Hearts of Iron IV - The Ultimate WWII Strategy Game

[Vaarna_Aarne]

2 years for CV and BB is a massive time constraint and basically means that if you have to use naval warfare, you have to win the first decisive battle. And in case of Japan, probably never lose a naval battle after that one either, since there's only so many simultaneous capital ship productions you can do (compared to basically endless torpedo DD/CL/Sub spam with NAV and air superiority if you want to get meta, which Japan has additional incentive to do because they can actually do that CL part and have mega-torpedoes) with the resources available in Asia while also trying to maintain and expand a land army. And all the synthetic refineries and tech too (though I think the fuel thing in general tends to make Japan a fairly fun campaign choice even in mod scenarios).


This is one thing I think BICE and R56 do manage to improve on, since they have far less qualms about letting the player go off the rails with growing industry, so you're less boxed in with your options. The steel problem in Asia is particularly glaring in Kaiserreich since it's even more rigid on resources than the base game.

It seems to again get to that only Old World Blues has completely nailed resources, by making only one resource (Advanced Technology) limited in availability and it's for a good reason.


PS: Also tech teams weren't good IMO and unlimited research slots were and are a bad idea, blueprints also made tech in general trivial to max. HoI4 I'd say manages to get the best mixture by having that hard limit of 5 (albeit with a little creativity communist USA can get 6) with a fairly large number of techs (especially for navy, there the problem is really just that torpedoes stronk), so there atually is an element of prioritization even for larger countries (design companies add to this, albeit this I think is a bit clunky and the older KR system of treating design company bonuses like military chief bonuses was a better solution; the design company system of BICE is a goddamn nightmare tho). Obviously HoI3 had the worst one.

 

[Raghar]

Research slots were limited by IC, and by monetary income, smaller income for dictatorships larger for market economies. (Thought most market economies typically just have debts and either don't pay them, or inflate them away.)
Blueprints were nice, I removed all units and tech from Japan in HoI2, and replaced them with blueprints. It was interesting playtrough.

2 years for making a big capital ship isn't that bad. Escorts for it would take a while as well. 1 CV - 2 years. 1 CA - 1 year. 8+ DD - year+. These destroyers take time as well, and the worst problem is steel needed for these ships. 45 steel for 2 years for a high end CV. 60 steel for 1/2 - 1/3 year for high end CL.
And then there is that massive problem of developers who removed that 2D combat map, and combat range. MTG expansion would work awesomely with that, especially when they would add location damage. You put components on ship, you get damage based on location you put them. It's simple trivial and nearly no coding is needed. (The simplest sensible way is. It goes forward, the hit is calculated from lower left to the upper right of the component list. It runs away, it's opposite and it rolls small chance for rudder/screw damage.)

Another chance they threw away is naval battle replays. Imagine you could watch any battle in last month you missed. Seen ships in action, seen what you did right.

Then there is that absurdity that's current carrier battles. Normally equal number of carriers and paranoid number of AA ships should end by lot of fighters and bombers dead, and ships at most damaged, then fleet that lost most airplanes move back to replenish them. But of course, that applied year ago. Nowadays carriers fighters don't have high loses, and all loses are automatically replenished every 24 hours, no need to be within reach of friendly air base, nor dock in port.

I actually managed to design working AI for HoI4 naval combat, but it would be useless with naval combat model like HoI4 uses now.

 

[Life of the Party]

Red Flood Progress Report 16 - United Provinces!

Hello all,

I’m Comrade-Commissar Treekaru, head writer of Red Flood, here with a progress report with a baby of mine, the United Provinces of India, Churchill’s personal piece of the Raj. So, some history.

HISTORY

Winston Churchill was disgraced after Gallipoli, and the British Empire, already strained by the Great War, saw him as little more than a stain on the reputation of the Empire, internally, in the colonies, and externally. The battle went horrifically in this timeline, even worse for the ANZAC forces than before, and the retreat was much messier, resulting in 95 000 total dead (compared to the 46k OTL), including the near-complete annihilation of ANZAC and Indian forces during the retreat . This egg on the face of Britain meant that Churchill was quietly withdrawn from service, and soon after the war ended, he was put to work in Kurdistan, where the thinking was more or less ‘well, he can’t cause much damage there!’

They were wrong.

After the Mahabad Massacre, where troops under the command of Churchill, Colonial Commander, fired upon civilians and resulted in 157 deaths, Churchill was relieved of his post there, though the official reason was his insistence in using chemical weaponry against the rowdy Kurdish civilians. He was then put to Uttar Pradesh, or the United Provinces, as a low-level administrator. Churchill was sent to India to do paperwork, but unfortunately, his charisma and ability to speak to the leaders with a passion got him more and more attention, until he was allowed to test his theory of ‘gas the natives to keep them in line.’ Of course, at first, he advocated only for the use of tear gas and similar agents.

But when the Raj collapsed, it was found that those were not sufficient. He began a home industry of producing chlorine gas, in hopes he wouldn’t need to use it, but as supplies ran short, eventually, he bit the bullet. Originally intended for the most troublesome peoples, its application became broader and broader, until eventually it was a nearly de facto fact of life that rebellious behaviour got chlorine gas in your village. But he did show some restraint - he didn’t use it in the cities.

But after years of fighting, years of drinking, years of constant guilt and self-abuse, Churchill has become apathetic, permitting the use of gas every time a general asks. Now, the smell of chlorine has been burned into the minds of the people of Uttar Pradesh as the symbol of Churchill and his oppressive rule. Their friends, families, relatives, all have been butchered by Churchill’s men, and increasingly the nation (and its leader) is seen as a bloating corpse, still walking around only by virtue of the fact its factories still produce gas. But even those machines are wearing out, starting to break down. It’s only a matter of time until the people of India rise up, and Churchill knows it.

Democratic Churchill

The first path he can take is one of old British values - he can install a democratic system, where every man has a say in his own destiny. Sure, it’s not exactly the easiest path - the biggest thing is suddenly creating a new court system, a bicameral government, and getting an idea of who is actually in the nation. After that, then you can start to look at the content of the nation you are forming.

Do you allow all dissenting opinions, allow freedom of speech and for everyone to be able to voice their views, or do you only permit a small number of ideas into the public discourse? Do you allow all men to vote, or simply the anglos you have for so long trusted? You can choose to form a democracy how you see fit.

After that, you campaign. Things will happen on this campaign, and Churchill’s reactions will determine the outcome. The Labour, Liberal, and Tory parties are the three options, and I won’t spoil path too much, but all three groups have a chance to be elected.

A New You, Old Boy!

Of course, if Churchill decides that the native people just need a strong hand, his darkest path comes into play. Winston Churchill decides the issue isn’t that the Indian population of his little realm are humans who need to be treated as such, but that they need the light of British civilization to be proper people. He is convinced that they are lesser, and that they need the strong hand of Britishness to guide them. In other words - dissent will be punished with death.

He will start fighting the other warlords around him, crushing them effortlessly as the British supremacy over the Indian is made clear. He may allow their token help, such as permitting them to join collaborationist regiments, but they are there to act as loyal subjects of Britain, whose Indian-ness is secondary, if not tertiary, to their role as a British subject. They will speak English, they will abandon the savage Gods, they will look to Churchill as leader, sole leader, to guide India towards unification. Labour camps for dissenters, bullets for protestors, and much worse for those who actively fight Churchill.

I’m certain that this will go over smoothly, though.

Doomer Churchill

Churchill is a pretty sad guy.

As his days progress, he becomes sadder and sadder, more and more despondent, until eventually the officers must demand his presence, force him to attend meetings, and then they will hear his solution to the mounting problems. Surely, he has some idea as to what to do, some new idea, given he’s been reading all their reports, reading everything that he’s been given.

Right?

Oh, God.

And, from there? He might have a few new ideas, a few things to do. Invade Bihar? Of course, get access to the sea! You can open up trade with Britain then! Brilliant plan, sir. And after Bihar is taken? You’re going to...take another nap? Wait, what? There’s so much to do, so much we need establish proper systems of government, we need to stabilize the annexed areas, what are you doing?

We’re spread too thin, what are you do-

OH GOD

After the End

Through all these paths, there’s the chance for utter, complete, collapse of Winston’s empire, and when that happens, the vultures will circle overhead, and more often than not, Churchill's empires is merely absorbed into nearby nations. But there is someone who might be able to take over, someone who knows that violence is the way to rule, not just over India, but over the whole world. Someone whose devoted followers will fight, die, and kill millions for, if they get the chance. But really, how different was that from life under Churchill? It’s just a change in management.

 

[Life of the Party]

 

[Life of the Party]

might as well be a teaser day, I haven't given a meaningful teaser in a while Here's the new and improved minority system for Illyria. To reduce unrest, penalties, risk, etc., you will still go to decisions or perhaps I will add a bar to the side. Flavor events will increase these values. oh but the pie chart is purely cosmetic And yes... You can designate them as terror groups https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachme...20518912/71a3a122026b8b2b91803cd6d12decdd.png

You may only have 2 groups designated as terror organizations, and it costs a political power fee to add and remove Groups labeled as a terrorist organization are easier to deal with compared to non-terror groups

 

[Life of the Party]

 

[Life of the Party]

 

[Life of the Party]

 

[cw8]

Kinda apt now ya?

 

[Space Satan]

Life of the Party can you at least put this crap under spoiler, retard? The whole thread turned into trash thanks to you and this shitty mod

 

[Life of the Party]

Godspeed: A Flame for Winter

 

[Fedora Master]

These mods are Steppe Wolfe tier.

 

[Life of the Party]

You mean that Bulgarian history mod for EU? Can't say I see the resemblance.

I did however think about opening a HoI modding thread, both for this stuff as well as for just general modding advice. Probably a good idea, especially with La Resistance on the horizon.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

In general a good idea, HoI4's extremely flexible and easy to mod, so if anyone's got some minor annoyances or otherwise with anything there are usually ways to work around that (ie, one of the national focuses in my recent replay of BICE had a broken availability condition).

 

[Raghar]

Does anyone have any idea how to deal with Japanese fleet that's on "invasion support" somewhere near east islands, while Japan has 0 convoys and AI decided steel is more important for something else than convoys, thus they are not being produced and Japanese army is on island, AND they have naval superiority near Japan when theirs fleet is 2000-3000 km away. And US has nearly 0 convoys and UK murdered US ships, when US was in war with Peru, thus US will not be of any help with destroying Japanese fleet either.

 

[Space Satan]

Minefields

 

[Raghar]

Minefields doesn't work when enemy fleet is in port and don't wanna play.

But I found a solution: Turkish socialistic republic.

They naval invaded Japan just fine. Roaches told them where is enemy fleet, Russians or Turkish airforce, hard to tell which one, bombed them in ports. Iran nuclear bombed Japan. And Turks successfully invaded Nagasaki, and then Hiroshima area. While I sucesffully invaded that island south of Japan, and then discovered there is no proper port to resupply, thus part of my troops was rapidly moving towards Nagasaki area to reach Turks.

 

[thesheeep]

Turkey doing anything well in this game sounds pretty insane to me.
Even in Kaiserreich, the Ottomans rarely do much of anything after their civil war.

 

[Raghar]

Turkey doing anything well in this game sounds pretty insane to me.
Even in Kaiserreich, the Ottomans rarely do much of anything after their civil war.

There you have a nice image. Turkey invaded US and butchered Canada.

And there is result. It solves all US problems. No problem with Mexican immigrants.

 

[janior]

people still play this?

 

[Space Satan]

people still play this?

More people than Left 4 Dead 2, Fallout 4 and Civ V play this

 

[razvedchiki]

Any advice for soviet union in black ice at barbarossa?basically when the war starts i have zero org and my divisions route really quickly.
I did the same as in hoi3 black ice,creating a defence line behind the dneiper in order for events to fire to restore my org before the germans reach my lines but it seems this isnt the case in this game.

 

[Raghar]

Any advice for soviet union in black ice at barbarossa?basically when the war starts i have zero org and my divisions route really quickly.
I did the same as in hoi3 black ice,creating a defence line behind the dneiper in order for events to fire to restore my org before the germans reach my lines but it seems this isnt the case in this game.

Remember AI is weak and needs help. Pretend you have problems and fight Germany honestly.

 

[razvedchiki]

I expected a retarded answer but yours take the prize.

 

[razvedchiki]

none plays with the deep battle folk?