Hearts of Iron IV - 21st Development Diary - 21st of August 2015

[Ibn_Solmyr]

Nice DD, agreed with the close air support effect. The rest is quite the same as in HoI3 it seems.

Is still there a way to make support some units without moving ?? It was something that quite anoyed me in HoI3 : one division moves to attack, a second one can stand but support ; it was a non sense, and leaded to unrealistic aspects, like some supporting unit instant retreats.
Or we need a clarification for, say long range artillery supporting in combat, while the division this battalion is attached to stays in place.

 

[podcat]

1) In terms of aircraft helping with a land combat, given that aircraft are modelled individually, will it be a 'bucket' of aircraft (split by types) where aircraft come in and out, and will the range of the aircraft influence how long it can stay in the combat, or is it more a 'they fly in, fire off their ammo and fly out' situation (or something else that hasn't occurred to me)?

2) If there are Force A aircraft in combat, and fighters from the other side (Force B, say) appear on the scene, does it affect the aircraft in combat immediately, or do the other side's fighters have to 'fight through' any air superiority aircraft screening for the Force A?

1) its a fly in->fire->fly out situation, but the combat tracks this so you can see previous events etc since an attack is quick. as long as planes were involved at some point they will show up in the interface.
2) they need to fight through air superiority etc. its like any other mission to help out in combat, you first need to be able to get past enemy fighter cover (so if intercepted less planes can join combat etc)

Will attack delay still be present? Though I liked the idea the implementation was not satisfactory at all in HoI3.

No, we are limiting attacks by organization instead. we are still tuning and testing this though so cant give much details, but thats roughly it.

The the bottom part of the combat tab ( map with the big red arrow ) is that just the same static image shown every-time?

no, static background so doesnt change with tactics or what is going on.

 

[franc001sher]

The 10 kinds of support companies? Is there a list?

 

[WarDog]

GREAT DD!
I love that air superiority will play a bigger role. Now Rommel can feel the pain in his desert retreat, not to mention the pain in Northern France after D-Day and the swarms of Russian planes on the Eastern Front. This will make playing Germany a lot more interesting with some hard choices. In HOI3 I felt it was a bit easy to invest lightly in Luftwaffe, without too much penalty. The return from investing in ground attack planes was also a bit small. I look forward to get more details on this in a later DD.

The decision to make observational and signal units more important sounds like a good one, both historically and for gameplay.

No, we are limiting attacks by organization instead. we are still tuning and testing this though so cant give much details, but thats roughly it.

Again, very good. The way it worked in HOI3 was a bit too rigid. Making organization more important sounds good!

And weekly DDs? I love it!

 

[DeclaredYuppie]

- Tank Destroyer
- Assault Gun / SP art
- SP Rocket Art

Long shots:
- Transport company
- Field hospitals/medical unit

These last two are most likely only enhanced by doctrine and not as a unit. But given the attention to battle detail these would work as major boosters of respectably morale / organization and reinforcement chance

edit: Signal attachment is much more logical then dedicated transport attachment for the same functions. So my guess is really for the 'hardware' Art & TD listed above

I hope they're wrapping AA/AT/Art/Rart and their motorized counterparts together in that 10 count, so we get things like medical and transport and whatnot. Since if the idea is that support units are a fun trade off of 10 possibilities for 5 slots, you really have a false choice when you're going to pick AA or motorized AA purely on the mobility of the rest of the division...

 

[BrotherArdis]

I'm getting the impression that strafing is going to become an important theme in the game...

It's good to hear that air power is actually going to affect ground combat on a tactical scale. In HoI3 it felt completely irrelevant most of the time and only mattered in drawn-out conflicts (manpower bleeding).

 

[paranoidsteve]

So i guess i will be using the division copy template, so i can have Infantry A, Infantry B and Infantry C simply to make use of different support companies. If all have artillery, recon and signals, i'll add 'flavour' with engineers, antitank et al. I guess this will need serious thinking about.

Question, do a generals skills give additional bonus to supported types of tactic...or even a penalty to a non supported attack type? i.e. if a general is skilled as a panzer attacker blitzkrieg style would he get a bonus for say an breakthrough attack, but a penalty if he selected a massed frontal infantry attack?

 

[misterbean]

Looks interesting. Enough stuff remains from previous games that we won't have to completely re-learn the basics of combat.

Question: I take it that the total CW in the fight show is 30, with the Poles having a total CW of 12 and the Germans 21?

 

[No idea]

Will advance over enemy territory lower you org? The fact that it didnt in hoi 3 was one big reason why hoi 3 armies crumbled with few hopes to stand in another place after the first breakthrough.

 

[Shade205]

Looks great! I like the concept of having tactics and phases to simulate things like a battle over a bridge.

Is this system how you intend to simulate the possibility of a Stalingrad? A multiple month city battle would be awesome.

 

[DeclaredYuppie]

I'm glad we finally understand what recon is, BTW. And I like that with recon and signals we're seeing support units that don't feel like just slightly different mixture of additional hard/soft attack.

I like the idea of @Blijert suggestion of medical as a support. Maybe also a Forward Air Control brigade that gives a bonus to the air support you call in during battles? Quartermasters to mitigate potential out-of-supply bonuses (especially good if the supply line ends up as problematic as it did in 3 sometimes)?

 

[Axe99]

1) its a fly in->fire->fly out situation, but the combat tracks this so you can see previous events etc since an attack is quick. as long as planes were involved at some point they will show up in the interface.
2) they need to fight through air superiority etc. its like any other mission to help out in combat, you first need to be able to get past enemy fighter cover (so if intercepted less planes can join combat etc)

Cheers for the answers, sounds perfect . I 'ave to say, every time I think it couldn't get better (ie, you've already crammed so much good new stuff in the game already), it does . Sorry to ask another question (and deffo ignore without a second thought if inappropriate or too early) but is it the same way with aircraft in naval combat?

 

[Centurion1973]

No, we are limiting attacks by organization instead. we are still tuning and testing this though so cant give much details, but thats roughly it.

Do units lose ORG, when they are moving?

If so, any difference, between moves in your territory and advancing into enemy territory?

Thanks

 

[VampiRos]

some stuff that popped into my eyes... hoping for answers

1. SS Verfügungstruppe? Named randomly or can we "build" SS?
2. On the left under Rundestaedt, the boat floating on water... Transportships under this command or convoys needed to supply effectively if not land connection? Or are convoys and Transports now one thing?
3. Battleplans Icons (left to right): Naval attack, Paradropping (does the AI do that?), Frontline, Breakthrough?, Flank?
4. The medals are traits or "honours" for won battles?

Thanks for the DD. Enjoyed it

 

[Kung Zog]

May planes increase Reconnaissance too?

 

[Centurion1973]

May planes increase Reconnaissance too?

Recon bonus, for side, which has air superiority, would be nice.

 

[Ibn_Solmyr]

May planes increase Reconnaissance too?

I strongly hope that relative air superiority and even air quite balanced presence will provide reconaissance enhencement.

 

[tommylotto]

You can only have 5 of 10 possible support companies? But I want my 'Murican divisions to have everything!

I assume that some of the support companies duplicate some battalions that can go in the brigade columns. So, I can have everything. For example, I can have an actual brigade filled with full ART, AA and AT battalions, freeing up slots in the support column for signal, medical and whatnot support companies? Maybe I just have to wait for next week to find out....

 

[Kung Zog]

Recon bonus, for side, which has air superiority, would be nice.

I strongly hope that relative air superiority and even air quite balanced presence will provide reconaissance enhencement.

Indeed. Even better would be that planes have a recon-stat of their own, and if in superiority this stat comes into action.

 

[podcat]

So i guess i will be using the division copy template, so i can have Infantry A, Infantry B and Infantry C simply to make use of different support companies. If all have artillery, recon and signals, i'll add 'flavour' with engineers, antitank et al. I guess this will need serious thinking about.

Question, do a generals skills give additional bonus to supported types of tactic...or even a penalty to a non supported attack type? i.e. if a general is skilled as a panzer attacker blitzkrieg style would he get a bonus for say an breakthrough attack, but a penalty if he selected a massed frontal infantry attack?

some tactics are limited to traits of the leaders if thats what you mean, but there is no strict penalty.

as for templates, they can be copied for free. its just changes that cost XP

Looks interesting. Enough stuff remains from previous games that we won't have to completely re-learn the basics of combat.

Question: I take it that the total CW in the fight show is 30, with the Poles having a total CW of 12 and the Germans 21?

yes total is 30. once they manage to bring in reinforcements both sides can squeeze in more.

Cheers for the answers, sounds perfect . I 'ave to say, every time I think it couldn't get better (ie, you've already crammed so much good new stuff in the game already), it does . Sorry to ask another question (and deffo ignore without a second thought if inappropriate or too early) but is it the same way with aircraft in naval combat?

yeah, its similar for naval battles (although if carriers are involved directly it is a bit different for their planes).

Recon bonus, for side, which has air superiority, would be nice.

Thats already sort of factored into the bonuses it gives to ground units. Also giving a separate recon bonus would be giving virtually the same bonus twice so not needed really.