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Developer Diary | Small Features #2

Greetings all,

We’re still well in the middle of Swedish vacation time, but our regular schedule is not entirely interrupted: today’s diary covers a few of the smaller features being added in AAT.


Special Forces Doctrines

For a while now we’ve wanted to give countries a way of specializing their special forces. Numerous militaries relied heavily on these elite troops, and some branches of what HOI4 terms ‘special forces’ really found their identity during and around the second world war.

I believe we’ve reached a good saturation point for equipment designers, and I wanted to tackle special forces in a manner that better befits strategic capability over detailed stat modification. The prolonged global conflict our game portrays led to significant doctrinal development when it comes to how militaries employed elite forces, and this seemed like a good place to start.

In AAT, a fourth doctrine page has been added:

image20.png


While any country can continue to make use of the Mountaineers, Marines and Paratroopers they are familiar with simply by researching the tech, doing so will unlock the ability to choose the corresponding special forces branch specialism.

These doctrines will also cost experience, however unlike the other military doctrines each branch here will use the corresponding experience type: Army XP for mountaineers, Naval XP for Marines, and Air XP for paratroopers.

The number of branch specialisms you can pick is limited however: initially to 1. Some nations earn the early ability to unlock a second (and final) branch specialism in their focus trees, but all nations that reach major status (this condition may be relaxed) will eventually earn the right to pick their second branch during the progress of the war.

Why not all 3? The [Insert Country Here] military used all three of these!

Well, partly for balance reasons, and partly because these specialisms don’t represent the ability to use paras, mountaineers or marines, but the adoption of their capabilities as part of a military’s core doctrinal philosophy.

We also wanted these doctrine choices to do more than give you stat bonuses - although of course these will be present. We wanted the choices you make here to a) change how you consider designing your divisions, and b) potentially change how you actively use your special forces on a strategic level.

Mountaineers

image19.png


Initially, elevating the mountaineers will grant you a mountaineer supply usage reduction (decimal bug noted!), and some general special forces combat bonuses. Importantly, you’ll also unlock the Rangers support company: a more combat oriented alternative to mounted recon, with higher organization, bonuses in adverse terrain types, and which can be further specialized by the mountaineers branch specialism in the following two doctrines:

image18.png

image13.png

Here you are making the choice to train your elite ranger companies in rough+hot or rough+winter terrain. I’ve added a Snow adjuster here (usable by mods, of course - although for performance reasons this does not extend to one adjuster per weather type I’m afraid) which means you can guarantee improved combat performance in your preferred terrain/weather type, and the support company now also exerts a division-wide buff to cold/hot acclimatization.

While I won’t go through each doctrine individually, we’re making use of the new battalion modifiers to adjust how you are incentivized to build divisions:

image11.png

Mountain artillery gives you a good reason to use artillery support in your mountaineer divisions, at the cost of a mutually exclusive choice with the following option:

image4.png

Balance subject to change, of course.

The final choice (and a choice which exists in each of the branch specialisms) is to decide between adopting your mountaineers as the core of your elite armed forces, or integrating them more widely:

image9.png

The new modifier ‘[Type] Special Forces Cap Contribution’ is a dynamic modifier that reduces the cap consumption of that special forces type, when counted against your cap. So, you’ll be able to support significantly more mountaineers, but not more paratroopers or marines.

image14.png

Here you’ll get bonuses that are more applicable to a wider array of circumstances. If you plan on unlocking and utilizing a second branch of special forces, this option might be more your cup of tea.

Marines

image23.png

The initial investment for the Marines branch will net you some similar small bonuses to special forces efficacy, a slight increase in naval invasion capacity (which can be acquired quite early), and you’ll unlock the Pioneers support company.

Pioneers are used here to represent marine-trained sappers and combat engineers, and will be an alternative to standard military engineers. They have increased offensive capability in notably hostile environments, and can be further specialized as shore parties or jungle climate specialists:

image3.png

image5.png

The second mutually exclusive choice in the Marines tree is as below. If you want to go all-in on highly elite, more self-sufficient marines, you can go down the Marine Commando route. Marine commandos are a new line battalion that have the ability to perform quick hit & run naval invasions with an equally quick getaway plan - they no longer need to be at a port in order to exfiltrate. All battalions in a division must have this ability in order for it to function.

image17.png

Further down the tree you can capitalize on the hit & run playstyle:

image16.png

The alternative path will take you down a combined arms path, integrating more closely with other branches of your military:

image6.png

image12.png


Paratroopers

image22.png

Elevating the paras will grant you tougher air transports, generally improved special forces, and the ability to field a small amount more paras.

image7.png

The first choice you will have to make is which paradrop effect you want to adopt. Aimed at disruption, the recon and sabotage doctrine will damage enemy constructions after a successful landing.

image8.png

Combat insertion is intended to augment well-planned general advances. If utilized carefully, this approach can put a hole in even the best fortified enemy frontline - however, the risk is high.

image10.png

It had to be done.


The mutually exclusive branches for paratroopers once again distinguish between a focus on paratrooper combat and support ability, or a wider combined-arms benefit:

image21.png

Make use of signals companies to coordinate a hasty defense after a drop.

image1.png

At the cost of increased training time, ensure that only the toughest recruits find their way to the paras.

Or choose to integrate the paras more traditionally into your armed forces:

image2.png

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That’s all I have to show this time - as always, feedback on the details is encouraged; constructive criticism welcomed.

/Arheo
 
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Kind of nitpicking, but why does the "backbone of the army" doctrine also give fewer stats to mountaineers compared to the alternative? Seems there is little upside to it.
 
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1. Will different countries have additional or different special forces stuff (f.e. doctrines), like they're going to have in MIO?
2. I'd love to see expansion of Army Command buffs stuff, mainly country specifics ones, like the US Bureau of Ordnance (but with positive stats, pls)
3. Does "normal" doctrines do anything for special forces, aside from whole army buffs?
 
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How is 10% attack not just strictly better than 10% soft attack? Also, I feel like most people are going to go into mountaineers and marines while using paratroopers like they do currently, a form of chessing victory points. The paratrooper upgrades are cool sure, but they don't really change the unit in a way that matters if you expect the country you're invading to capitulate within the next day or two.
 
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Greetings all,

We’re still well in the middle of Swedish vacation time, but our regular schedule is not entirely interrupted: today’s diary covers a few of the smaller features being added in AAT.


Special Forces Doctrines

For a while now we’ve wanted to give countries a way of specializing their special forces. Numerous militaries relied heavily on these elite troops, and some branches of what HOI4 terms ‘special forces’ really found their identity during and around the second world war.

I believe we’ve reached a good saturation point for equipment designers, and I wanted to tackle special forces in a manner that better befits strategic capability over detailed stat modification. The prolonged global conflict our game portrays led to significant doctrinal development when it comes to how militaries employed elite forces, and this seemed like a good place to start.

In AAT, a fourth doctrine page has been added:



While any country can continue to make use of the Mountaineers, Marines and Paratroopers they are familiar with simply by researching the tech, doing so will unlock the ability to choose the corresponding special forces branch specialism.

These doctrines will also cost experience, however unlike the other military doctrines each branch here will use the corresponding experience type: Army XP for mountaineers, Naval XP for Marines, and Air XP for paratroopers.

The number of branch specialisms you can pick is limited however: initially to 1. Some nations earn the early ability to unlock a second (and final) branch specialism in their focus trees, but all nations that reach major status (this condition may be relaxed) will eventually earn the right to pick their second branch during the progress of the war.

Why not all 3? The [Insert Country Here] military used all three of these!

Well, partly for balance reasons, and partly because these specialisms don’t represent the ability to use paras, mountaineers or marines, but the adoption of their capabilities as part of a military’s core doctrinal philosophy.

We also wanted these doctrine choices to do more than give you stat bonuses - although of course these will be present. We wanted the choices you make here to a) change how you consider designing your divisions, and b) potentially change how you actively use your special forces on a strategic level.

Mountaineers

View attachment 1009606


Initially, elevating the mountaineers will grant you a mountaineer supply usage reduction (decimal bug noted!), and some general special forces combat bonuses. Importantly, you’ll also unlock the Rangers support company: a more combat oriented alternative to mounted recon, with higher organization, bonuses in adverse terrain types, and which can be further specialized by the mountaineers branch specialism in the following two doctrines:


Here you are making the choice to train your elite ranger companies in rough+hot or rough+winter terrain. I’ve added a Snow adjuster here (usable by mods, of course - although for performance reasons this does not extend to one adjuster per weather type I’m afraid) which means you can guarantee improved combat performance in your preferred terrain/weather type, and the support company now also exerts a division-wide buff to cold/hot acclimatization.

While I won’t go through each doctrine individually, we’re making use of the new battalion modifiers to adjust how you are incentivized to build divisions:


Mountain artillery gives you a good reason to use artillery support in your mountaineer divisions, at the cost of a mutually exclusive choice with the following option:


Balance subject to change, of course.

The final choice (and a choice which exists in each of the branch specialisms) is to decide between adopting your mountaineers as the core of your elite armed forces, or integrating them more widely:


The new modifier ‘[Type] Special Forces Cap Contribution’ is a dynamic modifier that reduces the cap consumption of that special forces type, when counted against your cap. So, you’ll be able to support significantly more mountaineers, but not more paratroopers or marines.


Here you’ll get bonuses that are more applicable to a wider array of circumstances. If you plan on unlocking and utilizing a second branch of special forces, this option might be more your cup of tea.


The initial investment for the Marines branch will net you some similar small bonuses to special forces efficacy, a slight increase in naval invasion capacity (which can be acquired quite early), and you’ll unlock the Pioneers support company.

Pioneers are used here to represent marine-trained sappers and combat engineers, and will be an alternative to standard military engineers. They have increased offensive capability in notably hostile environments, and can be further specialized as shore parties or jungle climate specialists:


The second mutually exclusive choice in the Marines tree is as below. If you want to go all-in on highly elite, more self-sufficient marines, you can go down the Marine Commando route. Marine commandos are a new line battalion that have the ability to perform quick hit & run naval invasions with an equally quick getaway plan - they no longer need to be at a port in order to exfiltrate. All battalions in a division must have this ability in order for it to function.


Further down the tree you can capitalize on the hit & run playstyle:


The alternative path will take you down a combined arms path, integrating more closely with other branches of your military:


Elevating the paras will grant you tougher air transports, generally improved special forces, and the ability to field a small amount more paras.


The first choice you will have to make is which paradrop effect you want to adopt. Aimed at disruption, the recon and sabotage doctrine will damage enemy constructions after a successful landing.


Combat insertion is intended to augment well-planned general advances. If utilized carefully, this approach can put a hole in even the best fortified enemy frontline - however, the risk is high.


It had to be done.


The mutually exclusive branches for paratroopers once again distinguish between a focus on paratrooper combat and support ability, or a wider combined-arms benefit:


Make use of signals companies to coordinate a hasty defense after a drop.


At the cost of increased training time, ensure that only the toughest recruits find their way to the paras.

Or choose to integrate the paras more traditionally into your armed forces:


That’s all I have to show this time - as always, feedback on the details is encouraged; constructive criticism welcomed.

/Arheo
Does this indicate that the AI will actually regularly use paratroopers? (And other Spec Forces)?
 
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Who is shown in the image with white camouflage?

Please change the model of the Soviet Paratrooper. Add details

P.S. I hope that soldier in camouflage is not a Soviet paratrooper in winter uniform. Remove the overcoat over the shoulder, the Paratroopers were given seasonal gear when they jumped, they didn't have room for extra clothing they might not need.

Экипировка десантника (3).jpg


Экипировка десантника (4).jpg
 
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What will determine the difference in the sprites?
I notice 3 different styles of US Marines, and 2 versions of the US paratroops
Or are these just mock ups?
One will be the default but you will be able to also use the alts, cold/hot weather uniforms are changed automatically from the base
 
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I have a small selection of photos of Soviet Paratroopers that would help make the skin more authentic (summer and winter). If you are interested, I can share a link to Google drive.
 
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I didn't expect the development team to have such great ambitions. It's not just about improving stats, but also about allowing the new feature to directly impact the design of army compositions. This enables players to have deeper strategic thinking. It's a blessing for players who are tired of designing the same division templates for efficiency. It feels like a real wargame experience.

However, such significant changes will undoubtedly pose a serious challenge to the game's balance. How to make players hesitate between army doctrines and mountain infantry tech trees? It's clear that it's not as simple as requiring both to unlock each level with 100 army experience points. The numerical design is expected to be quite difficult.

Additionally, the introduction of naval marines and airborne paratroopers brings completely new gameplay. I'm curious to see if the Japanese Navy and the US Navy can adapt to these changes. After all, they have a significant number of amphibious targets in Southeast Asia and Western Europe. The new naval marines completely change the rules of war for these two countries, allowing for tactical flexibility and freedom.

I have to say, this is a pleasantly surprising DLC. More strategic fun is returning to HOI4. Thanks to all the developers, and I look forward to more developer diaries.
 
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Maybe instead of a cap based on the percentage of total army there should be cap based on manpower. So special forces are usually full time volunteers working at military. E.g. special forces can constitute at max 1% of recruitable population, but not more than 50% of total manpower? It just would make sense if a mountainous countries like Bhutan,Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Switzerland, Lebanon, Nepal, Tibet etc. could have 100% mountaineers armies. It could also depend on special forces type, because paratroopers are more special than marines and marines are more special than mountaineers.

E.g. according to Wikipedia Russia has 1.154 million fielded troops with 3.708 million total manpower, so taking into consideration that Russia has 143 million people, in HOI4 terms, Russia has limited conscription. But VDV (Russian Airborne Forces) has 45,000 man. And while conscripts are often little more than meat shield, VDV is the most important component of the Army (technically they are their own branch, but in HOI4 terms they are part of the Army) and Russians would rather disband most of their land forces than touch VDV. So now VDV consists 1% of available Russian manpower, but I could easily imagine situation where it would be multiple times more if Russia became bankrupt. So maybe:
- mountaineers: up to 1% of recruitable population, no more than 50% total manpower
- marines: up to 0.5% of recruitable population, no more than 25% total manpower
- paratroopers: up to 0.25% of recruitable population, no more than 15% total manpower
Don't look to much into this numbers, I want to just convey an idea, not propose a concrete numbers. I just think that country that is on volunteers only should be able to field army consisted only from special forces (special forces in terms of HOI4, not what NATO calls special forces).

Other idea could be to introduce different manpower pools e.g.:
- professionals
- conscripts
- militia/paramilitary (Home Guard, Volksturm etc.)
And special forces could use only use professionals, but professionals should have on average higher organization than conscripts. While militia units should have penalties for using them outside core territory, but it maybe would encourage players and AI to spam troops defending home territory, so no more capping by para-dropping on victory points with 1 battalion trash-troopers or totally undefended coast line. Home Guard in the UK reached 1.7 million serviceman, that is like 100-350 divisions just guarding coast, victory points, and infrastructure in the UK. Yeah, they should have like 50% of normal battalion organization, and even less, maybe 25%, when using outside core territory. But at least there would be some use to for militia and old guns.
 
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One quick question about the shore bombardment bonus modifier shown in the marines doctrine; does it work like the one already present in game from the naval invasion commander trait? Which means that it increases the amount of shore bombardment bonus each ship contributes?

If it does I would suggest that instead it should be a modifier that very slightly raises the cap of shore bombardment while also still increasing the contribution from each ship; achieving the cap is extremely easy with the existing major fleets and so these bonuses feel a bit useless in most situations
 
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I like the limit of one type of SF doctrine and the cap contribution modifiers, but (for me at least) this amplifies the old problem that it's preferable to fully commit to one type of special forces instead of utilizing all three. If I have to choose between 15 buffed battalions or 10 regular ones, the decision is pretty one-sided.
How about a base cap for each type on top of the shared cap? Meaning you would always be allowed up to e.g. 24 battalions of each type, and any battalions beyond that limit draw from the shared cap. So regardless of how many of my elite mountaineers I train, I can always field a small number of marines and paratroopers for basic operations.
 
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I'm really interested to see what Equestria at War does with this

Given they give most of the races their own Special Forces unit, I would expect that they will add a 4th "racial" SF tree, but it's going to be really interesting to see what they end up doing
 
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Unless you're in terrain that's super useful for mountaineers, I can see the by far most used option in this is the one that allows mariners to withdraw.

This dev diary seems to think it will be used for "hit and run" tactics.

It might, but the most useful thing is that you'll be able to do naval invasions where you can pull out the valuable troops if they don't capture a port.
 
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