On the face of it, unlocking the Not Today achievement in Hearts Of Iron IV may seem like a simple task. All you need to do is make your way down the focus tree, right? Well, if you aren’t careful you could find yourself locking yourself out from getting it and wasting many hours of work. Either due to taking too long to take certain focuses or due to not being prepared for a few twists that will show up. And this guide will lead you through all the steps you need to take to unlock it and the Socialist Republic of Italy
At the time of writing only 0.7% of players have unlocked the Not Today achievement. Possibly because those attempting it have timed their focuses wrong and been locked out from it. Or due to the fact that the related focus tree doesn’t exactly offer many options for expansion. Either way, this guide will tell you how to get it. Be you someone who is an achievement hunter or someone who just wants to know how to do it.
Leaving Ethiopia
The first step on your mission to unlock the Not Today achievement is to leave Ethiopia. Unlike with the guide to Unlock The Papal States, you don’t have the freedom of staying and fighting and gaining the buffs and bonuses that come with that and still get the achievement. In order to get the achievement your only option is to fail. And the easiest and fastest way in doing so is withdrawing all your troops from the region and letting the Ethiopian government retake the region.
In order to succeed in this guide, first you must fail.
A word of warning. Whilst this is the easiest way it isn’t flawless. Given the territory you are having to pass through and the starting locations of some of your divisions, it is possible for them to get encircled. And whilst your forces are (generally speaking) more potent than the locals it isn’t worth losing manpower and equipment this early into the game. Especially bearing in mind what close later. If you need to micro-manage to get them out then do so. Just move them back to Italy or Libya for now. Once they have left you need to take the Withdraw from Ethiopia decision and then tale A Staggering Failure when the event pops up.
Uniting the Opposition
With the failure in Ethiopia, you can now take the Unite The Opposition Focus. Please note that taking this focus will lock you out of the foreign policy decisions that are available to the other political paths. So you won’t be able to join the allies, expand into the Balkans, and demand land from Spain and so forth. Sure, this being Hearts Of Iron IV there isn’t anything stopping you from justifying war on your targets and doing it anyway but that can take time. As a side note as you are making your way down this path it is a good idea to start building up Army, Navy, and Air experience to help kick-start your military later.
Once you take this one you are pretty much locked into this path.
You don’t have to rush down the tree to get to the required focuses. You can put it off whilst you work on other things. The only focus that must be done before a certain date is Liberate Gramsci. But more on that later. In the meantime, it is a good idea to build up your industry and start to develop your army. Recruiting communist-aligned advisors isn’t a bad idea. As the buffs they give (whilst not overpowered) can help in the early game. And the extra party support will help later on.
Preparing for Civil War
This will then lead to the focuses Organize Strikes in the North and The Southern Farmlands. Picking either of these will determine which half of Italy will be your base when the Civil War happens. If you pick Southern Farmlands you will start in the southern half of Italy and the Northern half will suffer damaged infrastructure and army attrition at the start of the war. If you pick Organize Strikes in the North you will start out with almost all the industry and easier terrain to defend from. Personally, I picked Organize Strikes in the North as that is where the heart of your industry is located. And many of the early industrial focuses are aimed there.
You must liberate Gramsci before the deadline or you won’t unlock the Not Today achievement.
Before you trigger the civil war you must complete the focus Liberate Gramsci before 1 am 1st January 1937. If you don’t then this whole How to Unlock Not Today achievement in Hearts of Iron IV is useless. You can do this before selecting where to trigger the civil war. But must be done before the deadline. Because if he will pass away after it and you will be unable to gain him as a leader later. When you are ready you must complete the Defy the Duce focus and then when the event pops up select the Embrace the People’s Revolution option. Once the war starts quickly grab as much land as you can. And try and block your enemy from gaining a foothold in the north. Getting encirclements can be a major help and stop it from becoming a slog.
Securing Control
As is often the case with Hearts Of Iron IV, when the civil war starts you need to try and use the terrain to your advantage. In the early stages try and position your men behind rivers and on hills and mountains to gain defensive bonuses. Most of your army at this stage will (more than likely) be made up of infantry. As will the other side. You don’t need a super-powerful force to win. But remember that your numbers will be limited for a time, so if you need to play defensively for a time to build your numbers then do so.
Secure plenty of land early on and encircle your foes if you can.
You shouldn’t need to take the entire country. At least I never had to during my play-throughs. However, this depends on where you start from more than anything. I never had to take Sicily from either half of the country despite it being the final home for the enemy in both scenarios. Remember that the more land you take the more factories and recruitable population you’ll have access to. Which will help you build momentum before you take full control of the country.
Picking your Leader
Once the war is over you will finally be able to advance further down the tree. And later select the leader for your country once you complete the focus A Leader Steps Forwards. Obviously, you need to select Gramsci when the event to select a leader appears. And he will only be available if you did the Liberate Gramsci focus in time. However, just selecting him won’t give you the achievement. If it was that easy then you wouldn’t need a How to unlock Not Today achievement in Hearts of Iron IV at all now would you? From this point on it is worth noting that a balance of power mechanic will unlock. This is split between the Communist and Democratic parties.
If you’ve done this right Gramsci will be a leader option.
Naturally, take any focus that gains support for the Communists to gain more buffs to your nation as a whole. As to what direction you take against the Mafia and with the Spanish Civil War (if it is still going) is your choice. However, if the Spanish Civil War is still going on I’d advise getting focuses connected to that as soon as possible. This is because they can give some decent buffs to you. It isn’t the end of the world if you fail to do so. But it is always good to snag them up if you can.
Finally Unlocking the Not Today Achievement
In order to unlock the Not Today achievement you need to complete the Il Sol dell’Avvenire focus. This is the final focus of this part of the tree. There are no additional steps needed to go there. And you don’t need to max out the balance of power either. However in order to get there you need to decide if you wish to align with the Soviet Union or build your own alliance. If you are just here for the achievement it really doesn’t matter which you pick.
Completing the final focus will unlock the achievement Not Today.
If you aren’t just here for this achievement I feel that it is worth pointing out that the focus The Italian Confederation will result in you being kicked out of whatever faction you are in. Completing it will cause you to form another faction which can ruin plans to work alongside other nations. Especially when World War II kicks off. Either way, once you have completed Il Sol dell’Avvenire the Not Today achievement will fire and you are done. From here out there are still some achievements that you can get. Though these are largely connected to Italy generally rather than this specific flavour of it. You can unlock Collect all the Romes and Pizza Time! with the right planning.
And so concludes this guide on How to unlock Not Today achievement in Hearts of Iron IV. I hope you found it useful. If you did be sure to share it with your friends. And if you have any tips for other players leave them in the comments down below.
