Nations
From HQWiki
[edit] Playable Nations
Germany, the center of World War II in many eyes, Strong land military, Strong air military but a navy which cannot destroy the Royal Navy (British Navy) or the US Navy. Conflicts on all fronts, the UK is hostile if you attack neutral nations. The USSR is hostile if not an ally. Your only true Ally is the Italians, but they are far weaker then you.Japan is also a friend but not a very close one, but still when they are at war they will accept an alliance proposal.
The USSR has a huge front to defend, and the germans on the west will be expanding fast, the Japanese might soon be your new border-nation and you are a commie, so no one likes you. On the bright side you have ton of all resources and cities, the east front is considered "wasteland" and can be easily defended with a good bomber/fighter defence. On the west you can easily conquer the Germans after they have been exhaused by everyone else, and therefore make only a minor threat.
If you are Playing as the United States of America you have a lot recources, and you will have lots of food but if you don't sell anything, you will get a lot of financial penalties. An idea is to upgrade New York until 200 IPU's (the max.).
France is in tough situation, with unfriendly Italy and Germany next to you. If you try to out military Germany you will lose. Britain might not even send a force if Germany invades. Your best hope is to attack Italy early and Austria if possible. Then just flank Germany with a huge force.
Playing with the Italians is hard as the Italians start off with almost no resources of its own. However, they begin with an army quite large and a navy that can almost match the British's. The Italians also have good relations with the Japanese and have a very close relationship with Germany. A smart idea is to invade Yugoslavia and to ally with the Germans in the case of the British declaring war on you.
Starting off with a small army but the largest navy in the game, the United Kingdom has territories all over the world, in India, Newfoundland, Africa, South America, Burma, and Hong Kong. An idea is to try to increase the IPUs of the cities in Great Britain and to start building an army when Germany invades Czechoslovakia. France would be your ally, the USSR are a potential ally, and you can try to ally with the United States, though they rarely do anything outside of the Western Hemisphere. Italy has a navy that can almost match yours but can be destroyed. Germany also has a navy but the thing you should fear from them is especially their army and their air force. Also, you can try to ally with China against the Japanese who would most likely take India and Burma after conquering China. Another plan is to give independence to India and Burma (or hand Burma over to the Indians, or keep Burma yourself) and ally with the Chinese so that the Indians could support the Chinese against the Japanese so you don't have to deal with the threat of a Japanese invasion.
The typical thing of Japan to do is to build up an army or increase your IPUs beforehand, and declare war on China.
[edit] Major Nations
Being in South America, you can conquer everyone without cultural penelty, except the Brazilians.
[edit] Minor Nations
Like most minor nations, Luxenbourg is hard to play, however IF you would suceed to conquer all of Germany or France there is no penalties, but is nearly impossible until around turn 2500.
