Skip to Content

How to Annex a Puppet in Hearts of Iron IV

How to Annex a Puppet in Hearts of Iron IV

Hearts of Iron IV is a great military strategy game that holds a particular but significant proportion of the gaming community. The game is hard to master, and you will definitely have difficulty understanding its controls and rules if you are just starting.

That said, puppets are one of the significant pieces of any nation in the Hearts of Iron IV game. As your puppets, they cannot deny you, and you can annex these smaller nations to take over completely.

The quickest way to Annex a Puppet in Hearts of Iron IV is by sending them convoys. Alternatively, you can send them large portions of your artillery, planes, and tanks or build forts on their land to Annex the puppets.

For more information regarding how to annex a puppet in Hearts of Iron IV, read the blog in its entirety.

Ways To Annex Puppets In Hearts Of Iron IV

There are multiple ways to Annex Puppets in Hearts of Iron IV. 

Below is the complete list of methods you can use to annex puppet nations. Feel free to try all of them to see what works best for you.

Suppress Subjects Focus

Suppress Subjects Focus
Image Credits: Gnarly Carly

In your National Focus Tab, you can select the Suppress Subjects Focus to start de-ranking your puppet nation and making it possible to annex them. However, this process takes a very long time to complete, and you will have to wait around a month to be able to de-rank your puppets enough to annex them.

For this reason, it is highly not worth it for you, but hey, it is a way.

Build Forts, Mills, and Factories

Build Forts, Mills, and Factories
Image Credits: Gnarly Carly

Another much quicker way to Annex a puppet in the hearts of Iron IV is by building Forts, Mills, and Factories on their land. This will empower your nation and ultimately lower the autonomy of your puppets enough for you to be able to annex them and take over.

The Forts and Mills all complete in a matter of days, and if you construct enough of them, you will significantly damage the puppet’s autonomy.

Send Them Equipment

Send Them Equipment
Image Credits: Gnarly Carly

To quickly deal with significant blows to the autonomy of your puppets, you can send them vast amounts of equipment. The results will take some days to appear, but their independence will drop so low that you’ll have them annexed in no time. 

Usually, you will get the equipment back in a few days when the puppet has been annexed. Since the puppets won’t be able to refuse your nation, you always hold the upper hand.

Send Convoys

Send Convoys
Image Credits: Gnarly Carly

The fastest way to annex any puppet in Hearts of Iron IV is by sending a bunch of convoys to it. Once the convoys start to arrive, their autonomy drops significantly. The reason for this is unclear, but the convoys significantly reduce a nation’s autonomy.

Therefore, you may want to stick to the convoy method, which will help you annex your puppets quickly in the game.

Is Annexing Puppets Worth It In HOI: IV?

The answer to this question varies from player to player. However, as a general rule of thumb, annexing puppets gives you added land, resources, and human resources that you can control much more efficiently.

Annexing puppets also lets you create buffer zones to engage and divert your enemies and empower your own nation. Therefore, annexing puppets is definitely worth it in Hearts of Iron IV.

Conclusion: Annex Puppets

Now that you know all about the ways to annex puppets in Hearts of Iron IV, you can get more strategic and empower your nation to dominate the world. Keep in mind that sending convoys is always the fastest way to lower the autonomy of a puppet and annex it.

However, keep this guide handy if you ever forget how to annex puppets. Until then, happy annexing!