So, you want to know about the new Hearts of Iron 4 meta? With the release of Hearts of Iron IV’s No Step Back expansion, the WW2 strategy game has changed in several significant ways, and we’re not just talking about HOI4 supply. One of the stated goals of the free 1.11 patch that accompanied it is to shake up the grand strategy game’s previous – stale – meta of specific division templates and combat widths.
It’s safe to say that things have changed, that’s for sure. Whether this new meta will get as stale as the old one remains to be seen, but early indications suggest that there are more viable options now, especially with the new supply system making larger divisions less useable than they used to be.
If you’re a veteran looking for the topline on what’s new, or a new player trying to understand the conversation and whatever the hell a 40/20 is, we hope this guide will help you get up to speed on the Hearts on Iron IV No Step Back meta.
Below we shall explore two key concepts associated with the current Hearts of Iron 4 meta – combat width and division templates, as well as some sections dealing with specific queries such as the new floating harbours. We shall expand this guide with new queries and information as time goes on.
The ‘combat width’ of a division is determined by how many battalions a division has, and what type they are. It’s a stat that acts as an expression of physical size, and represents how much ‘room’ the division will take up when fighting on the frontline.
The ‘reinforcement width’ mentioned refers to a situation where the attacker is attacking a province from more than one location. When this happens, the combat width of the province the battle is taking place in is increased per additional avenue of attack beyond the first one.
Hearts of Iron 4’s smallest independent combat unit for land warfare is the division, however the game offers a template designer that lets you choose what battalions it comprises. This will determine its overall stats, such as combat width, but also health, organisation, hard and soft attack, and so on.
The No Step Back expansion introduced a new premium feature called a Floating Harbour, otherwise known as ‘Mulberry’ harbours. These are artificial docks that were most famously deployed after the D-Day landings off the coast of Normandy, to make it easier for ships to offload supplies without a dedicated port.
Air supply in Hearts of Iron IV refers to the ‘Air Supply’ mission that can be assigned to Transport Planes, provided you own the Waking the Tiger expansion. Each Transport Plane that isn’t intercepted and shot down will deliver a small amount of supply to the selected province(s), which can be used by any divisions within that province.
