Hearts of Iron IV Is Looking for Better Ways to Build Elite Armies
A new Dev Corner asks whether experience gains, training limits, and casualty replacements leave too little room for legendary units.
Hearts of Iron IV is asking players to weigh in on how armies should gain experience and preserve battlefield expertise. In a new Steam Dev Corner, developer Jamor discussed the limits of the current system and the possibility of creating clearer trade-offs between army size and unit quality.
At present, units from different countries generally improve at similar rates. Their experience gains from pre-deployment training and exercises on the map also follow broadly similar limits, while historical differences in military aptitude are handled mostly through fixed national modifiers. That approach supports balance, but it gives players less room to shape alternate outcomes through the units themselves.
Casualty replacement creates another problem for commanders trying to maintain elite formations. Losses are filled with inexperienced personnel, which can steadily erode a veteran unit’s expertise. Keeping a highly trained formation at the top of its game can then become a losing proposition, making it harder for rare, legendary units to emerge naturally during a campaign.
Jamor wants feedback on army size and quality
Rather than announce a finished redesign, Jamor asked the community to identify what the current experience and replacement mechanics fail to capture. He also wants to know how players would feel about a system where expanding an army came with a cost to quality, or where smaller forces could protect their accumulated expertise more effectively.
- What are the biggest shortcomings of the current unit experience and casualty replenishment systems?
- Would trade-offs between army size and quality make military planning more interesting?
- Which changes could make unit development more varied and engaging across different campaigns?
The discussion follows an earlier airborne operations feedback round, showing the team continuing to ask players how major military systems should work before any specific changes are confirmed.
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Hearts of Iron
Developed by Paradox Development Studio
Hearts of Iron is the first ever World War II PC game of true Grand Strategic scope. The game map spans the entire world and allows players to take part in any front they choose. You can play any nation in the world, but the game focuses on the epic struggle between the great alliances of the world orders - Fascism, Communism and Democracy.
- Genre Strategy
- Platforms PC (Microsoft Windows)
- Perspective Bird view / Isometric
- Modes Single player
- Release December 29, 2002
- Publisher Strategy First
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Age Rating
