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Generals!
We are back with our latest War Effort patch of the year, which contains a bunch of bugfixes, some balance changes, and tweaks to the game. But before we get to that, we have some words from @Wrongwraith
Hi everyone,
I’m Thomas, the Design Lead on Hearts of Iron.
It’s time for another War Effort, and it’s a big one.
Our primary focus for this War effort has been bug fixing — we’ve addressed a wide range of issues across the game to improve stability and polish. However, we’re not just fixing bugs; we’re also delivering balance tweaks, gameplay adjustments, and other enhancements.
This time around, from a balancing point of view, we’ve mainly looked at Armored Cars and Tanks. The reasoning behind this is that we felt that, as many of you have pointed out, it was usually better to make a cheap light tank than to use Armored Cars. While this is not entirely wrong from a historical point of view, it was a bit too much.
So we adjusted a few things with armored cars to make them slightly more viable. They now benefit from improved techs for Artillery, anti-tank, and anti-air. We also upped their starting Organization and Strength.
Then, we also had what we felt were too cheap tanks (especially light tanks) when using the tank designer. So, in accordance with that, we have modified the costs a bit for tank chassis and some of the modules.
Hopefully, this combined will make armored cars a bit more viable and make Tank Designer-designed tanks somewhat more similar to other tanks.
We’ve also made some other tweaks, like adding sub detection to a few ship hulls (and other things :) ), as you can see when you look through the list.
Anyways, I hope you like this War Effort and all the changes it contains.
/Thomas
Operation Shoulder, Patch 1.16.3 Checksum a433
Balance
Armored Car Balance Changes

Armored Car Battalion Organization increased from 10 to 20
Armored Car Battalion Strength increased from 2 to 5
Artillery Equipment Technologies now provide bonus to the Armored Car Battalions; +10% Soft Attack from Artillery, +10% Hard Attack from Anti-Air Artillery, and +10% Piercing from Anti-Tank Artillery
Inter-War Armored Car Production Cost Reduced from 4 IC to 3.5 IC
Basic Armored Car Production Cost Reduced from 6 IC to 5.5. IC
Improved Armored Car Production Cost Reduced from 8 IC to 7.5 IC
Anti-Tank Armored Car Production Cost Reduced from 9 IC to 8.5 IC

Tanks and Tank Modules Balance Changes

Inter-War Light Tank Chassis Production Cost Increased from 1 IC to 2 IC
Basic Light Tank Chassis Production Cost Increased from 1.25 IC to 2.35 IC
Improved Light Tank Chassis Production Cost Increased from 1.6 IC to 2.7 IC
Advanced Light Tank Chassis Production Cost Increased from 2 IC to 3 IC
Light One-Man Turret Production Cost Increased from 0.5 IC to 1 IC
Light Two-Man Turret Production Cost Increased from 0.75 IC to 1.25 IC
Light Three-Man Turret Production Cost Increased from 1 IC to 1.5 IC
Light Superfixed Structure Production Cost Increased from 0.75 IC to 1 IC
Inter-War Medium Tank Chassis Production Cost Increased from 2.5 IC to 3.5 IC
Basic Medium Tank Chassis Production Cost Increased from 2.5 IC to 3.75 IC
Improved Medium Tank Chassis Production Cost Increased from 3.2 IC to 4 IC
Advanced Medium Tank Chassis Production Cost Increased from 4 IC to 4.25 IC
Medium One-Man Turret Production Cost Increased from 1 IC to 1.25 IC
Medium One-Man Turret Soft Attack and Hard Attack Penalty reduced from -10% to -5%
Medium Two-Man Turret Production Cost Increased from 1.5 IC to 1.75 IC
Medium Three-Man Turret Production Cost Increased from 2 IC to 2.25 IC
Inter-War Heavy Tank Chassis Production Cost decreased from 10 IC to 9 IC
Improved Heavy Tank Chassis Production Cost increased from 10 IC to 11 IC
Self-Propelled Anti-Air Artillery now benefits from Anti-Air Upgrade Technology, providing +15%/+10%/+5% Air Attack per perspective technology

Ship Hull Balance Changes

Light Hull 1 - Submarine Detection increased from 1 to 2.5
Light Hull 2 - Submarine Detection increased from 1 to 3
Light Hull 3 - Submarine Detection increased from 1 to 3.5
Light Hull 4 - Submarine Detection increased from 1 to 4
Cruiser Hull 2 - Submarine Detection increased from 1 to 1.5
Cruiser Hull 3 - Submarine Detection increased from 1 to 2
Cruiser Hull 4 - Submarine Detection increased from 1 to 2.5

Doctrines

Mobile Infantry Doctrine now also provides +10% Max Speed for the Armored Car Recon Company
Mobile Infantry Doctrine now also provides +10% Max Speed for the Motorized Recon Company
Mobile Infantry Doctrine now also provides +15% Max Speed for the Cavalry Recon Company
Breakthrough Priority Doctrine now also provides +5% Breakthrough to Mounted Infantry

Other

The Spirits of the Army "Bayonet Strength" and "Overwhelming Firepower" now also affect the cost of Bicycle Battalions
Added leader traits to Estonian alternate-ideology country leaders, and fixed the name of Johannes Käbin
Decreased the chance that Sweden refuses request for resource rights from Germany
Nerfed princely subjugation, it removes compliance faster than before and gives less boost to resources and factories
MIO Tank Manufacturer - Standardized Production Trait Production Cost Reduction Increased from -3% to -5%
Added policies to the Submarine and Assault Gun MIOs
Added the Assembly Line Optimisers Policy to most materiel MIOs
Britain's starting Tank, Plane and Ship production now has MIO designers assigned
Reichskomissariat subject type now reduces Resistance Target by 10%
Congo is now actually able to gain compliance when having Pierre Ryckmans as their leader, provided that they use civilian oversight

Gameplay

Italy now gets an event warning them in advance when getting closer to their leaders deposition in the Balance of Power
The Chilean focus "Protect Easter Island" now only targets independent nations
The Netherlands now inherits the puppets of Belgium and Luxembourg if annexed through the Benelux Unification decision
Countries at war only with Government in Exile countries can no longer call to arms, or be joined in war
Carlist Spain can now select the Habsburg pretender as their king if playing with Götterdämmerung enabled
Reworked the "Greater Indonesia" formable nation
Reworked the Arabia formable
Added Supersonic Jets, Motherships and Intercontinental Bombers to MIOs
Infrastructure level 0 now gives -25% movement speed penalty instead of -95% movement speed penalty
Electrification of Ethiopia decisions for Italy can now be taken in parallel.

UI

Added text icons for airborne light armor, jungle pioneer supports, long range patrol support and winter logistic support
Many more Formable Nation categories now have unique pictures and descriptions
Fixed tooltip for the achievement Woman in the High Castle
Adjusted several focus icons to show the right flags and country borders
Added country flags to player names in the in-game chat in multiplayer
Fix certain UI elements in the country selection menu being off-screen on high resolutions
Added information of how the number of allowed Air Wings are calculated to the Send Air Volunteers tooltip

AI

Add tiebreaker for peace conference contests between AI countries
AI Portugal no longer gets into a civil war when going down their Monarchist path
AI countries will now start researching Super Heavies somewhat later
The Danish AI will now switch government earlier when going down their Monarchist strategy plan
German AI will create a few divisions with flame tanks if you have No Step Back and Assault engineers if you have Götterdämmerung
Germany no longer gets stuck with von Mackensen as their leader when set to go Monarchist

Modding

Add a check to detect duplicate province building blocks overriding each other in state history files
Add front_role_override for division templates which lets you customize which type of front it gets assigned to
The load_focus_tree effect can now copy completed focus from an existing country with the copy_completed_from parameter
Fixed the index when removing added resistance targets

Graphics

Uruguay and Paraguay now have their own unique Army, Navy and Airforce National Spirits
Fixed problem with missing 3D models on DirectX9

Bugfix

Multiplayer: Fixed CTD when trying to Join Game through Steam
Multiplayer: Fix the Ready button being unclickable after loading a save file (forcing you to switch back and forth to another country)
Multiplayer: Fixed an issue where players would be unable to send chat messages in the lobby if their DLC configuration differed from the host
Fixed an issue where merging airwings could cause XP to be lost
Fixed issue where reaching end game screen in multiple games in a row would cause a CTD
Fixed an issue where resuming into a deleted Ironman save game would cause a non-functional Back button in the load game window
Fixed calculations for unit leaders cost regarding spirit Academy Scholarships
Added bypasses for multiple German focuses in case France does not exist
Fixed CTD when loading a game for a country that does not exist in current game
Fixed portrait for field marshal disappearing for volunteer forces
Greek focus "Realign with the Central Powers" is now properly blocked when GTD is not active
Fixed issue with equipment temporarily losing stats when a game was loaded
Fixed decreased air accident chance modifier not being applied correctly
Germany can now select a Local Collaborator for Reichskommissariat Großbritannien
Fixed a bug where troops could be withdrawn over frontline
Fixed specialization and trait icons being offset on experimental facility card
Fixed an issue where dismissing certain Special Project notifications could prevent future notifications of the same type from appearing
Fixed a flickering issue when starting a new Ironman game
Fixed privacy page not being displayed on Linux
Fixed issue where division commander would change portrait if sent as volunteer
Legacy of the Naval Arms Race gets removed if other participants do not exist
Removed Esc as the keyboard shortcut for Details in the Focus Completed pop-up
EU leaders now have to be faction leaders to propose federalization or invite to faction via the "Development of the European Union" system
Hungary can now take "Partial Mobilization" if it has either taken the focus "Secret Rearmament" or removed the "Treaty of Trianon", even when AAT is disabled
Fixed broken localization string in requirements for Bulgarian advisor Georgi Ivanov Kyoseivanov
The British decision "The Macdonald Proposal" can no longer be taken repeatedly
National Spirit "Colonial Returns" is now removed from Belgium if Congo is no longer their puppet
Removed misleading tooltip in "Gain Schutzbund Support" when taken as a democratic nation
Licensed equipment can no longer be assigned MIOs
Fixed a typo in the UK focus "Expand the Secret Intelligence Service"
Removed reference to Jim Corbett from the British Raj focus "Rally The Indian Left" (he is actually unlocked by the focus "Lobby Parliament")
Denmark will no longer get any generic Election Event, with the one exception of "Wartime Exception" which can now trigger the ordinary Danish election event
Fixed an issue where the Soviet army focus "Military Political Advisors" was broken when playing as Monarchist or Fascist Russia
Fixed German advisor Franz Seldte's name in the Japanese version
When Democratic Germany is in a faction and takes the focus "Shared RnD Programs", the research bonus immediately increases based on the number of faction members, and Germany won't lose any research bonus until the total amount of faction members are below 10
Germany will now start with Westwallen constructed with level 2 forts in the 1939 Scenario, and forts have also been removed from a province in the Westwallen decision, since that province does not border another country
Fixed multiple instances where the EU decision system could become locked
Removes an errant "c" in the MIO trait Anti-Vehicle Landmines
Congo can now bypass the focuses to seek German and Soviet support if none of the countries exist
Fixes broken logic in Argentina's "Arma Maravillosa" which prevented effects from firing
The Additional decisions unlocked for East Africa no longer disappear when Latin Africa has been formed first
Gdynia is included in "Integrate Poland" decision for monarchist Russia
The Italian focus "Italian Irredentism" now correctly targets the state Var instead of Asir-Makkah
Added the missing South Sudetenland to the effects of the non-Götterdämmerrung focus Restore Austria-Hungary for Hungary
Added some missing states to the effect of the event from "Rekindle Imperial Sentiment" when Austria-Hungary is reformed through it
Request Austrian Occupation now gives fascist Switzerland control over south-eastern Austria
Bulgaria can now access the Treaty of Craiova focus through the new Second Vienna Award event
The Japanese focus "Exchange the Exiles" now properly displays what will happen if Manchukuo accepts the trade
Belgian decision to Boost Factory Worker's Unions now give proper production modifiers, also fixed a minor typo in decision name
The Congolese Evolue events will now also happen if it was Belgium that completed the focus "Chefs Coutumiers"
Diversify Elite Forces decision now works correctly when Trial of Allegiance or Götterdämmerung are disabled
Fixed CTD that could occur due to invalid division template
Added missing localization on Guided Missiles and Nuclear Missiles
Himmler will now complete the Inner Circle Focus Strengthen the Waffen-SS in the 140 days as stated in the Focus
Naval Arms Race achievement now only triggers when being Germany or in faction with Germany
It will no longer be possible for Germany to have both "Economy of Conquest" and "Recovering Economy" National Spirits at the same time
Rocket Propelled Bombs module now properly adds 12 weight instead of 2 for Port Strikes
Sweden's decision to blow up the mines now has a visible trigger that targets the correct states
Added missing victory points to Western Indian States, Qandahar and Maymanah
The German focus "First Vienna Award" can now be bypassed if Hungary is either Democratic or Communist
Fixed a false start up error by changing the order for raid database loading
Fixed incorrect Soviet Tree offset when NSB is turned off
The Congolese Independence War now works as intended if Congo has switched ideology before declaring it
Helicopter MIO traits Tandem and Single Rotor are now in the right columns
The German leader trait "The Supreme Leader" will no longer reduce your own autonomy, but instead reduce your puppets'
Fixed portrait for Belgian advisor Leon Degrelle to fit in his frames
Removed non-functional Production Efficiency Gain modifier from one of the traits for the Finnish Crichton-Vulcan Naval MIO
Fixed several instances where the German Navy's name wouldn't change despite the nation's ideology having done so
The German focus "Effective Operations" now modifies the National Spirit "Intelligence Wing" without La Resistance
Fixed CTD that could occur when attempting to spawn railway guns
Removed the Gradual War Escalation mission for Italy when BBA is disabled, since the effect is only intended to work when the DLC is enabled
Spanish Field Marshal Máté Zalka now uses the correct portrait
Norway can no longer invite countries' subjects to their faction, and can no longer join factions through focuses while being a puppet of another nation
Peacefully annexing Poland as Germany will no longer trigger sabotage events
Fixed an issue where the focus "The Steel Lions" would give a tank template with tanks that didn't have any main armament
AI Italy can no longer go down two land doctrines at the same time
Fixed a typo in the German Politburo national spirit
Germany's "The Blitz" AI strategies will now activate as intended
Fixed an issue where Slovakia would not get their tank template in the Fate of Czechoslovakia event
Expand Regional Control decisions in Ethiopia are now available if Ethiopia's host isn't in a faction
Fixed an issue where the German focus "Embrace Democratic Institutions" was not granting the correct effect
Fixes missing ship silhouettes for Modern Battleship and Modern Carrier
Super Heavy Battleship Armor now is properly highlighted in the Ship Designer View
Added missing focus description to the Swiss focus "Fly over the Mountains"
Removes a redundant "the" in the Canadian focus "Spirit of the True Revolution"
Added missing states to the formable nation decision "Unite the Turks"
Removed Ethiopia flavoured event if you're not playing Ethiopia
Fixed an issue were the Yugoslav national spirit "Armed Neutrality" didn't have a functioning icon
The Romanian focus "Force Abdication" no longer tries to remove a National Spirit if it isn't present
Fixed an issue where a few character names and surnames did not start with a capital letter
Removed a duplicated trigger in the "Will Abort if:" section of the British mission "Trade Unions Demand Minister Appointment"
Fixed an issue where a paratroop invasion could draw a map arrow around the globe
Italy will no longer Balkanize themselves after their civil war
Fixed Bogdan Filov's name being "Bogdar" in Russian localization
Salvador Abascal can now be chosen in the 1940 election for Mexico
The events from the Polish focus "Enforce Baltic Socialism" are now sent to all Baltic states, instead of just one
Fixed an erroneous tooltip in the Turkish Chester Concession event chain
Fixes focuses in the Baltic states to avoid factions being created or joined while the Baltics are subject states
Iceland no longer gets a wargoal against themselves if their claim to Greenland is rejected
Fixed a typo in the New Zealander focus "Rule Them All"
Fix unlocalized string for Bomber Command focus doctrine bonus
Changed localization in Swiss focus to work for country selection screen
The Danish focus "Side with the Unions" no longer has a doubled effect if Denmark is communist
The tooltip for the Swedish advisor Birger Furugård is not duplicated anymore
Fixes duplicated localization in Russian focus "Capital of the Tsars"
Balancing Act focus and decisions will no longer mention subsidies with AAT disabled
Fixed several instances where countries with focus trees from Götterdämmerung could join or create factions while being subjects
Lindolfo Collor can't be both a country leader and advisor at the same time
The Shared Chinese focus "Experimental Mechanised Unit" now only gives a subsidy towards the supporting nation, and not both the Soviets and the Germans
Translated the names for Polish Monarchist Parties to Polish to better conform to the rest of the party names
Greek Staunch Monarchist trait description improved
Removed empty space in the Political Instability National Focus displayed on Nation Selection Screen for Greece
Mexico's Triumph of Synarchism now sends an event which lets the recipient choose to accept or counteract the influence
Assault Aviation Theorists now reduce cost of Naval Strike Torpedo Tactics
Fixed multiple instances where incorrect models and icons would be selected for Generic and German airplane designs
Fixed an issue where a newly added construction item could not be dragged in the construction queue
Tooltip for creating a Military Advisor updated to specify you can have one and not multiple traits
Abebe Aregai has correct trait when not running La Resistance
Focus "Specialized Military Equipment" now gives the correct equipment with No Step Back enabled
Added missing module and highlight for the Anechoic Tiles in the Ship Designer Window
Fixed an issue where War Reparations from peace conferences could be lost on reloading a save
Fixed a bug with some MIO windows showing connection lines for non-existent traits
Removed duplicate AI rules for India, and hid Together for Victory ones if you have GoE enabled
Fixed an instance where if the UK decolonized at the same time as the Mughals broke away they would instantly white peace with the other RAJ
The event "The East Coast joins the Rebellion" now moves the capital to Richmond
Fixed some typos in Army spirits
Fixed incorrect mention of "armies" in Commander traits, where it should be "divisions"

And here is a list of our recent and still incoming updates
March 6 - Graveyard of Empires Follow up
March 10 - Update from the Developers
March 12 - Patch Notes | Operation HEAD (1.16.1)
March 20 - Patch Notes | Operation KNEE (1.16.2)
March 27 - War Effort: Patch Notes | Operation SHOULDER (1.16.3) <- You are here
April - Updates & Changes to GoE content
June - First Dev Corner
And lastly, the updated Roadmap