Welcome to Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game! If you're reading this guide, you're like me and are too lazy to go through the ingame tutorial or watch any tutorials on youtube. You'd rather consult your guides In-Game by hitting SHIFT+TAB like I tend to do for Civilization 5. Don't feel ashamed though, in this guide we can learn together!

To start, a couple abbreviations:

IC: Industrial Capacity (The resource that helps you make stuff in the economy tab)
Diss: Dissent (Screws with your IC and possibly incites revolts)
VP: Victory points (Provinces you need to occupy to help your faction win the game.)
AA: Anti-Air (Used to do damage to bombers and overhead planes)
ASW: Anti-Submarine Warfare (Useful for protecting convoys or against sub nations such as Germany)
SS: Submarines (Used to strike unprepared fleets or to mess with convoys. Or both.)

That helpful enough for you? Okay, let's go!

When you start up the game and click on Singleplayer, You'll be given a selection of start dates/scenarios to choose from. With so many start dates and two scenarios, you may be wondering where to start. Let's break them down, shall we?

The Great War (1914)
This scenario starts on June the 27th, 1914; the day before the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand which eventually sparks WW1 in europe. If you play a major power (Austria, Germany, Russia, UK, France) or certain countries neighboring them (Belgium, Serbia, Montenegro) this can give you only a matter of weeks before war breaks out. If you're playing a secondary power (Italy, Ottomans, Bulgaria, Romania, Japan), you will only have a couple months to a few years before you're dragged in. If you're playing Greece or USA, you can choose to stay out the war for as long as possible while preparing your nation. Overall, I would recommend the US or Japan, as they stay away from the major battlefield of Europe and can intervene in a limited amount. We'll get more into this scenario later.

The cream of the crop in this scenario is the simplicity, with miniscule air forces forcing you to rely solely on land warfare with a touch of naval warfare if you're up to it. No tanks, Few planes, Just infantry, cavalry, and ships. This scenario is also good for a short game, since it only lasts until 1920.

Day of Decision (1933)
The prologue to the 1936 scenario with three extra years of buildup, more interwar flavor, and the chance to guide Germany to either it's historical right winged path, or an alternate communist path. A good start to those who like a little bit more time to prepare for the war ahead. Be aware of the diss though, as in most starts you'll start with a good chunk of it from the great depression.

Road to Another War (1936)

WIP