is HCG necessary? i guess it depends how much you value your gains and your recovery. can you get away without running HCG in a cycle? sure. you never "need" it, but i can't think of a situation where it isn't going to help. when you introduce any form of AAS to your body, you are going to down regulate and eventually shut off production of your natural testosterone. HCG is going to force your body to keep pushing out hormone which is beneficial when it comes to recovery at the end of your cycle. it'll also keep your testes from losing size, thus being able to produce more hormone than if they shrink while "on".
so my suggestion is to run HCG through the cycle at around 250iu every few days. if you over do HCG, it can desensitize you, making it not work as well. so stick with that low dose through the cycle and you wont run into that issue. near the end, if you have a good amount left over, i'd up the dose to 1000iu 2 to 3 times, up to 3 days BEFORE PCT begins. you dont want to use HCG while in PCT, as long as you are taking it, it wont allow you to begin your own natural production.
side note* dont use the sterile water that comes with your HCG. use bacteriostatic water. it'll only last a short time in sterile water, but the bac water will keep it good for some time.