# HOI4 Romania Guide

> What Romania starts with in Hearts of Iron IV, what its national spirits cost it, where the focus tree leads, and the openings the wiki's own editors recommend. Written for a nation with almost no video coverage, from the game's reference wiki.

- **Game:** Hearts of Iron IV
- **Category:** Nations
- **Author:** LongBeam (https://guides-factory.com/about)
- **Difficulty:** Intermediate
- **Reading time:** 8 min
- **Published:** 2026-09-04
- **Updated:** 2026-09-04
- **Tags:** Focus tree, Hearts of Iron IV, hoi4, nation guide, national spirits, romania
- **Adapted from:** [Romania — Hearts of Iron 4 Wiki](https://hoi4.paradoxwikis.com/Romania)
- **Canonical URL:** https://guides-factory.com/guides/hoi4-romania-guide

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Romania is one of the nations the guide sites skip, which is exactly why the starting position is worth reading before the first pause. This page covers what Romania begins with, what its national spirits do to that, where the focus tree can take it, and the openings the wiki's own editors recommend.

## Quick answer

| What | Answer |
| --- | --- |
| Starting military factories | 7 |
| Starting civilian factories | 11 (-5) |
| National spirits at the start | King Carol II's Lifestyle, Neutral Foreign Policy |
| Main paths | The focus tree can be divided into 7 branches: Preserve Greater Romania Branch This branch allows Romania to join the Comintern, Axis or Allies or create the Cordon Sanitaire with  |
| Source | Hearts of Iron 4 Wiki, patch 1.9 |

## What you start with

| Industry at the 1936 start | Amount |
| --- | --- |
| Military Factories | 7 |
| Naval Dockyards | 2 |
| Civilian Factories | 11 (-5) |
| Building Slots | 40 |

| Resources at the 1936 start | Amount |
| --- | --- |
| Oil | 77 (-38) |
| Aluminum | 7 (-3) |
| Rubber | 0 |
| Tungsten | 0 |
| Steel | 4 (-2) |
| Chromium | 0 |
| Coal | 7 (-3) |

## National spirits

Romania does not start from a clean sheet — these are on before the first day passes:

| Spirit | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **King Carol II's Lifestyle** | King Carol II is well known for his expensive tastes and his willingness to indulge the even more lavish tastes of his mistress. |
| **Neutral Foreign Policy** | Join faction tension limit: +100%; Send volunteers tension limit: +20%; Guarantee tension limit: +100%; Embargo tension limit: +250%; AI Modifier: Threat receptivity: +1%; AI Modifier: Desire to be in or expand a faction: −100 |

## The focus tree

can be divided into 7 branches: Preserve Greater Romania Branch This branch allows Romania to join the Comintern, Axis or Allies or create the Cordon Sanitaire with Poland and Czechoslovakia . Unlike other focus trees, the separate ideologies in this tree are not mutually exclusive. Civil Works/ National Defense Industry Sub-branch This branch allows Romania to develop its industry. To start this branch, one must start the "Preserve Greater Romania" or the "Balkans Dominance" Branch.

## Romania going its own way

Both in real history and the game when controlled by AI, Romania ends up fighting in the war as Germany 's eastern sidekick. But in this game, it is strong enough to be a world power in its own right, even without joining a faction. It is possible to go down this route as Non-Aligned, remaining a proper monarchy. Ideology is up to the player, and any pick will work with this guide, but it is assumed that the player will keep Romania non-aligned. Historical focuses are also assumed to be enabled.

## 1. Conquest of the Balkans (1936-1939)

Military edit | edit source ] Given the lack of early industry and large fielded manpower requirements for many focuses, Romania will be fielding an almost exclusively infantry-based army for the first four years of the game. The beginning template of 9 infantry divisions should not be changed. All cavalry divisions on the field at the start should be converted to infantry. 20 new divisions must be queued up for training, and they should be given high equipment priority. The fielded divisions should be organized into two armies under an army group led by marshal Ion Antonescu. The whole army group should be placed at the Hungarian border and given an offensive line order.

## 2. The Red Menace (1939-~1941)

By the time war with the Soviet Union begins, Romania should have four armies. One army should be excluded from the army group and placed along the Anatolian coast, as the Soviets are not averse to naval invasions and the Romanian navy is no match for the Soviet Black Sea fleet. The other armies should be placed on the front-line in Moldova. Bulgaria or whichever puppet was granted the eastern Anatolian provinces will place troops on that border, but no puppets should initially be called into the war. As the war begins, it might take a while for the enemy to begin mounting attacks, but they eventually will. Finland will be forced to capitulate sooner or later, but that is no issue.

## 3. Destroying Fascism (~1941-~1944)

In the very likely event that the Allies have done poorly, Germany will have been sitting on an occupied Western/Central Europe for quite a long time, building up its army to a ridiculous size (~400 divisions). As the player's army by this point would only be around 200 divisions, Romania would have no hope of facing the Axis alone ( Finland wouldn't help much either), offensively or even defensively. Germany alone would still have more manpower and industry than Romania, so waiting to build up a stronger army is out of the question. Invading small countries would bring Romania into a war with the Allies, so what is there to do? As of Waking the Tiger, Japan now forms its own faction rather than joining the Axis. They still have a focus wherein Japan , Germany and Italy all guarantee each other, but this doesn't apply to their puppets.

## 4. Pax Romanica (1944+)

Romania is now a superpower with hegemony over Afro-Eurasia, and with the three aggressive factions out of the picture, the player can rightfully claim victory. However, Romania will definitely be capable of full world conquest. With vast resources at their disposal, the player can now begin mechanizing their army and building a world-class fleet. Of the remaining countries, the United States will put up a stiff resistance, but with the overwhelming number of Chinese thralls under Romanian command, Romanian dominance is assured. Once every other country has been conquered, China can finally be annexed. And so, Carol II becomes king of the world.

## Carol II, King of the Balkans

This strategy involves a focus on military size and conquering the balkan nations through "Balkan Dominance" path. As soon as the game starts: train cavalry units, they are the cheapest units and for the "Balkan Dominance" path you need a large army. When it comes to industry: build Civillian Factories until you have 15/15 on construction then switch to building Military Factories. On research: your 1st reserach slot should always be a military doctrine, for this path Superior Firepower is recommended, then industrial and electronic researches. On focus tree: Start with "Institute Royal Dicatorship" -> "Revise the Constitution" -> "The Royal Foundation" for that extra research slot. Put all your military industry on guns.

## Communism with Romanian characteristics

Use this quick guide (current version calibrated for By Blood Alone ) if you want to min-max your way into (socialism RL, ingame) communism (historical focuses on) as fast as possible and then liberating the world without joining the Soviet Union in Comintern. (This is work in progress but it will give you a strong start while also role-playing how perhaps a true communist/leftist Romanian government would have reacted in that historical time frame given a certain context)

## The Why

Though HOI4 does not allow Romania to go anarchist (anarcho-communist), the aim of this guide is to provide with the closest window on what could a anarchist (or rather a independent communist ) approach would entail. Disclaimer: Do not spend your Political Power for other random decisions except the ones below otherwise or you will delay the government change.

## Short version:

Focus Tree based: 1) Institute Royal Dictatorship You should also do the usual starting actions, pick techs, arrange army, ideally strip them of weapons and start training to regular a select few that will go as volunteers in Spain and China - also start training filler troops - 3 Cavalry template - and give them weapons gradually then deploy them at 20%, as you need to save weapons; also consider disbanding the tank division - not the template. 2) Revise the Constitution 3) Flexible Foreign Policy You can now also pick 2 useful laws like Limited Conscription and Free Trade (but not more then 2 as you'll need the PP later). The Spanish civil-war will start during this focus, but you will probably won't be able to get involved until 1 year later. 4) Appoint Pro-Soviet Government This gives you a huge 35% increase in Communist popularity, unlocks Gheorghe Gheorghiu Dej as an advisor and related decisions that will lead to referendum; make sure you pick him straight away as an advisor and also pick "Open Political Discourse" if you have enough Political Power. 5) Balkan Dominance Though becoming communist early is important (also for your ability to send volunteers to the Spanish civil war), you should not delay the Balkan liberation, so go ahead and pick this. There are some free events that give boosts to PCR popularity so you could go ahead with the focus tree without waiting to gather for "Discredit government", though this might still be needed at least once (costs 50 Political Power points) and then another 100 Political Power points to "Hold Referendum" once PCR is above 50%.

## Also worth knowing

- **The starting numbers above are the 1936 start.** A 1939 start hands you a different army and a different industry, and most written advice assumes 1936.
- **National spirits are removable.** Several of them are the first thing a focus tree clears, and the order you clear them in is usually the whole opening.
- **Wiki strategy is written by players, not by the developers.** It is the best free advice there is for a nation nobody films, and it can still be out of date with the current patch.

Source: [Romania](https://hoi4.paradoxwikis.com/Romania) on the Hearts of Iron 4 Wiki.

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## FAQ

### What does Romania start with in HOI4?

The tables above list Romania's factories, dockyards and resources at the 1936 start, taken from the game's wiki. A 1939 start differs, and most written advice assumes 1936.

### What are Romania's national spirits?

Romania begins with King Carol II's Lifestyle, Neutral Foreign Policy. Each one is a modifier applied before the first day, and clearing them is usually what the early focus tree is for.

### Is Romania good for a beginner?

A minor nation teaches the parts of the game a major hides — supply, manpower limits and industry order all matter immediately. The starting tables above are the honest measure of how much room there is.