Hex of Steel News

Hello guys!

I have talked in length about making a 'Best HoS mods' official post, for a long, LONG time...
Actually, the last similar post was made on July 31st 2022... (Link to the post for those of you who don't remember)

This time I will not make a top, I will just give you a few links to some mods that deserve some attention, and that you may have missed.
These mods are not ranked by 'the best', they are unsorted and ranked purely by me.

Alright, now that you know what we're gonna talk about today, let's start! Here's the top HoS mods I would recommend you to play...

[h3]Mod number 1: A World Map WW2[/h3]
As the mod name may suggest, it features a world map. It has pretty much every country that you can think about, it adds and modifies a ton of units, highly recommended to show the creator some love as it took over 6 months to complete.

[h3]Mod number 2: Avalon Hill World Scale[/h3]
Yet another world map mod. Although watch out for this one as it is truly massive and may not be supported on lower end PCs (I'm not even gonna talk about phones/tablets). A ton of work was put into that mod as well, and still is, as it isn't finished yet, but I'd really commend you to check it out :)

[h3]Mod number 3: Europe+[/h3]
A brand new Europe map, very similar to the vanilla one, but bigger (not to a point that it is unplayable, though). It is not yet finished, so don't worry if you subscribe and you cannot see the map in the game, but it will be finished very soon. I cannot wait for that one to release as it was made from scratch, using a mash up of real life maps (for cities, terrain, height, roads and railroads). I will definitely base my next playthrough on YouTube on this map!

[h3]Mod number 4: Marked Airfields[/h3]
Still one of those mods I use all the time. It basically changes the graphics of the airfields a little to give higher visibility even when units are on it. It looks very natural and fits the game quite well.

[h3]Mod number 5: Napoleonic Wars[/h3]
A total conversion mod to bring the 1800s into Hex of Steel. Highly recommended if you are a fan of the era. There are pretty much all campaign of Napoleon and the Coalition as well as entire Europe conversion scenarios. I cannot fathom how much work was put into that mod as well.

[h3]Mod number 6: Jun1941[/h3]
Ever wanted a historically accurate HUGE eastern front map, where each hex is 10 km? There you have it :) This is a high quality mod that also took a very long time to make, but as it is now ready, I highly recommend you checking this one out!

[h3]Mod number 7: Injim War Far East[/h3]
Total conversion of the game, brings the Korean conflicts of the 16th century into Hex of Steel. To anybody interested in this particular era/geographical area, a must have! Features high quality counters.

[h3]Mod number 8: American Revolution[/h3]
Total conversion mod which brings the 1770s to Hex of Steel. High quality mod, beautiful counters. Lovers of the era/period will absolutely love this mod!

[h3]Mod number 9: 6 Day War[/h3]
Yet another total conversion mod, this time focused on more modern events. Not only does this mod bring brand new modern units into the game, but an entirely custom hand-made map. Hats off to the author for that one :)

[h3]Mod number 10: Korea 85[/h3]
This total conversion mod brings the Korean war into Hex of Steel. Nothing much to say, except it is a great mod! Highly recommended as well.

[h3]Mod number 11: Commanders 1939[/h3]
Changes the base game commanders counters to give them a more personalized/unique look.
It will show the portrait of each commander on the counter.

[h3]Mod number 12: The Burma Campaign[/h3]
Mod adding a brand new scenario to the game, the Burma road campaign!

[h3]Mod number 13: Ethiopia '35[/h3]
Another mod bringing some uncovered events of WW2. The Ethiopian front!

[h3]Mod number 14: Dragon and Cross[/h3]
Total conversion mod (high quality) that brings China in the 1850s and 1860s. Just great!

[h3]Mod number 15: Visible Trenches[/h3]
Visual mod, just like the improved airfields one, but this time with trenches!


Alright, that's it for me, this is only my favorite 15 mods (not sorted in any way).
I invite you to take a look at the 200+ other mods available on the workshop and see what you are most interested in!

Have a great week-end

Val

[h3]ADDED[/h3]

• Mountain tile now got a summer version (without the snow).
  

[h3]CHANGED[/h3]

• Huge amount of campaign scenarios updated to support both manpower + upkeep settings, as well as general balance. Actually, I think I finished revamping all 'Western' scenarios, all that's left to update now would be the Pacific ones.
  
• You now can (as a Neutral) send units to other players.
  
• AI will no longer purchase drop tank for its planes on small scale scenarios (waste of money).
  
• Extra recruitment time for: Political units (SS/Guards), Mech. / Mot. options.
  
• Updated manual (including new manpower section).
  
• The way the improved AP shells policy bonus is calculated. Now more efficient.
  

[h3]FIXED[/h3]

• AI would deploy anti tank obstacles in victory points.
  
• AI could waste its movement if it could kill a unit that was on an adjacent tile to him.
  
• Europe 1939, Italy should have owned Rijeka and Zadar (Balkans/Yugoslavia).
  
• AI engineers moving out from rivers when they should have stayed to help allies cross.
  
• AI not using pontoon bridges or engineers to cross rivers.
  
• When purchasing new units while the reserve panel was open, it would not refresh its content.
  
• If the unit you have selected was taking supportive fire, its stats would not be refreshed (selected unit stats shown on UI).
  
• More research points policy was broken, upon losing the policy, the extra research points would not be removed.
  
• UI size issue with transfer panel (cumbersome and couldn't always display all of the needed information).
  
• AI would often waste artillery attacks by moving more than 1 tile when it could have moved just 1. It will now move only 1 tile if it doesn't need to move closer to be able to fire at the enemy.
  
• ZiS-3 had too high stats.
  
• UI volume slider in game would not be set to its actual value when opening the UI.
  
• Your own armour obstacle would prevent your own armoured vehicles to move on the tile.
  
• When having the possibility to kill more than 1 unit, AIs bombers would not prioritize destroying the most valuable target.
  
• AI would place down many launch sites near each other (too close to really be worth it).
  
• Stalingrad 1942 standalone scenario would never end.
  
• Reaching max commander rank in campaign (20) was impossible. Therefore unlocking the associated achievement was impossible too.
  
• In map editor "hold VP" button would not properly work when setting the tile for a member of the Comintern faction (would work fine for Axis and Allies though).
  
• When a unit was granted a hero which provided a +1 visibility bonus, it would actually act as +2 visibility.
  
• When AI attacked with coastal batteries, it would trigger supportive fire from artillery.
  
• Some units stats inconsistencies.
  
• Railroad issue in Northern Russia on Europe scenario.
  

Hey everyone!

It's a big moment as we’re rolling up to the 80th anniversary of D-Day, and to mark this historic occasion, I'm slashing the price on Hex of Steel by 40%! Whether you're a seasoned strategist or a newcomer eager to dive into the intense theaters of WW2, now’s your chance to snag the game at a great price.

For those who haven't yet jumped into the action, Hex of Steel is a strategic WW2 wargame that puts you in the commander's seat. With a massive sandbox environment and yet a historical focus, you can rewrite history or follow in the footsteps of the greatest generals of the era (I mean, blunders can happen too).

The sale starts today and will run until next week. So rally your troops and prepare your best strategies – the battlefield awaits!

Catch you on the front lines,

Val

[h3]ADDED[/h3]

• First of new Fictional scenarios. People often asked for small scenarios, unfortunately, the game doesn't feature really many small scale scenarios. To solve this issue, I have started working on designing new small scale scenarios (max 30x30) to fill this gap. The downside of this is these scenarios are completely made up, they are not historical in any way, they are fictional.
  
• From the map editor, you can now control the amount of entrenchment for any given unit on the map.
  
• Oerlikon 20mm to Switzerland.
  

[h3]CHANGED[/h3]

• Multiplayer compatibility -> 7.5.1.
  
• Screen resolution setting. Instead of displaying a list of pre chosen (by me) resolutions, now the game will automatically generate the list of all resolutions supported by your screen. This is better since I could not keep track of all resolutions used by all screens in the world, and this will also help unclutter the dropdown since you will be shown only useful information.
  
• In the map editor, the HP modifier for unit on scenario start is now properly indicated as a %.
  
• The weather icon in the game's UI now only indicate the current turn weather, instead of the prediction for next turn. If you want the forecast, you now have to place you mouse directly over the icon to get the full forecast.
  
• Many, many campaign scenarios rebalanced. and updated.
  
• In the map editor, for the 'Spawn unit' or 'Add unit to reserve' event action, you now have full access to the units store to pick what unit you want to be spawned (previously you only could pick a country and a name, now you have full customization available).
  
• Sleep state data of units turned into a more data friendly format, unfortunately this results in a complete loss of original data upon loading your save, so for one turn you will have to set them again.
  
• AI will now properly flank when its path is blocked by enemies or friendlies and an alternative path is available.
  
• Commanders and recon bonus now is scaled with HP of the unit receiving the damage bonus. So, if your unit is at 10% HP, it will be getting the bonus scaled by HP amount.
  
• Supply routes going through enemy territory will be applied a great penalty.
  
• The game will now look for all folders and files inside the local Maps folder. This means that if you are working on some campaign, you may now create a dedicated folder for it. The game will recreate the hierarchy in the standalone scenarios UI.
  

[h3]FIXED[/h3]

• Potential AI freeze.
  
• Tile info UI lying to you when you picked the 'Minimized destruction' policy. It would show you a constant +50% income although it was not applied (even on not destroyed tiles).
  
• AI units would try to move (and run the calculations algorithm) even though they could not (action points = 0, because they repaired during the turn). Small (?) waste of performances.
  
• Supply route could move through territories that was not allied or at war with the player (example, German's supply routes going through Switzerland).
  
• AI would deploy buildables in enemy victory points. Leading to impossibility to capture it.
  
• KV-8S did not have the 'has flamethrower' property.
  
• T-40 was missing the 'amphibious' property.
  

All current saves remain compatible with the new system, you have nothing to worry about, you can just keep playing, everything is automatically converted, as always :)

[h3]ADDED[/h3]

• -15% damage penalty during bad weather (for all units), except for planes if the All Weather Policy is enabled.
  
• Weather forecast system.
  
• Possibility to edit the weather table of any scenario using the map editor (forecast accuracy, accuracy loss, how many turns in the future, and percentage of bad weather for every month).
  
• Translation of the game in Turkish.
  
• Tooltip over date indicating game's speed (how many days per turn).
  
• Upkeep cost of units in the tooltip in the research menu.
  
• Occupied area shown through the political map.
  
• Map editor new event trigger settings: Don't trigger before date/turn.
  

[h3]CHANGED[/h3]

• Multiplayer compatibility -> 7.5.0.
  
• Reworked the weather system from the ground up. The new system now makes more sense, and is more accurate as a whole. The percentage of bad weather is now applied to the whole month, and no longer to every single turn. It also scales to the speed at which days go by.
  
• Confirmation windows now have a black background and will prevent any interaction until the choice has been made.
  
• AI order of playing its units changed a little, now, on top of being played in the order it currently is played, it will also be playing its wounded units first. This should have for effect to unclutter the front with wounded units, and to have fresh troops going to the front right away instead of having fresh troops behind waiting for nothing by playing before the wounded ones first. Hope that made sense :)
  
• Another AI movement/positioning change, it will now move weak units right after they play, instead of waiting a full 1/2 turn. This will free space for stronger units as well, instead of them staying behind and waiting for their turn. Basically, AI is doing something close to swapping now.
  
• Rebalance of several scenarios to make them playable with upkeep + manpower.
  
• Military tactics damage bonus is now scaled with unit's HP. So when the unit is down to 10 HP, it will get 10% of those 30% damage bonus instead of getting the full 30% on base damage resulting in very crazy damage values (too high for the HP value of the unit).
  

[h3]FIXED[/h3]

• One instance of AI unit stacking (due to destroyed bridges).
  
• Another instance of AI unit stacking (due to overrun setting + Fast AI setting).
  
• In some cases, tile data could not be updated when snow fell/melted.
  
• Pz 38t(e) had too high armour.
  
• Winter doctrine increased cost of commanders although they automatically get the winter equipment option from the store.