopp]

You can still demand even if their not in the naval treaties

[@MRKS_TV]

@@Ololplopp yeah, after a few tries, it works now. i still forgett everytime i start the civil war, declaring war on all puppets xD, had this issue in 6 of my last 8 playthroughs xD

[@user-fb7mz6gc7q]

Wait, there ain't button of Netherlands warning. Have I done something wrong?

[@m3an]

You need to delete all capital ships. If you just delete a few, you can only send warnings to nations with bigger fleets.

[@user-fb7mz6gc7q]

@m3an yes, but I deleted all fleet and still don't have button, only invite the Netherlands

[@m3an]

@@user-fb7mz6gc7q Did you bring all fleets into port before and merged them and selected and deleted by ship class? If you delete fleets in transit that you merged before, you're going to miss plenty of ships that are in reserve fleets.

[@user-fb7mz6gc7q]

@@m3an thanksss

[@Saloman4ik]

Version 1.12.12 Guide not working: - Netherlands submits to naval treaty and you don't get war goal - Canada does not guarantee other democratic nations - Australia bugs on war screen. Only Civil war glitch working and that is SAD(

[@m3an]

Just tested on the current version (1.12.14) and it still works. - Netherlands always commit to disarmament, but they cannot actually do it, resulting in a war goal a couple of days later. - Canada will guarantee, but only if everything happened according to plan. I've warned about that in the video and the notes in the description. Canada will not guarantee other nations, if there's still remnants of the previous war happening which usually occurs if France didn't join the Allies when you attack them. And France not joining the Allies happens if the US did not join the war against the Netherlands in time. I wasn't joking when I said in the video that all RNG events need to go in our favor. - Australia being bugged out is a byproduct of using some exploits here. It's expected and was also the case in the video.

[@Saloman4ik]

@@m3an thanks for answer. I`ll try again later. IMHO, hunting for achievements in this game NOT fun(

[@m3an]

@@Saloman4ik If you're going for the One Empire achievement, I'd try to adapt this strategy. I've optimized for time, not for an easy achievement. I suggest you instead annex the Dominions fully after the UK civil war, take on France and go for the US next. The US should in that case create a new faction with any democratic nation that you declare on afterwards. Good luck =)

[@christoperwallace6197]

Yea but tou had to rush to do it. Now your game is over in 37 and all you got tonplay with was the starting tech.

[@Not_Evil_]

23:55 Berlin or War lmao

[@sense3167]

Does this still work? Because I can only send a warning to Japan and USA

[@m3an]

Did you destroy parts of your fleet before?

[@sense3167]

@@m3an Well, now I figured out why it didnt work. I only deleted the heavy ships (not the Hood) and no cruisers, thank you

[@creatorsfreedom6734]

no nuke's ?

[@cyarutchiii]

Why not declare on Mexico instead of the USA since they are guaranteed?

[@m3an]

Their divisions would enter US territory, assisting in the fight. By declaring on them late into the war, their divisions can't interfer.

[@cyarutchiii]

@@m3an i see, thanks for clearing it up :)

[@ausnorman8050]

BREXIT the long way around! We can leave and own it all hahha!

[@Sasanid_mapper]

Hello im from Iran a country in middle east if it's possible can you please get back the great Persian empire that would be awesome

[@christoperwallace6197]

Yea but you used exploits, so no fun.