🎯 The core idea
The strongest Germany in the game is not the fascist one. It is the non-aligned monarchist path — honest civil war, Kaiserin Victoria on the throne, and then a run that forms the European Union in March 1939, restores the Holy Roman Empire in June 1939, capitulates the Soviet Union by June 1940 and annexes the United States by December 1940 on 1,338 factories.
It is also a path built out of hard gates: a 400 PP decision chain, a 50 PP focus almost nobody takes, a diplomatic roll against the United Kingdom that can simply fail, and a 20 September deadline you cannot slip. Miss one and the run is over — not harder, over. This page is mostly a list of those gates in the order you hit them.
Short version: five phases
- Setup and civil war (1936) — prep the fallback line, fight an honest civil war, take Berlin, repair civilian factories first.
- The Kaiserin (1936–38) — a specific chain of advisers, focuses, a 50 PP air-safety focus, the Anglo-German pact, and 400 PP of decisions that end with Wilhelm dead and the Kaiserin crowned.
- The Allies (Sept 1938 – 1939) — create a faction at exactly the right moment, take France without capitulating it, invade the UK across the Channel, mop up Czechoslovakia and Portugal.
- Europe (1939) — Italy, Austria, the Balkans, then the European Union and the Holy Roman Empire back to back, which cores most of a continent.
- The two giants (1940) — trick the USSR into a defensive war so you only need 51%, then take the USA at a collaboration-reduced 35%.
No Compromise, No Surrender is effectively mandatory. Paradox removed the ability for non-aligned countries to justify claims at low world tension, which is why the faction timing below exists at all. Without that DLC the author says plainly he has no solution for you. The Czechoslovakia DLC separately changes whether Czechoslovakia counts as a major power, which changes how the Allies collapse.
1. Setup, before you unpause
- after that, just build military factories in the best provinces · 1:34 ↗
- 1:57 ↗
- 2:19 ↗
- no civil war cheese — "as Germany, we can afford an honest civil war" · 2:19 ↗
- every dockyard builds this design for the rest of the run · 3:05 ↗
The full focus order and research order are in the video description, not spoken on camera. The focus spine runs Rally The Wehrmacht → Rally The Nation → Denazification Campaign → Rebuild The Nation → Tend To The Future Of Germany → Monarchist Sentiment → Revive The Kaiserreich → The Return Of The Kaiser → Weltpolitik → Accept British Naval Dominance → Carve Up The Congo → Anglo-German Defense Pact → Realpolitik, then the Four Year Plan / autarky line, the Austrian Question, Mitteleuropa, and finally European Confederation and Restore The Holy Roman Empire.
2. The civil war
Fires off the monarchist focus line. Take one more focus after it before the focus that requires the war to be finished.
- helps later, not hugely impactful · 3:28 ↗
- new infantry plus one mountaineer hold the north
- 4:16 ↗
- 4:40 ↗
- 5:03 ↗
- 5:49 ↗
- the faster they come back, the faster everything else does
3. Getting the Kaiserin
This is the load-bearing section. Everything here is a gate.
- 6:58 ↗
- then disband all existing divisions; the undisbandable ones resolve via an event · 7:22 ↗
- 8:09 ↗
- if SPGs get nerfed, build the same concept as a medium tank instead · 8:09 ↗
- 8:32 ↗
- MANDATORY for the Kaiserin, and easy to skip past · 8:32 ↗
- 9:18 ↗
The OFF template as it looks once grown to its final form: 30 width, and an estimated production cost of 1,321–1,420.
The Anglo-German Defense Pact focus is mandatory for the Kaiserin — and the UK can refuse it.
Make a backup save before taking it. If the UK refuses: reload, take Realpolitik first — it is only 14 days — then re-take the pact. Taking Realpolitik first without reloading will most likely not change the outcome, so the reload is the point.
The tooltip itself, at 10:27: 70 days, 25% world tension, +50 opinion — and no acceptance percentage at all. An earlier version of this page put that chance at 89%; that figure came from the auto-captions and appears nowhere in the tooltip. The only 89% on screen at that moment is the stability readout in the top bar. Treat the roll as one that can fail rather than as a known probability — and save either way.
At 400 PP, run the chain: Reinstate the Prince → Modernize the Succession Laws → Request Restoration, then the event, then "We shall send a liaison". That last step kills Wilhelm and puts Kaiserin Victoria on the throne. 11:24 ↗
11:24 — the decisions panel, open on the Political Actions block where the chain lives.
Where the chain actually lives: the Political Actions block of the decisions panel. Easy to scroll straight past.
- 10:50 ↗
- 12:00 ↗
- 12:00 ↗
- take the branch independent spirit · 12:23 ↗
- annex, take the navy, puppet the Dutch East Indies, Curaçao and Suriname for rubber · 12:47 ↗
4. The Allies
Creating a faction cancels the UK's guarantee on France — so create it at the exact moment you attack France, not before. You need the faction at all because non-aligned countries can no longer justify claims at low world tension. Faction perks used: justify war goal tension reduction, plus the easy goals strategic resources and declare war on democracy.
Declare on France; Belgium joins. Spend the faction point on joint command structure, and immediately justify on Italy and Luxembourg.
Do not capitulate France. Do not take too many victory points, and specifically do not take Paris — encircle it. You are waiting on a focus that must be bypassed while at war with France to unlock the claim on Switzerland, and justifying Switzerland normally takes forever. Capitulate France too early and that focus cancels. 15:57 ↗
When you do take the peace: annex French cores, balkanise the rest, take the navy, annex Belgium.
The Channel crossing
Set the whole naval picture up before you declare — you hold naval dominance while not at war, and that is free. Casus belli come from claims on Portugal (UK-guaranteed) and Siam; wait long enough that Czechoslovakia also guarantees one and gets dragged in.
| Element | Setup | |
|---|---|---|
| Invasion force | OFFs, two groups of six, staged at Le Havre | watch ↗ |
| Submarines | detached, convoy raiding around the UK in groups of one | watch ↗ |
| Destroyers | on patrol in the Channel | watch ↗ |
| Everything else | strike force in the Channel | watch ↗ |
| Planes | naval strike + naval patrol over the Channel | watch ↗ |
Declare and trigger the invasion immediately — the author calls it one of the easiest UK invasions he has done.
18:24 — the Channel. This frame is the air assignment, not the fleet: the table above comes from the narration, while what is on screen here is naval strike and patrol being drawn over the strait.
Two political notes for this window: wait for 150 PP before declaring, because this is your only chance to take War Economy; and spend 25 PP to seize the French gold, which later focuses gated on consumer goods will need.
Czechoslovakia counts as a major (with the DLC), so the UK falling does not end the Allies. Their forts are strong — push from the north and focus the single tile without one. Declare on Switzerland in time for them to join the Allies so they get pulled into the same peace conference. Peace out annexing Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, UK cores and Portugal; puppet the rest.
5. Italy, Austria, and the road to the EU
The claim on Italy lands days after the Allies fall. Push through the Alpine sector — bad supply, mountains, slow.
- 21:55 ↗
- make sure there is NO foreign equipment in the template — it corrupts the stats, especially speed · 22:40 ↗
- 3 spies on USSR collaboration governments on cooldown, 3 on USA/Hawaii · 26:05 ↗
The armour line in production by March 1938 — the SPG sits alongside the light tank rather than replacing it.
26:05 — faction intelligence with Canaris in as spymaster. Worth flagging: the collaboration governments that the later surrender thresholds depend on are never shown on camera. This screen and the spymaster appointment are the only espionage the video displays.
Because you changed ideology as a major power, Italy may flip ideology or fall into its own civil war. In the author's run it did, and the rump held the north — which can force a march down to Sicily and may cost you an extra justification or the Conquer Italy focus. Budget time for this going wrong.
Autarky Achieved makes consumer-goods factories "just disappear" — this is the focus the seized French gold was for.
6. European Union and Holy Roman Empire
Take European Confederation. Two decisions are needed to form the EU and one of them is mandatory — hold PP back for them. Improve relations with Greece, Bulgaria and Albania if it is still alive. War on Yugoslavia drags in Romania. Annex Italy, puppet Hungary, and realise European unity in March 1939 — which cores an enormous amount of territory and makes much more corable.
28:35 — Realize European Unity fires and the Union of European States appears.
Annex Ireland and the British Isles become corable; UK cores complete in 70 days. Invite Greece and Bulgaria to the faction, annex Hungary, annex Romania.
Army XP now goes into land doctrine: assault infantry → self-propelled support → streamlined deployment → maneuver warfare.
Restore The Holy Roman Empire fires the moment Hungary is annexed — more cores again. By June 1939 you have both the EU and the HRE.
31:15 — the Holy Roman Empire restored.
Construction is now effectively free: skip military factories, upgrade railways and supply hubs instead. Recruit another 12 armoured and 72 infantry divisions, and annex Poland.7. The USSR — make them attack you
Guarantee Finland. When the Soviet Union attacks them, you are pulled in — and because it is now a defensive war, you only need to push the USSR below 51% rather than the usual threshold. Combined with three collaboration governments, the author's words are: "three collabs plus the defensive war really do the trick."
Forces: 5 full infantry armies on a marshal line across the whole front, with the OFFs and 2 full armoured armies as the spearheads. Latvia comes via focus — but skip Latvia if it is guaranteed by an awkward country (Norway, or worse, Chile).
34:51 — the tooltip spelling out the defensive-war threshold: the USSR capitulates at 51% or less, and is sitting at 61%.
Result in the author's run: USSR capitulated June 1940 for about 47,000 casualties. He prefers a white peace with Finland so they do not share the score, and annexes the USSR outright rather than puppeting, since the collaboration governments make annexation cheap. Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq join the faction via focuses. Start mass-producing mechanized for fully-mechanised armies.
8. The USA, and the achievement
Armour and OFFs push in; every other infantry division goes on defend. Call Canada in but do not defend it. Split the navy evenly between protecting convoys and patrolling the US coast — getting convoys across is the whole problem, not winning battles.
This is an offensive war, so the surrender threshold is higher — but collaboration governments drop the requirement to 35%. That is what the three spies on cooldown since Italy were for. Push Seattle → San Francisco → Los Angeles if needed; LA fell faster in the author's run. Mexico helps but is not needed.
Annex the USA and the achievement fires. Final board: December 1940, 1,338 factories, effectively infinite manpower, and the United States renamed the Holy Roman Empire.
22 December 1940: Victoria on the throne, non-aligned, no elections, and 1,338 factories in the resource bar.
The numbers, in one place
| Gate | Value |
|---|---|
| Kaiserin decision chain | 400 PP |
| Influential pastor / monarchist jurist / War Economy / Food Minister | 150 PP each |
| Sharpen air safety regulations / sway Austria | 50 PP each |
| Seize the French gold | 25 PP |
| Torpedo destroyer design | 16 navy XP |
| Political loyalty spirit | 20 army XP |
| Final OFF template | 70 army XP |
| Netherlands deadline | 20 September |
| European Union formed | March 1939 |
| Holy Roman Empire restored | June 1939 |
| USSR capitulated | June 1940 |
| USSR surrender threshold (defensive war) | 51% |
| USA surrender threshold (with 3 collabs) | 35% |
| Final state | Dec 1940, 1,338 factories |
From the comments
- The recruit cap will bite you. Your maximum simultaneous recruitment is 75% of deployed manpower — so disbanding your army before recruiting the OFF divisions leaves you unable to raise them. Same commenter reports an OFF deploy cap of 10 at a time, and never receiving the "Netherlands prevents return of the Kaiser" event or seeing "Reinstate Prince Wilhelm's right of succession" at all. — Swindeller13
- Alternative civil-war army: recruit max cavalry instead (around 44 units), hold them undeployed until after the Kaiser, then convert to infantry. — yakubisyourdad
- A faster USA: justify on another country in the Americas (Mexico) and declare. The USA demands a white peace — reject it, and they declare on you, converting the whole thing into a defensive war with the lower threshold. — KRIGSMAN_UTAN_NAMN
- EU before HRE also works — one player formed the EU first and puppeted the USSR by mid-1939, then watched a communist-vs-communist Soviet civil war end with Stalin asking to join the European faction. — hansnightingale
- Confirmed DLC gate: a player without No Compromise, No Surrender found the run simply unplayable. — keineahnung4193
- The UK sometimes will not guarantee Portugal, which removes the casus belli the Channel plan is built on. Reported with no answer.
- A bug where no popup fires on focus completion, silently wasting up to a month of focus time. Watch the focus bar manually.
- The British naval dominance focus timing is reported as the step that repeatedly broke other players' Kaiserin attempts — the video does not dwell on it.
Sources
- "BROKEN KAISERIN GERMANY Guide: Woman In A High Castle!" — MachiavellianStrategist, YouTube, 25 July 2026 (39:57).
- The full focus order and research order live in the video description, not in the narration. Reproduce them from there; the spine above is what is confirmed on camera.
- Detail is transcribed from the video's auto-generated captions, so German proper nouns in particular may be misspelled — including the Kaiserin's own name, which may render as Viktoria or Victoria Luise in your client.
- The "from the comments" box collects points raised by viewers Swindeller13, yakubisyourdad, KRIGSMAN_UTAN_NAMN, hansnightingale and keineahnung4193 that are not in the video itself.
Recorded on the live patch, not the open beta. The author expects regimental companies and SPGs to change and gives a medium-tank fallback for the SPG. The USSR and USA sections both jump to pre-built saves, so the months of buildup between them are not shown. The achievement requires ironman, but the guide's own method involves reloading the UK diplomatic roll — plan for restarts instead.
Frequently asked
What does the Woman In A High Castle achievement require?
Put the Kaiserin on the German throne, then annex or puppet the USA. The guide recommends annexing, made practical by running three collaboration governments in America beforehand.
Which DLC do I need for Kaiserin Germany?
No Compromise, No Surrender is effectively mandatory — without it a non-aligned country cannot justify claims at low world tension, and the author states outright he has no workaround. The Czechoslovakia DLC also changes whether Czechoslovakia counts as a major, which affects how the Allies collapse.
What happens if the UK refuses the Anglo-German Defense Pact?
The tooltip gives 70 days, 25% world tension and +50 opinion — it does not show an acceptance chance, so treat the roll as one that can simply fail. Save before taking the focus. On a refusal, reload, take Realpolitik first (only 14 days), then re-take the pact. Taking Realpolitik first without reloading will probably not change the roll.
Why should I not capitulate France quickly?
You are waiting on a focus that has to be bypassed while at war with France to unlock the claim on Switzerland — justifying Switzerland normally takes forever. Encircle Paris instead of taking it, so you can end the war on your own schedule.
Is this achievable in ironman?
The achievement requires ironman, but the guide's own method does not survive it: it tells you to save-scum the UK diplomatic roll. In ironman you accept that roll or restart, so budget for restarts.
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