#Hoi4 multiplayer is cancer plus

I don't see why German diplomats can't go into Brazil, hat in hand, and over time, convince the Brazilians to sell their rubber to them.

That said, This does seem somewhat unfair, as many of the colonial powers reap the benefit from their strategic resources, which are often located on the other side of the globe. I haven't tried this out, so it's possible that you can't get access to Rubber by alignment alone. I never killed a single CV with my BB fleets, and my SAGs couldn't engage them without taking heavy damage, even with land-based air support (their annoying CAGs restore enough ORG in one hour to fly again, and again, and again) those had to wait for my own carriers to complete.

#Hoi4 multiplayer is cancer plus

Once I rebased the first pair of BBs to the French coast, I was able to demolish a significant portion of the RN, including 8+ BBs, 3 BCs, something like 5 CAs, and a host of CLs and DDs, plus one unlucky CVL. Pick one or the other, depending on your goals. DD gives you higher fleet speed, lower cost, better ASW capabilities, and some synergy with doctrines. CL uses a different doctrine group than DD and BB, so it costs more to research, but they have greater range, seem to last longer in combat, and generally manage to break off for repairs rather than sink. I used fleets of 2xBB or BC, 2xCA, and around 6-8 CL (1.5:1 or 2:1 ratio), so I could break off (or lose) a CL or two without suffering the 'insufficient screens' penalty. After laying the keels for two more BBs to replace the completed BCs in the construction que, I switched capital ship research over to CVs, which become WAY more important if/when you need to stray out of range of your own land-based air. The completion of Scharnhorst sped up construction on the next BC, and together they allowed completion of both BBs around the outbreak of the war in spring of '39. Once the first round of BB research was done (late '36), I started work on Bismarck and then Tirpitz (early '37).

My last GER game, I built two BCs (Scharnhorst class), starting in early and mid '36, as much for the Practicals as for the actual ships, plus a couple more CAs. In my opinion, it pays to research one level of techs before building your first BBs, but waiting for the 1939 techs means that they won't complete until around '42-'43, by which time it's generally almost 'game over' anyway.