Video games - Hearts of Iron 2

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	Video games - Hearts of Iron 2

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 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.

Almost all nations are technically playable, however, there is little play to be had with the very small countries. Bhutan has little to do but build light garrison troops, while Luxembourg just sits and waits for the German tanks. Players will rarely accomplish anything with such countries as Haiti or Paraguay. Middle powers can be very interesting to play, such as Poland or Czechoslovakia which can just survive the German onslaught through a crash defensive buildup. While it's easier to invade the smaller countries, large countries/nations are much more difficult. Russia tends to be a tough enemy, due to their many armies and expansive territory. The United States is virtually impossible to invade, since it is remote from any challengers.

An interesting strategy is to command a small nation such as Romania or Yugoslavia with the intention of conquering neighbours and becoming a major power. Something of a loop-hole exists in that the big powers will generally not intervene even when their interests are clearly threatened; for example Yugoslavia or Italy can grab Austria in 1937 without fear of German attack.

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:

Democratic vs Authoritarian
Political Left vs Political Right
Open Society vs Closed Society
Free Market vs Central Planning
Standing army vs Drafted army
Hawk Lobby vs Dove Lobby
Interventionism vs Isolationism

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:

Head of State
Head of Government
Foreign Minister
Armaments Minister
Minister of Security
Head of Military Intelligence
Chief of Staff
Chief of the Army
Chief of the Navy
Chief of the Air Force

Resource Management

Hearts of Iron II features 8 resources, of which 5, namely Power, Rare Materials, Metal, Oil and Supplies are conventional resources, and the other 3 being Manpower, Industrial Capacity and Transport Capacity.

Power, Rare Materials and Metal are produced by individual provinces and pooled together to power the nation's industry.
Supplies are consumed by your army. Oil is consumed by mechanized/armored units, air units and naval units.
Manpower is needed to recruit and reinforce all of your armed forces. 1 Manpower generally represents 1000 men, since a normal infantry division of 10,000 men requires 10 Manpower.
Each factory in a nation contributes 1 Industrial Capacity (IC). This is the Base IC. Several factors, such as difficulty, Minister appointments, Technologies, and (the lack of) resources can modify this number. Each Actual IC requires 2 Power, 1 Metal and 1/2 Rare Materials to power the production.
Transport Capacity (TC) is an abstract number that represents the trucks, trains and river barges which are used to supply your armed forces with fuel and supply. TC is a direct function of your Industrial Capacity - each Actual (not Base) IC gives you 1.5 TC. When the TC used exceeds the TC limit, movement, supplies and reinforcements will be delayed.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Hearts of Iron 2 ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Hearts of Iron 2; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Video games - Hearts of Iron 2

Gameplay

Playable Nations

Politics

Resource Management

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