Reaction to the Articles

[dav77-b]

My reaction on every article of HOI4 I see is: I want to play it. Now.
1+ For HOI4 alpha steam weekend.

 

[Secret Master]

Until the best HOI3/HOI2/Darkest Hour/Arsenal of Democracy players plays the game we can't judge the quality of the game. This round was for press and players from EU4 and CK2, not even Victoria 2. Also we need the DDRJake versions of HOI 3,

Well, if its the best HOI3 player you are looking for, then you've found your man.

I played the game at the press event, and I found myself confused by the frequency of off-map invasions. I was perturbed that the Aztecs consistently sided with the Nazis, despite clearer ideological connections with Sweden (who I expected to be overpowered due to their Germanic Pagan bonuses).

The good news was that my vassals became very helpful and docile once the war actually started; their plotting dropped to the bare minimum for my level of Presidential Authority. Still, you will want to invest in more soldier POPs, as levies are absolute crap compared to professional standing armies (vassal levies never include artillery or engineers, brigade types I consider critical). Oh, and conquer more coal and silk; you can't build enough guards divisions if you don't have enough luxury clothes, and you need silk to make luxury clothes.

On the naval side, I confess that spamming light ships was a tedious affair, in part because light ships patrolling trade routes have not yet been integrated into the battle plan system. So, I spent two hours setting up my trade routes and patrols, instead of planning an invasion of Saipan. On the plus side, you can reflag your U-boats as privateers and raid your opponents' trade nodes, earning you a nice tidy sum of ducats.

The economy is well balanced. Mining exotic materials like Dreadstone and Dragonforce is important to building certain kinds of advanced military units, but you can easily trade for these resources. There's always a country that is short on food or wood who will part with their Dreadstone for a reasonable price. Do avoid conquering China too quickly, though, because some areas of China are flagged as Undigium until 1938, and the game won't swap their flags to soil properly if you conquer them before the appropriate event fires (this bug screwed Japan in an MP game I played).

I found the senate mechanics and Populist faction revolts to be underwhelming as Italy. It's too easy to convince the senate to back a war right now, despite widespread opposition from the Civic and Religious factions. And every male character under the age of 30 who was not serving as a military leader or on the ruling council became Populist practically instantly for some reason.

I was pleasantly surprised that casting water spells was a bad idea when also running electricity oriented magic. I thought that maybe there would be some advanced technology that would remove this problem, but I am happy to report that you can fry yourself and your neighbors to a crisp by using magical symbols in the wrong order or combination. Do avoid casting spells with Germany if they have upgraded to hydroelectric dams. You'll thank me later.

The one part of the game I didn't get to try was the battle system. Apparently, you can assign leaders to flanks and alter the regimental composition of each flank to unlock special tactics for appropriate commanders. I was going to try to put Ney and Soult in a battle together with Murat and a bunch of heavy cavalry backed up by horse guns, but I never got to play France. The German player apparently did some awesome stuff with Blucher, but I didn't get to see it.

I also liked the new jazzy soundtrack. The narrator/announcer's voice during naval battles was groovy and chill. A+, would fight Midway again.

Well, that's pretty much it. The game needs some work, but it's on the right track. I give it a B- at this time.

 

[Kadanz]

I can't breathe.

 

[Leon_Aditzu]

Well, if its the best HOI3 player you are looking for, then you've found your man.

I played the game at the press event, and I found myself confused by the frequency of off-map invasions. I was perturbed that the Aztecs consistently sided with the Nazis, despite clearer ideological connections with Sweden (who I expected to be overpowered due to their Germanic Pagan bonuses).

The good news was that my vassals became very helpful and docile once the war actually started; their plotting dropped to the bare minimum for my level of Presidential Authority. Still, you will want to invest in more soldier POPs, as levies are absolute crap compared to professional standing armies (vassal levies never include artillery or engineers, brigade types I consider critical). Oh, and conquer more coal and silk; you can't build enough guards divisions if you don't have enough luxury clothes, and you need silk to make luxury clothes.

On the naval side, I confess that spamming light ships was a tedious affair, in part because light ships patrolling trade routes have not yet been integrated into the battle plan system. So, I spent two hours setting up my trade routes and patrols, instead of planning an invasion of Saipan. On the plus side, you can reflag your U-boats as privateers and raid your opponents' trade nodes, earning you a nice tidy sum of ducats.

The economy is well balanced. Mining exotic materials like Dreadstone and Dragonforce is important to building certain kinds of advanced military units, but you can easily trade for these resources. There's always a country that is short on food or wood who will part with their Dreadstone for a reasonable price. Do avoid conquering China too quickly, though, because some areas of China are flagged as Undigium until 1938, and the game won't swap their flags to soil properly if you conquer them before the appropriate event fires (this bug screwed Japan in an MP game I played).

I found the senate mechanics and Populist faction revolts to be underwhelming as Italy. It's too easy to convince the senate to back a war right now, despite widespread opposition from the Civic and Religious factions. And every male character under the age of 30 who was not serving as a military leader or on the ruling council became Populist practically instantly for some reason.

I was pleasantly surprised that casting water spells was a bad idea when also running electricity oriented magic. I thought that maybe there would be some advanced technology that would remove this problem, but I am happy to report that you can fry yourself and your neighbors to a crisp by using magical symbols in the wrong order or combination. Do avoid casting spells with Germany if they have upgraded to hydroelectric dams. You'll thank me later.

The one part of the game I didn't get to try was the battle system. Apparently, you can assign leaders to flanks and alter the regimental composition of each flank to unlock special tactics for appropriate commanders. I was going to try to put Ney and Soult in a battle together with Murat and a bunch of heavy cavalry backed up by horse guns, but I never got to play France. The German player apparently did some awesome stuff with Blucher, but I didn't get to see it.

I also liked the new jazzy soundtrack. The narrator/announcer's voice during naval battles was groovy and chill. A+, would fight Midway again.

Well, that's pretty much it. The game needs some work, but it's on the right track. I give it a B- at this time.

Please speak about HOI4, not about the future EUR-CK-EU-MotE-V-HOI combined game (also the dream of every Paradox gamers) that will be launched in the next 10 years

 

[henzington]

I would say meh to a Ck-EU-V-Hoi. The Ck-Eu converter is fun but most of the time I am so powerful that there is no point to play through EU because all I would be doing is conquering the world.

 

[JamesJameson]

Gameplay! I knew it! They were just taking there time or what? Either way, I'm glad it was quill18 first.
or do they just know that no matter what we will love them once they release it