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Hearts of Iron 2 is a Grand Strategy Computer War Game for the PC based upon its predecessor, Hearts Of Iron . It takes place in the period from 1 January 1936 through 31 December 1947 , and allows the player to assume control of any one of almost two hundred nations of the time and guide its development through the years before, during and after the Second World War . It was developed by Paradox Interactive , distributed by Strategy First , and released 4 January 2005 . GAMEPLAY The game features a number of elements which earn it the distinction of a Grand Strategy game. These include the ability to build land Divisions , aircraft Squadrons , and naval ships/squadrons, as well as the ability to combine individual units into larger units or break up large units into smaller units. The player also has the ability to control the appointment of commanders of forces under their nation's flag (or that of controlled puppet nations) as well as to control the appointment of individual government Ministers and military commanders in key General Staff positions. The player also has a broader ability to control the heads of state and government; however, this option in the past has only been available to democracies and only then through elections, in which the player chooses the winner. Technological research is controlled by the player. All this is on a global scale, with the player simultaneously dealing and interacting with nations across the world in real time rather than traditional Turn-based form. Playable Nations The player can choose to play as almost any nation on earth at that time, discounting very small city-states like Andorra or Monaco. The player can also play as a new nation that gains its independence as the game progresses, but will have to wait until the nation actually declares independence in the game before it can be played. However, despite being able to afford the luxury of taking control of a side selection of nations available, certain smaller nations are not able to have a strong tech team in addition to possessing a low amount of Industrial Capacity which may mean a slow military and economic buildup. Politics The player is able to manage his nation's foreign and internal policies on the Diplomacy page. The player can stage coups, declare war, annex territories and make alliances. One can also Socially Engineer the policies of his nation using sliders, such as:
Moving the sliders in either direction will result in different bonuses and penalties, allowing for a wide range of choices and strategies. On the same page the player can appoint leaders and ministers, with some exceptions, of course. The positions are available:
Resource Management Hearts of Iron II features 9 resources, of which 6, namely Power, Rare Materials, Metal, Oil, Money, and Supplies are conventional resources, and the other 3 being Manpower, Industrial Capacity and Transport Capacity.
SCENARIOS In the game, a player assumes direct control of a nation at the start of a scenario through 1948. The following scenarios are available:
Playable operations are:
WARFARE Hearts of Iron 2 is a Grand Strategy game. The lowest independent land unit is the Division , although Brigades such as engineers, artillery, or armoured cars can be attached to these. On sea, units are either single Capital Ship s or flotillas of small ships such as destroyers. For the air force, the unit is a Wing or Group(depending on nationality). On the map the player can direct divisions or groups of divisions to move, attack, support attack, support defend or strategically redeploy. Fighting starts when an army starts moving into a defended enemy territory (The invading units do not have to be inside enemy territory to attack). A province is immediately occupied when the invaders successfully arrive there with no opposition left. Because of this, a player can Blitzkrieg through large swaths of enemy lands with minimal micromanagement, a feature that was heavily criticised by veterans of the first HOI game, though it more easily allows a representation of the conquests of Poland etc, and units who move so constantly do lose organization, so such "Blitzkriegs" can be stopped. The time it takes to move the units from one province to another may represent such occupation as well. CHANGES FROM HEARTS OF IRON I The computer is said to be more likely to mount large-scale offensives, whereas in the original Attacks or Counter-attacks would often be both limited and understrength. The world map in Hearts of Iron 2 has also been altered: the number of territories in many key areas, especially northern France, European Russia, North Africa, North America and coastal Asia have been increased substantially. Diplomacy has also been updated. Before one used diplomatic points (points gained on a monthly basis, with certain nations beginning the game with a supply) to engage in diplomatic actions. In this version, the player may specify the type, duration and format of agreements made, especially regarding supply of raw materials or trade for technology. The technological system has been overhauled. Rather than allocate industrial capacity to research, the player allocates money to research teams that specialize in branches of technology. Developing new vehicles or aircraft requires fewer steps: technical prerequisites are now included within the model as a research item. There is additionally a new category of "Secret Weapons". CONTROVERSY AND CENSORSHIP Like its predecessor , to avoid a ban in Germany . In the German version of the game, pictures of leading Nazi leaders such as Hitler, Göring and Himmler had been removed and their names subsequently altered. All references to the Holocaust , Concentration Camps , Ethnic Cleansing , War Crime s (besides the Rape Of Nanking ), and Terror Bombing are also removed. Paradox Interactive claims HoI 2 is a wargame in a historical setting and not a war simulation. While a war simulation would render an as historically accurate simulation as possible (ideally up to and including atrocities and warcrimes) a wargame in a historical setting aims to entertain with a historical feel. EXPANSION In was announced. It was released April 2006. The expansion pack features among other things a reworked intelligence model(which allows the player to use espionage, sabotage and other things in an "intelligence page" accessible through the main screen), extended timeline, improved AI and a scenario editor. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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