Hearts of Iron 2 Questions

[Stevenpfo]

I'm currently playing right now (I have it minimized). I was inspired by Kan's stories to give it a go again. I'vr also got more patience than I did last time I tried it out.

I'm half following Kan's open moves from his AAR so I have a rough guide on what's not a completely stupid move.

My question is this: Does anyone speed up the time and play with it a lot? I was trying to just play with it on normal speed and it was decent until all my troop movements were done. Then all I was doing was watching my production timers get lower and my techs get higher.

What else is there to do in the mean time? Diplomacy? I've never really messed with it that much in previous games but i'm willing to give it a try in this one. Is it worth it to do much besides the major events?

Is there a way to train your troops? Like as if they had experience?

I'm drawing a blank for all my other questions I had except for the one where I ask how you get to those snazzy graphs Kan had that shows the top 10 (I imagine the game shows all countries). I founds the stats tab but there's nothing really like what Kan showed.

EDIT Question: All these trade deals I keep getting offered ... Should I be accepting them, denying them or playing each one by ear? Some games have useless options and i've been getting enough of them to wonder ...

Thanks,
Steve.

 

[Nuka-sama]

I speed time up alot. The only countries you can really play as without worrying about recources are Britain, Germany, Usa,Soviet Union, and in some cases Japan.

If you want alot of action from the get go, play as Japan, and declare on Sikang or something like that, and other Chineese areas (usually one at a time is best) declare on Allies, BUT NOT ON THE U.S. OR SOVIET UNION!
important!

troops are upgraded when you research new infantry/tank/bomber ect. techs.

Trade deals, if you are one of the countries i mentioned above, trade is important for relations, so trade with those who you wish to ally with

 

[phlucas]

My question is this: Does anyone speed up the time and play with it a lot?

In war time, I am playing on normal or above normal and frequently pause. In the peaceful build up time, I am on the fastest setting and pause when I need time.

Have a look at the message settings in the options. If you set important events to "display and pause", you have a much easier time going on higher speeds.

What else is there to do in the mean time? Diplomacy? I've never really messed with it that much in previous games but i'm willing to give it a try in this one. Is it worth it to do much besides the major events?

Well, in the German game right now, the Emperor managed to conquer all of Europe without getting the USA involved. In my recent game as Germany, I pissed them of enough to declare war on me in August 1939. So, yes, it is worth it. I suck at it, though. I guess one-directional trade (gifting them small amounts of ressources for a long time) can have a very beneficial effect on the relationship without costing you much money.

EDIT Question: All these trade deals I keep getting offered ... Should I be accepting them, denying them or playing each one by ear?

Consider each one. They come in large quantities at the beginning of the game, but only sparingly afterwards. But also go to the diplomacy screen and check the icons to the right of the country names: They show what they have to offer. If, for example, someone has a drop and a $, they want to trade you with oil, but you better not offer them money.

(Edit: typos.)

 

[Stevenpfo]

Thanks for the replies guys! Those'll come in real handy. I'm also playing as the Germans. I don't know if i'll attack anyone anytime soon. I may wait a few more years or at least one more (on top of the one i've played). I was hoping to get a bit better tech and more troops. But i'm thinking to much of anything is still a bad thing so maybe sooner rather than later...

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

Does anyone speed up the time and play with it a lot? I was trying to just play with it on normal speed and it was decent until all my troop movements were done. Then all I was doing was watching my production timers get lower and my techs get higher.

Peacetime = maximum speed, and I pause whenever something happens.
During war I vary between normal and above average, and I pause a lot. I only shoot back up to maximum when not a lot is happening.

What else is there to do in the mean time? Diplomacy? I've never really messed with it that much in previous games but i'm willing to give it a try in this one. Is it worth it to do much besides the major events?

Build up troops, research, twiddle thumbs.

Is there a way to train your troops? Like as if they had experience?

I don't think so, but they do upgrade.

Your generals gain experience though, during battles. Be sure to promote them when needed (I understand the latest patch means they auto-promote fairly well, though I do it manually).

I'm drawing a blank for all my other questions I had except for the one where I ask how you get to those snazzy graphs Kan had that shows the top 10 (I imagine the game shows all countries). I founds the stats tab but there's nothing really like what Kan showed.

It's in the statistics tab. Pick the drop-down menu at the top when you're in there and find 'national [army/naval/airforce] strengths'.

Question: All these trade deals I keep getting offered ... Should I be accepting them, denying them or playing each one by ear? Some games have useless options and i've been getting enough of them to wonder ...

To be honest, I don't really know. I've never really played a game where resources are important, though that may be because I'm always selecting any trade deals that are apparently100% efficient.

Hope that helps. Most of my games I'm simply playing by gut instinct.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

Thanks for the replies guys! Those'll come in real handy. I'm also playing as the Germans. I don't know if i'll attack anyone anytime soon. I may wait a few more years or at least one more (on top of the one i've played). I was hoping to get a bit better tech and more troops. But i'm thinking to much of anything is still a bad thing so maybe sooner rather than later...

Playing as the Germans is a good one to start as. You should have little to no trouble with resources.

Some tips:

Technology: Only research stuff when the historical research date is at most a year away.

I always have a run of infantry (3-6 divisions) being trained at anyone time up until your manpower begins to hit around 800. Build other things (armoured units, planes) around that.

 

[Stevenpfo]

Thanks again for all the great replies. I've also found the HoI2 Wiki and printed off a few articles and FAQs.

One problem I'm still having ...

It's in the statistics tab. Pick the drop-down menu at the top when you're in there and find 'national [army/naval/airforce] strengths'.

I don't have that tab but a similar one that shows what yours did ... National Army Comparisons ... But it seems to only want to just show my own no matter what I can do.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

What version of HoI do you have, does it include Doomsday?

This is the sort of screen I get:

 

[Stevenpfo]

Yeah, it includes doomsday. Mines on page 22 where as yours is on 18. Mine only shows Germany and no other countries. I'm going to attempt to find someone with a similar problem on the HoI2 forums. Hopefully i'm not the only one that's had the problem and someone else has already figured it out

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

Yeah, it includes doomsday. Mines on page 22 where as yours is on 18. Mine only shows Germany and no other countries. I'm going to attempt to find someone with a similar problem on the HoI2 forums. Hopefully i'm not the only one that's had the problem and someone else has already figured it out

IIRC, Doomsday introduces 'espionage', which would make a screen showing other countries military forces redundant. In fact this is one of my biggest gripes (and amusements - don't know what the USSR military strength is, just look it up) in the game. That could be why you're only seeing your own country.

 

[Stevenpfo]

I haven't touched my espionage so i'll give it a whirl. I'll start with Poland. If they don't like it they can declare war on me.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

And that is how the Fuhrer of Germany should think.

 

[Stevenpfo]

I found out that yes, they did change it so you needed to send in spys to see your enemies *possible* army sizes in the espionage screen. They, however, did leave the other tabs available in the stats screen for no reason. Ah well.

I really wish I could change teh resolution aswell. Everything is huuuuge on my monitor. I just got a new one that's a 24" widescreen with a resolution of 1960x1200. Ah well. Atleast the game seems to be sweet.

 

[Stevenpfo]

So I finally took my half of Poland and left the other half to the commies. It's my first game, I don't feel like doing a two front war. I got all my troops set to invade France. I should have air superiority and good ground attacks running all over them and then I send in my troops. 3/1 odds in my favor and I lost.

Are the fortifications in France really that good? Should I go through Belgium instead and into Northern France? What woulda helped me in that situation? My troops are decently upgraded. I have good generals for everyone. They're all rested. I can't think of what else i'd need to make that work better in my favor.

Easily Reducing the French Army

In most games France has more than 70 divisions by the start of the war. There is an easy way to remove around half of them.

After the fall of Poland, put most of your armies in Nuremberg or Frankfurt. Put 6 divisions in Stuttgart, 6 in Saarbrücken and only 3 in Freiburg. Most of the time, the AI will attack Freiburg and makes a breakthrough to southern German provinces. In the event that they don't attack, removing the garrisons in Freiburg alltogether will stimulate the AI into an attack. The French AI will run wild and try to capture as many Southern German provinces as possible. When you see enough French troops moving into your territory, attack and capture Freiburg. By doing this, all the French troops that are behind your lines quickly become out of supply. This will allow you to destroy a large protion of the French army.

This trick also applies in many other similar situations, such as during the invasion of the USSR. You may want to experiment with the technique in slightly different conditions. Note however that the AI in 1.3 and above is much better about garrisoning it's provences that it's captured in order to maintain supply to it's troops. Use this strategy with caution now, as it could easily backfire.

I found that but I don't like as I think it's unrealistic. From all the strategies i've read I guess Belgium is the choice to make.

Edit 2: I started shifting half my army up North just to have France attack with everything they had on my weakest province. I lost and turned my entire army arround. A few days later my German forces smashed into them and routed the French forces. I followed up by hitting Strasbourg on two fronts. Soon nearly the whole French army was in disarray and I owned the Maginot Line. Everything they sent at me was sent running back the way it had come. Now my forces sit and rest up while I upgrade about 95 devisions. If the Soviets attack me i'm screwed. They're almost done cleaning up Eastern Europe. They like me so I can only hope.

I also lost all but one of my Airforce devisions. Time to rebuild, I guess.

Question: How do you group your planes together other than when you create thema nd go to place them? I'm up to 5 interceptor devisions now and I know i'm going to go crazy when I have 20 and have to make them do all the same thing ... 20 times.

Figured it out (by reading all the stuff I printed out earlier - about fifty pages worth). Left-click drag. Shift-click to deselect the ones you wanna get rid off. Ahhh, that makes everything easier.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

Are the fortifications in France really that good?

Should I go through Belgium instead and into Northern France? What woulda helped me in that situation? My troops are decently upgraded. I have good generals for everyone. They're all rested. I can't think of what else i'd need to make that work better in my favor.

From this I assume you attacked France directly, which is a big nono. Even with overwhelming numbers, armoured forces, attacking from multiple provinces you'll be lucky to break through, let alone with the ability to continue an attack afterwards. Belgium is the answer.

Historically the Netherlands were taken too. I don't normally do this, but this means I have to keep some forces on the border there, lest they feel like a charge to Hannover.

I found that but I don't like as I think it's unrealistic. From all the strategies i've read I guess Belgium is the choice to make.

That's up to you if you want to use it. When it comes to France I would consider it an exploit, and wouldn't use it, but it may be beneficial against Russia. It is basically taking advantage of the AI, but the Soviets usually have such high numbers it makes the strategy a bit more risky.

I started shifting half my army up North just to have France attack with everything they had on my weakest province. I lost and turned my entire army arround. A few days later my German forces smashed into them and routed the French forces. I followed up by hitting Strasbourg on two fronts. Soon nearly the whole French army was in disarray and I owned the Maginot Line. Everything they sent at me was sent running back the way it had come. Now my forces sit and rest up while I upgrade about 95 devisions. If the Soviets attack me i'm screwed. They're almost done cleaning up Eastern Europe. They like me so I can only hope.

I also lost all but one of my Airforce devisions. Time to rebuild, I guess.

Excellent news. I wouldn't worry about the Soviets for now, I assume you took the historical partition of Poland when the event popped up? If so, they won't declare war until at least 1942. You should be striking in 1941

For now, rebuild your armies and defenses. Make sure every province in France with the beach symbol is garrisoned, and consider building coastal fortifications there. If you have the transports, an attack into Britain or northern Africa could be beneficial now.

Figured it out (by reading all the stuff I printed out earlier - about fifty pages worth). Left-click drag. Shift-click to deselect the ones you wanna get rid off. Ahhh, that makes everything easier.

I remember those days of selecting every unit by hand. It was a great day when I discovered the shortcuts.

ctrl-click selects/deselects individual units in a group, so you don't lose the ones you've got selected btw

 

[Stevenpfo]

Well a long night later and France is mine. The Soviets haven't attacked yet and it's '44. I think my next game will be much different than this one. The Soviets probably aren't attacking becuase I think I have the strongest army at 256 land units and 30 air. All of my infantry and tanks are atleast '45 versions. I read somewhere that you should only upgrade techs that are no more than the historical next year. I pushed the limit on infantry and tanks though because I had no navy and my airforce was destroyed.

France was a cakewalk once I figured out you could attack from 3 provinces at once for an initial attack and then stop the attack from two of the provinces only to hold your current position or push in another direction the next day.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

That's a good point. I have heard that the Soviets don't like to attack if you have a stronger army than them.

I just prefer to have the situation settled rather than seeing the bear looming nearby

 

[Stevenpfo]

I'm going to play another game as Germany starting later today. I'm using my current game as a learning game right now. I've taken mainland Italy and my troops are pushing trough Republican Spain.

More questions:

Do the states that are red with partisans ever go green? My lowland countries have mostly gone green and prts of Poland have gone green but that's it. Is that because of the native German populace in those areas?

What do you use to hold territories that are red and in the middle of nowhere or nowhere near your front lines or borders?

As Germany do you build any naval techs or units in the early game?

I've never really tried to steal blueprints ... Does it help much?

What's the best way to use your airforce? AS (air superiority) over the territories of your enemy that's bordering you? AS over your troops in your territory along the border? Ground (troop) bombings? Tactical bombings? Solely in support of your ground troops on the attack? I've been messing with all of these and so far i've gotten a decent result from AS over mine and my enemies bordering territories. As in I attack his planes a lot but he still gets some bombers through. Not as much as when I don't do it though. Seems to save me some production points on reinforcing my troops.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

Do the states that are red with partisans ever go green? My lowland countries have mostly gone green and prts of Poland have gone green but that's it. Is that because of the native German populace in those areas?

What do you use to hold territories that are red and in the middle of nowhere or nowhere near your front lines or borders?

I think some events (such as the Russian bitter peace) make them weaker, but in general it's best to build garrison divisions and pop them in troublesome provinces.

As Germany do you build any naval techs or units in the early game?

Rarely, if ever. The only reason I concentrated on navy in my AAR was because Cleric kept bothering me about it

Mid to late game I may start developing a navy.

I've never really tried to steal blueprints ... Does it help much?

Sounds like another Doomsday question. I don't know how effective such missions are. Though having blueprints is very handy when you're a smaller country. The big ones don't need much boost to researching.

What's the best way to use your airforce? AS (air superiority) over the territories of your enemy that's bordering you? AS over your troops in your territory along the border? Ground (troop) bombings? Tactical bombings? Solely in support of your ground troops on the attack? I've been messing with all of these and so far i've gotten a decent result from AS over mine and my enemies bordering territories. As in I attack his planes a lot but he still gets some bombers through. Not as much as when I don't do it though. Seems to save me some production points on reinforcing my troops.

Only research and produce interceptors or fighters, depending on what you prefer. There's no real point in having both. Use these to defend regions under attack from enemy airforces, then if it lessens push out into their territory to finish them off.

With bombers, I use tactical or Close-Air-Support to attack troops in regions my troops are pushing into. They are especially effective when the enemy are retreating

I rarely use strategic bombers, they take up too much repair points. I much prefer the fast and effective rocket units

 

[Stevenpfo]

Thanks again! I think i'm going to do some reading up on the game and then re-start again as Germany to see how I do this time with more knowledge and experience