Complete HQ Guide
Templates | Mechanics | Exact Numbers
HQs in Hearts of Iron 4: How to Get the Most Out of Your Generals
When to create them, what distance to keep, which support companies to use, and how to capture enemy commanders.
What Are HQs?
An HQ is a regular division that carries your general. The template is built in the officer corps, and the division itself is deployed through the army management menu. It can capture tiles and even fight, but its combat stats are modest — it won’t do much in a head‑on fight.
The mechanic is simple: form your divisions, assign a general, then create an HQ for him. After that, set his distance to the front in the orders menu. The golden rule works every time: closer to the fight = stronger buffs, but higher risk of losing the commander.
If you’re new to army management, I recommend checking out the game interface guide.
Why HQs Are Mandatory
An HQ is not just an option — it’s a core element of army management. Without one, you lose up to 20% of your maximum planning and completely forfeit the bonuses to commander efficiency and abilities.
This is especially critical for offensives — without an HQ your tank spearheads won’t get those huge planning buffs, and defensive abilities like "Last Stand" will be about 6% weaker.
The good news: an HQ is cheap (there’s even a single‑battalion template), and its benefit is absolute at any stage of the war.
I have separate guides on offensive and defensive strategies: meta offensive and meta defense.
Who Needs Them
- Absolutely everyone — majors and minors alike. An HQ doesn’t cost as much as a full division, but the boost to combat effectiveness is very noticeable.
- You can have as many HQs as you want — one for each army. They’re formed and disbanded just like regular units.
When You Really Need Them
- War to win — if your goal is to crush the enemy, HQs are mandatory. The planning and commander efficiency buffs speed up your advance dramatically.
- Not for experience farming — for example, in the Spanish Civil War you don’t want an HQ: it will boost you so much that the war ends too quickly, and your divisions won’t get enough training.
- Volunteers — an HQ counts as a full division and eats into your volunteer cap. You cannot create one after arriving in Spain; the game simply won’t allow it. So sending a general’s division as a volunteer is a waste.
Read more about volunteers and Spain in the guide to the Spanish Civil War and volunteers.
Useful Console Commands
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on the task. Tanks give speed and are tougher under fire — great for Blitzkrieg. Infantry is a cheap universal option. Motorized is a compromise: fast but cheaper than tanks. See the "HQ Templates" tab for details.
Then your general works as before, without the extra planning and efficiency bonuses. You lose roughly 20% of maximum planning and all buffs to abilities. In a long war, that’s extremely noticeable.
Directly: the closer to the front, the higher the planning and efficiency bonuses. But at the same time the risk of the HQ getting encircled or overrun goes up. Exact numbers are in the "Distance & Buffs" tab.
Four things: maximum planning (higher bonus cap), planning speed (faster preparation), commander efficiency (multiplies all skills and traits), and ability effectiveness (strengthens command‑power abilities). And if you’ve picked the right doctrines, the effect is even sweeter — check out the meta doctrines guide.
Yes, if you’ve set the distance via the orders menu (small, medium, etc.), the HQ will pull itself along with the frontline. In manual control mode you’ll have to move it yourself.
You lose all his bonuses instantly. The general is imprisoned in an enemy city with 5+ victory points. You can get him back three ways: capitulate the captor, recapture the tile he’s held in, or run a rescue op through your agency.
Yes. If the enemy capitulates, all prisoners are returned. You can also recapture the city where he’s held, or use agents for a rescue mission. The last method is usually the fastest and safest.
No. You just deny the enemy that commander. The prisoner doesn’t switch sides — he simply waits to be freed by his own country.
On patch 1.19.1 — yes, the HQ is destroyed like a normal division, but the leader himself is not taken prisoner. You can immediately put him back in command. That’s probably a bug that will be fixed later.
The AI only creates an HQ if an army has at least 10 divisions, and never more than 5 HQs at once. If it loses three generals as prisoners, it disbands all remaining HQs and stops making new ones. It also removes an HQ that has had no battle plan for 7 days. It picks the best general for the task: high attack for offensives, high defense for holding the line.
What Distance Should You Use?
| Distance | Buffs / Debuffs | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
| On the Front (0 tiles) |
+6% commander efficiency, +6% ability effectiveness | Tank armies on the offensive. Maximum boost, but the HQ can be attacked or encircled. |
| Small (1 tile) |
−5% max planning, −5% planning speed, +4% cmd. efficiency, +4% ability eff. | The sweet spot for infantry. Use it when you control the front. Don’t use if the enemy is running a successful Blitzkrieg. |
| Medium (2 tiles) |
−10% max planning, −10% planning speed, +2% cmd. efficiency, +2% ability eff. | A tense front with shifting initiative. If the enemy can break through quickly, pull the HQ back. |
| Large (3 tiles) |
−15% max planning, −15% planning speed, +1% cmd. efficiency, +1% ability eff. | The enemy is far stronger and has full strategic initiative — e.g., Poland vs. Germany in 1939. |
| Manual Control | Depends on your micro | Short frontlines where you can easily move the HQ yourself. Full control over positioning. |
What Buffs Does an HQ Provide?
- Maximum Planning — the cap on the battle plan bonus. Higher cap = more stats for your troops.
- Planning Speed — how fast divisions build up that bonus.
- Commander Efficiency — directly multiplies all skills and traits. An infantry expert with +10% attack becomes +10.6% when the HQ is on the front.
- Ability Effectiveness — strengthens active command‑power abilities like "Forced Attack".
How the AI Places HQs
- Minimum 10 divisions in an army — otherwise the AI won’t even create an HQ.
- No more than 5 HQs at a time. It will not deploy a sixth.
- If it loses three generals as prisoners, it disbands all remaining HQs and stops risking commanders.
- 7 days without a battle plan — the HQ is automatically disbanded. Relevant when a front is missing.
- General selection: the AI picks the best general for the task: high attack for offensives, high defense for holding.
Distance vs. Buffs (Exact Numbers)
| Distance to Front | Max Planning | Planning Speed | Cmd. Efficiency | Ability Eff. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 tiles (on the front) | 100% | 100% | +6% | +6% |
| 1 tile | 95% | 95% | +4% | +4% |
| 2 tiles | 90% | 90% | +2% | +2% |
| 3 tiles | 85% | 85% | +1% | +1% |
| 4+ tiles (or no HQ) | 80% | 80% | — | — |
HQ Templates
The HQ designer consists of a main battalion, up to three more of the same type, and four support companies. Here are the proven setups. Pick a template to see its layout.
HQ Support Tier List
Up to date for patch 1.19+. Rated for singleplayer, all DLC.
By the way, we also have a separate doctrine tier list — check it out if you want to squeeze even more out of your troops.
Capture Mechanics Overview
An HQ is a physical division on the map. If it gets encircled or overrun during a Blitzkrieg, the general is taken prisoner. The system looks for a "prison" — a tile you control with at least 5 victory points. If there is none, it picks any with a lower value.
You can recover a prisoner three ways: capitulate the country that holds him, recapture the tile where he’s held, or send agents on a rescue mission.
If You Capture an Enemy General
- You simply deny the enemy a specific commander. Someone weaker will take his place, which can seriously hurt the enemy army’s stats. For example, knocking out Guderian as Germany immediately weakens their tank divisions.
- War support myth: rumours say capturing a general raises your war support and lowers the enemy’s. That’s false — I’ve tested it personally, numbers don’t change.
- The prisoner does not join your side; he just waits to be freed.
If Your General Gets Captured
All his buffs are lost instantly. The army is left without a commander, planning resets. A well‑leveled general represents hundreds of days of experience, so losing him really stings.
The best way to get him back is a special operation through your agency. Capitulating the enemy or recapturing a specific city can take too long; agents usually handle it within weeks.
How to Capture Enemy Generals
No special tricks are needed — the same tactics as a regular offensive work here. Create tank spearheads, close pockets. The AI, unlike with normal divisions, will try to pull its HQ out of danger the moment it senses an encirclement. So you have to close the ring fast.
The result is true "general pockets": an enemy HQ gets locked in a cauldron and destroyed. The key is not to let it slip away at the last moment.
