Hearts of Iron IV

[Razgovory]

Trying to shift your industry to naval construction and going from land power to naval power is one of the most tedious elements of the game.  National focuses are about getting you (and more importantly the AI) into the war.  You tend to go through them by mid-war.  You kinda co-opted your main enemy.  The fun of playing Germany is fighting in the Soviet Union.

[Syt]

Yeah, I wanted to Anschluss, Hungary got there first. I wanted Sudeten, Hungary gobbles up Czechoslovakia. I wanted to Danzig or War, I have too few troops (oops!). So I maneuvered myself into a stupid spot.

I suppose the reasonable thing would be to go after the UK and Africa and then the USA.

[Josquius]

I tried a game last night. Picked Japan as I figured it would give stuff to do early on without having to prepare for 3 years.

I really  don't get it. At all.

[Threviel]

So, Man the Guns released. Anyone tried it? I imagine it to be horrible in MP with all the ship building micro management, although it makes 36-40 a bit more interesting.

[DGuller]

So, Man the Guns released. Anyone tried it? I imagine it to be horrible in MP with all the ship building micro management, although it makes 36-40 a bit more interesting.

The naval micromanagement has really killed my boner for this game.  They missed the sweet spot by a mile, and forgot what the scope of the game is.  Maybe I'll give it another shot sometime and get into the swing of things, but for now I just don't feel like playing it.

[Razgovory]

So, Man the Guns released. Anyone tried it? I imagine it to be horrible in MP with all the ship building micro management, although it makes 36-40 a bit more interesting.

The naval micromanagement has really killed my boner for this game.  They missed the sweet spot by a mile, and forgot what the scope of the game is.  Maybe I'll give it another shot sometime and get into the swing of things, but for now I just don't feel like playing it.

Yeah, I'm in the same boat.

[Solmyr]

So, that ship has sailed?

[Threviel]

I looked forward to the battle of the Atlantic now that the naval aspect was to be bettered. I had fun preparing, I rebuilt a lot of older ships to escort vessels, frigates, cruisers and escort carriers. The plan was to have my modern ships do surface warfare and the older ships protect the convoys, kind of like in real life,

So I set up a surface fleet theater in Scapa and an Atlantic command theater on the west coast. The plan was to have a reserve fleet and some 5-6 task forces in a fleet based around escort carriers automatically repairing and reinforcing. So far so good, great fun was had.

And then war started, and it became micro-management hell. Apparently I can't cover too many sea zones without splitting my task forces up into several fleets each under a separate admiral. And the task forces did not automatically do shit. And I do not want to go over every class of building vessel when my radar or whatever is updated and set up a new production for every class. Now, I have a great interest in naval stuff and this DLC really ticked my boner, but damn it's just too much work.

Not to mention the silly ship builder, it's too complex for a strategic game and far too trivial for a naval sim. Like DGuller said, they missed the sweet spot by a mile.

I had a nice Prussia game going in EUIV when MtG was released. I think I will go back to it now. HoI4 can wait another year and another DLC.

[frunk]

The task forces do automatically do shit, but you have to set them up.

You need to set what the force composition of the task force is (not just put the ships in the task force), turn on automatic replacement and then you need to create reserve fleets that will replenish them when they get low.

Properly set up it reduces micromanagement to almost nothing, but it takes a few steps to set it up (none of which is properly explained).

I haven't gotten the DLC yet though, the base game has the task forces and task force management though.

[Threviel]

Meh, I conquered Silesia instead.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

All four DLC are currently available on Steam for $32.27.  Is that worth it?  I have mixed, but slightly positive, feelings about the vanilla game.

[grumbler]

All four DLC are currently available on Steam for $32.27.  Is that worth it?  I have mixed, but slightly positive, feelings about the vanilla game.

I enjoyed the naval/naval tech stuff, but the AI is horrible at it (as it is in most things).  The other DLC are definitely worth it, if you enjoyed the base game.

[frunk]

All four DLC are currently available on Steam for $32.27.  Is that worth it?  I have mixed, but slightly positive, feelings about the vanilla game.

None of the DLC are essential, the patches have had the big improvements.  If one of the DLC targets an area that you have interest in it is worth it, but otherwise give it a miss.

I generally wait for the DLC to be half price or more off before buying them, and it feels like a reasonable price then.  I'm not sure how that works out for the bundle.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

I enjoyed the naval/naval tech stuff, but the AI is horrible at it (as it is in most things).  The other DLC are definitely worth it, if you enjoyed the base game.

None of the DLC are essential, the patches have had the big improvements.  If one of the DLC targets an area that you have interest in it is worth it, but otherwise give it a miss.

I generally wait for the DLC to be half price or more off before buying them, and it feels like a reasonable price then.  I'm not sure how that works out for the bundle.

The sale has each individual DLC, except Man the Guns, at 50% off; Man the Guns is 33% off.  The bundle discount would effectively make Man The Guns 50% off as well.

Sounds like I should pull the trigger.  Thanks! 

[KRonn]

I like HOL4 and MTG but the management of naval units took some getting accustomed to. They continue to tweak and change/update.