This guide assumes you own ALL DLC up to and including Waking the Tiger, and assumes you are on A-historical and Japan did NOT take "Purge the Kodoha Faction".

There is some degree of luck in this as well, you may have a much easier or harder time depending on whether Italy annexes Albania before you can, and whether Romania joins Poland's faction (This may allow you to join axis and take Romania in Miedz peace deal vs having to join WW2 to get it.)

The ideal situation is a more-or-less historical run, except Japan goes Support Kodoha. If any of the majors have a civil war it may still be possible to form Byzantium, but it will be much harder due to the extra WT.

This guide will also not work if Bulgaria or turkey go communist, as the generic communist tree makes justifying war goals take longer and cost more.

Begin the game by doing focuses down the Fascism side of the political tree all the way to Militarism. Once you get Militarism, swap to Industrial Effort to get the 100% speed bonus to spend on Advanced Machine Tools. Then go down the Military Factories focuses, then Civilian Factories focuses. While doing civilian factories focuses, rotate out with army effort/doctrine effort in time to boost your next doctrine researches.

Whilst this is happening do the following researches, in this order.

1. Basic machine tools -> Improved machine tools -> Advanced machine tools. -> weapons or artillery.

2. Electronic Mechanical Engineering -> Radios -> Concentrated Industry II -> Support Weapons I -> anything weapons/artillery related

3. Superior Firepower until you fill the tree. Go down the Integrated Support and Shock and Awe trees, airland battle is bad for this run because you will not even have planes researched until after forming Byzantium.


When basic machine tools finishes switch from radios to concentrated Industry I and then back once Industry I finishes

As soon as you have the PP, hire the fascist demagogue adviser as your first one. After that, take "Open up political Discourse" and "Discredit Government" decisions. Do not do any Fascist Support decisions, because they decrease stability and we don't need them to get fascist in time anyways. I recommend waiting to do "Discredit Government" until after you're about 41% fascist, because the fascism daily support scales down as your country becomes more fascist.

When you hit 50%, take the decision to become fascist.

As soon as you have 215 PP, justify war goal to take 3 of Yugoslavia's states, one of Bulgaria's, and Take Claimed State on Turkey, in that order. This will allow you to declare war on all of them in the same day, avoiding allied intervention in the war. Whilst justifying, save enough PP to swap over to War Economy, and do not swap from civilian until you can go straight to War Economy (you need the PP for military advisers).

Note: Romania will not intervene in the war, as they guarantee both you and turkey.

Once your justifications finish, which should be within a few days of each other, declare on all three of Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Turkey on the same day.

Do not move off of the border until they start to run out of supplies. Simply sit tight and let them die attacking your entrenched soldiers. Make sure to keep a couple soldiers on your ports and Athens, or Turkey will naval invade you and that's that.

Take down either Bulgaria or Yugoslavia, then the other, then Turkey.

I recommend finishing off Bulgaria first as it gives a good flank into Yugoslavia. Focus on getting to capitol first and then moving out from there for rest of Bulgaria, this will rob them of a significant amount of manpower and factories.

For Yugoslavia, attempt to encircle the frontline from the bulgarian front.

Once you're attacking Turkey, use forced pockets (leaving a gap in the line with a circle of men behind it where you can cut the gap and leave them stranded) to get past Constantinople into the rest of Anatolia.

Once you've got all three of these countries annexed, join the axis.

This is where it gets annoying. If Italy has already annexed albania, you must restart. If they have not, justify Albania and annex them.

italy will not interfere because even though they guarantee Albania, the faction system prevents them from declaring war on you.

Immediately after annexing albania, Justify Romania if your faction is not already at war with them. it's preferable to take Romania alone or as part of the polish coalition war vs Germany, that way you can get all of it in the peace deal.

You may now form Byzantium!

I suggest you work on dockyards and naval research to help Germany take down UK and while waiting clear out Afrika of allied troops or push to the Raj and defeat them before they become a Major Power, but from here on you may do as you wish; The phoenix has risen!