Top 5 Hearts of Iron Mods you need to try!

Top 5 HOI4 Mods You need to try!

Hearts of Iron IV is strategy game developed and published by Paradox Interactive and is exclusive to PC. It combines elements of strategy, micro-managing and diplomacy, in the run up to the bloodiest conflict in human history- the Second World War. You can become the leader of any country in the world, be it Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union or even Tibet.

As well as this detailed base game, there is an expansive and free world of mods out there. Some mods add little gameplay or aesthetic tweaks and some completely change the setting of the game. Here I’m going to scratch the surface on the overwhelming quality from this community and pick out the best, in my humble opinion, in this list.

1 Millennium Dawn

Millennium Dawn, as you could probably assume, takes place in the modern day, updating the map, technologies and focus trees as a result. You can begin the game in either 2000 or 2018, which means leaders such as Tony Blair, George W Bush, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, among many other famous men and women to lead your country. The focus trees also create some interesting alternatives to the modern day, like recreating the USSR or reclaiming the old territories of the British Empire. The depth of this mod is like an entirely new game, it’s the whole package and one you should try.

2 The Great War Mod

The Great War mod sets back the clock on the vanilla game 26 years, into the run up to the First World War. As a result, the technology and warfare are a lot more basic and slow, but still just as tough and strategic as before. You need to prepare your state for the huge war ahead in 1914, you can build up your forces as Kaiser Wilhelm under the growing German Empire or try to modernise the primitive Tsarist Russia. The focus trees also allow you to change the course of history, perhaps an alliance with Italy could win the Central Powers the war or join the Central Powers as Britain and stab the Entente in the back. There are immense possibilities with this mod, the different warfare style is also something to try which all comes together to create a well-rounded, quality mod which you shouldn’t ignore.

3 Road to 56

Road to 56 is a collection of mods, all banded together into a nice package. It makes several tweaks to the base game, just generally improving it. For example, it adds a whole host of new custom focus trees that aren’t in the base game, like Iran, Turkey, Yugoslavia among many others. These additions, coupled with an increased research tree and balancing improvements combine to create the best experience and way to create many different alternative timelines between 1936 and 1956, (as the name goes).

4 Kaiserreich

Kaiserreich is by far and away the largest, most in depth and quite frankly best alternate history mod in the workshop. It is set in an entirely different 1936, one in which the Central Powers won the First World War. This means entirely different countries, like Syndicalist United Kingdom, the Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth, this change in setting means completely different focus trees, alliances, ideologies and research. There are ten more distinct ideologies added in this mod, like Market Liberalism and Revolutionary Syndicalism. It even has its own lore and WIKI, so you can read up on the background information and really get a sense of alternate world you’re playing in. It is impressive how much work has been put into this mod and the immersion of this new world makes it one you will spend hours on.

5 Endseig: Ultimate Victory

Endseig: Ultimate Victory is an underrated and versatile mod that presents several scenarios to play in. There are 1910, 1914 and 1918 start dates. Admittedly it is less polished and detailed than the Great War mod, but I think the chance to try and win World War 1 as the Kaiser in 1918 is a tough but rewarding task. The map and research are updated according to what was the position of the countries at that time to a good standard. Moreover, there are also start dates in the Second World War- 1943, 1944 and 1945. These starts are tougher and tougher as the years go up, with 1945 being almost impossible, however I find this challenge interesting and it also allows the player to realise the scope of the Second World War, especially the latter years. This mod is relatively accurate with the map, alliances and militaries to the times, which adds a better sense of immersion in the Second World War, than, in my opinion, the base game struggles to achieve. Overall the challenge and immersion of this mod makes it one that all HOI4 players should have try at.

These were my 5 favourite Hearts of Iron 4 mods that you should try. This is my first of hopefully many pieces, so I would appreciate feedback in the comments. I hope you enjoyed this and felt encouraged to get HOI4 and try out these mods.

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