Paradox Interactive look to be really keen on China. First this week they released the Jade Dragon expansion for Crusader Kings II. Check out the trailer below:
But now, we get even more warfare in China. This time during the buildup and execution of World War II, in Hearts of Iron IV.
The ideological and historical significance of the conflict between Japan and China cannot be overstated. And it looks like Paradox want to include some of the influence in the most popular WW II grand strategy game. Today, Paradox announced “Waking The Tiger”.
As expected, the big draw here is new National Focus trees for Japan, China and its factions, as well as Germany. This new German tree allows you to replace Hitler with the exiled Kaiser Wilhelm, or lead a democratic Germany against Stalin’s Russia.
The big decision as China will be what path to venture down. Do you toe the Nationalist line and trend towards Fascism? Do you eschew the chains of Imperialism and free the workers in a Communist revolution? What will happen if you decide to try and install a neutral Democracy?
All these questions and more will be answered when Waking the Tiger releases.
There’s also an improved chain of command, with the ability to use Field Marshals to govern generals, and use specific command abilities to opt for greater tactical flexibility.This setup will likely be similar, to the Order of Battle mechanics for organizing armies in previous games. Although hopefully it’s much more streamlined than it’s predecessor.
HOI IV will also get streamlining of Factions and Production with Waking The Tiger. The UI for these mechanics is being updated with various Quality of Life features as well.
One of my favorite changes is the ability to queue multiple factories into a single slot on a single line. In the current build, 1 pip on a production line equals 1 factory. In Waking The Tiger, players can toggle the ability to make 1 pip equal 1, 5 or 10 factories. No more having multiple lines producing Infantry Equipment and cluttering up your screen real estate.
Hearts of Iron IV: Waking the Tiger is available for pre-order now.
You can also check out a first look livestream from Paradox:
