The next DLC for Hearts of Iron 4 is currently unknown. We suspect the next major expansion is likely to cover the Soviet Union in some form. According to the rough HOI4 roadmap that was updated in April 2020, along with Italy and Poland the Soviet Union is one of the last 'core' nations to receive any kind of special attention or overhaul. Go to your hearts of iron IV install folder. This is usually C: Program Files (x86) Steam steamapps common Hearts of Iron IV if you use Windows. Run a file called 'launcher-installer-windows'. Use that to uninstall the launcher, then open it up and re-install it. Unsubcribe/Resubscribe to this mod.

Of all the Paradox titles to deploy massive Mods libraries, none might compare with the whopping collection of over 20,000 Hearts of Iron IV Mods. Trying to pick and choose mods through this white-out of vast choices can be as daunting as Operation Barbarossa.

The Video is basically a hoi4 mod review for a lot of mods in hearts of iron 4 and a list for the best Hearts of Iron 4 mods. Or the most popular hoi4 mods. I really loved to make a video about hoi4 top 10 mods which are easy to get from the Steam Workshop tell me if you want to see more videos about mods or about the best mods in Hearts of Iron 4. Turn off Player-led Peace Conferences They said. Ask questions and/or talk about the grand strategy game Hearts of Iron IV by Paradox. Download this Sue for Peace mod for Hearts of Iron IV and lead your nation to victory and prosperity in the Second World War! Put your enemies on their back! Download this Sue for Peace mod for Hearts of Iron IV and lead your nation to victory and prosperity in the Second World War! Put your enemies on their back!

Still, let's ride this tiger of selection and focus on four salient categories to encircle some of the best mods out there. And yes, there is a Battle Royale mod.

What are the best Hearts of Iron 4 Mods?

• Cold War Iron Curtain: A World Divided (Total Conversion)
• End of a New Beginning (Total Conversion)
• BlackICE Historical Immersion Mod (Total Conversion/Immersion)
• The Great War (Total Conversion/Immersion)
• The Road to 56 (Total Conversion/Immersion)
• Hearts of Oak – Man the Guns (Total Conversion/Immersion)
• Millennium Dawn: Modern Day Mod (Total Conversion/Immersion)
• Kaiserreich (Alternate History)
• Old World Blues (Alternate History)
• Expert AI 4.0 (Mechanics/Balance)
• Player-Led Peace Conferences (Mechanics/Balance)
• HOI4 In Real Time! (Mechanics/Balance/why)
• Soldier's Radio (Cosmetic)
• HOI4 – Texture Overhaul – Terrain (Cosmetic)
• World News (Cosmetic)

Cold War Iron Curtain: A World Divided

This is a new mod that's risen in popularity since we last did our checks. As implied by the title, it changes the setting to the Cold War period, with start dates ranging from 1949 through to 1970. There are plans to extend the timeline into the 1990's. This mod features between 10-20 years worth of content for all the major powers, including some minors. It also has thousands of new events, new units, new mechanics including DECON and MAD. You can purchase equipment from the private sector, a new economic system.

Many nations have their own unique mechanics as well. Make sure you don't accidentally download the old version of the mod. You want this one here.

Compatible of Collie 1.10.

End of a New Beginning

This mod caught our eye recently via our Discord sever, as it appeared to offer a Victorian-era experience wrapped in Hearts of Iron's shenanigans. We immediately sent our resident HoI 4 mod guru, Timothy, to check it out and answer one simple question: Is End of a New Beginning the Victoria 3 we've been looking for?

Short answer, probably not. The mod is still in relatively early days, and there's only dedicated content up to 1885. Furthermore, we're worried its commitment to extending the timeline from 1857 through to 2050 is a bit ambitious, given the vastly different worlds represented in that start and end date. They might as well just ask Paradox to make a new game. Also, warfare in EoanB isn't that satisfying as it still uses the mechanics from vanilla HoI 4, more or less. Waging war in the 19th century feels no different than waging war in the 20th, so there's still plenty of work to be done. That said, this is still a fascinating project, and one to keep an eye on!

Officially compatible up to Patch 1.9.3. Does not require any DLCs at the moment, and users are reporting that it seems to work fine with 1.10 Collie anyway.

BlackICE Historical Immersion Mod

One of the more famous mods from the days of Hearts of Iron 3, BlackICE is an immersion & realism mod aimed at making the game more challenging & historical. It's actually recommended that you play with 'Historical Focus' switched on for this mod, as it caters for the crowd who specifically want the challenge of WW2 as it unfolded, as opposed to the growing alt-history/sandbox crowd. Everything from new units and equipment, to new national Focus Trees (many borrowed from other mods that have done good work in this area), to expanding on the Law and Politics mechanics has been looked at. The AI is more challenging, there's more breadth and depth of options, and generally speaking this an excellent historical immersion experience.

BlackICE is compatible with Husky 1.9.3 and there's a test version for 1.10 Collie currently live here.

The Great War

Why fight WW2, when you can fight WW1 instead? The Great Wardoes exactly what it says on the tin - Hearts of Iron 4 has been transformed to the world of 1910, where old-fashioned imperialistic powers jockey for supremacy at the dawn of the 20th Century. The game & mechanics have been completely overhauled to fit the period - that means that innovations like Tanks and Planes will take a while to enter the fray, so you'll mainly be looking at infantry tactics. The team is currently at work on bridging the gap between the First and Second World Wars, with work being done on the interwar tech and decision trees.

Fun fact, the developers of this mod have actually launched a Patreon to fund development of their from-scratch WW1 game, Fields of History: The Great War.

This mod is compatible with Version 1.10 Collie & all DLCS.

The Road to 56

More than just extending the timeline to 1956, this mod peppers the entire world with greater detail and complexity. Not content to wait for Paradox to release content packs for various countries, The Road to 56 provides deep and sometimes quirky focus trees for dozens of countries overlooked by the base game. The most amazing part about this deeper focus on different countries is that it offers choices that go to the very heart of the focus system: the ability to choose a nation's destiny does not need to be an exercise in strict historicity. The creativity that the team places on the focus trees is bolstered by upgrades and expansions to the technologies, political mechanics, laws, etc. This is a one stop shop for a total enhancement of the game.

This mod is compatible with Version 1.9.2 Husky & all DLCS. At the time of writing, an update to 1.10 Collie is expected within the next week.

Hearts of Oak – Man the Guns

Sometimes totally overhauling the game requires a subtle touch. In this case, Hearts of Oak does not attempt to change the base game into something unrecognizable but enhances and re-balances technologies, industries, wars, events etc. in areas where the Paradox team may have glossed over. Complete with a much improved AI, playing HOI4 no longer feels like a “solved” game as most playthroughs can be like but is a dynamic and challenging foray into the dangers of Global Total War. With a keen focus on deepening historical accuracy with challenges for the player, this mod succeeds in bringing more life to this cacophony of death.

This mod is compatible with Version 1.10 Collie & all DLCS.

Millennium Dawn: Modern Day Mod

Winner of the 'Outstanding Modding Achievement' at the 2018 PDXCon, Millennium Dawn delivers exactly what one would imagine: the modern world set in stunning detail on the HOI4 Engine. This mod will be the closest we'll get to a global geopolitical grand strategy set in contemporary times and its fantastic depth makes it an exciting if not eerie look at today's world. One of the best examples of the impressive capabilities of totally overhauling the game, this mod promises political intrigue that's worthy of network news.

Last time we checked, this mod is compatible with Husky 1.9.1. We're not sure about later versions at this time.

Kaiserreich Mod

The veteran alternate history mod on the block. This mod can trace its origin back to Hearts of Iron II. Kaiserreich asks the daring question of: “What if Germany won WWI?”. A deeply rich world fourteen years in the making, every aspect of this alternate history is fully fleshed out in this latest incarnation to delight fans of the legacy of this mod as well as new players.

Tackling an entirely dynamic yet strangely parallel political landscape boasting thousands of unique events, fully fleshed out focus trees, and quirky interactions, this mod gives the player a tantalizing taste of living in an alternate timeline. A true joy to experience for the story and drama with brand new ideologies and situations based on all of the consequences of this “what if”. The visual appeal is impressive as the custom models and graphics add true immersion to this other world. If you're interested in learning more, we did a more in-depth analysis into what makes this mod so compelling.

This mod is compatible with Version 1.10 Collie & all DLCS. Please note that a new version of the mod has been uploaded under a new entry, and you'll need to unsubscribe and re-subscribe to the new version.

Old World Blues

Old World Blues brings the Fallout universe to HoI4, which makes for a surprisingly solid combination. The research tab has been replaced by a new tech tree, reflecting the state of the Fallout universe in 2275; some of the 'tribal' factions will be equipped with spears and scavenged firearms, where the more advanced factions can research and deploy the vaunted Power Armor that has been on the cover of most every Fallout release in the last few years. Many of the factions will have their own unique decisions and focus trees. Much of this will be familiar to players of New Vegas, but there is plenty grabbed from the lore of the first and second Fallout games as well.

There is a lot of depth here, and more on the way, as the modding team is looking to expand the map eastward past the plains and to the Atlantic coast, where we will see the Capital Wasteland and the Commonwealth of Boston represented as well. Keep your eye on this one.

This mod is compatible with Version 1.10 Collie & all DLCS. There is a legacy version here.

Expert AI 4.0

This could also be considered an 'overhaul' mod of sorts given the extensive work done with the AI, but it's not meant to necessarily give the player an alternative scenario or a more immersive experience. Expert AIputs in a lot of behind the scenes work to make the AI a more challenging opponent for the players, specifically with the 1936 start with Historical Focus mode turned on. It's not able to address everything, but it touches a wide range of AI behaviours & decision making systems so that computer opponents fight smarter & harder. It's also not recommended you use this mod while playing minor nations.

This mod is compatible with Version 1.10 Husky & all DLCS, although it has some very specific compatibility requirements. If you don't have Man the Guns, the mod will also cause some unexpected AI behaviour.

Thicc Cities – Continued

The amusingly accurate name delivers on its promise. Cities are now expanded into several provinces ramping up the siege drama of urban warfare. Single points and single army combat is expanded into a truly epic battlefield that does away with another layer of abstraction. A small change, but an incredibly rewarding one when such battles as Stalingrad and Moscow are finally more representative of their real history counterparts.

This mod is compatible up to Husky 1.9.2., but it doesn't work with other non-graphics mods.

Player-Led Peace Conferences

Never to trust the AI to have our best interests at heart, it's time to take full control of the peace process through the Player-Led Peace Conferencemod. The obvious drawback is that this is not at all 'historically accurate' but it does offer the player the choice to roleplay their way into a more reasonable peace table if they so desire or just greedily skew everything in his or her favour. Simple yet this mod fixes one of the most annoying things about playing with AI allies.

This mod is compatible with Version 1.10 Collie & all DLCS. A Legacy version for Version 1.9 and below players can be found here.

HOI4 In Real Time!

Have you ever thought, “Gee, HOI4 goes way too fast for me! If only there was something more immersive!” Well you’re in luck! With HOI4 In Real Time!, the game takes a full 60 real-life minutes to process one in-game hour at the slowest speed. You read that correctly. Don’t use this mod. Or do. If you're reading this and the 2020 COVID-19 crises is still on-going, you’ll certainly have time to now with us all quarantined.

This mod is, unfortunately, fully compatible up to 1.10 Collie.

Soldier's Radio

While the epic tones of HOI4 may be great for the high stakes drama, it's still rewarding to sit back and listen to the music of the era and of the common soldier. Highly immersive and strangely sombre, this music pack of over 600 songs (though not all are historically accurate) aims to create a certain atmosphere that reminds the player that he's leading millions to death, heartache, and immortal glory.

With the addition of the new in-game radio, now is a better time than ever to try this mod out!

Currently compatible with 1.10 Collie.

HOI4 – Texture Overhaul – Terrain

The nitty gritty of realistic global warfare is reflected in this meticulous reworking of the terrain textures into landscapes that not only look more realistic but speak of the startling scope of the conflict. A gorgeous tour de force, no one is the poorer for this graphical upgrade which brings an added level of immersion to the rampaging divisions vying for global control. One of the best things about this mod is that it does not sacrifice performance allowing the player to enjoy a greater expanse of visual goodies without any added lag.

Currently compatible up to 1.10 Collie.

World News Mod

One of the things HOI4 lacks is the view of how the general population fares when the world is in turmoil. World News brings back the newspaper feature of Victoria II, giving a glimpse into the life of the average person during wartime. There are some recycled items from Victoria II, but this mod goes a ways towards breaking up the monotony of the early game slog where all you can do is wait for foci to finish and factories to be built.

Fully compatible up to the current version and all DLCS.

How to Mod Hearts of Iron 4

Modding has never been easier as the Steam Workshop literally makes adding a mod as easy as clicking the subscribe button on the mod's respective page. The mod will be automatically downloaded and will populate the mods section in HOI4's launcher. Here are some tips for first timers:

• Check if the mod is up to date with the most recent patch for HOI4 (Currently 1.10 Collie). Once a new expansion comes out you may have to wait a few days, weeks, or even months for bigger mods, until the mod is updated. Thankfully, HOI4 will give you a warning if you're about to load a mod that isn't up to date. Also, each mod will tell you on the side menu if it requires certain DLC.
• Still want to play that favourite mod of yours but HOI4's latest update ruins your save game? You can always roll back your HOI4 version to continue your campaign. Check the mod pages on Steam or the Paradox forums on how to do this since it might be different for each mod and version of the game. If all else fails, ask in the comments threads for instructions!
• Check if the mods you've selected are compatible with the other mods you've downloaded. This information is usually found on each mod's page as they usually list which mods they are able to run with.
• Remember that most mods are not compatible with Ironman as they change game balance. If you're achievement hunting, you'll need to find those mods that will tell you in their descriptions that they're Ironman compatible.
• Finally, sometimes it takes a while for the HOI4 interface to properly load the mod's latest version. Check if you have auto-updates enabled for mods and then, if you're unsure, simply relaunch the HOI4 launcher to check if all of the mods are present and up to date.

Keep in mind that not all mods might be found on the Steam Workshop even if the vast majority are. Simply check the Paradox forum for their listed mods and follow their instructions on their respective threads to download them. While the kinds of mods people want to look for is up to them, let's go through some key categories that will help catalyse that modding experience that has become such a staple for Paradox games.

Do you have any mod suggestions or personal favourites we can add to our list? Let us know in the comments!

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Paradox's grand-strategy wargame Hearts of Iron 4 hasn’t built up as powerful a salvo of DLC as its other squad mates in the Paradox Development Studio roster, but with the release of Man the Guns there’s now enough extra stuff available for purchase that you might want to know which order to attack them in.

We’ve called each paid offering to attention to assess their capabilities and see how well they pass muster.

Wargamer.com is affiliated with the Paradox Store.

Note on the Expansion Pass & Colonel Edition

If you’ve never heard of the Hearts of Iron 4 Expansion Pass before, none of this information is relevant as it’s no longer available for purchase. But if you did get a hold of it back around launch and are curious, every major DLC mentioned in this guide is included with the Expansion Pass up to Man the Guns. Anything from La Resistance onwardsisn't included and must be purchased separately.

Similarly, the Colonel Edition is no longer available for purchase, neither is the Colonel Edition Upgrade pack that was around for a while. All of the content that was originally part of this version (which was mainly cosmetic) has either been re-released in a more dedicated DLC, or has simply been folded in the base game for free. Check out the Miscellaneous DLCs section below.

What is the best Hearts of Iron 4 DLC?

Best Hearts of Iron 4 DLC (New Features):

1. Waking the Tiger
2. Man the Guns (could be no.1 if you enjoy naval warfare more)
3. Together for Victory
4. Death or Dishonor
5. La Résistance

Best Hearts of Iron 4 DLC (New Focus Trees):

1. La Résistance
2. Waking the Tiger / Man the Guns
3. Battle for the Bosporus
4. Death or Dishonor
5. Together for Victory

Which Hearts of Iron 4 DLCs do you need for a 'Complete' Experience?

• Germany - Death or Dishonor, Waking the Tiger, Colonel Edition Upgrade Pack, Axis Armor Pack
• Japan - Waking the Tiger, Man the Guns, Death or Dishonor, Axis Armor Pack
• Manchukuo, All Chinese Factions - Waking the Tiger
• Britain - Man the Guns, Together for Victory, Colonel Edition Upgrade Pack
• United States - Man the Guns, Colonel Edition Upgrade Pack
  
• France - Colonel Edition Upgrade Pack, La Résistance
• Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, British Raj - Together for Victory, Man the Guns
• Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia - Death or Dishonor
• Spain, Portugal - La Résistance
  
• Turkey, Greece & Bulgaria - Battle for the Bosporus, Man the Guns, Waking the Tiger

Hearts of Iron 4: Together for Victory

Released: 2016
Price: $15
Available from: Steam, Paradox Store

What’s in it?

• New focus trees for the Commonwealth nations: Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the British Raj.
  
• Autonomy system allows subject countries to assert their independence over time, and for overlords to integrate subjects more fully.
• Allows asking for, in addition to offering, lend-lease of equipment.
• Spearhead command allows your custom battleplans to include more direct, focused assaults.
• Technology sharing allows less advanced faction members to get discounts on technologies that have already been researched by another faction member.
• New voiceovers in German, French, Italian, British English, American English, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish.
• 19 new infantry and airplane models for the featured nations.
• Read our Hearts of Iron 4: Together for Victory review for more...

Is it worth it?

The focus trees for the Commonwealth nations are pretty underwhelming. There are mods available on the Steam workshop for several them that, in my opinion, are more fun to play with than the official DLC ones. How much you’ll enjoy the rest of the grab bag features relies a fair bit on how much you enjoy playing minor nations. Autonomy can be a fun way to go from a subject to an equal partner, but from the overlord side, you’ll rarely have the time or resources to do much with it before the war ends. Spearheads can be a nice time-saver, but also don’t do anything you couldn’t accomplish already by micro-managing your tanks. Honestly, my main reason to recommend it is the new unit models and voice overs, which help add texture and immersion to the war.

Hearts of Iron 4: Death or Dishonor

Released: 2017
Price: $10
Available from: Steam, Paradox Store

What’s in it?

• New focus trees for four minor European powers: Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia.
• Equipment conversion allows you to re-purpose old or captured equipment (such as refitting older Panzer models into StuGs).
• Licensing allows you to gain access to another nation’s equipment designs in exchange for industrial capacity, or license your own designs for a profit.
• New subject types for Fascist nations such as the Reichskommissariat which behave differently from normal puppets.
• New unit models and voice overs for the featured nations.
• NOTE: New content for Yugoslavia and Romania was added in the 1.10 Collie update (October 2020)
• Read our Hearts of Iron 4: Death or Dishonor review for more...

Is it worth it?

I think the content designers did an overall better job on the focuses and events in this pack than they did in Together for Victory. From restoring the Austro-Hungarian Empire to dealing with King Carol of Romania’s ongoing antics and shenanigans, I got some of my most entertaining playthroughs trying to scrape by on the mean streets of South-Central Europe. I don’t really find myself using equipment conversion that often, but licensing is great if you’re playing a country with limited research slots and you don’t, for instance, have the luxury of always staying up-to-date in fighter tech. As with Together for Victory, the new unit models and voice overs offer a lot of value for me - but your mileage may vary if you’re the NATO counter type of player.

Hearts of Iron 4: Waking the Tiger

Released: 2018
Price: $20
Available from: Steam, Paradox Store

What’s in it?

• New focus trees for Communist China, Nationalist China, the Chinese Warlords, and the imperial puppet state of Manchukuo.
• New focus tree branches for two of the major Axis powers: An 'Oppose Hitler' path for Germany that can lead to the restoration of the Kaiserreich or a democratic, constitutional monarchy, as well as democratic and communist paths for Japan.
• Command Abilities allow generals with certain traits to spend Command Power on temporary, unique buffs to the armies they lead.
• Expanded Decisions list including the ability to form or reform some anachronistic/ahistorical nations or develop strategic resources in historical areas that did not have them at the start of the war, but were discovered to have them later.
• Border Conflict mechanic allows certain countries to engage in a limited skirmish over control of a single state without declaring all-out war (Chinese Factions only).
• Infiltration mechanics allow Chinese communists to subvert local authorities and seize control of states covertly.
• Power Struggle mechanic allows Chinese factions to compete for national leadership politically, without bloodshed.
• Troops who remain in a hot or cold area long enough can become acclimatized, gaining modified unit models and reduced penalties for fighting in that climate.
• Air wings can now be sent as volunteers along with land divisions.
• New orders give more control over what types of targets strategic bombers prioritize.
• Sending military attachés allows countries who can’t send volunteers to aid a warring nation and gain some army xp.
• Allows merging of under-strength divisions.
• Allows you to set custom unit insignias for each, individual division.
• Adds a minimap.
• New unit models for Chinese infantry, cavalry, artillery, and planes.
• Read our Hearts of Iron 4: Waking the Tigerreview for more...

Is it worth it?

If that feature list seems huge compared to the previous two expansions, that’s because it is. Waking the Tiger is definitely the most value you can get for your money of the currently available Hearts of Iron 4 DLCs. It’s the first expansion that really feels like a Paradox expansion in how much it changes things up. The Chinese focus trees aren’t all great - for instance, a lot of the interesting power struggle stuff for China becomes irrelevant 90 percent of the time since the United Front must either band together or get absolutely demolished by Japan.

Border Conflicts, especially, seem like a rushed feature that doesn’t always behave in logical or predictable ways. The new options for Japan and Germany are a lot of fun, though. The new unit models and Acclimatization system bring even more realism and some unique strategic concerns - you don’t want to train troops you plan to send to North Africa in the mountains of Montana, for example.

Hearts of Iron 4: Man the Guns

Released: 2019
Price: $20
Available from: Steam, Paradox Store

What's in it?

• New Focus Trees for the US, UK, Mexico & Netherlands, offering a variety of alt-history and in-depth narrative options.
• New Ship Designer tool allows you to customise your ships by equipping different components to different slots.
• Ships can now return to a shipyard to refit and upgrade to a newer version.
• New Government-in-Exile feature allows you to keep playing even when you've lost your core territory.
• Admirals have now been given traits similar to what was introduced for land generals in Waking the Tiger.
• You can now deploy mines to sea zones to help defend key water-based territory.
• New Amphibious equipment in the form of tanks and troop transports have been unlocked for naval invasions & attacking across rivers.
• You can designate certain ocean territories as 'restricted' or 'off-limits' to your transports, allowing you to customise the route your shipping takes.
• Read our Hearts of Iron 4: Man the Guns review for more...

Is it worth it?

It's a pretty definitive 'yes', although the caveat is if you typically avoid big naval powers or generally don't play the nations that are getting the most improvements here, then you may struggle to get much out of this. Outside of that though, while it doesn't offer as many features as Waking the Tiger added, these features have a lot more impact and take better advantage of the changes that have come as part of the 1.6 Ironclad update (namely, the addition of Fuel and the overhaul of naval combat mechanics).

Being able to design ships, refit and all of the other little naval goodies completely revolutionises the naval game, where-as the Government-in-Exile mechanic is crucial if you like play nations that typically can get steam-rolled by larger powers. The new focus trees, while a bit complex to navigate, also bring the four targeted nations to up to the same level of flexibility nations like Japan, Germany and the Balkan nations. Overall, this is either tied, or a very close second, in terms of value, and the only real deciding factor is how much you enjoy the naval aspects of WW2.

Hearts of Iron 4: La Résistance

Released: 2020
Price: $19.99
Available from: Steam, Paradox Store

What's in it?

• New national focus trees for France, Spain & Portugal
• Improved Spanish Civil War, with potential for four-way conflicts
• Can create an Espionage Agency & recruit operatives
• Operatives that can perform missions and operations
• Scout planes, Armored Cars + special recon companies
• Collaboration Governments
• New Intel system and Intel Ledger
• Read our Hearts of Iron 4: La Resistancereview for more...

Is it worth it?

This one is less certain than previous expansions. It's not that it's a 'bad' expansion, but the new features are less ground-breaking and/or have less of an impact than what's come before. If you're interested in the Iberian peninsular and playing a more fleshed out Spanish Civil War (either as one of the Spanish factions, or as someone like Portugal) then this is a must-have. If you don't care though, the new SCW potential can still trigger without the DLC, adding another tool to the sandbox. The new units fill interesting little niches we didn't know were there, and the Intel system is a bit more interesting now.

But things like Espionage and the new 'agencies' don't pack as much punch as we might have expected. I guess they couldn't have designed this system to be too powerful as it might upset the game for non-buyers, but as it stands it's a fun system to play around with, but it's not game-changing. Or even war-winning, although we've yet to explore that fully. France gets some unexpected love here as well, and the free 1.9 Husky patch improves the way garrisons and resistances work.

Hearts of Iron 4: Battle for the Bosporus

Released: 2020
Price: $9.99
Available from: Steam, Paradox Store

What's in it?

• New national focus trees for Turkey, Greece & Bulgaria
• New 3D models for Balkan & Turkish armies
• New voiceover lines for focus nations
• New music

Is it worth it?

This is a very specific offering, and an attempt by Paradox to bring back the 'Country Pack' idea that was started with Death and Dishonor. If you care about Greece, Bulgaria or Turkey, then this pack is aimed at giving you a more complete experience with dedicated new national focus trees and some new 3D models.

It literally as no other content for any other nation, so if you're not that bothered living out a 'nu-Ottoman' fantasy, then feel free to skip. According to the dev team though, Turkey was the most requests minor nation that everyone wanted to see get a new focus tree, so we dare say that some of you may be interested at least.

Hearts of Iron 4 Next DLC

The next DLC for Hearts of Iron 4 is currently unknown. We suspect the next major expansion is likely to cover the Soviet Union in some form. According to the rough HOI4 roadmap that was updated in April 2020, along with Italy and Poland the Soviet Union is one of the last 'core' nations to receive any kind of special attention or overhaul.

When we spoke to Dan Lind at PDXCon 2019, he mentioned that many of the changes that came with La Resistance were needed before a full 'Eastern Front' rework could be considered. Tackling Poland and the Soviet Union in a new expansion seems likely.

According to this dev diary, the studio were working on two patches simultaneously - 1.10 'Collie' and 1.11 'Barbarossa'. The former was released in October 2020 alongside the Battle for the Bosporus DLC pack. Unless it's one massive red herring, we reckon the new expansion will drop at the same time as the 1.11 patch, and it will themed (at least partly) on the Soviet Union and the eastern front.

Miscellaneous DLCs

Radio Pack - $6.99

What's in it?

A total of 35 new songs spread across three faction specific radio channels, each with their own unique look and design.

Is it worth it?

The music in HOI4 is already quite good, but if you were looking to double-down on this side of things then there are worse things to spend your money on.

Allied Speeches Pack - $4.99

What's in it?

Another audio pack, this DLC contains around 70 minutes worth of speeches, spread across 13 specific excepts, recreating famous addresses given during the time period. These includes notables such as Neville Chamberlain's 'Peace in our Time', Churchill's 'We will fight them on the beaches' and even MacArthur's 'I have returned'.

Is it worth it?

If you're a history buff who already knows about these famous lines, then it might be a nice value add to have them playing while you're playing the game. If you're not that bothered this essentially becomes more background noise, and not even the musical kind.

Axis Armor Pack - $5.99

What's in it?

• 19 German Armor Models
• 22 Japanese Armor Models
• 12 Italian Armor Models

Is it worth it?

This is pack aimed at a very specific set of WW2 enthusiasts. If you're one of them, you probably already have this but this is basically just a cosmetic pack that adds in new skins for specific types of vehicles. Depending on your Division composition you might not even see most of them.

Allied Armor Pack - $5.99

What's in it?

• 7 British Armor Models
• 17 American Armor Models
• 8 French Armor Models
• 13 Soviet Armor Models
• 8 Additional Tank Models for each of the major Allied powers, for a total of 32.

Is it worth it?

This pack was released in June 2020 and is essentially meant to be a sequel to the Axis-themed armor pack. It's worth nothing this pack also includes unit skins that were previously available as part of the Colonel Edition, below which may reduce its value depending on whether you already have that or not. There's not as much interest in Allied armor models as there is Axis, but it does add another layer of authenticity.

Sabaton Soundtrack - $3

What’s in it?

• Five World War II-themed songs from Swedish power metal band Sabaton.

Is it worth it?

If you like Sabaton, sure.

Sabaton Soundtrack Vol 2 - $6

Hearts Of Iron 4 Player Led Peace Conferences Downloadable

What’s in it?

• Ten more World War II-themed songs from Swedish power metal band Sabaton

Is it worth it?

If you really like Sabaton.

Make sure you check all our DLC Buying Guides regularly, especially after a major DLC release or around a major sales event. We'll always keep these up-to-date so you're fully informed as to what to buy.

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