[{"id":37254,"date":"2026-09-18T20:08:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T00:08:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acoup.blog\/?p=37254"},"modified":"2026-09-18T20:08:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T00:08:54","slug":"teaching-paradox-hearts-of-iron-iv-part-ii-divisions-designers-and-doctrines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acoup.blog\/2026\/09\/18\/teaching-paradox-hearts-of-iron-iv-part-ii-divisions-designers-and-doctrines\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Paradox: Hearts of Iron IV, Part II: Divisions, Designers and Doctrines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is the second part (I<\/a>) of our long-delayed series looking at Hearts of Iron IV<\/em>, Paradox Interactive’s World War II grand strategy game and also one of the most popular strategy games currently on the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, we looked at how HoI4<\/em> simulates combat, particularly its focus on operations<\/strong><\/em> (rather than tactics or, as we’ll see in later weeks, strategy). Much of Hearts of Iron<\/em>‘s success is due to its effectiveness as an operational simulator and its operational model is by far<\/strong><\/em> the most developed part of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week we’re turning to the question of how Hearts of Iron IV<\/em> handles what is going on below the operational level that the player operates at. Because the player does not themselves handle – or even really see<\/em> – how their armies function below that division-level operational simulator, the granularity here comes from how Hearts of Iron IV<\/em> understands ‘doctrine<\/strong>,’ which is to say the practices, guidelines and expectations that militaries use to guide their function in the field. The player is thus notionally given some ability, by choosing doctrines and determining the composition of their divisions, to shape how their units fight in the small scale (or at least how those fights are abstractly simulated). In practice, however, as we’ll see, HoI4<\/em>‘s approach to doctrine is less developed than its approach to operations and never quite succeeds in really capturing the different ways that armies in this period understood themselves and functioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


But first, if you like what you are reading here, please share it, as I rely on word of mouth to replenish my manpower pool after poorly considered post topics. If you really like it, you can support me, my academic work and my public writing, including this project on Patreon<\/a>! I can\u2019t promise to use your support to buy a division worth of tanks, but I also will not promise not to do that. If you want updates whenever a new post appears or want to hear my more bite-sized musings on history, security affairs and current events, you can follow me on Bluesky (@bretdevereaux.bsky.social). I am also active on Threads (bretdevereaux) and maintain a de minimis<\/em> presence on Twitter (@bretdevereaux).<\/p>\n\n\n

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