First off, it's a hell of a lot easier to manage your armies because they're not moving all over the region every time you attack. Units can also be put on "reserve" status and will be used to fill loses incurred in any surrounding territories.īeing able to use units like this without making them move has a number of advantages. Adjacent units can also lend their support to the defense of nearby territories. This helps to keep your fronts a lot more solid. Units stationed in territories that border on an attacked territory can lend their support to that attack without being displaced. This new system also allows for supported attacks and reserve units. Not only does this make the attacks much clearer, but it also means that repulsed attackers still occupy their original territory without needing to retreat. Units in Hearts of Iron 2 now fight across the borders. In the previous Paradox games, armies had to travel into the enemy's territory before they engaged in combat. One of the most significant and welcome changes is that armies now attack on the move.
Sure, you'll still see a Spanish Civil War and many of the historical annexations and declarations of war but the timing and character of each will be colored by thousands of other factors that differ from game to game. You'll still have many of the same events at about the same time but the small variations will start to add up after a while to give each game a different flavor. The historical set-up for each starting year is accurate but you can expect the game to diverge from there. (You can also switch nations when you load old games.) You can run through the whole thing starting in 1936 if you really want, or opt to begin in 1939, 1941 or 1944. When you launch into the grand campaign, you have the option of starting at a variety of times as the head of a variety of nations.
While these scenarios teach the basics of combat, the production, research and diplomacy options are limited or entirely absent.
Other operations include Barbarossa, The Coral Sea, the Spanish Civil War, North Africa, and a few for the German Blitz into Eastern Europe and France and the Allied invasions of Italy, Normandy and Japan. You can try to repulse the German's push through the Ardennes in late 1944 or throw back the Russian invasion during the Russo-Finnish War. You can cut your teeth on the 15 or so smaller scenarios that offer a more limited scope. For others (me, for instance) it's the game's most appealing characteristic. Some gamers will be scared off by the scope of the game. Trading for resources, allocating production, keeping the home front happy, assigning research priorities, negotiating alliances with other nations, replacing cabinet members and a host of other responsibilities all fall on your desk and that's not even considering any of your numerous military tasks.
In Hearts of Iron 2 you're responsible for absolutely everything short of leading the troops on the battlefield. If you're expecting a remake of Axis and Allies you're going to be disappointed. Let it be said right at the start: this is a hard game with a sometimes-unfriendly level of depth. There are many more territories to fight over here, a more streamlined management concept, and, perhaps most importantly, far fewer bugs. The sequel is much like the original game except that it's a hell of a lot better. Running in real time from 1936 through the end of 1947, Hearts of Iron put you at the helm of any one of a variety of nations and tasked you with shaping the diplomatic, economic, military, and scientific goals both before and during the War. Gamers who picked up Hearts of Iron were able to experience Paradox's unique strategy model in an hour-by-hour simulation of World War 2.
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