Launching successful naval invasions in Hearts of Iron IV (HOI4) can be quite difficult and tricky, especially if you just started playing the game. There are many factors you should consider before launching one, so we made this guide to show you everything you need to know before doing a naval invasion.
It’s not that hard as it may look at the first glance, because after doing it couple of times you’ll see how they are a crucial part of regular Hearts of Iron 4 gameplay.
The first step to launching a naval invasion in HOI4 has a coastline and a free naval base you can use to store your troops. If you’re in a faction with a country with a coastline, you can also use their naval bases.
Now the second thing you’ll want to look out for is naval capacity. If you’re playing one of the third world countries, or any other overall lower tier countries, you must at least research the “Transport Ship” technology, and then later throughout the years, the “Landing Craft.”
How To Launch A Naval Invasion In Hearts of Iron 4 – Naval Research
These technologies are crucial for making a successful naval invasion – the invasion will be more successful if these technologies are researched well enough.
The most important condition for performing them is naval supremacy and the number of convoys you have at your disposal. If you’re playing a major power like the United Kingdom, Japan, or France, you will have plenty of ships with which you can achieve naval supremacy.
How To Launch A Naval Invasion In Hearts of Iron 4 – Naval Intel Efficiency
If you have completed all of the conditions we mentioned in the section above, you’re definitely ready to finally launch a naval invasion! So here’s a detailed step-by-step guide you can always easily follow:
Creating the Marine Units
First, make a special division that will take part in the invasion. It’s best to make a division that will only have Marines units in it and then move your main army once you get hold of the enemy’s naval base.
The reason for that is Marines units are specifically made for naval invasions and naval combat. They’re much stronger at invading a naval port or any piece of land through the sea than a regular infantry unit or something similar.
You will have to research them if you don’t have them – Marines I technology takes 170 days to research, and you can obtain it in the year 1936.
Choosing the Target
After creating the Marines units, you want to select the division you want to send to invade and then choose the naval invasion icon down below. After that, you’ll have to choose the port you’re invading from and right-click the enemy provinces you want to invade.
How To Launch A Naval Invasion In Hearts of Iron 4 – Naval Invasion Plan
The default technology for most countries in HOI4 allows them to send a maximum of 10 troops in one naval invasion. You’ll have to research transport technologies in the naval research section for more capacity.
The Execution
The planning process will start when the divisions slowly get to the port and prepare for the invasion. This will last for a couple of days, depending on your technology and the size of the army you’re sending to invade.
When the planning process is finished, activate the division you’re sending to invade and just sit back, relax, and watch the magic happen. Once your troops start attacking the mainland, the enemy will receive a loud sound alert that’ll notify him of your invasion.
Hopefully you’ll land where you wanted to, and then you can start moving your troops into the enemy’s territory. But, if you still can’t do a proper naval invasion for some reason, make sure to check out this video on common naval invasion mistakes.
We hope this article has helped you learn some things about launching your successful naval invasions in Hearts of Iron 4, because most people find this entire process really confusing when they start playing the game. So this article is mostly suited for beginners who have just started playing the game!
