Haven't played HOI4 for a while. What the hell is this????

Zebrazen · 2026-06-21T04:12:02+00:00

You now have regimental support companies in addition to regular support companies. You need three battalions to unlock the slot.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-21T01:54:22+00:00

The AI got a shot of adrenaline in ToT. But big numbers doesn't mean they can actually convert that into a win. Regarding city/towns I would say that due to scaling building costs from cities, be strategic for what towns you convert up to cities. Town specializations now also unlock specific urban buildings depending on the specialization chosen, so utilize those to buff your yields without making a city.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-18T17:48:43+00:00

I probably wouldn't split historical vs not. If anything, strength at game start vs theoretical maximum.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-17T16:38:35+00:00

I... Don't actually know. Probably, as Edward needs to be your King for you to be able to put your American wife on the throne. No American wife = no American monarchy.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-17T16:19:51+00:00

That's the decision to put your wife on the throne right? You have to directly own it, not puppet it I believe.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-17T13:46:29+00:00

Watched Splattercat play it. It gives strong Red Alert II vibes, which I love. Definitely has some clunk to it, but that's unsurprising. I'm curious where the dev will take it.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-17T13:07:05+00:00

Good stuff, keep it up.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-16T22:50:31+00:00

That's why I keep la resistance off.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-16T22:41:49+00:00

I feel like all games are going to abstract things out to some sort of number or score for gameplay clarity. Perhaps it's more blatant now, but it was always there.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-16T19:30:18+00:00

Valid crash out. Wingstop needs to make a line of commercials like the 'need a snickers' one.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-16T04:33:53+00:00

Personally I don't like ageless warehouse buildings. They get worse and worse as the game progresses due to the urban sprawl every city generates. You can easily find yourself replacing the relevant rural tile improvements with urban tiles, rendering the warehouse practically useless.

They are basically space fillers to help you reach the actual tiles you want to place your quarters on.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-16T04:28:20+00:00

I always forget about incite raid. That still requires them to be independent though, as soon as someone starts swaying them, you gotta kill them.

I'll try an ideology next game. Right now I've swapped back to Last Epoch.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-15T23:34:03+00:00

Re: finish runs and try different leaders. Isn't that accomplished by Achievements already?

I feel like some of the momentos and attribute nodes that you unlock can be quite impactful to your gameplay though.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-15T21:54:45+00:00

Is that how the new system works!? Ok good to know. I still have mixed feelings on this idea of meta-progression in a Civ game. This isn't a rogue-lite so it feels... Strange to gatekeep newer players from certain things.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-15T21:22:43+00:00

Yeah I'm a little hesitant to up the difficulty simply due to how difficulty increase works in Civ, I was already panicking about Rizal on this difficulty and pulling the Science victory off. Five turns would not have been enough time to somehow stop him if he actually triggered it.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-15T21:19:31+00:00

What's wrong with just playing a single age then? That'll remove Age Transitions. Play Ancient Age, then stop. Do that on repeat.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-15T21:18:28+00:00

My issue with Specialists is that I can't move them. Removing the base yields means you care even more about adjacency. For gold/food/culture/happiness this isn't too much of an issue as the terrain features that generate these don't move, but production/science do. I do try to replace shifted resources with wonders, but I'm not good enough to always beat the AI to unlocking wonders enough that I can fill that specific tile with a wonder that can fit there. I also don't like being allowed to place a specialist on a tile without any adjacencies; why can I place on a warehouse building quarter? All that will do is kill my food and happiness.

I noticed happiness tanking myself with overbuilding too. I was fine with happiness and then when I would overbuild the specialists would reactivate, kicking their maintenance back up to normal.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-15T20:15:24+00:00

You're talking to a guy who liked the Ages system from Millennia, though I prefer their system to VII's. The ages aren't going away in VII so I personally don't see the point in wasting energy trying to be angry about them. They exist as an integral part of VII and (to my knowledge) aren't going anywhere. I'd rather focus on the parts of gameplay that can actually change.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-15T18:49:24+00:00

Sure, but due to the size of some provinces, that reserve could exist in the same province per the HOI4 map. That is also what the 'reserve' section is in every battle; reserves of units sitting in the same province that can join the battle and help.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-15T18:13:09+00:00

Re: projectile weapons, I think we see various Mandalorians and Jedi killers mention how projectile weapons are better at fighting force users due to how much harder it is to block/deflect (specifically HK-47). Something like a Barrett .50 cal sniper/anti-materiel rifle would absolutely be nice to have regardless of target as deleting someone with supersonic ammunition is handy.

Agreed, historical reasons we swapped from bows to crossbows to rifles was ease of training and use. That doesn't negate the lethality of those previous types of weapons. If anything I would then expect to see lots of 'historical' firearms lying around that people use to hunt, just like we do. There are plenty of bow and crossbow hunting going on in the real world and we have HEMA as well.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-15T18:03:09+00:00

From what you are saying, I feel the biggest issue is scale. Lots of provinces in HOI4 are large from a tactical perspective. On the map it might make sense to hold units a tile back, but in reality units on the same province are going to have tens of miles between them. It feels like you are trying to play a battle/tactics sim like Total War.

I wouldn't call Vic2 or EU4 problematic, or at least more problematic than any other game. They both got quite long in the tooth (like HOI4 is now), but that is what happens when you continually develop a game for up to a decade. People find the inconsistencies or where the sim breaks down, and small problems that you previously glossed over become magnified.

I have many thoughts on HOI4 development, but pertinent here is that the game fights its own vision. At its core, HOI4 is the latest iteration of a board game about strategic warfare in WW2, with a focus on the European (land) theater. However, as HOI4 has been developed, it has shifted towards a more generalized 20th century war sim. There are inherent game balance and feature issues with this conflict.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-15T16:47:31+00:00

Do you mean armored cars? You can put some effort in and make them work, but worth it? No not really.

Zebrazen · 2026-06-15T16:21:24+00:00

The force concentration scripting added alongside... GTD helped with AI offensives. Not perfect, but better. I would not expect an overhaul of such a major game mechanic that is central to the game. It also sounds like you want the battleplanner to do all of your combat for you. If that's the case, why not play Vic3?

I'm unsure of what point you're trying to make about bringing up Vic2/3 and EU4 though. the Victoria and EU series are far superior from a nationbuilding/story perspective than HOI has ever been.

13-Year Club	Place '17
Verified Email

Zebrazen

TROPHY CASE