Does HOI3 model national differences?

[Didz]

I'm on my second campaign of HOI3.

Having completed my first as the USA, I decided to switch and play the Soviet Union for my second run.

The main reason I chose the SU after the USA was that my US campaign had been almost exclusively a naval/air conflict, and I wanted to play a faction which was almost exclusively land based.

However, now I'm into it (April 1938) and things are getting close to kicking off. I'm trying to work out whether HOI3 actually tries to model the differences between the nations we are playing. I never noticed anything obvious about the USA when I was playing it, but then I had nothing to compare it to, and was still learing the game.

But the SU does feel different, I'm just not sure if it's me imposing my own stereotyping on the game, or if the game itself is influencing it, and if so how much.

For example: At the very start of a new campaign the technology tree is obviously set-up so that some types of research are easier to complete than others using practical and theory bonuses. That might influence players to follow a particular research path, but it could also be ignored and the penalities accepted.

I also noticed that when looking at units the Sovier ones at least seem to have specific bonus stats for things like 'Mass Assault'. I'm curious about this as I don't remember US infantry having that listed specifically, but I may be wrong. I'm also not sure if the implication is that I ought to research Mass Assault for my Soviet infantry to earn the bonus.

I don't think the tech tree itself varies from nation to nation, but I do wonder if the effect of the research has on the units might vary from nation to nation,making some things more useful than others, as well as being harder to research for some nations.

I'm also curious whether the units themselves vary in performance. I suspect not, but was interested to note that Soviet divisions are formed by Regiments rather than Brigades. Which suggests that there could be differences other than just the naming.

Does anyone have any knowledge or experiences on this aspect of the game?

 

[fredgiblet]

You probably have a higher "Mass Assault" doctrine as the Soviets. As far as I'm aware the only differences are the starting techs and the special units the majors get. I'm a noob too though so don't take my word for it if someone disagrees.

 

[Didz]

I may have to load a USA, British or German game and do a bit of cross-checking. I've seen threads discussing whether HOI3 ought to impose national stereo-typing, which fortunately they don't, but I haven't found anything yet that looks at organisational, tactical and doctrinal differences.

 

[Daddl]

The tech tree and units (except the Elite ones every major has one type of) are exactly the same for every nation. What differs is which techs are already unlocked at the beginning. The USA for example are a fair bit more advanced into carriers or general naval stuff than others while they lack infantry research.

The starting armies have a different composition, but you can change that as you like of course (I for one always have 4 brigades per division, 5 divisions per corps and 5 corps per armies to get maximum boni). Thats why I always spend like half an hour after the start to organise my OOB and figure out how many units I need to produce to fill everything like I want it to. Basic units are always the same for every nation but of course heavily modified by equipment and doctrines.

 

[marxianTJ]

Well beyond the special unit that every major gets, there's also strategic resources which can pretty heavily influence game-play between powers - build time, tech considerations, combat itself, etc.

 

[Kovax]

National laws (some only available to certain factions, or hard to unlock for democracies), minister bonuses, and available officers also affect how the different armies and economies function. Then there are a few nation-specific "decisions" which provide significant bonuses for some period of time (such as the "Their Finest Hour" decision for the UK). Combine that with different amounts of Leadership, different IC, and different available Manpower, and it pays to play differently from one country to the next, even though most of the techs and doctrines are still "no brainers" no matter who you play. It's not as diverse as it probably should be, but definitely NOT a "one strategy fits all" type of game.

 

[Didz]

Yeah! I did the comparison of Infantry Units from USA, Soviets, Japan and Germany and as you say the temples are identical. It looks like the differences are just down to the technologies. there are differences in Experience; Organisation and Morale and then attack and defence values that are linked to weapon upgrades, which are again technology based. So, it seems to be dependent on the initial Tech bonuses.