Hearts of Iron IV News

When we release (not announce) [redacted], we will be removing Man the Guns from sale and rolling all content contained therein into the base game, as part of the free patch. Features such as the Ship Designer, Governments in Exile, Amtracs, Naval Access controls and Admiral Traits will now be part of the core HoI4 experience. The British and US focus trees will now contain their alt-history branches by default. If you want to see more, you can check out the Man the Guns store page while it is still accessible.

We have but a few days until our formal announcement (yes, I’m announcing the announcement), but our developer corners have been running now for a few months. After the releases of Götterdämmerung and Graveyard of Empires we committed to doing these in future - they are a great way to get early feedback in, and to help people understand what’s coming without going too far into detail. What we lose in impact, I believe, is more than made up for in quality - we’ve already made quite a few changes based on the feedback of the community this time around, some of which you may be able to spot in the following, carefully cropped images.

There could be several things going on here…

Many Content Designers died to bring us this information.

This one isn’t very subtle, but we felt it was important to make it clear - Korea will no longer be a playable starting tag. It didn’t have any planned content in this release, and historically made more sense as a governed territory. You will of course still be able to release and play as Korea if you like.

Horse

And a highly sought-after portrait update… which country leader could this be?

Of course this is not even close to all in terms of fan feedback we’ve acted on or implemented, but you’ll have to wait a bit longer to see things in greater depth.

And now I’ll hand over to our Tech Lead to talk a bit about the internal development impact of rolling an expansion like Man the Guns into the base game.

/Arheo



Hello,
As Arheo wrote above, we’ll be integrating Man the Guns into the base game as part of the free patch accompanying [redacted]. Meaning, it will be impossible to disable the DLC and to buy it as it will be a part of the base game.

The first time I heard about integrating a DLC in the base game about a year ago (Together for Victory, Death or Dishonor and Waking the Tiger) my first thoughts were “why?”. Quickly followed by “how do I make that work?” and then “this is wonderful”. This time around I jumped straight ahead to the “this is wonderful” part. In this post, I hope to be able to share some insight on why it’s appreciated by us in the development team when we integrate a DLC in the base game.

Every new DLC we release provides new content, mechanics, units or art to the game. This is of course what we want, more mechanics to use, more countries to play and have awesome looking units. But every new mechanic or piece of content that we add to the game will interact with the other parts of the game, creating additional overhead when adding the next thing. For example, a country that was developed before Arms Against Tyranny didn’t need to set up MIOs but since then, we now add and test MIOs for new countries as well. We also have to consider that not everyone has Arms Against Tyranny, so the content that interacts with the MIOs also needs to consider what to do if you don’t own Arms Against Tyranny. Quite often it means that we have to write two different versions of, for example, a focus.

Integrating a DLC doesn’t remove the features and content from it but it allows us to assume that everyone has the features and content from that DLC. That allows for fewer implementations of ownership checking, but perhaps more importantly lets us develop features even further without seeing diminishing returns on the number of players who have access to them. Ultimately this both saves us development time, and opens up new avenues to create better and updated content.

/pdxen

Hi again,

Today’s Dev Corner is a bit different from the previous ones in that it is not about presenting new ideas, thoughts or concepts. Instead it ties together the East Asia arc we are currently building, and how the features we have already discussed fit that arc.

If you have been following along these corners, you’ve noticed that the countries we have revealed so far are; Japan, the Philippines, the People’s Republic of China, and Nationalist China. The pillars we have shown are changes to the naval gameplay, faction dynamics, and coal and energy.

As we have said numerous times - what we have talked about is very much work in progress, and numbers and UI are subject to change. And as always, your feedback shapes what stays and what goes. But back to the arc:

[h2]The Regional Narrative: Japan invades China, the Pacific reacts[/h2]
We start from a concrete situation. Japan pushes into China, which stresses industry and supply on the mainland, pulls the Pacific into a contest over island chains and shipping lanes, and forces factions to define who they are and what they will tolerate. From that narrative, a few design aims follow.

1. Industry tempo must be a strategic choice, not a foregone conclusion. Coal produces Energy that powers civilian, military, and dockyard output along a base to fully powered scale. Economic laws now affect energy consumption, so pushing mobilization has a cost, while demobilizing at the right moment can be the better play. The goal is to give you levers that tie mainland campaigns, maritime buildup, and home front politics into one readable economy without adding bookkeeping.
   
2. Sea control must matter at the right places and at the right times. This is why we are reshaping Naval Dominance. Dominance accumulates rather than flickering on and off, thresholds vary by sea type, and control brings tangible benefits such as fewer convoys along secure routes. The reintroduced Home Base system ties range and supply to where fleets are staged, and island categories create sensible caps so not every dot in the ocean can host a mega base. All of that supports a Pacific that moves with readable momentum.
   
3. Factions must act to their own doctrine, not just their ideology tag. Faction Manifestos set long term purpose, Goals push concrete actions, Rules define who can join and how members behave, and Initiatives earned from goals let leaders evolve the faction. This turns the political layer into a set of strategic commitments that you feel on the map.
   
4. Martial Virtues are an important part of society and shape the nature of warfare. In both Japan, and in China various aspects of martial virtue are an important part of forming the society in this era and the shape of the war.This is perhaps mainly prevalent in how the country content has been constructed, but is also an important part of the other features we have been working on.
   

[h2]Why this matters for East Asia[/h2]

[h3]Mainland tempo and energy choices[/h3]
On the mainland, the pace of operations in China is tied to Energy. A country that secures coal and manages law driven consumption hits production targets earlier, but risks overextension elsewhere.
A country that delays can stay flexible, but pays with slower force build up. Because output scales with the Energy ratio between base and fully powered, you see results quickly enough to learn and adjust mid campaign.
Japan will need to go hunting for resources and coal in order to power its war machine. This can be done in different ways, partly through trade, but mainly through conquest. Other countries can try to stop Japan, by either trade blockades, or by contesting their aggression by force of arms.

[h3]Sea lanes and Islands[/h3]
The Pacific is a logistics puzzle first and a battle map second. Naval Dominance makes that visible. Patrols build it up, escorts protect it, raiders cut it down, and strike forces amplify the whole plan. Establishing control across a shipping route reduces convoy needs, so a well prepared island hopping chain becomes an economic advantage, not just a staging line. Pair that with Home Base range and supply, and you get clear incentives to develop a few key harbors, then pivot them forward as your front advances.
Carriers also pull their weight more consistently. Carrier air groups can defend against incoming naval strikes and execute air missions while the task force is on assignment, which keeps pressure on contested seas without the carrier sitting idle.
Strategic Locations give a small set of islands extra capacity where history and geography justify it, reinforcing the idea that not every atoll is equal.

[h3]Factions that encourage you to act[/h3]
Faction work turns the political layer from flavor into direction. Manifestos and Goals encourage behavior that fits the theater. In our earlier notes we contrasted Axis conquest goals with a Japanese led sphere that prioritizes resource security, coastal control, and puppet management. That framing helps explain why East Asia asks for different actions than Europe, and why naval goals like coastal security sit beside resource and puppet aims in early setups for the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Mechanically, Goals award Initiatives that leaders use to change Rules or add upgrades such as research sharing or doctrine cooperation. Influence comes from contribution and participation, and higher influence means more say in how the faction evolves. All of this matters in East Asia where coalition composition and obligations can decide whether a risky push is feasible or folly.

[h3]Improved military planning [/h3]
As faction leader you have more tools for directing your allies. Guiding them towards what is important for you and the faction as a whole. And individual countries will have new ways of interacting with, and customizing, their armed forces - which, if streamlined within the faction, can make the faction goals even more achievable.


[h3]How the pieces work together[/h3]
Put simply, the regional arc can be summed up as:

• Secure energy and pick your tempo. Energy choices in the economy define how fast you can arm and build. Overreach can stall you at the worst time. Establish naval dominance to secure supply, trade, and potential future naval invasions.
  
• Use your faction to align action. Manifestos and Goals push your coalition toward coherent aims, while Initiatives, Rules and Influence determine how flexible that coalition can be. Faction upgrades direct the nature of Faction cooperation, whether it is research, more direct military cooperation, or building a strong intelligence network.
  

That is the strategic narrative in one line. Japan’s opening moves pull the Pacific into a logistics competition. China’s response turns on energy, cohesion, and timing. Factions then decide who can stomach what, and who will pay to keep a sea route open.

[h2]What comes next?[/h2]
With this, we are basically rounding off this set of dev corners. They have been valuable for us in getting early feedback, and we have already applied several of your suggestions across factions, naval dominance, and coal and energy. And we hope you have appreciated the glimpses into what we are working on.

If you keep watching this space, you should be able to see more details of what we have been building and how feedback and iteration has shaped the work we do when Dev Diaries proper return in a not too distant future.

We do have a few surprises still as well - so do stay tuned!
Thanks for reading, and please keep the feedback coming.

Hello! We wanted to take a moment to introduce several of the characters coming to [REDACTED]! Our Dev Corners have focused more on the higher level design ambitions, but didn’t talk much about who was actually leading the countries, participating as advisors or serving as the generals and admirals. The upcoming Dev Diaries will explore them in more depth, but for now here’s a first look at some of the characters being added.

Here we’re presenting some of the key people of interest and their portraits for the Chinese Soviet Republic. Bear in mind that we’re still in development and the portraits are not necessarily final.

First off we’ve listened to your feedback on the Zhang Wentian portrait, so we’ve de-1950-fied him (yes that is a word)

(New and old)

Here are some of the Generals at their disposal: including some who would later become Marshals of the PRC.

He Long, Liu Bocheng, Nie Rongzhen, Peng Dehuai

And yes - the landlocked Chinese Soviet Republic will even have access to (at least) two admirals, as well as (at least) one woman General

Su Zhenhua (Future Admiral), Zhang Qinqiu

And here we have some other new portraits:

Wang Ming. Zhang Guotao will be on a roadtrip with the Fourth Red Army at the start of the game

I wonder what’s behind this…

And finally some advisors:

Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaopeng, Ren Bishi, Lin Boqu, Liu Yalou

Hello! This is MordredViking (Gareth) with some Philippines characters for you too; these are some of their potential country leaders.

Jose Laurel, Manuel Roxas, Emilio Aguinaldo and Cristanto Evangelista (left to right), can all be a country leader for the Philippines. Manuel Quezon is also getting a make over, but we’re not quite ready to show him off just yet.

Enrique Jurado, Ramon Magsaysay, Vicente Lim and Luis Taruc comprise the Filipino generals.

Jose Andrada, Thomas Hart (USA), John Wilkes (USA), and Okawachi Denshichi (Japan) provide some naval muscle.

And here are the Philippine advisors available for use (ignore the civic icon, I’ve not assigned those properly yet).

In addition, here are some Nationalist China portraits

Carsun Chang and Dai Li

Chen Shaokuan, Feng Yuxiang and Zhang Fakui and finally some advisors

Chen Lifu, Dai Jitao, Huang Jinrong, Jiang Baili, Mao Renfeng, Shi Liang and Symeon Du

To finish it all off in a good way, let’s have a look at some of the faces you will be meeting while playing as Japan.


Oh, and of course there is always more.



Thank you very much for checking these out, let us know what you think of all the characters we’re introducing to [REDACTED]. Are there any characters you are particularly excited to see in-game?

Kon'nichiwa! Hello and welcome to this week’s Dev Corner, where I, PDX_Danne, and D3vil will guide you through some of the ideas of the new Japanese content for the upcoming DLC. As far as major themes for Japan go in the 1930s, the situation was a total and utter mess; politicians getting assassinated by the military left and right, the Army more or less doing whatever it wants, whenever it wants, and the Civilian Government not being able to rein them in. Spoiler alert: that’s how Japan ended up in China to begin with.

Keep in mind that all of this is still a work in progress, and things will change. But this is also the time to provide feedback and suggestions so that they might end up in the game

We know that the Balance of Power (BoP) more or less seems to be tailor-made for Japan and its inter-service rivalry between the Army and the Navy (the rivalry ran so deep that the Army had its own little navy, and the Navy had its own little army, and neither side communicated properly with the other one), but we have decided to not use that system. We’ve instead chosen to build a brand new system from the ground up to better reflect the chaotic political situation in Japan during this time period:



The Imperial Influence doubles as both the BoP between the Army and Navy, while also allowing the Zaibatsu (large industrial conglomerates) and the Civilian Government to enter the fray and fight for the chance to influence the Emperor. Each Faction will have unique advantages and disadvantages, and they will rise and fall depending on Focuses you take, or Demands you either succeed in fulfilling or not.




Some Focuses will require a specific Faction to have a certain level of Influence for you to be able to complete it, while other focuses will get better outcomes depending on a Faction’s standing. All in all, there are four levels of Influence: Subdued, Meddling, Influential, and Dominating



Having talked about the Imperial Influence, I think it’s time to move on to the starting political beat and how to lead into historical and alt-historical political paths.

The political tree starts with the Kodoha preparing for their attempted coup d’etat, in order to replace the decadent government and return to Japanese tradition. Before they can do this however, one of their leaders needs to be let out of house arrest while his trial is happening, giving you a small buffer to prepare.



When the coup fires, the outcome you choose affects which path you go down, automatically completing the first choice of mutually exclusive political focuses, leading you down the historical, Kodoha or anti-military (which later becomes democratic or communist) paths, which all start out as locked until the attempted coup occurs.

Oh and that all is not to mention, you don’t start out as fascist when playing Japan anymore. Now instead, you are non-aligned, with prime minister Keisuke Okada at the helm. Japan will now instead become the fascist ideology when completing the focus “The Imperial Rule Assistance Association”, which will solidify totalitarian control over Japanese society, and allow for solving the stability issues the nation will now face at the start of the game, being the most unstable of all the starting major countries, due to their heavily tumultuous internal situation.



Another change for Japan is that now, instead of always having full control of when or even if to go into China, they depending on the branch they are going down might have to start a war whether they like it or not, as the Kwantung Army is always seeking new opportunities to expand their zone of control. This means that, though you can choose to delay or start it early, historical Japan cannot avoid an oncoming conflict with China.



Similarly, the navy might get some ideas once they are strong enough and give you demands of territorial expansion.



This all plays into the feeling that the Japanese politicians had historically, where the various elements within the nation all had different aspirations, and would stop at little to get their wishes fulfilled.

You do however have more options than before, as both the Northern and Southern Strike Doctrines are available to both the historical and Kodoha branches through their shared foreign politics branch. They do still have requirements of their own, such as the army or navy being stronger than a certain amount, or a certain amount of time having gone by between having started the branches, so there are still situations where doing both won’t be feasible, as was the case historically.



And with that, that’s all for now. We have talked about some of the fundamental changes that await Japan, but now it’s your turn to tell us what you think, and we’re looking forward to hearing your feedback. Matane! (see ya!)