Who gave this game its raving reviews on Steam?

[LAF1994]

To be fair, when you spend nearly two decades fighting factions, that under that guise of communism put forward their own agenda and sometimes completely paralizing decision-making process (to be expected when you force a limited-party system), it becomes a norm of life. After all, those were people with first-hand experience of overthrowing the government (talking about more prominent individuals, of course). Such people are always a potential threat (with who know how many agents), unless you can be sure of their loyalty.

"Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown".
Being an autocrat always means that someone else (probably a lot of people) are going to want your job, and the people most likely to threaten your position are the people closest to you.
It's pretty reasonable to assume that at least some of the higher-ups in the CPSU would have very much liked to take Stalin's position; the question is whether or not any of them were in any position to do so. In this regard, the Bukharin route is probably more plausible than Trotsky (the latter having already been exiled).

 

[Axe99]

In terms of the OP, I haven't reviewed the DLC yet (I like to have 20-30 hours with a strategy-type game before reviewing), but I were to review it now, it'd definitely get the thumbs-up. Sure, there are rough edges (which I've posted about plenty enough), but I really like the fundamentals of the new supply system, and outside of sparsely populated areas (ie, with fewer supply hubs) as best I can tell it works really well. I just finished a Spanish Civil War, and it made the decision-making and strategic considerations far more interesting than pre-NSB/Barbarossa. As a ship person, I couldn't possibly say anything other than Man the Guns was the best expansion, but even then, I think the new supply system makes NSB a strong contender.

I firmly believe that the supply system in HoI4, with some nips and tucks, and some improvements to how information is surfaced to players, will be seen as one of the "great innovations" of HoI4 in years to come, and be the basis of supply in HoI5. And I say that as someone who has not been shy posting about its shortcomings (in no small part because I want it to be successful) - but it's important to see the big picture, and there is a lot to like about it.

Focus-tree wise, I've found the Stalin paranoia system works well. Regardless of one's beliefs of Stalin, there needs to be some kind of mechanic in place so that forces players to purge, or the Soviet Union will be significantly more powerful than it was (probably, all else being equal - noting that it's obviously a guess, it's not something we can test) and the balance of the game is out of whack. So for those not liking the purge system, what would they prefer? There has to be something, and I can't think of a better contender than paranoia (it surely wasn't rational optimisation!)

As always with focus trees, sure there's a lot of somewhat improbable but fun alt-history content which some people may not be keen on, but the game is well set-up to support historical play (I'll be playing historical for a while yet, before I switch over and try the alt-history stuff - and I know there are some rough edges here as well, but in the context of the genre and the sheer complexity of the game, these are pretty understandable) and there's nothing forcing players to play the alt-history stuff.

The new doctrine system also adds more depth - it's still early days with me in it yet, but I think it's both more fun in vanilla, and broadens the scope for moddability as well.

So given all of that, it's not hard to see at all why it'd be reviewing well. It is complex, and the rough edges may stand out more in certain situations and for certain playthroughs, so I can see why some people might be disappointed initially, but I think it's got a heap of potential. For anyone finding it a bit hard-going now, I'd strongly recommend sticking with it, or at least taking a break for no more than a week or two and coming back after the next patch to see how it's going.

 

[Anna_Gein]

Maybe actually try it before forming an opinion that is wrong. Of course majors play differently but any player can research what they need without many issues. The US is probably the only country that has to research almost everything. And they get the most slots so it can be done. As Germany you focus on land, tanks, subs, fighters and either CAS or TAC. And all of those can be done. As SOV you ignore the navy and everything else can be done., etc.

Sure

I have 550 hours on HoI4 but I need to try it before forming an opinion

 

[Leinad965]

I would say: this game will be awesome. But as a consumer, I am very disappointed in what state this DLC came out. It is clear that paradox dint have time to test the most consequential things. In DLC about USSR state of USSR AI and how it can handle itself against germans and for god sake do not start a war with allies about baltic states even before Barbarossa. I am baffled how paradox could something this simple to test in AI timelapse to get past testing before launch. Or do they abuse the fanbase to fix and bug report their game and save money on testing time/staff?

Timelapse looks correct, USSR defends itself, allies lands, Germany capitulates:

 

[Bugnr01]

No those areas are supposed to be badly supplied and over the course of the game you need to build railways and hubs if you intend to launch combat operations. It's working exactly as it should, well play tested in my opinion.

I think you missunderstood me.

Is not the railways that are the problem, its the convoy pathfinding and the fact that i seem only to be able to ship supply out of Leningard. Declare on Turky and you will be unable to supply your own port of Kerch (not low supply, but unsupplyable), because the convoys out of Leningrad cant reach the black sea anymore.

Thats what i ment and this should not have sliped through QA or any testing of the core feature of a new dlc (if such testing had be done).

Its the same for Germany, if Italy looses north Africa and Germany takes Yugoslavia, you cant proper invade north afrika because your supply from Settin cant reach the med despite haveing ports in the med itself.

Combine this with the fact that supply throuput seems to also effects the hub itself (to much divisions on the hub itself leds to supply shortage, even if the hub can supply the same divisions if they spread out) and thus hampering the Pazific war with its one province islands.

Yes, if you ignore all the design problems and cases that where not acounted for, limit your playthrought around the working part of the core feature of the dlc (supply) and live with the bugs then you can recomend the game. So yes, i dont understand lots of the good reviews.

 

[cotne22]

Not the biggest fan of the randomized purge myself. IIRC from the current roster only 4 generals were executed during the purge, so you end up mostly purging people who historically weren't. The system would work if more pre-purge generals were around, but currently I think preset events would be better.

 

[Fulmen]

Not the biggest fan of the randomized purge myself. IIRC from the current roster only 4 generals were executed during the purge, so you end up mostly purging people who historically weren't. The system would work if more pre-purge generals were around, but currently I think preset events would be better.

If you keep paranoia low and trigger only the historical events, I think you only purge people that were purged historically?

 

[FindFloppies]

I think you missunderstood me.

Is not the railways that are the problem, its the convoy pathfinding and the fact that i seem only to be able to ship supply out of Leningard. Declare on Turky and you will be unable to supply your own port of Kerch (not low supply, but unsupplyable), because the convoys out of Leningrad cant reach the black sea anymore.

Yes, it's known that it doesn't reroute outbound sea supply correctly when a zone is cut. Multiple bug reports on that.

However, if you make the Moscow to Murmansk railway a higher level than the one to Leningrad, (and don't go through leningrad!!) it will put sea supply through Murmansk instead of the Batlic. Temporary workaround, but I hope they do some fixing on it, though.

 

[cotne22]

If you keep paranoia low and trigger only the historical events, I think you only purge people that were purged historically?

Guess so, only did a test run, I wonder how the AI will manage it.

 

[jju_57]

Sure

I have 550 hours on HoI4 but I need to try it before forming an opinion

You said you had ZERO hours on the DLC. So yea you need to try it before forming an opinion.

 

[Anna_Gein]

You said you had ZERO hours on the DLC. So yea you need to try it before forming an opinion.

I was not talking about the DLC.

Try to learn how to read before posting on a forum

 

[roman566]

I really don't understand why people believe that the new supply system is 'strategic'. All you have to do is click 'use lots of trucks' and then just execute the battle plan. Oh, and use supply companies. They won't solve the problem of low supply, but they will help. Probably.

This is literally the same thing you did previously, just with new fancier map mode to see how badly it sucks for your troops. I didn't pay any attention when invading Germany or Russia. It's not that I can make new hubs fast enough to make them worthwhile, I just accepted that my troops will be badly supplied and moved on.

I have only played as Poland and the one thing I can say about focus trees is lots of them are a waste of time. Fort focuses cost 70 days to finish and give less than a single Mill in terms of production. The same goes for the railway focuses. The historical path is also annoying as once you start it you have to finish the entire path or end up in a civil war.

The tank designer is nice, but the tanks sadly suck. Unless you meme with 'Tank Destroyers' it's better to invest in artillery and air.

The new doctrine system is nice from the logical point of view but makes terrible gameplay. With how much land XP you need for templates (that were made slightly more expensive due to replacing support company costing 20xp instead of 10), tanks, and now doctrines it stands to reason that many countries will start the war without any doctrines. The spirit system is almost completely meh. Better spend XP on doctrines.

Overall, the DLC is meh. Barely worth its price.

 

[Devourer1987]

I think you missunderstood me.

Is not the railways that are the problem, its the convoy pathfinding and the fact that i seem only to be able to ship supply out of Leningard. Declare on Turky and you will be unable to supply your own port of Kerch (not low supply, but unsupplyable), because the convoys out of Leningrad cant reach the black sea anymore.

Thats what i ment and this should not have sliped through QA or any testing of the core feature of a new dlc (if such testing had be done).

Its the same for Germany, if Italy looses north Africa and Germany takes Yugoslavia, you cant proper invade north afrika because your supply from Settin cant reach the med despite haveing ports in the med itself.

Combine this with the fact that supply throuput seems to also effects the hub itself (to much divisions on the hub itself leds to supply shortage, even if the hub can supply the same divisions if they spread out) and thus hampering the Pazific war with its one province islands.

Yes, if you ignore all the design problems and cases that where not acounted for, limit your playthrought around the working part of the core feature of the dlc (supply) and live with the bugs then you can recomend the game. So yes, i dont understand lots of the good reviews.

My apologies I did misunderstand you.

 

[jju_57]

You previously said and I quote:

I have barely played with NSB.

And with what little time I spent o it, it still feels impossible to have decent armed forces unless you ignore the entire navy branch.

And now you are trying to claim:

I was not talking about the DLC.

Try to learn how to read before posting on a forum

Sure seems like you are the one with reading comprehension issues. NSB is the DLC.

 

[Federkiel]

This Update is fantastic it’s almost like having a new game.

Yes, indeed. Like an entirely different game i never wanted to have in the first place. What have they done to a great game that was enjoyable for so many hours in the past.

Same choice, every time, when there are changes.

The game company owns the game, and they go the direction they want to. Individual players can adapt to the changes, or walk away. It's always been this way.

You just get people who think they know better than Paradox and should be able to dictate changes from the cheap seats.

I'll lean back in my cheap seat and let entitled entities like you judge from the high ground. Just my humble money bag votes. Immediate refund. Period.

 

[Kanaric]

Yes, indeed. Like an entirely different game i never wanted to have in the first place. What have they done to a great game that was enjoyable for so many hours in the past.



I'll lean back in my cheap seat and let entitled entities like you judge from the high ground. Just my humble money bag votes. Immediate refund. Period.

Play the old version then, that's what that option is for. The vast majority disagree with you and nothing you can say will convince anyone to your minority opinion, especially not salty opinions. Play the old version and move on.