The strategy game Hearts of Iron IV lets you experience the second World War from the perspective of a state power and offers you the possibility of changing the course of history. You have to lead your nation properly and need a lot of tactical prowess to succeed.
Before we tell you all about the important nations in Heart of Iron IV, we want to make you aware of another important feature – the map. The map is a significant factor when it comes to your tactical decisions. If you need information on weather, air combat, land combat, buildings or naval combat, the map is where to find them.
Countries
Now, let’s get started with the countries. They are being controlled by a player or an AI. Each country in Hearts of Iron IV has its own national focus tree and selects from various political ideas regarding diplomacy, construction, research, production and military units.
The are 233 countries in Hearts of Iron IV (that does not include the formable nations which we will discuss below). 83 of those countries show up at the 1936 start.
Political Ideologies
Each country follows one of four political ideologies. These can change over the course of the game. The four political ideologies are communism, democracy, fascism and neutrality.
Major and minor Countries
There are major countries and minor countries in Hearts of Iron IV. A faction is only able to surrender in a war when all its participating major countries are willing to do so. Major countries have the highest number of factories. They cannot lose that status when they are at war.
In 1936, there are seven major countries, namely Germany, Italy, the Soviet Union, Japan, France, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States.
States and Provinces
You may also come across the terms “state” and “province”. Provinces are used as the atomic geographic unit in the strategy game. A set of provinces makes up a state. A state, then is a geographic unit. A certain amount of states forms a country.
The Soviet Union
The Soviet Union has a lot of natural and human resources as well as decent technology. The Soviet Union has control over the entire norther third of Asia and the eastern edges of Europe.
Germany
In 1933, Germany was overcome by fascism and led by a brutal dictator. In Hearts of Iron IV, it is dominant in terms of history and technology and is the driving force behind many events in the early-game.
Poland and Romania
There are other important countries in the game such as Poland and Romania. Poland is between the two major countries of Germany and the Soviet Union and can be seen as the 6th strongest country in Europe at the time of the second World War. Romania is located in the north-eastern Balkans and its neighbor, the Soviet Union, will be able to purge most of their command.
Formable Nations
Furthermore, there are so-called formable nations in Hearts of Iron IV, which do not exist when you choose to start in either 1936 or 1939. Formable nations can be established if certain requirements are fulfilled and certain nations deicide to do so.
