Author: thehoi4master

“Hearts of iron 4” is by far one of the most amazing strategy games out there and when you launch it for the first time, you might think, that its gameplay mechanics and alternative history scenarios cannot get any more detailed and complicated than that.

Well, that was what I was thinking back in the day, when I started playing the game. I was so into mastering all the countries that had developed focus trees, that completely forgot about the existing DLCs and at first, honestly, didn’t really feel the need of them. I remember that one day I wanted to restore the Austro-Hungarian Empire and since it looked hard, I needed to help myself by taking a look at some HOI4 videos on the Internet. I was shocked to figure out, that Hungary had completely bigger focus tree and a large part of it was dedicated to the single reason of recreating the Habsburg monarchy.

At first, I thought that this was some kind of a mod, but soon I realized it was one of the DLCs that I had to this point completely ignored (remember guys, I was a complete noob back then 😊). Later I found it interesting to learn more about those DLCs and what do they bring to the table. Unfortunately, there weren’t if any, then certainly not qualitative enough information sources, whether or not a specific DLC is to be preferred for beginners to start off with.

That’s why I am writing this article, to help you guys choose your next DLC. I will talk about what is, in my opinion, the best order, in which you can buy the available Hearts of iron 4 DLCs and what are they consisted of. Their price in the market, what they introduce to the game etc. I hope you enjoy and let’s jump straight to the main point.

There are a couple of different types of DLCs – expansions, music packs, flavor packs, cosmetic packs and e-books. I am going to focus on the expansion packs, because they are the ones that truly influence the gaming experience, but I will also briefly cover the other types of packs, just for the sake of completeness. Remember, that I write this guide in favour of the beginners and not my personal opinion, even though I will try to cover some of my own experience as well.

Best HOI4 expansion packs

5. Together for Victory

Released: 2016 (you can buy it here)

Price: $14.99

What it provides?

• New focus trees for all the dominions of the UK – Canada, Australia. New Zealand, South Africa and the British Raj (India).
• Improved autonomy system that allows puppet state nations to move through different stages of dependence from their overlord and eventually become free. Also, the system helps the overlords to integrate their subjects fully.
• Gives the player the opportunity to ask for land-lease from their nation’s allies, in order to fulfil its shortage.
• Technology sharing, which helps less-developed nations in the faction research modern equipment faster.
• 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.

We will start off with the first ever expansion DLC, that was released back in the final days of 2016 – “Together for Victory”. It introduced a couple of interesting game-changing mechanics to the game, including the first ever reworked focus trees for non-major powers countries. These were the countries from the British Commonwealth – Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the British Raj. The dominions were given the choice to either stay loyal to the Crown or oppose the British and follow their own path towards independence. The pack also included a reworked autonomy system (different levels of puppet states), the option to ask your allies for a land-lease, when you lack the much needed equipment, a spearhead battleplan command (for more control when encircling enemy troops on the battlefield) and last, but not least – technology sharing. This is in order for the British dominions to easily catch up with the newly researched technology from their master.

Now to be fair, this sound really good and most certainly improves the game, but in spite of being the very first DLC, I bought it as the last one. There is a reason for that. First of all, when looking at the DLCs, that were later introduced, this one seems a bit outdated and not that fun to be honest. The truth is, that the focuses trees, that were given to the Commonwealth nations are super small and limited, maybe other than the one developed for South Africa. I mean I get it; it was their first DLC and back than it must had been huge, but from the prospective of a player, that started playing “Hearts of iron 4” right after “Man the Guns” was released, I must say that it is just too “flat”.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some cool things that come with “Together for Victory”, like for example the possibility to stage a coup in the Dutch East Indies as Australia and break them off their Dutch overlords. This is really interesting, but it is down to that, when it comes to alternative history paths, other than of course the ability to change ideologies. I mean, the New Zealand focus tree is a bit pointless, but hey, that is just my own opinion 😊.

The other upgrades provide valuable improvements, nevertheless I think, that as a beginner, there are DLCs that possess far higher fun-factor and also add more interesting game mechanics. That is why, I rank the DLC “Together for Victory” in the last place, when it comes to overall reviewing all the expansion packs.

4. La Résistance

Released: 2020

Price: $19.99

What it provides?

• New focus trees for Spain, Portugal and France (normal France, as well as Vichy and Free France, after the capitulation of the French Republic)
• Two separate focus trees for Nationalist Spain and Republican Spain, with the option to escalate the conflict to all-out four-way civil war
• The ability to create an intelligence agency, to send spies in other countries and infiltrate their industry, economy, army, navy etc.
• Recruit operatives to perform a large variety of missions – from staling blueprints to staging coups.
• You can now create collaboration governments in occupied areas with over 75% compliance.
• New units are added – scout planes, Armored Cars + special recon companies.

Firstly, before everybody starts hating on my list, keep in mind, that it is dedicated to helping the new members of our “Hearts of iron 4” community to easily and better understand the aim of the game, but at the same time have fun and enjoy themselves, while conquering nations and shaping the world’s history.

“La Résistance” is without a doubt one of the best DLCs ever introduced to the game and I personally love it. The French focus tree received its waited rework and the Spanish and Portuguese focus trees (especially the Spanish one) are simply a work of art, full of original and fun ideas that encourage players to take on risks and challenge their skills. Of course, there are some drawbacks and they are the reason, why I put the expansion pack that low on the list.

First of all, in my opinion, the DLC is well developed, but complicates the game a lot. I mean all of the espionage upgrade is not necessarily suitable for the new players, as they won’t be aware of how to use it optimally. It is cool that it adds recon units, but they are also useless if you cannot handle the intelligence agency correctly. Second of all, the mechanics with the collaboration governments and the higher levels of resistance in occupied regions further complicate the overall gameplay.

Don’t get me wrong, the DLC is amazing and the amount of effort the Paradox team put into it is astonishing and when it came out it was well and truly beyond my expectations. I just think, that if players want to buy it, they must at first master the basic game mechanics and gameplay.

3. Man the Guns

Released: 2019

Price: $19.99

What it provides?

• Reworked focus tree for the UK and the USA with the ability to decolonize (as the UK) or bring back the Confederates (as the USA).
• New focus trees for Mexico and the Netherlands
• Completely reworked naval warfare with the ability to upgrade ships and design different models, suitable for different purposes.
• You can now upgrade admirals with specific abilities and bonuses (just like the generals from the “Waking the Tiger” DLC)
• You can now host Governments-in-Exile. This gives you bonuses if you are the hosting country, but if you are the capitulated country- you can keep playing, until your land is liberated.
• 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 also choose the route that your convoys take through the different sea zones.

When “Man the Guns” first came out it was a huge deal. It introduced a lot of game changing improvements, drastically focusing on naval warfare and also improving the focus trees for the USA, the UK and adding a completely new ones for the Netherlands and Mexico. Moreover, the addition of fuel to the game as a separate resource was a milestone in the overall “Hearts of iron 4” game development. Three were also a lot of other different mechanics (Government-In-Exile) and decisions (for example the London Naval Treaties) that were added with the DLC.

You may ask yourself, why I put this expansion pack in the third place of our list for beginners and the main reason is the fact, that the whole idea of the DLC is to improve the naval warfare experience. A lot of people complained that, the major upgrade “overcomplicates” the navy, which is the main debated drawback, that “Man the Guns” has to deal with. Being able to design ships, constructing either large and heavy fleet or preferring a more flexible, but more effective navy is really cool by itself, but as being the leading factor in the “Man the Guns” DLC not a lot of people would appreciate it. It is down to your own enjoyment of the naval aspects of WW2.

2. Death or Dishonor

Released: 2017

Price: $9.99

What it provides?

• New focus trees for four European minor states – Hungary, Romania. Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
• You can now use equipment gained by the defeat of your enemy to fulfil your shortage or to modify it cheaper.
• New voice covers and music.
• You can buy licenses from other nations, in order to boost your research for that exact piece of tech. They cost civilian factories.
• New subject types for Fascist nations such as the Reichskommissariat which behave differently from normal puppets.

One of my personal favorite DLCs. I was really struggling to define its place on this list and was even willing to put it on the number one spot. I remember, when I bought it, because it was my very first “Hearts of iron 4” DLC and I really enjoyed it. Restoring Austria-Hungary or dominating the Balkans with Romania – it was all amazing experience. I was a bit frustrated with the fact, that the developers did not included a Bulgarian focus tree in the DLC, but I am really hoping, that they will earn their respectable place in the upcoming “Mediterranean” DLC alongside Italy, Turkey and Greece.

Anyway, in my opinion, the content designers did a significantly better job, regarding the focus trees and the fun factor in comparison to the previous “Together for Victory” DLC.  The Central-Eastern European expansion package provides entertaining games and interesting new events, that will not only improve the gaming experience, but at the same time help the new players understand how the game works by stimulating their effort to achieve greater goals. Nevertheless, the DLC was only the second to be released, so it has some issues like for example the lack of newly mechanics, that are normally expected from those types of DLC (expansion ones).

Despite this however, that is why I recommend “Death or Dishonor” for beginners, because it introduces both exciting experience and entertaining gameplay.

1.Waking the Tiger

Released: 2018

Price: $19.99

What it provides?

• Brand new focus trees for China, Communist China, the imperial puppet state of Manchukuo and the Chinese warlords. They have the ability to eventually become dominant in the region without the need of bloody and endless war. Manchukuo can restore the Qing dynasty.
• New focus tree branches for the German Reich and Japan – Germany can oppose Hitler and become democratic or bring back the Kaiser and restore the German empire. Japan also gets a democratic and communist path.
• Command Abilities allow generals with certain traits to spend Command Power on temporary, unique buffs to the armies they lead.
• Expanded decisions add the ability to restore nations, existed for a specific time period throughout human history. For example, you can, with the help of a decision, after conquering all the needed territories as Italy – restore the Roman Empire. The same can be done as Greece to reform the Byzantine Empire. Germany can even reform two nations – the Hoy Roman Empire after taking the monarchist path and the European Union – after choosing democracy.
• 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.
• You can now send military attachés to countries, fighting in a war, in order to gain xp.
• A minimap is added.
• All Chinese equipment, tanks, planes etc. have new and unique skins.

We finally reached our winner! The “Waking the Tiger” DLC is without a doubt the most value you can get for your money of all the currently “Hearts of iron 4” DLCs. It is the most beginner-friendly and the most entertaining nevertheless.

The alternative paths for Germany and Japan are amazingly created and provide a truly unique touch. For example, with this expansion you are given the opportunity to oppose Hitler and bring back the Kaiser to lead the restored German Empire. Further down this focus path you can force the restoration of Austria-Hungary (force Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia to unite and thus form the Central European empire) and also even assassinate Mussolini and stage a coup in the country via a single focus, turning the Kingdom of Italy into your faithful ally.

The general idea of this DLC is, however, the focus to be concentrated on East Asia and more specifically China, Communist China, all the Chinese warlords and Japan. This opens a hole bunch of alternative history paths from uniting all of China under the leadership of Mao Zedong and thus proclaiming the formation of the present-day People’s Republic of China to staging a coup in Japan and announcing the formation of a democratic government to guide the nation in those insecure times.

Other than improved or completely new focus trees, upon buying the “Waking the Tiger” DLC you get to be rewarded with the most options for improved gameplay experience out of any other DLC. That is why it is in the first place on our list, generally because these new mechanics, that are added, are essential for the new player to master, in order for them to be easier to understand the game as a whole.

There you have it! I covered most of the important stuff about all the “Hearts of iron 4” expansion packs. Now we will take a look at the other types of DLCs, that I briefly mentioned before, but they do not impact the gameplay and are not in any way linked to the in-game progress.

Music Packs

Contains a total of 35 songs, divided into tree radio channels (Allied, Axis and Comintern), each with their own look and design.

Also, there is a Sabaton songs packs (two, actually) for all the fans out there and an Allied leader’s speeches pack, which is the newest of them all.

• Winston Churchill – Their finest hour
• Winston Churchill – We shall fight on beaches
• Winston Churchill – Blood, toil, tears and sweat
• Neville Chamberlain – Peace in our time
• Neville Chamberlain – Declaration of War
• Dwight D. Eisenhower – Order of the day
• Douglas MacArthur – I have returned
• Douglas MacArthur – Today the guns are silent
• Franklin D. Roosevelt – A date which will live in infamy
• Franklin D. Roosevelt – The Great Arsenal of Democracy
• Harry S. Truman – Warning to Japan
• Joseph Stalin – No invincible armies
• Georgy Zhukov – Victory Parade

These are all the speeches, included in the pack.

Cosmetic Packs

These are consisted of Axis and Allies armored packs, providing additional tank and SPGs skins for a more realistic-looking tanks in-game. In my opinion, you can skip those, if you are not interested in detailed WW2 war machines, but they are cool nevertheless. If you want to check those packs and see all the skins for yourself, then click here.

There is also one more cosmetic pack – the “Colonel” edition, which includes seven new models for heavy cruisers from various Allied and Axis nations. Also, eight new tank models each for the Soviet Union, United States, Britain, Germany, and France (for a total of 40). You can check all the available packs following the link from above.

I hope you enjoyed this article and if so, please, check out my other articles regarding our beloved Hearts of iron 4 game.

Have you ever had the feelings, that things aren’t going your way?

Regarding the Hearts of iron 4 gameplay, of course. Just imagine the following scenario:

A couple of days ago, I was playing as Portugal and everything was going perfectly. I have pupated Japan and China, defeated Britain and was fighting a successful war against the United States of America. I had the historical AI off, because non-historical games are more fun. I was attempting to complete the Macau achievement, which is one of the hardest in the game after the latest DLC release – La Resistance.

In Spain nothing much was happening, except for the Falangists being victorious in the Civil war and later reforming the Spanish Empire. Because of the fact, that I fought various of my wars alongside the Axis countries, Germany attempted to invite me in their faction, but I always ignored the invitations. Suddenly, in the middle of a fierce offensive, attempted by the brave Portuguese infantry in Texas, the Spanish Empire declared war on me. Out of nowhere and without any specific reason! It was just their stupid focus, that gave them a war goal against me and the AI immediately used it. One second later, I found myself fighting the USA and the entire Axis powers. It is safe to say that I lost the game, because my small army in mainland Portugal could not defend against nearly 100 fully equipped Axis divisions.

When you experience moments like this, it pops in your mind the idea of how to “travel” back in time and prevent the events, leading to your ultimate doom, from happening. Well, unfortunately, travelling back in time is to this day unachievable, but a little cheating will do the trick. And if it happens, that your game is not on ironman mode, then you would certainly be satisfied, when with just a couple with keyboard clicks, you could turn the table and ultimately fix this unfortunate turn of events.

Let’s move to the first goal of this article. Below these lines is a list of all the possible commands, that you can use in every Hearts of iron 4 game, that is on non-ironman mode.

HOI 4 Console Commands

The console, where you type the commands, can be opened by pressing the ` key (usually located under ESC). If your keyboard layout doesn’t have that key, other hotkeys to open the console are SHIFT + 2 and SHIFT + 3. 

Table of console commands

Command Name	Syntax (how to write the command)	Description (what does this command do in HOI 4)
·        gain_xp	gain_xp [amount]	This command can be used to add experience to a Leader/General. The specified amount of experience is added to the Leader/General you currently have selected.
·        cp	cp [amount]	This command will add command power (max. 100%).
·        st	st [amount]	This command will add stability (max. 100%). You can remove stability by specifying a negative number.
·        ws	ws [amount]	This command will add war support (max. 100%). Specify a negative number to remove war support.
·        allowtraits	allowtraits	This command removes restrictions on general trait assignment. Executing this command will allow you to freely assign general traits to commanders, etc.
·        add_equipment	add_equipment [amount] [equipment name]	This command can be used to add a specified amount of any equipment other than naval equipment. You can remove equipment by specifying a negative amount. Note: you may need to have researched certain equipment before using it, use either the ‘research all’ (researches all equipment) or ‘research_on_icon_click’ command if this is the case.
·        add_latest_equipment	add_latest_equipment [amount]	This command adds the specified amount of equipment to each and every piece of equipment you have unlocked/fully researched (so, every equipment type in your logistics menu).
·        whitepeace	whitepeace [country tag] [country tag]	This command instantly makes ‘white peace’ (things return to the way exactly they were before a war started) between the specified countries (specified by their country tag).
·        teleport	teleport [province id]	This command can be used to either activate the teleportation tool (if no arguments provided), or instantly teleport any selected ships or armies to the province with the specified ID.
·        allowdiplo	allowdiplo	This command allows for the use of any diplomatic action (e.g. declaring war) without justification.
·        debug_nuking	debug_nuking	After executing this command, nuking in any province is permitted, regardless of conditions.
·        instantconstruction	instantconstruction	This command enables or disables (toggles) the instant construction cheat, making all construction happen instantly (no longer queues up).
·        event	event [event id] [country tag]	This command will start the specified event in the specified country.
·        research	research [slot id / ‘all’]	This command can be used to research all equipment, or equipment in a specific technology slot.
·        research_on_icon_click	research_on_icon_click	This command will instantly research any technology when its icon is clicked in the technology tree. This command is also known as the ‘instant research’ cheat.
·        annex	annex [country tag / ‘all’]	This command starts an annex with the specified country tag (an annex claims their territory for your country).
·        winwars	winwars	This command will give your country the maximum war score for all wars it is currently engaged in.
·        manpower	manpower [amount]	This command adds the specific amount of man power to your country.
·        add_opinion	add_opinion [source country tag] [target country tag]	This command adds an opinion from the specified country tag to another country.
·        tag	tag [country tag]	This command switches your country to the specified country. ‘tag ENG’ would make you play as Great Britain, for example.
·        observe	observe	This command enters you into ‘observe’ mode, in which you are set to play no country at all – meaning the entire game plays on auto-pilot. Messages do not show, and the game is not automatically paused.
·        tdebug	tdebug	This command enables or disables (toggles) debug mode. In debug mode, IDs for things like states, equipment, provinces, etc are shown when you hover over them which are very useful as they are used in console commands.
·        spawn	spawn [unit name/id] [province id] [amount]	NOTE: In order to use this command, you must add ‘-debug’ to your HOI4 launch options – it will not work otherwise. This command can be used to spawn a specified amount of a unit in a province.
·        occupationpaint	occupationpaint [country tag]	If no country tag is specified, this command toggles (enables and disables) occupation painting. If the country tag argument is provided, your country will occupy all land that the specified country owns (but not land that they only occupy).
·        setowner	setowner [country tag] [state id]	This command sets the owner of a specified state.
·        setcontroller	setcontroller [country tag] [province id]	This command sets the controller of a specified province.
·        xp	xp [amount]	This command adds the specified amount of experience (to all experiences: army XP, naval XP and air XP).
·        pp	pp [amount]	This command adds the specified amount of political power to your country.
·        civilwar	civilwar [ideology] [country tag]	This command starts a civil war within a country, with the specified ideology. Possible ideologies: ‘fascism’, ‘democratic’, ‘neutrality’ and ‘communism’.
·        add_party_popularity	add_party_popularity [ideology group] [amount]	This command adds the specified amount of party popularity to the specified ideology group. Ideology groups are: ‘f’ (fascism), ‘d’ (democratic), ‘n’ (neutrality) and ‘c’ (communism).
·        set_ruling_party	set_ruling_party [ideology group]	This command sets the specified ideology group as the ruling party. Ideology groups are: ‘f’ (fascism), ‘d’ (democratic), ‘n’ (neutrality) and ‘c’ (communism). Note that if you wish to change the ruling party of another country, you will first need to switch to them with the tag command.
·        help	help [command]	If executed with no arguments (just ‘help’), this command will print a list of commands. If executed with a command as an argument, it will print help for the specified command.
·        Focus.AutoComplete	focus.autocomplete	This command allows for instant completion of national focuses. Note that this command will affect the game’s AI.
·        Focus.NoChecks	focus.nochecks	This command allows for the ignoring of focus requirements.
·        Focus.IgnorePrerequisites	focus.ignoreprerequisites	This command allows for the ignoring of focus prerequisites.
·        Decision.NoChecks	decision.nochecks	This command allows for the ignoring of decision requirements.
·        instant_prepare	instant_prepare	NOTE: In order to use this command, you must add ‘-debug’ to your HOI4 launch options – it will not work otherwise. Executing this command will cause naval invasions to skip preparation time.
·        nu	nu [amount]	NOTE: This is a Pre-1.5 command. It will not work in later versions. This command adds the specified amount of naval utility to your naval utility count.
·        nuke	nuke [amount]	This command adds the specified amount of nukes to your current country.
·        yesman	yesman	This command causes country AI to automatically accept any diplomatic offers, regardless of the case.
·        rendertype	rendertype	This command prints the render type (backend) that is currently being used for your client.
·        tweakergui	tweakergui	This command opens a tweaker GUI.
·        add_ideas	add_ideas [idea name]	This command adds the idea with the specified ID/name to your current country.
·        reload	reload [file name]	This command can be used to reload a file without opening and closing your game. Useful if you modify a file to change a setting and don’t want to completely restart your game. Common files: ‘loc’ (localisation files), ‘focus’ (focuses) and ‘landcombat.gui’ (land combat interface).
·        time	time	This command prints the current time.
·        reloadfx	reloadfx [map / .fx file]	This command (without any arguments) reloads the game shaders. You can optionally specify either a mapname, postfx or filename (ending in .fx).
·        particle_editor	particle_editor	This command opens the particle editor GUI.
·        testtool	testtool	This command opens the testing tool.
·        analyzetheatres	analyzetheatres	Executing this command will check all threatres in the game for errors.
·        massconquer	massconquer	This command opens the mass conquer tool.
·        deleteallunits	deleteallunits [country tag]	This command will delete all units (armies and fleets) of the specified country tag.
·        aircombat	aircombat [scenario] [result] [province id] [airbase state id] [airbase state id] [equipment] [equipment] [equipment creator] [equipment creator]	This command initiates an air combat in the specified location from your desired country, airbase and equipment.
·        theatersrebuild	theatersrebuild	This command rebuilds all existing theatres.
·        fronts	fronts	This command enables or disables (toggles) the visibility of foreign fronts.
·        aidump	aidump	This command dumps AI data from your currently selected unit to a log file (for e.g. debugging purposes).
·        traderoutes	traderoutes	This command enables or disables (toggles) the visibility of trade routes.
·        debug_tactics	debug_tactics	This command enables or disables (toggles) the visibility of the tactics debug tooltip.
·        reloadsupply	reloadsupply	This command reloads all supply systems..
·        deltat	deltat [speed multiplier]	This command will change the speed of animations in the game. The number specified is a multiplier – 2 would double the speed, 0.5 would half the speed.
·        building_health	building_health [building type] [state id / province id] [level] [amount]	This command can be used to modify the health of an existing building.
·        nomapicons	nomapicons	This command enables or disables (toggles) the visibility of icons in the map.
·        nopausetext	nopausetext	This command enables or disables (toggles) the visibility of the pause menu (useful for screenshots).
·        nextsong	nextsong	This command skips to the next soundtrack in the in-game music playlist.
·        combatsound	combatsound [frequency]	This command can be used to modify the frequency of a random sound being emitted from the combat view. The number given should be between 1 and 50.
·        morehumans	morehumans [amount]	This command will the specified amount humans to your current country (or remove if a negative number is specified).
·        window	window [open / close] [gui name]	This command opens (‘open’) or closes (‘close’) the GUI with the specified name.
·        reloadinterface	reloadinterface	This command reloads the game interface.
·        reloadtechnologies	reloadtechnologies	This command reloads all technologies.
·        updateequipments	updateequipments	This command forcefully reloads equipment-related files (/Hearts of Iron IV/common/units/equipment/).
·        updatesubunits	updatesubunits	This command forcefully reloads unit-related files (/Hearts of Iron IV/common/units/).
·        reloadoob	reloadoob [country tag]	This command reloads the OOB (order of battle) of the country with the specified tag.
·        update_loc	update_loc [localisation key]	This command reloads the specified localisation key.
·        poll	poll	This command polls valid events.
·        pause_in_hours	pause_in_hours [hours]	This command pauses the game after the specified amount of time. Useful if you want to leave the game running, but not for too long.
·        add_autonomy	add_autonomy [country tag] [amount]	This command adds or subtracts from a the specified country’s autonomy level.
·        testevent	testevent [event id] [character id]	This command tests the specified ID without triggering it.
·        resign	resign	This command, as you might have guessed, causes you to resign from your current position.
·        add_interest	add_interest [country tag]	This command adds the country with the specified tag to your interest.
·        remove_interest	remove_interest [country tag]	This command removes the country with the specified tag from your interest.
·        add_diplo	add_diplo	This command adds diplomatic enroute for your current country.
·        PrintSynchStuff	printsynchstuff	This command prints the current seed of your game.
·        SetRandomCount	setrandomcount [count]	This command, if executed without any arguments (just ‘SetRandomCount’), will set the random count to 0. If a number is provided as an argument, the random count will be set to this.
·        ai	ai	This command enables or disables (toggles) AI.
·        human_ai	human_ai	This command enables or disables (toggles) AI for human countries.
·        ai_invasion	ai_invasion	This command enables or disables (toggles) the AI for naval invasion.
·        ai_accept	ai_accept	This command enables or disables (toggles) whether or not AI will always accept diplomacy.
·        fow	fow [province id]	This command will toggle (enable or disable) FOW (fog of war) either in general, or in the province of the specified ID. To clarify, if this command is executed without any arguments (‘fow’), it will turn off fog of war completely. If a province ID is specified as an argument, fow will only be toggled for that province.
·        collision	collision	This command enables or disables (toggles) the collision debug GUI.
·        savegame	savegame	This command forcefully saves the game.
·        savecheck	savecheck	This command can be used to check that saving is functioning correctly. It will make a save file named ‘Test_01’, load it, and then save that again as ‘Test_02’. The two files should be the same (in size, etc), if not, there is likely a problem with saving.
·        IP	ip	This command prints your IP to the console.
·        requestgamestate	requestgamestate	This command prints the gamestate.
·        nudge	nudge	This command opens the nuge tool.
·        mapmode	mapmode [mapmode id]	This command changes the map mode to the specified type. Map mode IDs: 1 (Default), 2 (Naval), 3 (Air), 4 (Supply), 5 (State), 6 (Resistance), 7 (Resource), 8 (Diplomacy), 9 (Faction).
·        fullscreen	fullscreen	This command enables or disables (toggles) fullscreen mode.
·        prices	prices	This command prints price info to game.log.
·        add_core	add_core [state id] [country tag]	This command adds the specified state as a ‘core’ of the specified country. A ‘core’ is a state that’s considered to be a rightful part of a country.
·        remove_core	remove_core [state id] [country tag]	NOTE: This command has been reported as broken – if it isn’t working for you, it’s due to a fault in the game, not your own! This command removes the specified state as a ‘core’ of the specified country. A ‘core’ is a state that’s considered to be a rightful part of a country.
·        debug_zoom	debug_zoom	This command will cause the game to zoom in.
·        debug_types	debug_types	This command is an advanced debug tool, it only works if running RTTI. This will print the data type for all dynamic reference objects to console.
·        debug_show_event_ID	debug_show_event_id	This command prints the current event ID.
·        debug_commands	debug_commands	This command prints the current ‘commandcount’ to the message.log file.
·        debug_events	debug_events	This command will initiate event counting, print data collected from this with the ‘debug_dumpevents’ command.
·        debug_dumpevents	debug_dumpevents	This command will print data collected since the ‘debug_events’ command was last executed.
·        debug_diploactions	debug_diploactions	This command will initiate diplomatic action logging, print data collected from this with the ‘debug_dumpdiploactions’ command.
·        debug_dumpdiploactions	debug_dumpdiploactions	This command will print data collected since the ‘debug_dumpdiploactions’ command was last executed.
·        debug_assert	debug_assert	This command enables or disables (toggles) asserts.
·        debug_smooth	debug_smooth	This command enables or disables (toggles) frame smoothing.
·        debug_nomouse	debug_nomouse	This command enables or disables (toggles) the scroll wheel’s (mouse) functionality.
·        debug_terrain	debug_terrain	This command enables or disables (toggles) terrain.
·        debug_cities	debug_cities	This command enables or disables (toggles) cities painting mode.
·        debug_water	debug_water	This command enables or disables (toggles) water.
·        debug_fronts	debug_fronts	This command enables or disables (toggles) the interpolated fronts debug screen.
·        debug_off_front_snap	debug_off_front_snap	This command enables or disables (toggles) the offensive fronts snapping debug screen.
·        debug_borders	debug_borders	This command enables or disables (toggles) borders.
·        debug_trees	debug_trees	This command enables or disables (toggles) trees.
·        debug_rivers	debug_rivers	This command enables or disables (toggles) rivers.
·        debug_postfx	debug_postfx	This command enables or disables (toggles) PostFX.
·        debug_sky	debug_sky	This command enables or disables (toggles) the sky.
·        debug_tooltip	debug_tooltip	This command enables or disables (toggles) tooltips.
·        flagsoutput	flagsoutput [path]	This command will generate and save a texture atlas file to the specified path.
·        cityreload	cityreload	This command reloads cities.
·        error	error	This command will print errors from the log file.
·        version	version	This command prints the current version of the game to the console.
·        debug_nogui	debug_nogui	This command enables or disables (toggles) the game GUI.
·        debug_volume	debug_volume [volume]	This command can be used to adjust the volume of the game.
·        debug_lockcamera	debug_lockcamera	This command enables or disables (toggles) the camera lock.
·        debug_lines	debug_lines	This command enables or disables (toggles) debug lines.
·        debug_entities	debug_entities	This command enables or disables (toggles) entities.
·        debug_info	debug_info	This command enables or disables (toggles) the debug info screen.
·        debug_particle	debug_particle	This command enables or disables (toggles) particles.
·        debug_ai_budget	debug_ai_budget [country tag]	This command prints AI budget information to the console.
·        debug_textures	debug_textures	This command can be used to print texture debug information to the game log (not console.
·        debug_texture	debug_texture	This command enables or disables (toggles) textures like bloom.
·        debug_wireframe	debug_wireframe	This command enables or disables (toggles) the game’s forced wireframe.
·        debug_achievements_clear	debug_achievements_clear	This command will clear all of your achievements and stats (irreversible).
·        moveunit	moveunit [unit id] [province id]	This command moves the specified unit to the specified province.
·        spawnactor	spawnactor [name] [province id] [animation]	This command spawns an actor. If an animation specified as an argument (optional), the character will spawn with that animation.
·        guibounds	guibounds	This command enables or disables (toggles) the bounds debug GUI.
·        cameraclamp	cameraclamp	This command enables or disables (toggles) the camera clamp.
·        provtooltipdebug	provtooltipdebug	This command enables or disables (toggles) province tooltip debug info. The debug info includes things like province ID, state ID, etc when you hover over a province on the map.
·        reloadweather	reloadweather [seed]	This command reloads weather.
·        weather	weather	This command enables or disables (toggles) weather – if this feature is off, weather will be disabled.
·        debug_air_vs_land	debug_air_vs_land	This command enables or disables (toggles) debug mode for air vs land combat.
·        mapnames	mapnames	This command enables or disables (toggles) map names.
·        profilelog	profilelog	This command will output profiling data/information to ‘time.log’.
·        run	run [file name]	This command runs a list of commands in a specified file.
·        oos	oos	This command makes the client go out of sync.
·        debug_crash	debug_crash	This command is a debug tool, when executed it will debug client crashes.
·        sleep	sleep [duration]	This command will pause the game for the specified amount of time (seconds).
·        goto_province	goto_province [province id]	This command moves the center of your camera to the specified province.
·        goto_state	goto_state [state id]	This command moves the center of your camera to the specified state.
·        trigger_docs	trigger_docs	This command
·        3dstats	3dstats	This command enables or disables (toggles) 3D stats.
·        hdr	hdr	This command enables or disables (toggles) high-dynamic-range imaging.
·        hdr_debug	hdr_debug	This command enables or disables (toggles) high-dynamic-range imaging debugging.
·        srgb	srgb	This command enables or disables (toggles) color debugging.
·        bloom	bloom	This command enables or disables (toggles) bloom.
·        PostEffectVolumes.Default	posteffectvolumes.default [post effect]	This command can be used to toggle a specific post effect, relative to the specified name.
·        night	night	This command enables or disables (toggles) night.
·        filewatcher	filewatcher	This command enables or disables (toggles) the filewatcher.
·        createlean	createlean	This command generates LEAN textures.
·        helplog	helplog	After executing this command, a list of all commands will be outputted to the game.log file.
·        hsv	hsv	This command converts HSV to RGB.
·        tag_color	tag_color [rgb]	This command can be used to set the tag color of your current country.
·        browser	browser [url]	This command opens the browser window and loads the specified URL.
·        browser_base_url	browser_base_url [url]	This command sets the URL of the browser (loads a page).
·        aiview	aiview	This command enables or disables (toggles) debug info for the AI.
·        airealism	airealism	This command enables or disables (toggles) realistic AI for the game.
·        instant_wargoal	instant_wargoal	This command allows for the application of any war goal without justification.
·        set_country_flag	set_country_flag [country tag]	This command sets the flag of the specified country as your current nation’s flag.
·        set_cosmetic_tag	set_cosmetic_tag [country tag] [country tag]	This command will change the name and flag of the specified country to that of another country.

HOI 4 Secret events

Now that we are done with all the console commands in the game, I am going to discuss something, that is not that widely discussed among the Hearts of iron 4 community. I am talking about the four secret events.

There are four game events, that are so incredibly rare, that are considered secret and it is almost impossible for you, while playing a random country, to see them take place. The AI almost never creates those scenarios, since a lot of requirements are to be meet, in order for the events to fire.

Secret event 1

The first event is between France and Britain. You see, when in 1940 France is about to capitulate, there is a certain event, that fires, that gives the French AI (or player) three options. To cooperate with the Germans, to set up resistance state in Africa or to merge with Britain. If the AI chooses the third option, then Britain gets the event, that France proposes a union. If the UK accepts, then the Franco-British Union is proclaimed with the capital city being London and all core states of France becoming also UK’s core states. All of the remaining French forces, including the air force and the fleet become controlled by Britain. I, personally, have seen this Union pop up twice in my games, but it is incredibly rare. The other three events are even rarer, though.

Secret event 2

Moving on to the next event, it is also about the UK. There are certain things to be done, in order for the proper events to fire, but eventually if everything is done correctly, you might get the young Queen Elizabeth ll rule the state. Incredible as it sounds, it is possible.

Firstly, there are several ways to do this, but ultimately the best way is to change your ideology from democratic to non-aligned. While doing so, you will need to marry the future king Edward Vlll and Wallis Simpson and right before the start of the wedding preparations, you will get an event to select the type of marriage and you need to select the morganatic one. When you compromise on a morganatic marriage, you still get to marry Edward and Wallis, but without the ability for their children to inherit the throne. That is when things get interesting.

Secondly, you should be at war and I will explain why in a minute. After the coronation of Edward as the new king, being in a war is vital, because you need the Greater London Area to be strategically bombed by the enemy air force. That is very important, because during the bombing period, a bomb will strike the Buckingham Palace and ultimately – kill the royal couple. You will get an exclusive event for that. Next, King George will inherit the throne, but then because of smoking and too much stress – he will also die. After that there is no one left to become the new British monarch, except for the daughter of George VI, who is in fact – Elizabeth II. It is really cool, that you also get the three royal corgis (Dookie, Jane and Crackers) as political figures, that you can hire. Honestly though, they aren’t worth it, but it is a fun detail.

Secret event 3

Moving on to the third special event (we already talked about a lot of special events, but you get the idea 😊), it is between Germany and Argentina. For the event to fire, you need a civil war to fire in Germany, between the monarchists and the fascists. When the monarchists take Berlin, they always get the event, that Hitler is found dead. But is it? There is 1/200 chance, that the former leader of Germany will flee to Argentina and then the Argentinian Ai will get an event. If than Argentina overthrows its current government and turns fascist, a curtain Senior Hilter will be in charge.

Secret event 4

Our last event is pretty much the same, but for America. It is more likely to happen, though. What you need to do, as America at least, is to win the Second American Civil war as the Confederate States of America. Shortly after the war is finished, you will get an event to retire MacArthur and appoint a new leader. Normally, you get three options, which are to retire him, to keep him or to ask Charles Lindberg to form a new government. This time, however, If of course, the same thing happened to Germany, that I already explained in the event for Argentina, you have a fourth option to appoint a certain Adam Hilt, former Architect, to lead the government and country. He gives you 1% bonus construction speed, which is pathetic, but who cares. The important thing is that the events are extremely rare and really cool. If you want to find a footage of how to fire the events, than click here, that will lead you to my YouTube channel – “How to HOI 4”, where I regularly post interesting content, regarding our beloved Hearts of iron 4.

I hope you guys enjoyed this article and if so, be sure to check some of my other writings (guides or tutorials) and stay tuned for more amazing content coming soon!