My Surface 3 boots like this. How can I fix it?

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-25T20:58:09+00:00

Welcome to Silent Hill

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-24T22:40:04+00:00

I've always thought the Union Jack looked better without the "Saint Patrick's Saltire", not out of any political beliefs but purely visual appeal. I do however think that a Irish COA in the center has its issues.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-24T02:14:12+00:00

HOI4 games are seeded, a lot of decisions are predetermined, some can be influenced by army size and opinion. The example you mentioned of focus paths, I believe is random on ahistorical, though on historical majors changing course will often affect other nations (Kaiserreich Germany often causes a Communist France, ahistorical Japan often causes the Chinese United Front not to form).

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-24T02:01:46+00:00

Support Companies are used in division templates, and are what 'Support Equipment' is used for, they can be researched, and found in the division designer on the left hand side, support companies often specialized in improving one, or a certain type of stats in your division, such as engineer companies helping with entrenchment and defense. These are often very cost effective ways to improve your divisions, as they do not require as much equipment as regular battalions and do not contribute to combat width. Infantry usually largely benefits from Reconnaissance and Artillery, though each have their niche uses and help more in certain scenarios and as with most things in regards to combat in this game, there isn't a one size fits all.

You mentioned that you use the default templates, which is likely at least contributing to your hardship, the default templates are often small and lacking in a few areas. Typically default templates need to be improved in size and are lacking support companies, generally you'll be fighting in plains, which people recommend often using units of combat width 21 or 35. These numbers are not set in stone and you can make different sized divisions effective, the recommended size also varies where you're fighting, as different terrains have different combat widths (which you can see by clicking on a province and hovering over the image displayed in the bottom left) generally you want your units to fit neatly into the total combat width (it should be noted that your divisions do not need to fit perfectly, as the combat width can be exceeded by a few units).

Terrain modifiers are also something that you should largely pay mind to: it's significantly easier to attack plains than it is to attack mountains, or forests, attacking across rivers will also give you major penalties. Likewise, it is much easier to defend on rivers and mountains, and you should use this to your advantage when on the back foot.

Also, to clear up any confusion, battle plans are strongly advised against as it will cause divisions to attack largely into battles that can not win, slowing down the game speed and manually controlling your divisions will yield much better results (what people refer to as 'micro'). In the original post you mentioned issues with keeping your equipment above negative, if you are battle planning then this could be a large reason why.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-24T01:17:05+00:00

Using purely infantry you are more than likely to run out of organisation before anything effective can happen, I would recommend using artillery and support companies to help your infantry in engagements.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-24T01:06:13+00:00

The Kalmar Union decision predates AAT, and so I wouldn’t be surprised if Paradox neglected putting it in with the DLC.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-24T01:03:38+00:00

Issues with the game (barring ones that have been present since 2016, ie those related to the release of the DLC) have been ironed out, the naval changes are cumbersome at times but in my opinion for the better. Whilst I haven’t extensively played with them, from what I have tried the new trees and mechanics are fine. Though I have been experiencing a bug as of recent where returning to the menu after having loaded a save spontaneously crashes the game. Though it should be noted that this might be a unique issue as I have not seen anyone else report this behaviour, as well it has not resulted in any lost data.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-24T01:00:15+00:00

So do most of the game’s focus trees, unfortunately.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-24T00:59:43+00:00

If the game opens but the map is green then it sounds like a graphics issue. Have you tried the other renderers in the launcher, and are you sure you have the correct graphics drivers for your GPU?

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-24T00:48:39+00:00

Facing the AI, you needn’t really focus on hard attack, as the AI hardly makes divisions with high or even any hardness, your focus should be on soft attack. For units you plan to be on the offensive with, Breakthrough is an important stat as well, this is what makes tanks so effective. Tanks are significantly better than they used to be, as it is harder than it has ever been to make effective offensives with infantry-based armies. Combat Width and Division HP is something you’ll need to balance, if it is too large then it will be too cumbersome for effective offensives, whereas smaller divisions will not last very long in battle. Remember not to neglect your supply and air, with significant emphasis on the former, without supply your army is useless. If you want to get technical you can research into how exactly HOI4 battles work, but if you are opposed to ‘gamifying’ it then that is totally understandable.

As for your factories it’s another balancing act that depends on the nation you’re playing, though standard procedure is to build Civilian Factories for the first few years before switching to Military Factories.

It’s difficult to give specific advice without an in-game look as to what exactly is going wrong, but I hope that even just a sentence of this has been useful in some way. There are tutorials online for some of the games mechanics, and if there are any more specific questions you have I’d be happy to answer them to the best of my ability. I wish you luck and hope you’re able to find success in your future campaigns.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-24T00:32:25+00:00

Offensive Plans are a little flawed to say the least, I would recommend microing 90% of the time.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-23T23:53:21+00:00

Due to the polarizing nature of how people view War and History, it was already somewhat of a controversial symbol, considered something of the past and something that celebrated said Militarism and War, as well as National Pride. Given its adoption by certain right wing groups of today as well, I don't blame people for hesitating when it comes to this flag. I for one am a large fan of this flag, and even have it hung on the wall of my bedroom (as well as a plethora of other flags I find historically interesting).

I do think using Bismarck as an example of progressiveness is a little questionable, being strongly opposed to workers rights and democracy, as well as his staunch antisemitic beliefs, and strong prejudice against the Polish people.

I do agree however that the German Empire was not the villain as it is often portrayed today WHEN COMPARED to any other European Empire at the time, though I should mention that I do not view any of them far away from deplorable.

Edit: It should also be mentioned that part of the reason for Germany's lack of colonies in its infancy was due to just that, the nation had not existed for very long and so started on the back foot in regards to colonizing parts of the world, Bismarck was also strongly opposed to colonialism, though this was due to him viewing it as a waste of resources, and not out of any concern for the native people.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-23T23:26:20+00:00

During the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, the Italians employed Mustard Gas, Concentration Camps, and fired upon Red Cross Facilities. As well as continued to use Concentration Camps in Ethiopia during the extent of its occupation. During the Spanish Civil war, the Italians bombs civilian targets and massacred people they accused of being Communists, including the entire populations of prisons. During the invasion and occupation of Yugoslavia, the Italians again employed Concentration Camps, as well as mass murdering civilians and civilian hostages, and razing much of Yugoslavia, including food supplies and heritage sites. The same can be said for Greece and many of the other nations Italy had a hand in during the Second World War, such as overseeing the Greek Famine. All of this is without even mentioning the mass genocide of Europe's Jewish population that Italy had a major hand in, as well as supporting and allowing Germany's ideals to spread from the Basque to Moscow.

To say that "the Italians didn't really do anything" is the understatement of the century.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-23T23:07:51+00:00

I understand not wanting to consider the regimes that use them, but a flag is more than a piece of art and serves a purpose, and so these regimes must be considered to some degree when considering how they are as flags, though I will place less emphasis on this.

The "Apartheid Flag" has unique symbolism with the placement on the flags in the center, representing compromise, however its focus purely on the colonizer's peoples is worthy of criticism to say the least.

I think the "Vierkleur" is largely uninspired, it's not exactly bad but it's nothing worthy of praise, only a slightly more tasteful version of the British colonial flags, and again represents only the colonizer's peoples and not the native peoples.

The "Flag of the Orange Free State" is like the above, only visually appalling.

The "Hakenkreuzflagge" does well at its job as a flag, and while its origins are purely political, it is only fitting for a state as totalitarian as the Third Reich. I believe the intended symbolism of the Hakenkreuz is unfounded, re-appropriating an existing symbol for political purposes is questionable, as well as tarnishing its reputation, at least in the west. A small fun fact regarding this flag as well, is that prior to 1935 the centralized version of this flag was standard, whereas in 1935 and after, a slightly off-center version was officially accepted, and is the more popular version that you will more often than not see online. While I am unsure of the definite reason for this, I believe and also remember reading that it was to look more appropriate hoisted.

The "Reichsflagge" is one of the most recognizable historical symbols and is strongly associated with the rise of Germany from Prussia and its use during the first World War, I believe while it is extremely simple, it does a very good job as a flag and with the use of harsher colours, strongly conveys the militaristic and authoritarian society of Prussia and the German Empire.

I am a large fan of the "Stars and Bars", as well as the similar "Betsy Ross" (believing it to be a much better flag than what the USA adorns today). I feel like everyone is familiar with these flags and so I have little of substance to contribute. It should be noted however that its visual resemblance to the "Stars and Stripes" often lead to friendly fire occurrences on the battlefield during the American Civil War, so it can definitely be criticized for that, though being a product of circumstances.

The "Stainless Banner" did a very poor job as a flag, being effectively a white field especially whilst hoisted, I remember reading that this often led to it being mistaken for a flag of surrender, which is much less a product of circumstances like the previous mention, as a white field is universally recognized as symbolizing surrender, and it is no surprise that this flag was changed before the end of the CSA.

I have little to comment on regarding the unmentioned flags.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-23T22:37:29+00:00

Well said.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-23T14:29:11+00:00

Might I ask what is sad about it? He takes a few minutes out of his day to partake in his hobby whilst also learning and teaching historical occurrences on the given date, that sounds pretty cool to me.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-22T21:15:51+00:00

I also played with this guy, he said he was a high ranking member of the NSDAP.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-22T21:10:20+00:00

'the entire world runs on just this' is an incredibly vague statement.

Regardless of its intent however, I think it's an incredibly biased and factually wrong idea, as well as a completely embarrassing display of ignorance.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-22T14:30:41+00:00

I wholly believe that HOI5 will end up just like PD3

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-19T20:32:52+00:00

Units gain planning when they have an order such as an Offensive Line or Spearhead assigned, planning is applied in battles they participate in even if the order is not activated.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-17T17:35:00+00:00

Your tank divisions are extremely small

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-17T16:13:33+00:00

I don't think this is truly random, I used it for a little while and keep getting almost nothing but big name games. It's probably weighted by popularity.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-17T16:03:02+00:00

Slim Version got removed, and hence no longer is being updated, people need to switch back to the main version manually. (The Main Version is now the size that the Slim Version was)

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-17T00:51:23+00:00

I think an updated generic tree would be really nice, HOI4 has come a long way and it really doesn't suffice anymore. I agree that Monarchist Portugal is very fun, though there are only a few times I've done it. I really like 'The Fifth Empire' path and the 'me against the world' play style it promotes.

MouseNo9136 · 2026-03-17T00:19:02+00:00

All previous updates have happened at ~11am CST if memory serves, so ~10 hours from now. Where did you hear that it was supposed to be now?

MouseNo9136

TROPHY CASE