Hearts of Iron IV announces new expansion Man the Guns

[Tammo-Korsai]

With refits becoming possible, will there be events and decisions for the London and Washington Naval Treaties? They limited the tonnage and gun calibres of ships and submarines to try and avoid an arms race at sea, almost like a precursor to the SALT and START agreements of the Cold War.

In game terms, abiding by the treaties could improve relations with other signatories and limit world tension increases. Breaking from it could have the opposite effect and prompt other countries to invoke the Escalator Clause early to give them the chance to match the treaty-breaker's actions legitimately by lifting the calibre limit from 14 to 16 inches. Although once a major war breaks out, the treaties should be revoked without penalty and were on the way out regardless. It would mostly affect countries trying to do an early naval-heavy strategy with interesting choices and diplomacy during peacetime.

 

[pvt.conners]

Concrete experience is always more important than theoretical work. No matter how much schooling you have, you’re untested until you actually put your education to work. I’d take someone without a degree and experience over someone with a degree and no experience. Doubly so for a military.

Concrete experience is invaluable, but it is always built on theoretical groundwork, doubly so for a military. If you look at all modern conflicts, you'll find that all doctrines, tactics and operational considerations were built on a solid theoretical understanding first. Military science has been invaluable in studying past, present and potential future conflicts and laying out new doctrines as well as improving existing ones. Without theory, practice becomes trial and error, something that is unacceptable when lives and/or billions of dollars of equipment are at stake.
To use your analogy, an engineering student might have no experience compared to say an assembly line worker of 20 years but I know who I want designing the car, and who I want building it.
An NCO can be a veteran of as many wars as he wants, it doesn't make him an officer without the relevant education.

 

[Vahnstad]

I hope they will redo the political system and make it more complicated. I wish they had done this before they would include alt-history paths.

 

[ChurchillDidNothingWrong]

I heard 1st American Civil War in the trailer and also saw the Confederate Battle flag on the submarine in the last of the propaganda posters, could this be a Kaiserreich reference or is it something deeper?

 

[Daelyn75]

I'm very glad to see this.

Hearts of Iron IV: Man the Guns will be available soon.

Let's hope it is soon and not February 2019! The last DLC took over 6 months!

 

[albso437]

I'm very glad to see this.



Let's hope it is soon and not February 2019! The last DLC took over 6 months!

Podcat said that they have just started to work on it, so 6 months from now isn't unrealistic .

 

[Daelyn75]

Podcat said that they have just started to work on it, so 6 months from now isn't unrealistic .

Yikes. I thought that they had started work before the last DLC was released for them to announce it just over a month from the release of the last one. It was also weird that I was thinking of a title name for a naval focused DLC not 2 days ago, and something like, "Man the Guns" was way too simple. I was thinking more like, "The High Seas," or "The Pride of the Fleet."

But "Man the Guns?" Bleh.

 

[ltccone]

My question with fuel is whether you will be able to stockpile it for major operations.

 

[MVPBluntman]

Yikes. I thought that they had started work before the last DLC was released for them to announce it just over a month from the release of the last one. It was also weird that I was thinking of a title name for a naval focused DLC not 2 days ago, and something like, "Man the Guns" was way too simple. I was thinking more like, "The High Seas," or "The Pride of the Fleet."

But "Man the Guns?" Bleh.

I think its because its a US Response to a pending attack.

 

[Mojo Amok]

Looks like this is the inspiration for the title:

https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/man_the_guns/man_the_guns.html

 

[SteveN_SHIJ]

New DLC, contents are cool. I just wonder if these are all locked in Chinese mainland? I searched "man the gun" on steam and found it was locked. Is it the final decision? I have bought Field Marshal Edition which includes the season pack, and would it provide the fourth DLC in mainland?

 

[paranoidsteve]

An NCO can be a veteran of as many wars as he wants, it doesn't make him an officer without the relevant education.

In the British regimental system it is not uncommon for NCO's to be promoted to acting officers, I personally have known 2 sergeants as acting captains. Both later became 'proper' officers, lieutenants while still acting captains. I believe an private has ended his service with the rank of general.

 

[Axe99]

Concrete experience is always more important than theoretical work. No matter how much schooling you have, you’re untested until you actually put your education to work. I’d take someone without a degree and experience over someone with a degree and no experience. Doubly so for a military.

There is, indeed, no substitute for actual wartime experience, but in my reading it's pretty clear that pre-war exercises were very important for the fighting efficiency of all the major navies (and, indeed, navies that didn't focus on these so much didn't do as well - going from hazy memory here, but I'm pretty sure the Soviet navy didn't get the attention it deserved in the run-up to war, and their performance, particularly early on, wasn't great). The Pearl Harbor raid was built on pre-war exercises, without which it would never have been possible.

I'm very glad to see this.



Let's hope it is soon and not February 2019! The last DLC took over 6 months!

Don't forget more time = more work (or more polish). Personally, I'd be very happy if they took 12 months and made it the biggest, baddest, navalest DLC ever . I don't think that'll happen (I suspect they'll have an internal timeframe they're working to, as well as goals for what they want to do and what-have-you), but I'd (perhaps unsurprisingly, and obviously just my personal opinon ) far prefer more than less time spent on things naval.

 

[Sleight of Hand]

I hope they add lots more army insignia icons too.

 

[Daelyn75]

There is, indeed, no substitute for actual wartime experience, but in my reading it's pretty clear that pre-war exercises were very important for the fighting efficiency of all the major navies (and, indeed, navies that didn't focus on these so much didn't do as well - going from hazy memory here, but I'm pretty sure the Soviet navy didn't get the attention it deserved in the run-up to war, and their performance, particularly early on, wasn't great). The Pearl Harbor raid was built on pre-war exercises, without which it would never have been possible.



Don't forget more time = more work (or more polish). Personally, I'd be very happy if they took 12 months and made it the biggest, baddest, navalest DLC ever . I don't think that'll happen (I suspect they'll have an internal timeframe they're working to, as well as goals for what they want to do and what-have-you), but I'd (perhaps unsurprisingly, and obviously just my personal opinon ) far prefer more than less time spent on things naval.

It's difficult in our language to state without an explanation that I don't want it to take a long time, but if they need it to make the DLC right, then there is no other choice. I'm sure Paradox feels the same way too.

Heck if they could, I'm sure they'd release large, well done and well received DLC every month. But in reality, that's not really possible.

 

[ajac]

omg hope much more detailed naval combat. Also missing ships like light carriers escort carriers better amphibious warfare and units. also hoping I can control where supplies go!

 

[Dalwin]

The newest DLC is currently blocked in China, (I know the main game has been blocked for a while but all the other DLCs are still accessable) is Paradox aware of this?

This has been true of most previous incarnations of HOI as well. The government does not approve of any version of history that does not portray China as one nation united.

 

[Dalwin]

If you pause at 28 seconds in the trailer and look at the submarine's conning tower, you can see a rather interesting flag painted on the side.

I wonder if the British and French will consider helping the CSA this time around the way they did in the first US Civil War?

Well the first time it was because Britain and France both relied heavily on American cotton for their textile industry. In a WWII theme, it would have to all be about the oil in Texas.

 

[adam_grif]

I'm very glad to see this.

Let's hope it is soon and not February 2019! The last DLC took over 6 months!

They referenced that they were starting to work on 1.6 Ironclad (and thus the DLC) on 11/4/18. So they've had 4-6 weeks of work (depending on how much time you think the subsequent hot fix took) to get to where they were as of the announcement stream.

There's no way the would have announced the DLC and features this early if not for PDXCon. We wouldn't have known the name for another month or so, and dev diaries probably only would have just started this week with the first teases and early features trickling out.

 

[Dalwin]

They referenced that they were starting to work on 1.6 Ironclad (and thus the DLC) on 11/4/18. So they've had 4-6 weeks of work (depending on how much time you think the subsequent hot fix took) to get to where they were as of the announcement stream.

There's no way the would have announced the DLC and features this early if not for PDXCon. We wouldn't have known the name for another month or so, and dev diaries probably only would have just started this week with the first teases and early features trickling out.

To take that a bit further, we were only promised one DD. I believe it was also said that it is not yet time for weekly ones to resume. That alone is a big hint to how early in the development cycle it is for MtG. Podcat doesn't like to talk about features that are not at least close to being completed.

This one DD, IMO, is just to formalize announcements of things that are coming out of PDX Con. Since attendees will be leaking stuff anyway, it is better to have some control by posting a DD.