While it's all well and good talking about how Hearts of Iron IV's upcoming expansion No Step Back will overhaul the Soviet Union, or how the free patch will completely redo the supply system (again), being a war game I'm here for one thing: shooty bangs.
Paradox's WWII grand strategy game isn't the deepest conflict simulation around, but it offers a perspective not often covered in these kinds of titles and offers enough depth to make it engaging. The No Step Back expansion is going to be adding more subtle tricks to make warfare that much more strategic, as this week's dev diary reveals.
First up, there's now a formal scorched earth mechanic. A bit grim, for sure, but one reason the Soviet Union was able to hold out against the Nazi invasion was its policy of not leaving anything behind that could aid the invaders (that, and just up and moving their entire industrial base like it was a set of legos). This has now been introduced into the game as a general mechanic. Another new tweak will let you add more character to your generals by letting them have a preferred tactic.
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