HoI3 Betas

[MadImmortalMan]

Latest Development Diary.

We have talked a bit about units and leaders already. However let's just do a recap. The base structure of a land unit is a brigade, the smallest tactical unit is the division that is made up of one or more brigades. Units can be structured into a hierarchy of corps, army, army group and theatre. Each level can have its own commander with its own bonus.

Now for a bit more detail. First off we have added rank limitations to each level. So Divisions are commanded by Major Generals, Corps by Lieutenant Generals, Armies by full Generals and Army Groups and Theatres by Field Marshals. Next to bonuses. Commanders have a leadership skill and sometimes traits, in Hearts of Iron 2 these were used by all units in the stack and in the case of leadership skill applied in combat. So first up the division, each division commander gives a combat bonus to his division based on his skill and any trait bonus is received 100% by the division he commands if it applies.

A corps commander uses his leadership skill to boost the chance of a division in reserve entering combat if space is available and any trait bonus is passed to the relevant divisions at 50%. The bonus is passed to each eligible unit, the total bonus is increased by leader skill and radio strength of the unit and decreased by distance from the Army HQ. The more effective the radio communications of an HQ is, the better the HQ is and the easier it is to detect by SIGINT.

Army commanders aid organisation of all units under their command. The bonus is passed to each eligible unit, and the overall bonus is modified in the same way as corps, however an army commander has a longer range, the trait bonus is halved again.

Army Groups assist with logistics. All units under the command of an army group have reduced supply consumption. Again it is modified in a similar manner but has an even longer range than army commanders. The Trait bonus is halved yet again. Finally the theatre commander, he reduces the effects of the unit cooperation penalty for multiple brigades and is not modified by range. The theatre commander's trait bonus is halved once more meaning it isn't that much at all.




We naturally have an auto assign option for leaders that will take some of the headache out of managing the whole command structure, but you may want to guide the careers of those generals you favour. Also to help here each commander in combat gains experience. So corps of 3 divisions attacking will see all 4 commanders gain experience.

On to Divisions themselves. Since we last talked about them we have been working away testing and refining the system. This allows us to give more definitive answers about how the division system works. First up we can confirm the existence of the single brigade division (which if you use counters will be marked with a single x to denote it's brigade status). This formation has a distinct disadvantage over other divisions in that it cannot have a commander, meaning it won't receive any bonuses in combat. Secondly brigades can be transferred to and from divisions. You decide if you want to increase the number of your tank divisions by stripping out a tank brigade and replacing with a motorised, then feel free to. Similarly want to replace cavalry with armour? You can simply build an armoured brigade, add it to the division and remove the cavalry brigade. Then you either disband the cavalry or do something else with it.

Sounds altogether cool.  I wonder if something similar will be applied for Air and Naval as well.

Sounds like there won't be anything like enough leaders in the game unless you play as Germany or Russia.

[frunk]

The DD I've been waiting for.  Goodbye air power micro-management.

We’ve already run through the basics of the mission system. So you are probably wondering what else is new in Hearts of Iron 3.

There are two major changes. The first one is doctrine effect on air combat. By focussing on doctrines you can influence how your air units behave in combat. There are two sets here, one for air-to-air combat and one for ground attack. For air-to-air you can research fighter and bomber focus. This determines its targeting priority for mixed stacks of enemy units. The names are pretty self-explanatory, on the one hand you can take more damage in the short term and attrition down enemy fighters in the quest for air superiority, on the other hand you can aim for the enemy bombers and reduce your own damage from enemy bombing.

The second is front line and reserve focus. Here this influences which types of enemy units air power will bomb in when doing ground attack missions for enemy stacks in combat. You can aim for the front line units to try and force a break through or concentrate more on reserve units in a quest for generalised attrition against the enemy.

As I mentioned these come in pairs so they are not mutually exclusive doctrines. Essentially these techs supply a weighting value; identical levels of research give equal weight to the targeting choices.

As a side note you are wondering about the power of air bombing on ground units. Well this is the subject of much testing and balancing, but from our own internal tests air power comes into its own when units are fighting in combat. There the combination of bombing and fighting can induce units to shatter much quicker than they otherwise would. Regardless of which approach you take, bombing the reserves or the front line, close air support can swing battles.

The other big change is unsurprisingly AI control. Air units have no individual command structure; instead a stack of air units is always classed as a brigade. Thus any HQ in the chain of command can have air support attached to them. When on manual control this doesn’t actually mean anything as you order around the air units yourself. However when on AI control this can allow you to better control your air assets. Let’s say you have three army groups on a front but all your offensive objectives are in front of only one of those army groups. You can assign air units for the sole use of this army group instead of the whole theatre, focussing air power over the area you wish to attack instead of it being spread over the whole theatre.

Now if we reconsider our example and say you wanted to control the offensive army group yourself, you can assign air power to the army groups you want to hand over to the AI and allow them to use themselves without you having to manage both your offensive and air power over the whole theatre.

Now these examples are for large formations, but air power can even be assigned down to corps level. So if you think that a corps or an Army needs some special help for whatever reason you can detach the air power from the high level command and assign down for the exclusive use of this formation. When the help is no longer required simply detach again and reassign up the chain the command.

What we have aimed for is to maximise both flexibility and ease of management.

[Faeelin]

I'm a bit concerned they haven't said, "So, now the AI will be able to perform D-Day."

This suggests that, well, it won't, and it'll still be Russia v. Germany.

[Warspite]

Are they going to have a Pacific theatre too, this time round?

[Darth Wagtaros]

The US doesn't have Field Marshals.  I hope there will be a unique title for a General of the Army or whatever.

[Norgy]

Are they going to have a Pacific theatre too, this time round?

There's a Norwegian troupe performing Ibsen on Fiji, maybe? 

[PDH]

Are they going to have a Pacific theatre too, this time round?

There's a Norwegian troupe performing Ibsen on Fiji, maybe? 

I think the heroics of the 112th Combat Infantry Mariachi Brigade has been overlooked for far too long.

[Norgy]

Wars are won by accordions. True/false?

[PDH]

In war, the first casualty is the tuba.

[Norgy]

Fact: Bagpipes won El Alamein. This is probably widely known. Less known is how the 243rd Shock Balalaika Division together with 71st Motorised Accordion Division completed the encirclement of Stalingrad. Musical instruments have decided several wars, like the siege of Jericho, and also played a pivotal role in the Ottoman assault on Constantinople through the Little Janissary March.

[PDH]

Let us not forget the 30 Years War Players, famous for their lounge act in Magdeburg - they tore the place down.  Their fame allowed Gustavus "Sax and Violins" Adolphus to tour the south the next couple of years.

[jimmy olsen]

Wow, you guys are awesome. 

[Norgy]

71st Motorised Accordion Division prepare, playing Jumpin' Jack Flash. It's a gas!

[saskganesh]

great thread

[Syt]

Members of the 666th Hard Rock Battalion.