Welcome to another development diary on Hearts of Iron IV.
Today we’ll talk about one of the most important gadgets of WW2, the radio. The radio was used for communication and for propaganda. It was used on the battlefield, and in people’s homes.
In our game, we have a technology called “Radio” which simulates adopting the inventions of amateur radio operators and extending the use of FM radio to reduce radio interference and allow us to find new uses for radio technology. This later on leads to the construction of Radar Stations. Looking closely at this technology tells us it gives +10% chance to reinforce.
The radio technology also is a prequisite to be able to build Signal Companies for your divisions. Each of those increases your divisions initiative by 5%, which besides making planning quicker, also increases your reinforce chance.

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Now, veterans of HoI3 asks, why is reinforce chance important enough to mention in a development diary.
First of all, there is a maximum combat width in a battle, and if that is exceeded, all divisions fight worse, and divisions will not join battle at all if it has a risk of giving too much of a penalty to a battle. The rest of the divisions ordered to defend or attack is held in reserves,
Sometimes though, divisions gets knocked out of combat, or a tactic opens up bigger width, which allows a division to attempt to reinforce.
However, only 1 division is checked each hour, and without radio, you may end up with divisions taking days to join a battle, and the actual battle then being long decided.
Signal Companies use trucks and support equipment, and is one of the costliest support companies by far.
Radar stations on the other hand are buildings you build on the map. Radar stations generally work so that higher building levels give you more range and many overlapping stations give you better effects. Radar does several things:

• Lifts the fog of war over an area.
• Gives you information on enemy units in the area. The better your decryption technology is versus their encryption technology the more info you can see (such as exact numbers, division types and roughly what battalions make up their divisions).
• Increases chance of detecting and intercepting enemy ships (like submarines).
• Improves chance for airplanes on interception and patrol to catch enemy planes. Generally leads to them outnumbering the enemy as planes can scramble to the same place more effectively.

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Next week, we’ll talk about factories again, and what has changed since last time.

Hi everyone, its Friday which means its time for another development diary. This one is all about our underwater friends: The Submarines!

The role of the submarine in Hearts of Iron IV is the same as it was historically: To hunt down enemy shipping and not have to challenge a superior enemy fleet directly to hurt them. Its a particularly attractive choice as Germany who will likely be facing Britain and the massive Royal Navy.

Each nation can research 4 different submarine models, each more powerful and harder to catch.

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It is also possible to create variants of these using field experience where you can improve their torpedo attack, stealth or engine speed.

Submarines, like the rest of your ships are affected by doctrines. Here is a screenshot showing the submarine focus branch in the Trade Interdiction doctrine.

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Continue reading “Hearts of Iron IV – 38th Development Diary” →

Here you can see the Paradox devs speed-playing Hearts of Iron IV, one as Great Britain, and one as Germany. Enjoy!

http://www.twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive/v/28002064

True story.

>I had a good campaign with poland once (HoI III)

>only I simply said “sure thing bro” to the germans when they asked for danzig

>so they never invaded

>and letting the Germans build Autobahn through the Polish Corridor

>leaving me to freely invade the entire baltic and scandinavia

>waiting for the soviets and germans to kill each other

>then swooping in and taking the remains

>mighty polish empire

Welcome back to the development diaries of Hearts of Iron IV. This week’s diary is about the new system for civil wars and comes from the scripting side of the team, since this feature is closely tied to the political system and its events. I’m Rufus, scripter and content designer on Hearts of Iron IV, and have worked on many of the political events affecting the process you’ll see a bit of today.

Rather than limiting the possibility of civil wars to a few predetermined countries such as Spain and China, the new system allows for any country to become divided over political differences if the conditions are right — or wrong, depending on which side of things you’re standing when the war breaks out.

Let’s start out with a semi-historical example. Greece was plunged into civil war shortly after the end of World War II. But what if the political climate of Greece was different? What if the communist power base was larger, and the war broke out before Metaxas’ death?

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In the above screenshot, Greece has selected communist party leader Nikos Zachariadis in its ministers view. This does not represent Metaxas actually cooperating with Zachariadis, but rather allowing him to be active in the country, which is our tool for letting the player shift the nation’s politics. While the change is slow, a combination of external factors such as other nations supporting the Communist Party of Greece and events causing shifts in popular opinion has allowed its popular support to grow significantly.

If it reaches high enough levels, the player may choose to side with the communists and start a civil war on their side. Even if not actively pursued, if support continues to grow due to external pressure despite the player’s best efforts, a civil war will be inevitable and the player will have to choose their side.

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In this case, the player chooses to side with the Metaxas regime. So what happens when the war breaks out? One nation becomes two. This is not a pre-scripted civil war, so how exactly the nation is divided may differ, but in this case, the Provisional Democratic Government, as the communist administration is declared, operates from Crete and Thrace. It immediately enters a state of war with the Metaxas regime, both seeking to reunite Greece under their rule.

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In the case of historical civil wars that happen more or less on schedule, such as the one in Spain, the division is not arbitraty, but based on the historical circumstances. However, war will play out in a similar manner, and just as foreign support and volunteers played an important role in the Spanish Civil War, countries can try to intervene and support the side that they want to seize power in the country.

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Lastly, civil wars can be triggered not only by internal political turmoil, but also by foreign-supported attempted coups. In the example below, Germany is planning a coup in Belgium. They will have to supply both Political Power and equipment for the attempt, but if they succeed, they can throw the nation off balance and possibly even get a friendly government in place without any direct military involvement.

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Next week, we’ll talk more about Germany and its role in the game.