I was wondering what were the best starts for newbies who have never played a HOI game before and what are the best ways to play and goals to shoot for as certain starts to shoot for. For example, I'm assuming Italy is a decent start considering they start off at war with a weaker nation that can be annexed, allowing for easy empire building in the beginning but I feel like once WW2 roles around, the most likely outcome for newbies, with a massively greater number of Allies vs. Axis, the Allies creaming Italy if it joins the Axis. I've wanted to try building a Latin American empire with on of their nations, but the early game is a little dull since the entirety of Latin America is under the protection of the USA so I feel like I'll have pray that the USA gets distracted by a world war or else I'll be steamrolled. Any tips?