# HOI4 — New Germany Guide

> Історична Німеччина з 1936-го: точний порядок 50 фокусів, дослідження, шаблони дивізій і конструкторські бюро — з розрахунком на максимально сильний удар по СРСР у 1941-му.

- **Game:** Hearts of Iron IV
- **Category:** Нації
- **Author:** LongBeam (https://dev.guides-factory.com/about)
- **Difficulty:** Intermediate
- **Reading time:** 13 min
- **Published:** 2024-12-30
- **Updated:** 2026-08-05
- **Tags:** Division templates, Focus tree, Germany, Single player
- **Adapted from:** [Danil (HeartsOfThisGym) — New Germany Guide](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU)
- **Canonical URL:** https://dev.guides-factory.com/guides/hoi4-new-germany-guide

---

## 🎯 The core idea

> You play **historical Germany** (not the Axis path, no mods) starting in 1936. The entire pre-war phase is about ramping up your economy, industry and army. The goal isn't simply to win the war — it's to land the **hardest possible knockout blow on the USSR in 1941**, at the peak of your own strength, and to finish that war as fast as you can: a drawn-out war with the Soviet Union works against you, and the US is on the way.
>
> *Since the rework, Germany is noticeably stronger: more production points and machine tools, more rubber (⇒ more army bonuses), and the WW2 land doctrine can now be researched almost in full without losing time.*

## Short version: 3 big phases

1. **Pre-war focuses (1–35)** — militarisation, economy and autarky, army rearmament, the Anschluss, the Sudetenland, and the final push before the war.
2. **Start of WW2 (36–49)** — bypassing the Maginot Line, maximising war production, and preparing directly for the war with the USSR.
3. **War with the USSR (50+)** — logistics and the eastern offensive itself.

*Three more "tracks" run in parallel the whole time: **research** (section 2), **division and equipment templates** (section 3) and **design companies** (section 4) — these have to run alongside the focuses, not after them.*

## 1. National focus order *(50 focuses)*

*The exact order taken from the video. Tick them off as you play.*

*Focus names are translated from the Russian localisation, so a few may read slightly differently in the English client — the order and the timings are what matter.*

### Pre-war

<ol class="checklist">
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Rhineland (remilitarisation)</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Führerprinzip</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Reichsleiter Todt</span></label>
    <em>14 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Reorganise the Wehrmacht</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Develop Modern Manoeuvre Warfare Methods</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Expand the Luftwaffe</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Condor Legion</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Aeronautical Research Institute</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Reichsleiter Bormann</span></label>
    <em>14 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Dive Bomber (Sturzkampfbomber)</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Four Year Plan</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Develop Autarky</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Introduce Price Controls</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Complete Construction: Reichsautobahn</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Reichsleiter Goebbels</span></label>
    <em>14 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">KdF-Wagen Factories</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Develop the Heraeus Research Complexes</span></label>
    <em>70 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Anschluss</span></label>
    <em>70 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Demand the Sudetenland</span></label>
    <em>70 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">First Vienna Award</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Fate of Czechoslovakia</span></label>
    <em>70 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Accelerate Rearmament</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Set Production Targets</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Concentrated Armament Programme</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Form the Jagdwaffe</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Coal Liquefaction</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Bribe the Senior Officers</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Military School Autonomy</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Expand the Military Schools</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Establish the Buna-Werke</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Adopt a New Tank Doctrine</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Decentralised Command</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Claim the Eastern Territories</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Danzig or War</span></label>
    <em>70 days</em>
  </li>
</ol>

<div class="divider">═══ World War II begins ═══</div>

<ol class="checklist">
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Around the Maginot</span></label>
    <em>28 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Loyalty to the Führer</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Swiss Gold</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Panzergrenadier</span></label>
    <em>70 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Establish the Central Planning Committee</span></label>
    <em>70 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Establish the Armaments Staff</span></label>
    <em>70 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Rationalise Armaments Production</span></label>
    <em>70 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Demands on Sweden</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Reichsleiter Himmler</span></label>
    <em>14 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Panzer Division School</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Intensified Tank Research</span></label>
    <em>70 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Anti-Comintern Pact</span></label>
    <em>35 days · the moment it's taken isn't shown in the video, so this position is approximate</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">War with the USSR</span></label>
    <em>70 days</em>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Expand the Kummersdorf Proving Ground</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
</ol>

<div class="divider">═══ The Soviet–German war ═══</div>

<ol class="checklist">
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Improve the Logistics System</span></label>
    <em>35 days</em>
  </li>
</ol>

*From here on the video focuses on the fighting against the USSR itself rather than on new national focuses.*

## 2. Research order

*Runs in parallel with the focuses, across several slots at once. Follow the order rather than the exact slot numbers — those depend on how many research slots you have unlocked.*

<ol class="checklist">
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Machine Tools</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Construction I</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Electronics (the "lightbulb")</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Leave the 4th slot idle for 30 days, then switch it to Machine Tools</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Anti-Tank Gun</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">After Electronics — don't touch that slot, let the discount build up</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">After Machine Tools — put Industry I into the "banked" slot</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Improved Machine Tools into the 4th slot</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Computing</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Construction II</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Industry II (important: start it before the focus discount lands)</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Improved Airframe (with the discount)</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Radio</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Interwar Artillery</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Industry III</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Computing with the discount (once the 5th slot opens)</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Artillery II</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Medium Tank Chassis</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Heavy Machine Guns</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Industry IV (into whichever of the three freed slots has banked the most)</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Construction III</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Machine Tools III</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Rubber Processing I</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Oil Processing II</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Rubber Processing II</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Improved Infantry Equipment I</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Anti-Tank Gun Upgrade</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Rubber Processing III</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Artillery Upgrade I</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">MP38 (submachine gun)</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Oil Processing III</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Armoured Personnel Carrier I</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Rocket Artillery I</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Improved Medium Tank</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Artillery Upgrade II</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Resource Extraction III</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Armoured Personnel Carrier II</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Anti-Tank Gun II</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Resource Extraction II</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Assembly Line Production</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Construction IV</span></label>
  </li>
  <li>
    <label><input type="checkbox"><span class="name">Resource Extraction I</span></label>
  </li>
</ol>

## 3. Division and equipment templates

*Points in the video where the exact template layouts are shown — follow the link to see the precise battalions and support companies.*

| Time | Template |  |
|---|---|---|
| 9:05 | Submarine design | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=545s) |
| 11:27 | Cavalry ("horses") template | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=687s) |
| 12:45 | Template for the Spanish Civil War | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=765s) |
| 29:01 | Infantry template | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=1741s) |
| 29:47 | Tank design | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=1787s) |
| 36:29 | Veteran tank division template | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=2189s) |
| 40:22 | Fighter design | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=2422s) |
| 41:29 | Close air support design | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=2489s) |
| 49:01 | Flame tank design | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=2941s) |
| 49:34 | New tank division template | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=2974s) |
| 59:15 | Medium tank design | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=3555s) |
| 1:15:48 | Medium tank design revision | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=4548s) |
| 1:16:15 | Veteran tank division template revision | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=4575s) |
| 1:16:39 | Light tank design revision | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=4599s) |

## 4. Design companies

| Time | Company |  |
|---|---|---|
| 14:19 | Rheinmetall | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=859s) |
| 14:24 | Mauser | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=864s) |
| 20:20 | Junkers | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=1220s) |
| 34:40 | Daimler-Benz | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=2080s) |
| 39:54 | Messerschmitt | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=2394s) |
| 44:20 | Opel | [watch ↗](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU&t=2660s) |

## 5. Extra tips

<div class="tipbox video">
  <span class="tag video">from the video</span>
  <ul>
    <li><strong>Spain (after the Condor Legion focus):</strong> send volunteers — 7 divisions plus air (the author recommends tactical bombers and says not to be stingy with planes). For your political advisor, take Göring first (air experience ticks up), then swap to Keitel later (divisions gain experience faster); appoint a separate naval advisor.</li>
    <li><strong>Generals</strong> in Spain can be whoever you like (von Bock, for example) — it makes no real difference.</li>
    <li>Fill up the cavalry ("horse") divisions as soon as the deploy button becomes available.</li>
  </ul>
</div>

<div class="tipbox alt">
  <span class="tag alt">tips from the comments (alternatives, not from the video)</span>
  <ul>
    <li><strong>Rommel alternative:</strong> instead of the Luftwaffe expansion focus, you can take the tank focus earlier to unlock Rommel, and send him to Spain for the experience. Once Italy joins the Axis, the Afrika Korps focus opens up — completing it gives Rommel the "Desert Fox" trait.</li>
    <li><strong>Spy operations:</strong> tick "Repeat automatically" — the game will then notify you at the moment auto-repeat becomes impossible (i.e. the operation has finished), so you don't forget about your agents.</li>
    <li><strong>Intelligence agency upgrade order:</strong> 1) form the department → 2) signals intercept team (into one slot) → 3) suicide pills → 4) interrogation techniques → 5) passive defence → 6) once the war starts — counter-partisan operations → 7) invisible ink → 8) army department.</li>
  </ul>
</div>

## Sources

- ["HOI4 — Guide to the New Germany"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS069OPoOhU) — Danil (HeartsOfThisGym), YouTube, 30 Dec 2024 (video subtitles). The video is in Russian.
- Focus order, research order, template and design company timings — cross-checked against detailed viewer comments under the video (including users aquinsky, elpresidente9373, Griffin11811, expensiveclient).

---

## FAQ

### What is the actual goal of the build-up?

Not simply winning the war, but landing the **hardest possible knockout blow on the USSR in 1941**, at the peak of your own strength — and finishing that war fast, because a drawn-out eastern front works against you and the US is on the way.

### Which phases does the run break into?

Three: **pre-war focuses (1–35)** — militarisation, economy, autarky, Anschluss and the Sudetenland; **start of WW2 (36–49)** — bypassing the Maginot Line and maximising war production; **war with the USSR (50+)** — logistics and the eastern offensive.

### Do you follow the focus tree and then do everything else?

No. **Research**, **division and equipment templates** and **design companies** are three parallel tracks that must run alongside the focuses, not after them.

### Is Germany stronger after the rework?

Yes — noticeably: more production points and machine tools, more rubber (which means more army bonuses), and the WW2 land doctrine can now be researched almost in full without losing time.

### Why do some focus names look different in my game?

The names are translated from the Russian localisation, so a few may read slightly differently in the English client. The **order and the timings** are what matter.