50 Fun Facts About Hearts of Iron IV

Hearts of Iron IV launched on 6 June 2016, the 72nd anniversary of which Second World War event?

The Normandy landings began on 6 June 1944, and the game arrived exactly 72 years later after slipping from its planned 2015 release.

Which Hearts of Iron IV mod imagines a world where the Central Powers won the First World War?

Kaiserreich is widely considered the largest and most in-depth mod for the game, and it reached the Steam Workshop within six months of launch.

Which Swedish metal band has teamed up with Hearts of Iron IV for several downloadable music packs?

Sabaton's collaborations sit among the cosmetic and music packs sold as add-ons, separate from the expansions that bring focus trees.

Which ideology completes the set of four in Hearts of Iron IV, alongside democratic, communist and fascist?

Non-aligned is the catch-all ideology, covering monarchies, dictatorships and even the anarchists who can win the Spanish Civil War.

Which nation, the historic Graveyard of Empires, lends that nickname to a Hearts of Iron IV country pack?

Afghanistan anchors the Graveyard of Empires pack, and its focus tree offers a choice between historical isolation and rapid industrialisation.

Which Hearts of Iron IV mod is based on the animated series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic?

Equestria at War placed seventh in the player vote for ModDB's 2023 Mod of the Year award, six years after its debut on the Steam Workshop.

Which nation is Italy already fighting when Hearts of Iron IV opens in 1936, the only war under way?

Ethiopia is the only country at war as the 1936 start opens, and Italy's edge in numbers and technology usually settles the fight within months.

Which monarch can Britain make an absolute ruler in Hearts of Iron IV's Monarchist path, allied with Germany?

Edward VIII can rule as an absolute monarch on that path, which even lets Britain press a war goal to install a monarchy in the United States.

Which defeated breakaway state can the United States revive in Hearts of Iron IV, provoking a new civil war?

The Confederacy can rise again since the Man the Guns expansion, and one achievement asks a United States player to beat the Confederate States a second time.

Which exiled revolutionary can lead Mexico in a Hearts of Iron IV achievement about puppeting the Soviet Union?

Leon Trotsky takes charge of Mexico in The New Home of the Revolution, an achievement that then demands making the Soviet Union a Mexican subject.

Which Hearts of Iron IV gauge, running from 0 to 100, measures how close the globe is to all-out conflict?

World tension rises with aggressive acts, and a nation may need a certain level of it before justifying a war or sending volunteers abroad.

Which abstract resource do Hearts of Iron IV nations spend to change laws and appoint ministers?

Political power pays for mobilization, conscription and trade laws as well as new ministers, and every focus in progress drains a little of it.

Which faction does the Soviet Union lead at the start of Hearts of Iron IV, opposite the Allies and the Axis?

Comintern is one of three factions already in place in 1936, alongside the Allies under the United Kingdom and the Axis under the German Reich.

Which nation is one of the seven major countries when Hearts of Iron IV begins in 1936?

Japan ranks as a major alongside Germany, Italy, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States; a faction fights on until all its majors capitulate.

Which exiled former emperor can Germany put back on the throne in Hearts of Iron IV after ousting Hitler?

Wilhelm II returns through the Return of the Kaiser focuses, which re-create the German Empire that fell in 1918 and open war goals against Britain and France.

Which monarch must lead France while it occupies Moscow for a Hearts of Iron IV achievement?

Napoleon VI must be the country's leader for the achievement Second Time's the Charm, a wink at the first Napoleon's ruinous 1812 march on Moscow.

Which fallen medieval realm can Greece re-form in Hearts of Iron IV, renaming Istanbul back to Constantinople?

Byzantine Empire becomes the country's name once the decision is taken, its map colour turns purple and the capital moves to the renamed city.

Which ancient realm, a great ambition of Fascist Italy, can Italy re-form in Hearts of Iron IV by conquest?

Roman Empire is open to Italy under any ideology once it has conquered the required territories, though forming it usually rules out Greater Italy.

Which leader must head Communist China when it wins the Chinese Civil War for a Hearts of Iron IV achievement?

Mao Zedong has to be the current country leader for the achievement to fire, and the game also checks which territory his side owns.

Which company published Hearts of Iron IV, having earlier released Crusader Kings II and Europa Universalis IV?

Paradox Interactive saw the game sell more than 200,000 copies within two weeks, the fastest start for one of its historically themed titles up to then.

Which leader rules Turkey when Hearts of Iron IV opens in 1936, before players keep or halt his reforms?

Kemal Atatürk heads the government in 1936, and a later country pack lets Turkey continue his reforms, restore the Sultan or found an Islamic state.

Which Nordic nation's focus tree in Hearts of Iron IV relives its stand against a far stronger Soviet invader?

Finland got the tree in Arms Against Tyranny, the expansion that also added military industrial organizations and an international arms market.

Which Hearts of Iron IV country pack added focus trees for Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey?

Battle for the Bosporus gives the three Black Sea and Aegean neighbours rival paths, from a Turkish-led Balkan faction to a restored Sultan.

Which Hearts of Iron IV expansion gave focus trees to Canada, Australia, South Africa and the British Raj?

Together for Victory also introduced the autonomy system that grades subject states by their independence, and it is now part of the base game.

Which neutral nation gained a Hearts of Iron IV focus tree in By Blood Alone, alongside a reworked Italy?

Switzerland sits surrounded by France, Germany and Italy, and its tree is about balancing rival factions and overtures from the great powers.

Which nation's focus tree arrived in United and Ready, a free pack released the same day as Hearts of Iron IV?

Poland received the tree on launch day, along with voice acting for its military units and art for its ministers, generals and leaders.

Which peninsula, scene of a famous ANZAC campaign, must Australia occupy for a Hearts of Iron IV achievement?

Gallipoli is the goal of the achievement Once More Mate, which the game counts as done when Australia controls the Turkish province of Edirne.

Which Hearts of Iron IV achievement, named after a shelved invasion plan, has Germany control mainland Britain?

Operation Sea Lion was the 1940 scheme to cross the Channel that never sailed; the achievement checks regions such as South-West England.

Which defunct trading firm can the British Raj revive as a corporate nation in Hearts of Iron IV?

East India Company rule is one of several alternate paths in the tree, beside freeing the Princely States or forming Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Which demilitarised region can Germany reoccupy with one of its first focuses in Hearts of Iron IV?

Rhineland is the focus that marches troops back into the zone, and it cannot be combined with the rival opening focus Oppose Hitler.

Which Hearts of Iron IV buildings construct other buildings, make consumer goods and handle trade with other nations?

Civilian factories start out largely tied up making consumer goods, and more are freed for construction as a nation mobilises.

Which interwar agreement limits the capital ships of the United Kingdom at the start of Hearts of Iron IV?

London Naval Treaty Signatory is a national spirit, and a signatory can keep to the agreed limits or defy the consensus by exceeding them.

Which design tool arrived in Hearts of Iron IV with No Step Back, the expansion about the Eastern Front?

Tank designer modules let players trade speed, gun strength, armor and production cost, and the same expansion brought railway guns.

Which Hearts of Iron IV mod is set in 1962, in a three-way Cold War after the Axis won?

The New Order: Last Days of Europe has been praised for its rich storytelling and esoteric atmosphere since its Steam Workshop debut in July 2020.

Which Conservative prime minister leads the United Kingdom when Hearts of Iron IV begins in January 1936?

Stanley Baldwin heads the ruling party at the 1936 start, with the next general election in the game due in 1939.

Which regent of landlocked Hungary must command at sea for a Hearts of Iron IV achievement?

Miklós Horthy has to serve as an admiral while Hungary owns at least one battleship, a tall order for a country with no coastline.

Which dynasty can the puppet state Manchukuo restore for a Hearts of Iron IV achievement?

Qing rule returns in the achievement Hail to the Qing, and a second one has the same puppet break free and annex its former overlord.

Which nation gained a Hearts of Iron IV focus tree in La Résistance, alongside France and both Spanish sides?

Portugal can ride out the wider conflict or involve itself in the fighting next door, in an expansion that also introduced espionage.

Which colony's natural wealth can Belgium draw on in its Hearts of Iron IV focus tree from Götterdämmerung?

Congo resources feed the Belgian tree, which lets a player resist or welcome German supremacy and build towards an African government-in-exile.

Which in-house technology, named after a Prussian general, runs Hearts of Iron IV and eases modding?

Clausewitz Engine debuted in Europa Universalis III in 2007, and its games can be modded with as little as a text editor.

Which three-letter tag does Hearts of Iron IV use for the United Kingdom in console commands?

ENG stays the same whatever the country is called, since tags never change with ideology or language; Germany is always GER.

Which Asian state must a Hearts of Iron IV player lead to form Siberia for the achievement Siberian Tiger?

Tannu Tuva is the required starting country, and Siberia is one of the formable nations created by decision once the right land is held.

Which Hearts of Iron IV country pack brought focus trees to Brazil, Argentina and Chile?

Trial of Allegiance also added minor content for Paraguay and Uruguay, along with several new releasable nations.

Which nation joined Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia in Hearts of Iron IV's Death or Dishonor focus trees?

Romania completed the quartet, in a pack that also let nations license foreign weapons and convert captured enemy equipment.

Which union can the United Kingdom form in Hearts of Iron IV by annexing its dominions and even the United States?

Imperial Federation is the reward for federating the entire British Empire, a feat the game also marks with an achievement.

Which port city names the 'or War' focus that sets up Germany's historical invasion in Hearts of Iron IV?

Danzig or War demands the city's return under threat of conflict, while an alternative focus offers to trade Slovakia for it peacefully.

Which Hearts of Iron IV mod is set in the universe of the Fallout series of role-playing games?

Old World Blues has been praised for how well it carries that universe into grand strategy, and its legacy version dates from February 2018.

Which capital must Canada take and hold in a Hearts of Iron IV achievement named after the events of 1812?

Washington falls when Canada controls Maryland, which is all the achievement It's 1812 All Over Again actually checks.

Which modern bloc's name can a democratic France adopt in Hearts of Iron IV as a formable nation?

European Union is a formable nation open to a democratic France, and Italy can claim the same name if it too is a democracy.

Which king must control Italy, after Mussolini is killed, in a Hearts of Iron IV achievement for a Kaiser-led Germany?

Victor Emmanuel has to rule Italy once the dictator is dead, and Germany must have brought back its own monarch for Monarchy is Back in Fashion to count.