Most Hearts of Iron 4 players enjoy creating interesting borders and establishing unusual countries that wouldn’t have had a chance to rise during the Second World War.
Puppets play a significant role in the game, and many players would like to make them larger and more powerful to assist their overlord in upcoming wars.
However, there isn’t a simple mechanic to give your Puppets territories as you would in Europa Universalis or Victoria.
To give Puppets land in Hearts of Iron 4, players will either need to select them during a Peace Conference and annex provinces for them or enter the occupied territories menu to give them back their cores.
Can You Give Land to Puppets in HOI4?
Yes, Puppets can get lands from their overlords, but it is very circumstantial. There are only two ways for a Puppet to get land from the player:
- Through Peace Deals
- Return Territory
In wars, players can choose to give their Puppets the lands of their defeated enemies.
During peacetime, players can give their Puppets back their core provinces, but nothing more than that. So, if you are looking to give your Puppet some territories that you have that aren’t their cores, there’s no way to do that.
How to Give Puppets Land in Peace Deals
When a Peace Conference starts, players will see all the victors on the right side of the screen. Their Puppets will also appear there, at the bottom, with a 0% Contribution.
Click on the Puppet and then make sure you have selected the Take State Demand option on the left. Now, select all the states you want your Puppet to take over and fight the Contributions game with allies until they get all that you want.
Now, some players will also want to give territories to a Puppet they just freed or formed in the Peace Conference. This is impossible.
If you select to Puppet one of the defeated countries or liberate one of their states, these newly-formed Puppets can only get their old territories back or their cores.
To give land to a Puppet formed in a Peace Conference, remain in the Puppet Demand category on the right and select the territories of the country you just puppeted to get them for your new country. Otherwise, someone else might steal the land of the country you puppeted and you’ll have a Puppet with one state.
How to Give Core Lands to Puppets
Unfortunately, there is no simple button to give Puppets land in HOI4. However, there is a simple button to give them back their cores:
- Press the flag of your country in the top left corner of the screen to open the Political menu (or just press Q on your keyboard).
- Under the portrait of your head of state and under the icon for your ruling party, click the Occupied territories button.
- Here you will see a list of all the countries under you that could be liberated. Find the nation you want to give the core state and press the “Return territory” button.
This will allow the player to give their Puppets their core states. Though this won’t really help you paint the map, it can help you get rid of potential territories that cause problems with their Resistance or lack of Compliance.
That’s everything you need to know about how to give land to Puppets in Hearts of Iron 4!
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