I Fixed Italy in HOI4

Storyline (HOI4 “historicalish” Italy)

You play Italy with the goal of becoming a “Greater Italy” state—not a Roman Empire route and not a communist path.

Early game: stabilize and win Ethiopia fast

• The early focus is stabilizing Italy’s economy.
• You win the Second Italo–Ethiopian War quickly, treating it as a setup/industry unlock rather than a major strategic campaign.

Escalation into European conflict

After Ethiopia, Italy escalates into wars across Europe:

• France: attacked using coordinated land breakthroughs plus aggressive air and naval pressure.
• Belgium / Netherlands: follow-up pressure, largely shifting control through puppets and deals rather than full direct occupation.
• Greece: attacked after securing Mediterranean dominance, preparing for amphibious moves (including objectives related to Gibraltar).
• Vichy France and Switzerland: handled afterward to secure resources and strategic positions.

Late game: USSR → USA

The war expands into:

• USSR (“end of the Soviet Union” stage)
  • Italy uses heavy air power (especially CAS) to tear open Soviet lines with encirclements.
  • Then pushes toward major Soviet cities in a referenced progression: Moscow / Stalingrad / Leningrad.
  • After the USSR collapses, Italy secures resource/oil stability through puppet/resource-right arrangements to set up the final phase.
• United States
  • Italy invades and overwhelms the USA, leading to US capitulation and a re-drawn map featuring an American protectorate.

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Gameplay highlights / key tactics

Industrial ramp-up (Italy-specific opening)

• Prioritize early civilian factories in high-infrastructure provinces (e.g., Toscana / Lazio).
• Add targeted infrastructure to accelerate construction.
• Build civilian industry first, then transition into larger military-capacity expansion, including in puppet territory.

Army doctrine and division approach

• Italy avoids a heavy armored “meta.”
• Tanks are minimal / oddly optimized:
  • light tanks removed
  • emphasis shifted toward trucks and light support rather than armored spearheads.
• Ethiopia victory approach:
  • Use North/South front assignments with generals and planned battle patterns.
  • Employ mountaineers and fast expansion tactics (a “pin/push” pattern).
  • Push for aggressive encirclement to end the war before AI follow-up focus timing becomes relevant.
• Later wars:
  • Italy leans heavily on mountaineers as elite terrain specialists to exploit openings.

Air force focus

• Organize air power quickly:
  • Move fighter wings to a large alpine airfield for Ethiopia bombing coverage.
  • Use CAS heavily later (repeatedly called decisive).
• Aircraft modernization matters:
  • When airframes get outdated, replace them using improved engines/frames.

Naval strategy (major pillar)

• Submarines are separated from the main surface fleet (subs slow surface ships).
• The goal is consistent naval dominance:
  • Task forces are repeatedly placed to engage and secure routes.
  • Mediterranean control is a recurring success condition.
• For major operations:
  • Use carrier groups you design/produce (not “spam light attack cruisers”).
  • Use naval strike / carrier airfields to support amphibious invasions.

Amphibious and operational tempo

• Conduct early naval invasions (example: Malta) to remove threats and open lanes.
• Use mountaineers to lead invasions even where marines might seem better, relying on:
  • air dominance
  • shore bombardment / assault planning
  • concentrated CAS and air superiority

“Ignore second Ethiopia war” mindset

• Later Ethiopia-related issues are treated as irrelevant by planning to finish the war before AI follow-up focus timing matters.

Volunteer usage / expeditionary pitfalls

• Send volunteers to foreign conflicts to gain experience.
• Limitation noted:
  • Expeditionary forces can’t move properly across water, so some volunteers end up stuck.

Resource and trade management

• Rubber bottlenecks repeatedly appear.
• Adjust trades to keep plane/fleet training and production moving.
• After large conquests, resource security becomes part of the endgame setup, especially through puppets/resource-right arrangements.

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Step-by-step opening plan (as described)

Start focuses

• Begin with Italian Highways
• Then follow the listed order from the description (not fully reproduced in the transcript).

Civilian factories

• Build civilian factories in Toscana and Lazio.

Infrastructure sprint

• Build infrastructure in Ailia Romana (many build slots to accelerate output).
• Build additional infrastructure in Campa (boosts resource production).

Production shift (industry + equipment)

• Remove basic light tanks.
• Move toward truck-based tanks / focus on infantry equipment.
• Set up:
  • artillery (road/towed artillery factories mentioned),
  • trains factory emphasis for supply timing,
  • the majority of effort into infantry equipment.
• Air:
  • Delete interwar CAS plans
  • Use basic close air support as a stepping stone.

Navy setup

• Consolidate construction into a single dockyard (using shift-click assignment tactics).

Ethiopia war preparation

• North:
  • Assign 18 divisions + general + front line and attack order.
• South:
  • Assign 7 divisions similarly organized.
• Move remaining units:
  • 4 mountaineers to the north army,
  • 2 units from Libya also to the north,
  • rest of the Italian army to the south.

Air war for Ethiopia

• Put fighters into a large alpine airfield.
• Station tactical / CAS-capable planes for bombing Ethiopia.

Conduct battles quickly

• Use battle planning and coordinated offensives to break Ethiopia before focus timing matters.

Peace deal for Ethiopia

• Don’t annex everything.
• Instead:
  • carve into multiple smaller states
  • add war reparations where possible
  • release puppets/territories to increase extra industry access through focus trees

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Key research / military tech priorities mentioned

• Early land research basics:
  • electronic / mechanical engineering
  • basic machine tools
  • construction
• Naval:
  • deck conversions → 1936 carrier
  • emphasis on carriers, not light attack cruiser spam
• Economy doctrine:
  • early war economy / dispersed industry upgrades
  • later Pact of Steel for construction speed and factory output boost (as timed in the run)
• Special forces:
  • escalation for mountaineers / rough terrain specialists
  • holding-line style doctrine support
• Air doctrine:
  • invest experience into centralized control / aircrew survey / battlefield support branches

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Sources / gamers featured (end of video)

No additional full names or sources are explicitly listed beyond references in the transcript:

• “channel members” (units “named after channel members”)
• “Mr. potato head” (visual reference)
• Named individuals referenced as in-game experts:
  • Ugo Cavayto
  • Jose San Huro
  • Guido Yung
  • Robert Longi
  • Grand Battle Plan / tactical bombing expert
  • Ergo/Er editor (referenced as a replacement leader; not named in subtitles)

Channel contributors appear only as unidentified “channel members,” not gamer IDs.