There are three different war doctrines in HOI4. To be specific: air, land, and naval doctrines can be unlocked by using the warfare experiences. So, what are the best doctrines in HOI4?
Scroll down for the best land, air, and naval doctrines to pick Hearts of Iron IV. I made quick explanations, guides, and recommended doctrines for countries. Make sure to read carefully and have fun.
HOI4 Best Land Doctrine
Which land doctrine to pick in HOI4?
1. Mobile Warfare Doctrine
Mobile warfare is a focus on speed and maneuver to cut off and disorganize enemy forces.
So, mobile warfare doctrine is the best if you have a large industry. It has amazing offense capabilities but weak on defense.
Fastest and easiest way to destroy your enemies in land warfare is encirclement. Therefore mobile warfare is the best land doctrine. However, you need to produce a large amount of tanks and trucks. That is why it can only work with huge industries such as German Reich and United States of America.
Go for modern blitzkrieg path for better offense. However, if you are losing badly, pick the desperate defense path.
2. Superior Firepower Doctrine
This doctrine focuses on throwing shells, not men, at the enemy. Our manpower is precious, bullets are cheap.
Second best land doctrine is the superior firepower, if you have a somewhat average-big industry to back it up.
It works well with artillery, support companies, and air superiority. So, make sure to add couple of line artillery and support companies to your divisions. Then simply steamroll your enemies.
Line and support artilleries gives lots of soft attack. Soft attack allows you to shred enemy infantry units. They don’t work well against tanks but many nations doesn’t have tanks in HOI4 except Germany at the early-mid game. Chose integrated support if your divisions contains 5 support companies. Dispersed support is good if you have divisions with lots of line artillery.
3. Grant Battleplan Doctrine
Extensive planning and preparation before engaging in battle is the key to success.
Good for both offense and defense. High entrenchment bonuses. However, only choose this if you have a small industry. Japan benefits from it only because of an early war with China.
4. Mass Assault Doctrine
Perfect weapons are overrated, a large number of good enough weapons is the path to victory.
This doctrine is only for countries with huge manpower but small industry. So, it is only beneficial for China.
Soviet Union also has tons of manpower but also significant industry. Therefore using mass assault doctrine as Soviet Union is a waste.
Best Air Doctrine HOI4
Which air doctrine to pick in HOI4?
1. Battlefield Support
By improving how close air support interacts with divisions we can lay waste to enemy divisions with optimal support.
Best for close air support. Therefore this is the best choice for winning land battles. Mostly preferred by Germany, Japan and Soviet Union. Of course you will be missing the bombing bonuses.
2. Operational Integrity
Tactical bombers are flexible and can perform both ground support and regular bombing.
Hybrid of other two air doctrines. Both good for battlefield support and bombing enemy when needed
3. Strategic Destruction
By bombing the enemies factories, either by night, or more dangerously, during the day we can seriously hinder their war machine.
Totally focused on bombers and destruction. England and USA highly benefits from this doctrine.
HOI4 Best Naval Doctrine
1. Fleet in Being
A strong fleet focused around battleship means that we are a force to be reckoned with when deployed at sea.
If you have chosen a big country with huge naval industry, pick the fleet in being. Recommended for UK and Italy.
2. Trade Interdiction
Against a stronger naval opponent we can focus on tying up their fleet and destroying supply lines to starve their war machine.
For a nation with limited dockyards, trade interdiction works pretty well. German Reich should pick this doctrine and spam submarines to make an impact on the seas.
3. Base Strike
With a strong focus on carriers and their support, no enemy will be outside our reach, whether on land or at sea.
Only recommended for USA because of the huge carrier capability.