HoI4 Guide - Kingdom of the Netherlands: Treading the Narrow Path Achievement 

This guide is outdated (don't blame mr. Steel, the video is over 2 years old ffs) but I have worked out the required tweaks to make this work in 2023 with all DLC and updates except for BBA. So here we go... First of all, it is useless to invest in navy, air force or tanks before 1941, you don't need them and it would take too many resources and industry to get. Secondly, no offensive action should be taken, ever, stay defensive on your line and reinforce it continuously. Your focus path should be: 1. Form new government (the political power and stability is very worth it) 2. work down to continue the Zuiderzee works 3. Rush War on pacifism and keep clicking the 35pp decision (5 times) you should be able to get partial mobilisation after this 4. Randstad and Ijmuiden steel mill, these civs get your mils and forts built (YOU MUST USE DISPERSED INDUSTRY pity there is no research bonus but bombed out factories are useless) 5. Get to Oranje boven (keep in mind you need to have trade neutrality) At this point it's going to get tight regarding the choices you make, so focus 6. You might have to wait a bit before you can get the maintained neutrality focus so pick up Fortress Holland and Grebbe Line or the new supreme commander (I usually get the new commander last before war starts) 7. Go for symbol of resistance, never try to take the british faction focus, it will bypass as war starts and the british invite you into the allies anyway. 8. replace the defeatist ministers, war has now begun so strap in for the most intense bit of this playthrough 9. de vaarplicht, you need ALL the manpower you can get that is NON COLONIAL otherwise you will lose your puppet and the divisions you rely on to hold your forts just start to deplete, more on this below. . 10. Congrats this is the turning point in the run, you either hold or fold and your picks for focusses don't matter much anymore, keep in mind that you cannot get anything from focusses that benefit 'legitimacy' since you can't cap anyway. My suggestion is to go to the left side of the focus tree and get the focusses that reduce East Indies autonomy, they will be gaining it at a rapid pace while holding your line and you must keep them from becoming anything above a colony or you WILL DIE. Now for the whole build up, NO ANTI-TANK, forget it, you don't need it, AA is where it's at. T he division you want is a 19 width 9inf 1AA division with support arty and engineers, much cheaper than suggested in the video, you will have all the piercing and air cover you need in a cheaper package, you can add on whatever you want later when you have a stable line. you can manage with just 50 divisions total, but you need to be a little precise with where you place them. Fort line: Build a lvl8 fort on Leeuwarden with 7divisions for defense a lvl9 fort on Utrecht (there are 2 of three fort levels in your focus tree se build here first) manned by 6 divisions a lvl10 fort on the strip of land between Rhine and Meuse south of Utrecht ((there are 2 of three fort levels in your focus tree se build here first) manned by 11 divisions a lvl7 fort on Rotterdam manned by 4 divisions a lvl8 fort on Breda manned by 8 divisions a lvl7 fort on the Zeeland province west of Breda with 7 divisions an additional 2-3 divisions (you can just use basic inf for this) on the port north of Amsterdam. You should also keep 4-5 divisions in reserve in Amsterdam to reinforce your lines if need be. The reason I give up Eindhoven is because you don't need it for the achievement and because Rotterdam gets the flooded modifier after you blow the inundation lines (which is the first thing you do when war starts) and that's another 50% to defense. Construction: Mil factories, forts and AA that's all you should be building at the start of the game until the outbreak of war, once war starts, repairs are crucial (another reason to go for dispersed industry. Get some mils at the start but mix in some early fort levels on the tiles that are gonna get forts through focusses you don't need a large amount of mils for this build, 11-14 worked for me Military factories: At the start all 4 on guns, gets the max efficiency off the bat, you will need to immediately import steel from the UK. as you get more mills you put a fifth into guns and then get started on supp equipment and AA guns, lastly some artillery and once 1938 comes to an end get a single civ on trains. keep in mind you will need steel from the UK but it's ok to operate at a deficit and let your convoy production take a hit Research: Industry is a priority (go ahead of time) as well as the electronics techs, get more research speed and radar later on is very usefull (this buffs static AA) get 1940 AA and 1939 arty ahead of time to put into production early (NO ANTI TANK) and keep infantry equipment up to date as well as the engineer company BUT don't put the mp28 into production until everyone has a gun After 1940 it's a question of keeping things up to date, I used the Philips focus to get 1942 computing tech early and move down the radar tree fast so my AA shot down over a thousand planes in a year. Other than that do whatever you want at this point you will be sitting there for years. Political power: Because we get rid of Colijn as the first focus you will get a lot of PP and it will seem like an endless supply at times, trust me it is not. First pick is the genial revolutionary like in the video but then you need to pay attention to your command power, one it hits 20 CP get a chief of army for some ticking army exp this is vital. once you can get Winkelman after the Supreme commander focus get him instead. get the military industralist and a military theorist as well as the infantry expert and concealment expert (but no rush you need them as war starts) Keep an eye on war support to increase ecenomy laws and conscription laws once possible (don't get early mobilisation though) I also went up the free trade quite early to get some boosts. In october of 1939 you should have 400pp saved up to use when war starts, remember you need 25 to flood the country. after war starts do whatever you like. MANPOWER: This is the most important thing, if you don't plan for this you die within a year. So you do use the divsions from the dutch east indies at first, but you have to change these out for dutchmen as soon as you can, you can get about 15 dutch divisions on your front line when war starts and you should put them in the provinces that are going to be attacked first (so not the belgian border) the divisions from the dutch east indies man all other positions and should be switched out once the manpower becomes available. This does mean making two templates that are the same division, one dutch and one from the east. I recommend using the koloniaal garnizoen (the dutch one) as a way to spam out units and then retraining then as manpower and equipment becomes available so you can swap out the east indies divisions on your frontline. one thing to note is that you can't switch out a puppet division to a dutch one, manpower will become zero and the division will just disapear so use the koloniaal garnizoen divisions to avoid this. that's about it, good luck, the AI is braindead and will be of no help, you will kill between 1 and 2 million germans and mostly you will sit there jst waiting for 1945. Enjoy!

"the navy isn't particularly strong" Conrad Helfrich is the best sub admiral in the game!

As a Dutchman I say thank you! I already did this achievement but not as a monarchist. So I will be sure to try it this way. In return, if you ever do a super belgium game I will be sure to play that as well :-)

Who would win: mechanized german troops with a large air force, or some underwater boys

The AI in this run was absolutely bonkers and it was still the most sensible of 10+ attempts...It's just an absolute pain the in rear to get the game to work with you...

The best part of the achievement for me was getting to annex Belgium and Luxembourg via the focus tree and getting the achievement for uniting the Benelux as well.

Love your achievement videos! Could you do a video on the "I Swear I’m Not a Byzantophile" achievement by any chance?

Wow thank you! hope to see more in the near future

Just followed this strategy: it works even better now. I started the built with the one-division trick until late 1938, then built the whole army in one go. With the extra military experience got army spirits, which in turn translate into better starting generals and more PP (from hiring military advisors half price.) I also re-purposed the 8 starting destroyers into minelayers to screw with Japan. In my game, Belgium fell very quickly, but France managed to damage the weakened German army battering itself against Fortress Netherlands. Then Germany proceeded to throw itself at my fortress over and over until Romania declared on the Soviet Union in late 1943. I looked at that point and I had caused 7.5 million casualties on Germany, as well as shooting down their entire air force. From then on; "liberated" Belgium and Luxemburg. Liberated most of France. Capitulated Germany. Capitulated Italy. Sunk most of the remaining of the Japanese Navy fighting with submarines in 1000-mines zones. Used Indonesian troops to capitulate Japan in 1944. Got kicked from the faction by the UK. Got a NAP with the UK. Waited until Jan 1, 1945. Done.

Advice for the Lendlease: don't wait for it from allies, ask yourself. You'll get significantly more this way. Also ask neutral countries - sometimes they give quite a bit. As democratic Czechoslovakia in Allies I asked from Soviets all the time and got like twice more than from Allies even though SU wasn't at war with Axis yet. When war just started I asked Allies and SU for guns and support equipment. Got some sup. eq. and 4k rifles from Britts while 10k+ rifles from SU! Bit outdated rifles, yes. But rifles are rifles nonetheless, right?

Today I learned my favorite HOI4 RU-vidr is Flemish like me, lol. Goed bezig :) ! Love the vids, keep em coming !

When I searched bittersteel a video called why does Belgium exist came up lol

I just did this a few days ago as the alternative democratic path. Somehow I was able to defend the entirety of my newly annexed Benelux with just 20w infantry with engineers, artillery, anti air, and recon. Because I could secure my borders France didn't fall for years and Germany never declared war on Poland because they were already at war with my faction (the Czechs lasted until like 1944 compared to 1943 France). It was an interesting game for sure...

I was able to complete the achievement thanks to your advice. And even from late 1942 to 1945, I just left it on play with only minimal input. It was a wild ride until the end. From the start of the war until late 1941, I had under 1,000 casualties. The Soviet Union broke the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. It ended up a three-way war with the Comintern at war with both Allies and Axis. France capitulated twice in three years in 1940 to Italy and in 1942 to Germany after liberated mainland France. And I had historical AI on.

Nice video! Here's a quick tip: colonial templates can just be deployed in the netherlands although the territory isnt green you can still click on it.

i live just east of eindhoven....thx for letting me get conquered by the germans!

Could you do Australia Hungary or Czech mate?

Love your videos! I'd love to see a South Africa take over all of Africa Run!

As a Belgian myself I understand the pain of playing the netherlanda

29:27 even with 480p, it was blurry and i read that as "Send Lewd Lease". kinky

What a great video and strategy. In my attempt, Germany never invaded the Soviet Union and the Allies couldn't secure a landing anywhere. Went to 1945, changed the suggested defense squad to add some more artillery (tank, air, general) and just walked through Germany and ended the war. I learned so much by doing this achievement using this guide ... how to manage supply, repairs etc. Thank you. (1.11 w/o NSB)

Good Video, its really interesting!

The dutch have johnson m41 rifles in 1936... Amazing!

I completed this the same way BS did, got about lvl 7 forts before WW2 kicked off. Survived easily even with massive equipment shortages at the beginning. By the end it was 6M Germans vs 22k Dutch fallen. USSR did nothing the whole run. I got impatient and accidentally brought Belgium back, losing me the buffer state focus with 1-2days to go. Then once I did Wilhelminism the UK kept kicking me from the Allies, made me nervous until 1945 rolled around.

Wow this is exactly what I asked you for awesome great video

You can actually deploy the colonial divisions in your mainland, it is just marked that you cant

1:50 as a dutchman i identify you as dutch

Friendly question: Why do hoi4 youtubers do that "coming up" segment? Why would you spoil the video before it's even begun?

When I did this one I defended the border (with about lvl 6 forts) instead but also garrisoned troops in Belgium and in the Alpine mountains so the french don't die, just 24 basic divisions in the alps and about 14 in Belgium ensures they survive. If Belgium and France survive longer AI Germany won't focus so many troops on you. Only made guns, guns and guns and completely depleted the East Indies of manpower.

... I would like to point out that untill there's a far easier way to get this achievement: rush down the rightmost democratic path, form the benelux, do a few focuses into it to get yourself the advantages of it, use the alliance to form the united kingdom of the benelux/benelux federation, then dismantle the faction and join the allies before holding at the direct border with the assistance of the French army all the while using the indonesian manpower to get yourself some 150 divisions total. Also untill sometime in march 2020 the way you did it here wouldn't work as it only counted if you kept 100% of your provinces under control the entire time. With this strategy you do need to put all trading efforts towards France, and also look at their southern front to assist when you can, as the UK AI usually sends re-enforcements to that front but the UK's AI is programmed to all but abandon mainland France past october 1940

easiest way for this achievement: max forts in Amsterdam, Utrecht and the provins below Utrecht and right next to Rotterdam, get the "prepare the Inundation lines" flood the Netherlands, make sure you got a good handful of units and then just wait. The Axis can't take the those 3 provins since your defense will be to high

So I did this to the letter, what happend was: I got kicked out of the Allies, Russia decleared war on Allies and Japan, Germany did not invade Russia, and because of the empty manpower of Germany I could take over Germany with my puppet government and then annex them by building in their land. 10/10 would not try again

so I'm following your guide to the achievement and the germans went down the civil war tree, but im still gonna follow the video

Never knew the Belgians and the Dutch had a historic quarrel with one another heheh

great video :) btw extremely easy way to do this achiev: go communist and declare war on allies sooner than nazis come for you. then you can join Axis even you are not nazi :) and then just wait and defend you coast

*I N G E P O L D E R D*

I try this strategy now and my territories don’t even last a month and Germany never declared on Belgium and focuses only me.

ik kijk je nu al een tijd en wist nooit dat je zelf Vlaming was haha

The last 10 minutes was just black screen with no sound. Did something happen?

3:59 Hahahahaha, you said Butt Guns.

Can you do A United Netherlands achievement playthrouhh with patch 1.9.3? I found it to be tedious and stressful to the max when I tried it with La Resistance. ..

great vid bro

There is not one hoi4 RU-vidrs that doesn't blaspheme

The easiest way is forming Benelux and fortify borders with 3 level bunkers while having 9 infantry and 2 artillery divisions. The Germans couldn't even breakthrough my border.

AI gave him so much of a headache that he forgot to edit the last 5 minutes of the video

Basicly real life, The Limburgers and Gronigers are expendable.

When I did this I just waited for Germany to go monarchy and left the game afk until 1945

even with this strategy they broke me from utrecht

Super video :).

In my playthrough the the germans couldn't even take out belgium

I did the archievment myself a bit ago and i dont understand how you could have such a small army. In my run i was able to get a much more sizeable army and they were 7/2. Also i dont recommend using this flooding, because it will kill yourself if you have to reinforce in a tile. For me it was much easier to defend when i only had the small border to germany+ 1 tile in benelux and luxemberg to cover. Also i never would go the left part of industry because you are wasting building slots. This is one major flaw of the design of this focus tree, holland province is already a metropol region (10), with Industry 5 you have 20 Building slots, with artillery inrichtlingen you are at 22, Zuiderzee adds another one, and then with spending 150pp because you are at max infrastructure would yield to 25. So basicly you lose 9 factories, 11 if you consider dockyard in the long run which is pretty bad.

I got this achivement today (along with Putting the Raid on Medway to Shame) simply by going communist declaring war against the UK, joining the Axis and invading and defeating the UK. It was not easy they had ALOT of troops at home. Then puppeting them and integreating them (For the Medway achivement). Then all I had to do was wait untill it was 1945 for this one. Joining the Germans does not count as "not caving to them".

Why are there 5 minutes of darkness at the end of the video

In my game Britain declared war on me as royal netherlands

hm my game with the new updates was like: french and belium kapitulated in 2 months and the germans have nothing else to do than to trow troops at my bunkers: im in auust '42 and germans have already lost 6,5mill troops against me

A timeline where ITALY takes Paris? What the hell?

MY FELLOW BELGIAN

the question is: does the game turn out interesting after all?

I tried this but Germany still isnt declaring on Luxembourg despite them being completely surrounder and having no divisions and they wont charge my lines

Anyone else get four minutes of a black screen at the end or just me?

I didn't knew you were belgian, where you from?

Can anyone please tell on how to get access to the Oranje boven focus tree?

It would pain me too

woop fellow belgium boy

Great

I did this and Lost the province in the way north and when I Lost it I was like well im f ed

Is it possiblr for paradox to make a game across medieval to WWII?

The joke's on Bitt3rsteel, as Belguim and The Netherlands aren't real countries.

FairTX, but for HOI4.

Can someone translate what this thingy works mean?

Please try to save the Netherlands while it’s democratic. That is much harder.

1 dislike. Pretty sure that is Hitler...

Are you using a DLC

As germany i attacked france but stressa front had formed so thru austria i killed italy and i was pushing france thru italy so they left the maginot open so XD I WON

Can you do "Miklos Horthy and the Habsburg Prince", without ideology flipping; aka staying neutral?

Guide doesn't work, please revise.

-turn off AI historical focus -hope the Germans oppose Hitler -afk

Garbage you say "we Soldiers are flower". Lol.

wait you're allowed to lose some parts of your country as long as you control the state??? Well that could've been more clear paradox! at least that should make the achievement more easy

Your accent is amazing, when you said “as a Belgian” I was like “what 👁👄👁”

1:55 dispicibale neutrals ? what are you ? a stellaris player ?

These are some of the best guides on YT keep up the good work man hope your channel grows

I’d love a guide on the Austria-Hungary achievement please!

Btw you can train your own troops then switch them to your puppet templates. That way you can deploy them in your own land.

Have you considered doing a democratic Netherlands with this achievement in mind? It is quite the obscene path to undertake and you can finish the main parameter of it by late 1938 at the earliest and simply 5 speed through it if you so wish and walk away until achievement pops.

I already saw the easier way of doing this achievement but the way you made it makes me think i should do it your way

Do the Czechoslovakia achievments or the EU achievement with belgium or luxemburg

Joining the allies before the war, they never send troops or planes to help. AI behavior must have changed in the patches. And even with every soldier having equipment and engineers and support artillery they can’t hold 1 month.

Im french. Question: Are you from Wallonia or the flanders?

patched

Could you have done better when you switched to free trade?

Nicely done.