Things that Never Happen in HoI4 (But did so in history)

[Dailyfail]

Quite right I think. Focuses tend to mess up games. They should have been a condition on that focus and cancel it if it was no longer valid the way it was intended.

Spot on. I had to go in and edit the second vienna award focus as it doens't even care if Romania is independent or not. Suddenly my puppet gave away a big chunk of my fortified and manned defensive lines. wtf.

Another thing is the generally lame design of the default national spirits (such as the case of india and Yugoslavia) and how they get removed with focuses. Problem being, these big negatives can be only removed if you choose 1 path. If you go communist as india, you cannot get rid of the maginalized muslim community spirit.

 

[safe-keeper]

Only skimmed through the thread, so these might have been submitted already, but:

• A Norwegian NORTRASHIP decision that gives the Allies a lot more convoys. The Norwegians suddenly going "here, have a thousand ships" to the British is was such a major event that it deserves to be in the game.
• Amphibious assaults on ports rather than provinces, with firefights between the invasion ships and whatever coastal forts protect the harbour, like during Weserubung where the Germans basically fought their way into Norwegian harbours and docked their ships to offload troops.

And, as others have said, better mechanics for surrenders, governments in exile, partisans, and so on.

Having national leaders as actual on-map units, or at the very least keeping track of which state they are in, would be pretty interesting, too. Instead of moving your capital like in EU, you'd be moving your government and heads of state, with bonuses and penalties depending on where they are and a risk of capture if enemies are in the same state, particularly if major cities are captured (so if the Germans invade Østlandet, you better get the king and government cabinet out of Oslo before it falls ) .

Something that always happens but which really shouldn't is British intervention in Yugoslavia. The game is designed to represent Yugoslavia's troubled task of balancing its independence against the reality of German hegemony, but there's a mistake somewhere along the line which causes the UK to spontaneously attack Yugoslavia without warning or provocation, driving it right into the hands of the Axis anyway. Unless the Axis attack Yugoslavia first (for instance Italy taking claimed territory or Germany going for Slovenia) Britain will always attack without fail.

Yeah, there should probably be at most an intervention mechanic where you can deploy troops to a neutral country and there's a chance they will submit, or declare war on you, and at the very least a series of decisions/events where Britain can threaten to deploy troops and Yugoslavia can choose how they wish to handle this.

 

[Rashie]

Has anyone ever seen AI Japan invade and hold the Philippines? I sure haven't.

 

[LordLoko]

-Anyone south of the USA joining the Allies

I've seen Brazil joining the Allies many times though, altough it's not historically accurate because usually Brazil needs to turn democratic first instead of Getúlio Vargas (Non-Aligned) joining the allies. On a related note, attacks against convoys from countries outside the war.

 

[Wraith11B]

One of the things that bothers me most (and always has) is the sheer speed of the game, how the units are always advancing, regardless of 1) time, 2) terrain, or 3) recent contact, and the speed of recovery. There's not much in the way of concern on my part as a player about how quickly my troops recover from combat or movement etc. Thus, when the wars are essentially over in 1943, it bothers me.

 

[Secret Master]

Only skimmed through the thread, so these might have been submitted already, but:

• A Norwegian NORTRASHIP decision that gives the Allies a lot more convoys. This was such a major event that it deserves to be in.

You know what’s funny? Germany inherits the Dutch convoys when the Netherlands capitulates. It’s often 500 or do.

Too bad, Britain. You better get the US to build some for you.

 

[safe-keeper]

Come to think of it, since I'm invading the USSR as Germany currently in my HOI4 campaign:

Germans running into supply difficulties because European and Soviet railroads had different gauges.

One of the things that bothers me most (and always has) is the sheer speed of the game, how the units are always advancing, regardless of 1) time, 2) terrain, or 3) recent contact, and the speed of recovery. There's not much in the way of concern on my part as a player about how quickly my troops recover from combat or movement etc. Thus, when the wars are essentially over in 1943, it bothers me.

Yeah, things progress really quickly. The devs have hinted at proper supply and fuel mechanics, though. Coupled with deeper systems for mud and snow cover, blizzards, and other weather factors, this should help matters. Looking forward to having to halt my offensives in the USSR due to muddy ground or blizzards.

 

[Cheesecakeczar]

One issue with focuses is that if there's a change in government the focus tree will stay on its previous path. A democratic Germany will still perform Operation Barbarossa if it hadn't before. If Romania went fascist first, it will eventually turn back to fascism due to the national spirit remaining. I'd recommend a way for paths to swap if the government changes. However, this would be an issue for Germany which lacks any sort of communist one once it becomes the DDR.

 

[Wraith11B]

Yeah, things progress really quickly. The devs have hinted at proper supply and fuel mechanics, though. Coupled with deeper systems for mud and snow cover, blizzards, and other weather factors, this should help matters. Looking forward to having to halt my offensives in the USSR due to muddy ground or blizzards.

I really think that the penalties that are currently in the game are just not necessarily enough to adequately convey the necessary problems that everyone faced through this period. Especially the damage that is sometimes inflicted upon military kit. Especially some ships that were severely damaged. Some that should have been written off (perhaps they are accounted for in those that get sunk?) Or that took months to repair.

 

[Pyro157]

Haha you‘re right .
But I think u know what I mean .
There were battles where the troops of Free France helped quite a lil bit , especially in Africa (Pierre König and his help against Rommel ) and Middle East (Legion d‘orient ) .
I don’t think France should be a Powerhouse , but it should have the possibility to intervene and help ,even when capitulated.

The Senegalese fought with great valor in the defense of France, and did excellently in Africa alongside other French colonial troops and the Foreign Legionnaires. The Free French 2nd Armored Division from Africa were the first to enter Paris and fight the Nazi garrison. Learning about the Senegalese and other African WW2 armies in college has given me great respect for them.

It would be interesting to see France get its own TFV in the far future, where French Indochina and Senegal are now puppets with their own trees. When Indochina gets annexed, instead of conquering the whole area, the Japanese just set up a fascist puppet government there, then move their troops in.

However, information on Africa in WW2 is among the most difficult to find, even moreso than China at some points. So I think the devs should focus on other countries that could make for interesting gameplay and do need some nice trees - Turkey, Finland, Spain, rework the remaining majors etc.

 

[Liquid Ghost]

• Franco-Thai War

It would probably require adding French Indochina as a country separate but subservient to France/Vichy France. Also some map redrawings to add the territories the Thais actually fought for.

 

[Pyro157]

• Franco-Thai War

It would probably require adding French Indochina as a country separate but subservient to France/Vichy France. Also some map redrawings to add the territories the Thais actually fought for.

Also, something I noticed about Thailand and factions...in my last and greatest 1939 Nat China run (before WtT), the Siamese Empire joined Daitoa Kyoiken and with their assistance, Japan was actually able to capture Singapore, complete the Indian National Army and start the Indian civil war. In turn, I was finally able to intervene in Burma after the US-Free French-Free Indian forces were struggling to hold the line.

Interesting how Thailand joining with Japan like it did historically changes the entire Pacific front.

 

[Cheesecakeczar]

One funny thing is that whoever is the leader of a country in 1936 keeps that position for the rest of the game, even if they may have only been there for a year or so.

 

[belechannas]

D-Day never happens if the AI controls UK & US, and it is also impossible when playing the UK or US, with the AI playing the other nation, to plan and mount a joint invasion.

 

[Sighfer]

• Soviet offer of protection to Czechoslovakia
• Soviet offer to join the Allies a week before signing Molotov-Ribbentrop
• Dissolution of Comintern in 1943
• Bulgaria keeping its head down during entire thing
• Treaty of Windsor potential for Portugal

 

[Secret Master]

Bulgaria keeping its head down during entire thing

Well, Bulgaria was in the Axis, and she did DOW the US and Britain, and her forces did skirmish with both the Soviets and Allies, and she performed anti-partisan duty in various places.

The game doesn't really have the granularity in game mechanics to support this sort of thing, but Bulgaria being in the Axis and having troops do things isn't that far off from history. It's a far cry from human players annexing Finland every single time, or Italy fighting to the death.

 

[£10 bag]

D-Day never happens if the AI controls UK & US, and it is also impossible when playing the UK or US, with the AI playing the other nation, to plan and mount a joint invasion.

No D-Day, no Stalingrad, no afrika korps, no invasion of Crete or landing on Sicily. I wish I could refund the game

 

[Cheesecakeczar]

• Treaty of Windsor potential for Portugal

This is actually visible in the dev diary for the new missions, so that's neat.

It'd be interesting if there were a focus for the Soviet Union to disband their faction and join the Allies. Same for China. But I suppose it'd be a blow for the Axis to be unable to outright annex those two giants after they capitulate.

 

[Fishman786]

This is actually visible in the dev diary for the new missions, so that's neat.

It'd be interesting if there were a focus for the Soviet Union to disband their faction and join the Allies. Same for China. But I suppose it'd be a blow for the Axis to be unable to outright annex those two giants after they capitulate.

I don't think it's realistic for either of those countries to capitulate at all though. The Russians were facing total obliteration by the Nazis and would have fought on even if they were driven back into Siberia (the Nazis actually wanted this, they though a permanent war in the east would strengthen the German people's spirit or some such rubbish), and China simply has too large of a population in too large of an area to be efficiently subdued.

 

[sol-inviticus]

Might be partially fixed in the expansion but just a whole lot of things involving Vichy-administered Indo-China. The Franco-Thai War of 1940, the Japanese takeover in 1940 where Vichy was still nominally in control. I feel like Indo-China (if not other French colonies as well) should really exist as a French colonial puppet that if a game goes historically can become a Vichy puppet and then Japanese puppet. Indo-China as its own tag would actually have some cool Focus Tree possibilities if the devs ever feel like releasing something that puts focus on the SE Asian theater