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Working on some tutorial vids until mid summer due to less time and wanting to get those done. Ill be Bringing it back with a lore vid for hoi4 before moving on!

I have lots of experience with the game. I just took over the USSR as Finland in 1941 with 60% of the war score and only 28K casualties. I have lots of tips on how to build tanks, setup tank divisions, and how to use tanks in battle. 1) Tanks should focus on a speed of ~8 kph while having the most soft attack possible and a decent breakthrough. SA is what does the actual pushing and a good enough speed ensures you can take the tile before enemy reinforcements move in. I build medium tanks with three-man turrets, medium howitzers, heavy machine gun, wet ammo storage, radio, and maintenance module with a gas engine, welded armor, and a Christie suspension. This gives about 50 SA, 40ish or more breakthrough, and ~8 kph. The reliability is close to 100%. I generally shoot for >90% reliability. There is a formula to figure out how high reliability needs to be for X number of equipment in a division. 2) You want enough breakthrough so your division will have more breakthrough than enemy attacks. The armor bonus (little gold symbol) is nice but not necessary. You can have say very heavily armored tank destroyers and you can put just one of those in the division to drastically increase its armor. Too much breakthrough is WASTED. Each point of breakthrough added is less important than the last and all breakthrough above enemy attack is pointless. Every additional point of SA does more than the last so SA should be the main focus of any pushing tank. In general HA is way less important because even AI tank divisions often don't get 50% hardness in the field and most divisions have 0 hardness. 3) For division composition go for high hardness. Mechanized is very important for this. I shoot for 70 to 80% hardness. If an enemy infantry division has 400 SA and only 100 HA and your division is 75% hard then the SA is only 100 and the HA is 75. A huge often overlooked stat is hardness. Hardness is easily as important as breakthrough. I go for eight mechanized infantry battalions and eight medium tanks with maybe a tank destroyer and/or self-propelled AA in the last regiment column. This is 32 to 36 width. This is a perfect width for plains, deserts, and it works well in forests and urban. This terrains are where standard tank divisions should be used. For support companies I often go for engineers, flame tanks, support AA, field hospital, and maintenance. Maybe support artillery. Field hospital is nice as it prevents experience loss and if you use tanks well you can get them to veteran status quite fast. Veteran units get a 75% bonus on stats so it is quite powerful. The engineers help with terrain issues while the support AA provides piercing and HA and protection from enemy planes. Maintenance prevents some attritional losses and captures some equipment (and I researched it to get the maintenance module for tanks anyways). When I use the tank divisions, I only build a small number. Generally, only 2 to 4 and even with a major like Germany I only go up to at most 8 to 12. I put the tanks in their own little army and often under an offensive orientated field marshal while my infantry are put in units of 24 with a defensive field marshal. I pick good generals with tank and offensive traits. The small army size allows me to use staff officer planning, force attack, and last stand without burning all command power. It also allows me to ensure the few tanks always have full equipment and the generals are fully focused on getting panzer traits. For attacking I put the tanks on a front and use staff officer planning to get to max planning. Planning allows for up to 50% increase in stats while attacking. Sitting for a few days and then attacking can be quicker than just attacking. However, if the enemy is very weak just attack them as they are digging in while you are planning. I generally try to attack with tanks on plains. I try to get air superiority and use CAS. Both of these increase the stats of the divisions. Air superiority adds up to a 25% stat bonus which is HUGE. Remember every extra point of SA added does more than the last. All SA over defense rolls for 4x the damage. If you are attacking with 300 SA and the enemy has 200 defense, then the effective SA is 4 x 100 + 200 = 600. Adding 25% to the 300 is adding 75 which can then be multiplied by 4. Adding just air superiority at a max 25% here would increase effective SA to 900. Causing strength damage to an enemy is what drops org and causes enemy divisions to rout. High SA attacking divisions paired with air superiority buff of 25% is really powerful. You can then pair this with another 25% of railway guns and/or shore bombardment from ships. Add on CAS to directly attack enemy org and strength in battles. Also, you can use logistics strikes to cause them logistics issues and you can capture or strat bomb their logistics. All the buffs combined are VERY powerful. Next do not attack with tanks in mountains, marsh, or jungle. Bad weather like snow should also not be attacked in. Avoid attacking in mud at all cost. Support companies that buff attack on bad terrains are very useful. Always look at the weather. I generally shoot for four tank divisions (that's all I need) but this is not the end of my armor. I also have the same division with marines. However, I use amphib tanks (preferably medium amphib tanks with the propeller module) and amtracks. The division is the same basic composition except I use pioneers instead of engineers. I generally go for a speed of 6.4 kph here. The armored marines work well in jungles, marshes, naval invasions, and pushing across rivers or straits. Armored marines are VERY useful as rivers and other water obstacles are common. Mountains can have a variant of tank division that works. I take 9 mountaineers, rangers, pioneers, flame tanks, two amphib tanks, two medium tanks, support art, and support AA. These can push well into mountains and keep the mountain infantry symbol (by that point I often have a general with the infantry and mountaineer traits). This is 26 combat width and 25 is optimal for mountaineers. I use tanks to push to the next supply hub or port and use infantry to protect flanks of salients. I shoot to capture logistics and to surround and destroy enemy units. With a high industry country like Germany you can build a few more tank divisions and also build a bunch of small and speedy motorized divisions that can quickly fill in salients created by you tanks. If you've got a low supply area (this happens a lot) and can't push to the next supply hub then use resupply transport planes and set your tanks to truck logistics. If this still does not work then leave infantry on the front lines and pull your tanks back to where there is supply. Let them get full fuel supply then use strategic redeployment to move the division fast. Strategic redeployment will let the division get to the front without burning any fuel. You can also put extra fuel tanks on your flame tanks to help get enough fuel. You can then push for a few days before running out of fuel. Hopefully you will take the next supply hub then you can defend and use last stand if you have to so you can keep the hub. In many places there is a long distance between supply hubs making some sticking points. There is no easy answer for this and this problem existed in real life. The Germans had a major one outside of Stalingrad where they could not bring enough soldiers in early in the battle to take that city event though Germany had millions of reserves at that point. Logistics is a pain and requires a lot of thinking. Logistics companies do not help as much as they should. They reduce supply consumption but do not solve the problem of supply range. Without build more supply hubs and/or ports there will be areas of the map where tanks just can't get fuel to function. This is why I also have a few heavy spec ops infantry divisions to push these areas (Mountaineers and Marines without tanks and with artillery). Logistics is also a pain because allies will clog areas with too many of their divisions. If you own the supply hubs or ports you can turn off supply to your allies. I use this often so I can push (not to hurt my allies but them putting 10 infantry divisions on a front-line cell doing nothing makes it impossible for my two tank divisions to push unless my units get the supply). The AI is often quite dumb.

@@dutchrjen Thanks a lot! This is exactly what I was looking for! I still have some follow up questions, I hope it’s not too much of a hassle :D First, for 2) how do you know how much breakthrough will be optimal then? Do you have a feeling for the attack values AI divisions use in a certain year? Do you have a certain number that you always try to reach? Also if you are taking out the USSR as Finland in 41 that means it’s still early/midgame. Do you think that tank design philosophy changes a bit in lategame with all the extra tech and modifiers from military industry? For 3) you say that HA is an overlooked stat while also saying that it is not as important. Did you mean hardness? Or should tank divisions have HA as well even though you go for howitzers on your at tanks? For division design, do you not value recon/rangers and radio? I feel like there is so much conflicting information on support for tank divisions online. For example Hammurabae is saying that radio is incredibly important for tank divisions and as far as I understand it, recon helps with any offensive division. Is it just about not being able to research all support divisions equally? For terrain, the only one you didn‘t mention were hills and they are quite common. Do you get your mountaineers for those or just muscle through them with your tanks? Also, am I understanding it correctly that an attacking army group for you has tank, marine and mountaineer armies, they are all close to each other and you bust out the marines everytime there is a river crossing and your mountaineers for every mountain etc? And once you cross a river you use your regular tanks again since they are faster? And what about very mountainous regions like Slovakia or the Caucasus? Then division numbers: you said you have very few tank divisions but what about the armored marine, armored mountaineer and those spec ops divisions without tanks? And when you push with your tanks do each of those 2-4 divisions attack their own tiles? Do they all attack the same one from multiple directions? Do you ever have 2 tank divisions on the same tile? Do you attack in multiple areas at once to set up a big encirclement? For pushing, whenever I managed to break through the lines I often went overboard and tried to get a screenshottable encirclement, getting my tanks encircled due to being out of position in the process. Do you just push from supply hub to supply hub and the encirclements come naturally from doing that? Do you intentionally move along railways so that the newly conquered hubs are actually connected? Same as most new players I have massive supply issues all the time. Lastly, when playing a country with less research slots, what do you prioritize? For example I like playing France but it takes forever until you get even just a 4th research slot. It feels impossible to stay up to date with infantry, armor and airforce research at the same time. In those situations what do you prioritize/sacrifice? Can any of these weaknesses be covered up? Like putting more AA in your divisions if you lack airplane tech for example. Thanks again for taking the time to write all this down! I know it must all be pretty obvious for an experienced players but I had real trouble and understanding how to wage war. I was starting to get pretty frustrated with the game tbh and you have really shed some light. So far I basically always fought WW1 style with very slow pushes and huge casualties. Thank you so much!

@@kaylenjoyer "First, for 2) how do you know how much breakthrough will be optimal then?" That depends on the year, who you are going to fight, and the conditions of the fighting. I shoot for a breakthrough of ~200 to 300 earlier in the game and ~500 later in the game. As enemy SA goes up breakthrough should increase. In many cases with hardness of tanks this level of breakthrough is not needed. However, divisions in the field will suffer from less than 100% strength at times even if you have stockpiles and they will get negative terrain, weather, and supply modifiers at times no matter what you do as a player. The division I am looking at now in 1943 that I have has 600 defense, 500 breakthrough, 596 soft attack, and 105 hard attack with 74% hardness, 42 armor, 34 org, and 58 piercing. The high SA cuts through most divisions like a hot knife through butter. "For division design, do you not value recon/rangers and radio?" I value recon for defensive divisions sometimes, but I rarely research it (especially now with Rangers). If you have a good general with the right traits and the right tactics for the doctrine and divisions he leads then you do not need recon. Recon does very little for you (unless you have line artillery as it can give a 10 to 20% SA boost). Rangers are very good for terrain modifiers. I mentioned a "mountain tank" division that had mountaineers and some tanks. That division also has pioneers and rangers. Radio is extremely good as it gives a tank decent defense and breakthrough for a decent price (especially later radios). I put very little value into signal corps. I coordinate my tank battles and my tanks are fast so signal corps does next to nothing. Terrain modifying support companies are priceless when used properly. These include engineers, pioneers, rangers, flame tanks, and some nation specific ones like winter logistics for Finland and jungle logistics for Brazil. Recon allows units to go faster but does not give attack or defense perks on different terrains. Flame tanks are extremely useful for tank divisions. Engineers are okay for tanks (especially for pushing forts or crossing rivers) and importantly do not slow the division down unlike pioneers or rangers. "For terrain, the only one you didn‘t mention were hills and they are quite common. Do you get your mountaineers for those or just muscle through them with your tanks?" Regular tanks can work well on hills and in forests but the "mountaineer tanks" can also work well on this terrain. I do not find hills to be a hard terrain to push. "Then division numbers: you said you have very few tank divisions but what about the armored marine, armored mountaineer and those spec ops divisions without tanks? " I shoot to have at least 4 regular tank divisions, at least two armored marine divisions, and two to four armored mountaineer divisions. I mostly play minor nations now because majors are way too easy for me so you can double this for say Germany. You do not need any more than this though. "And when you push with your tanks do each of those 2-4 divisions attack their own tiles?" There is some snaking. I generally maximize attack against an enemy tile. This is often two tank divisions attacking a single tile. I often get a planning bonus in a high supply area for my side at the start and attack the weakest part of the enemy lines. I then break the enemy but do not advance as I rout other enemy units on nearby tiles. After breaking the enemy's units in an area a couple tiles wide I then push each tank division forwards on one of the tiles and push forwards as far as I can and let motorized or infantry divisions hold the flanks. I shoot for the next supply hub or port. I have trapped 200 Soviet divisions in an encirclement this way with Germany, but I have also focused on trapping just a couple as say Afghanistan. Knowing how to do this takes practice and time to understand. "Also, am I understanding it correctly that an attacking army group for you has tank, marine and mountaineer armies" Yes. I have an offensive army group with a general that has tanks (focus panzer leader, engineers, and brilliant tactician), another general that has armored marines (focus panzer leader, engineers, and naval invasion), and a third that has armored mountaineers and mountaineers with artillery that has a focus on mountaineer terrain trait and infantry. Other terrain traits that pop up for these can be nice. I am good with paratroopers but do not use them because I've never seen the AI use them and it just feels like cheating against the AI. "Do you attack in multiple areas at once to set up a big encirclement?" I generally do one or two prong attacks. As a big major like Germany, I have done up to three. If using tanks properly you do not need that many tank divisions. I also mostly leave my infantry just sitting there and moving forwards into holes my tanks make. "Do you just push from supply hub to supply hub and the encirclements come naturally from doing that?" Yes, a lot of the time. I want to disrupt a line so badly along about three to four tiles THEN rapidly push it backwards and rush to the next supply hub before I run out of fuel. I can then hold until railways are connected to my supply network. Real battles are a bunch of smaller and rapid pushes and not just giant continuous pushes. The game is trying to get you to do this. I like really messing with an enemy where I have good supply (and the enemy does not) but not moving forwards much THEN rapidly pushing but not forever but to the next supply hub or port. I do not like having battles at the end limits of my supply, but this is sometimes unavoidable. "For pushing, whenever I managed to break through the lines I often went overboard and tried to get a screenshottable encirclement" In real life and HOI4 you need "operational pauses." These can be a week or two to allow supply and planning to catch up. Extending beyond your own supply lines is a good way to get your tank divisions out of fuel and hard to retreat to safety. The game has 10 days for supply hubs to connect to your network to simulate this. This happens in real life also. "Do you intentionally move along railways so that the newly conquered hubs are actually connected? " Yes. Absolutely. I start with a bit wider salients but they snake a bit towards the end down to one tile wide and they look to secure supply hubs and railways. This is common in real life. Russia had advances that looked like lines of spaghetti on the map of Ukraine in the current war. In war everyone is trying to secure important roads, rail, and supply centers. "Same as most new players I have massive supply issues all the time." Half of warfare is logistics and it always has been. Truck and horse logistics go up in vehicle/horse requirements exponentially in real life for every km further a supply line is extended. The game shows this realistically. This is a huge problem and it always has been. Trains and ships are ways to bulk transfer supplies. Rivers and seas have always been massive supply networks in war. Rome had their borders on major rivers and then sent supplies down the rivers. Every general has problems with supply. It's the whole "fight concentrated but march divided" issue. Fighting concentrated means maximizing attack to overcome enemy defenses but marching divided is done so you do not over tax logistics. These two are inherently opposites and it is hard to figure out how to do both at the same time. In real life cities, gas stations, ect are spread out at favorable distances to ensure decent supply for those traveling. During war this breaks down. The enemy will control the next set of gas stations and railway hubs when advancing towards them so there will be supply dead zones between. Many supply centers will be damaged, destroyed, or still occupied by the enemy. Advancing supply lines is not easy in war and should not be easy in HOI4. There should be bottlenecks and hard to advance places. Supply will ALWAYS be a challenge at times in HOI4 but any supply obstacle that you see has a way to over come it. There are too many ways to fix supply issues and I can't explain them all (the comment would be way too long). "For example I like playing France but it takes forever until you get even just a 4th research slot." Infantry guns generally come first (support weapons can come later). If I have way too few factories, then industry comes in a close second. I also like to have artillery and AA researched. Electronics are important techs to research. A 1938 medium tank and the first armor research to get welded armor is all you need for armor tech to get the basics. Riveted armor can work also if welded is too expensive. The next priority is engineers. I then like to have up-to-date light airframes with up-to-date engines. Heavy machine guns for aircraft is nice to get. I can get all of this with any nation even Ethiopia which has horrible research speed and slots. I generally start researching naval after I won major land wars later in the game and also research heavy airframes. For naval I focus on subs first as they are by far the most useful then on light cruisers focused on soft attack. You will never have all techs updated. This happened in real life. You have to figure out what you really need and research it early enough so your production lines can make it and field it in time for war. You have to think YEARS ahead of time. What you need depends on what resources you have, what enemies you face, how large your fronts will be, etc. There is no one right answer and it is not something easy to answer.

The HOi4 experience

Let me consult the archives and get back to you

Its the same

Its been a longg road

HOI4 is one of those games you need knowledge and lots of experience. Just keep playing and dont get discouraged. Pause your game more often and look at what you need to prioritize, fix, and change.

Playing as big countries like Germany, UK, Soviet, etc is the best way to get better too. A lot of newer players play small countries a lot which is way harder.

@@Hammurabae Man! Thanks for the encouragment! I didn't expect an answer to me just whining lmao. I guess I just don't really understand how to use combined arms. The largest nation I played was France. I held against Germany which felt great but then I just couldn't push into Germany or Italy, even when they started running out of equipment. I had tanks, complete air superiority and close air support to go with it. I feel like I just don't know how to put it all together. I have to concentrate all my tanks just to take one tile and then they get bogged down again. Meanwhile I see some guy on youtube beating Germany as France with a cavalry only army and it is kind of disheartening :D

@@kaylenjoyer Play Germany, then soviets, then UK. Focus Air and tanks, land units, and air/navy for each respectively. You will get much better after those playthroughs. Quality is everything. You need to keep updating ytour tank and air designs or you will get bogged down. Division design is king too, if you watched my guides you saw my templates make sure you are using good ones.