As for the game mechanics, I have a few ideas. Well, a moderately large word document full of ideas. I'll put highlights here:
War
Land
Land units are built the same as in HOI4, with the caveat that you can build "Reserve" units. Unlike EvW, where "Reserve" units where left in a universal "pool", in Iron Curtain, Reserves are placed on the map similar to HoI3, with a toggle to activate them. Reserves use 1/10 of the manpower as active divisions, but require the same amount of equipment. Additionally, as well as capturing Equipment of other countries when you annex them, you also capture Equipment over the course of the war, during battles, and ESPECIALLY when you totally destroy or route enemies. This Equipment can be used or reverse engineered.
Designing Divisions
This is done the same as in HOI4, again, with Line Brigades, and Support Companies. Line Brigades include; Infantry (in trucks or technicals, mainly used for early game and 3rd-world combat), Light Infantry (representing higher-trained infantry, including Mountaineers and early-period Marine divisions), Paratroopers, Mechanized (your default 1st and 2nd-world infantry, in APCs), Heavy Mechanized (late-period 1st and 2nd-world infantry, in IFVs), Armour, Militia (units like the National Guard), Air Assault (late-period infantry riding in helicopters, late-period 101st Airborne, Marines), and lastly Irregulars (Guerrila forces with special rules). Support Companies include Armour again, Anti-Tank, Anti-Air, Artillery, Rocket Artillery, Recon, Engineers, and Air Cavalry (representing attack helicopter groups). All Support Companies are assumed to be self-propelled.
Irregular Combat
Most combat works as in HOI4. Irregulars, however, are unique. Irregular units cannot be combined with other Line Brigades or Support Companies. They have the ability to coexist with hostile units in a province. Irregular units gain large bonuses in urban and rough (mountain, hill, jungle, desert) terrain. Irregular units have a special trait, Infiltration, which is counterable by the Counterterrorism trait of the opposing unit. Irregular units capture territory as usual, denying supplies through the region, and denying the owner access to the resources of the province. When a Regular unit moves into the province containing an Irregular unit, rather than trigger a battle at the border, it captures the province back. On regular intervals, the Regular unit rolls its CT against the Infilitration of the Irregular unit, to try and bring the Irregular into an open battle where it will be annihilated. Until it does so, both units suffer attrition, the Irregular at a rate determined by the CT score, and the Regular at a much much higher rate based on the Strength of the Irregular unit. Both it and the Irregular unit can move freely out of the province, but the Irregular unit attempting to move lowers its Infiltration score and triggers an instant CT roll against it, outside of the normal intervals.
tl;dr: Irregulars fight like HoI navies.
Air
Not finished yet. HoI 4 has a decent barebones structure to work with to begin with, but it requires a LOT of tweaking to even work in HoI 4. The theory behind it is good though.
Nuclear
Honestly pretty happy with how it was laid out in the EvW dev diaries. I would add the mining and trade of Raw Uranium, as well as Civilian Centrifuges, to show how a country could develop legal Civilian Centrifuges and then upgrade them into Military Centrifuges.
Naval
On the most part, EvW's dev diaries was good on this, with one exception; more than just planes should be able to attack over multiple tiles. Helicopters and Long-Range ASW missiles are also important. Anti-air attacks planes, PD detracts from damage done by Helicopters and missiles. Fleets can either evade, stay at missile range, or close to conventional range. Mission types include patrol, fight piracy, support amphibious invasion, or attack specific targets (which can include in-land targets with LR cruise missiles).
Economy and Production
Overall, the Economy is a combination of V2, and HoI4, with the addition of semi-independent Companies, an idea that I've also floated around for V3. It is simpler than V2, but more complex than HoI4, representing that Iron Curtain is just as much an econo-political game as it is a war game, but it has a much larger war aspect than Vicky, which can't be overshadowed.
Simplified Pop System
Similar to Vicky, we are going to track Pops. Just like Vicky, Iron Curtain is just as much of an econo-political simulator as it is a war-game. As such, we need to track the economic well-being and political beliefs of the populace. There are 4 different 'Types' of Pops; Workers, Managers Scientists, and Capitalists. They each have a simplified role. Lower Class pops work in factories, or in RGOs, creating goods. Management works in factories to raise the efficiency, Intellectuals work in Labs to produce Research or in Centrifuges, and Capitalists invest in Companies.
Pops demand goods. All Pops require Survival Goods. Workers also need Low-Class Goods. Managers and Scientists require Middle-Class Goods on top of that, and Capitalists require Upper-Class Goods additionally. If pops can no longer afford Middle or Upper-Class goods, they count down to demotion. If pops are rich enough to buy Middle-Class to Upper-Class Goods, they count down to promotion. If pops can afford their goods but none are available to buy, then they begin to raise in Dissent. If they cannot acquire Survival Goods, then they also begin to count down to death.
Production Lines and Factories
There are 11 different types of Production Lines, similar to the 3 types in HoI4. They can be divided into Civilian and Military Lines. Factories can be switched between Lines, but the cost to re-tool the factory depends on how similar the Lines are. The lines that can be switched cheaper are Civilian and Military Centrifuges, Infantry Equipment to Low-Class Goods and vice versa, and Middle- and Upper-Class Luxuries to Motor-Lines and vice versa. Unlike HoI4, Input Goods do not simply slow down production, but are required and consumed to produce goods. Factory Lines can be set to Full, Half, Minimal, or Closed Employment, which lowers employment and thus labour costs, but also lowers output. Closing a factory sends a percentage of the goods used to build the factory back into the companies stockpile. Production Lines producing more goods lowers the prices of the goods.
Industrial Goods
Civilian Lines are Survival, Low- Middle- and Upper-Class Goods, as well as Construction Supplies, used to build factories and province buildings, and Civilian Centrifuges, which do ???.
Military Lines are Infantry Equipment (used to build Small Arms and Support Equipment), Motor Lines (used to build tanks, AA/AT, etc), Plane Lines (used to build planes, helicopters), Shipyards, and Military Centrifuges. The State can ban specific Military Lines from export, should they wish.
RGOS
RGOs are free-form Production Lines pre-set in a province. They are limited in the number of factories they can support, depending on the province. Unlike V2, however, factories must be constructed in an RGO to provide the positions for Workers to gather the Raw Goods.
Raw Goods
I'm not entirely sure which goods would make the final cut, but I've bolded the ones I'm most sure about.
Fuel is used in Plane, Motor, Middle- and Upper-Class Lines, Shipyards, as well as as upkeep for all military units save for Irregulars, in varying amounts.
Rubber is used in Planes, Trucks, Middle- and Upper-Class Lines
Aluminum is used in Planes, Support Equipment, and Upper-Class Lines.
Steel is used in Small-Arms, Support Equipment, Ships, Tanks, AA/AT/etc, Construction, Middle-Class Goods.
Tungsten is used in Planes, Tanks, AA/AT/etc.
Chromium is used in Tanks and Capital Ships.
Uranium is used in Centrifuges.
Foodstuff is used to create Survival Needs.
Lumber is used to make Construction and Low-Class Goods.
Companies
Companies are an extra step in the economy, new to PDS games, a replacement for V2's World Market. For state-run Production Lines, the State is considered to be the Company. I'll call out any other places where a state-run Production Line differs from a Company-run Production Line.
Simply put, each Production Line is owned by a specific Company (with the exception of the pre-set RGO Production Lines, which can have factories from multiple Companies in it). Goods are added to the companies Stockpile. When a state or Pop buys a good, they buy it from the Company. Money is given to the Company. The company first spends the money on salaries and input goods. Secondly, they may save up to spend on a new factory. Lastly, profits are split amongst investing Capitalist pops, based on how much the Pop has invested in that Company. State-run Production Lines give profits to the Budget. Companies can, of course, go bankrupt. As shown above, they set the Employment Level based on the demand for their goods, and can close factories to gain back a percentage of the construction costs of the factory.
For state-build Lines and Factories, the State sets the Employment to Full, Half, Minimal, Closed, or Automated, which will treat the line as if it was a Capitalist-driven Company. Thus, as the USSR, you can ensure full employment, and that everyone receives a wage, but if your factories are not efficient enough, or you cannot secure the raw goods, you may not be able to supply everyone with the goods they demand, despite them having the money to pay for it. This is an important point often missed; communist systems were supply-driven rather than demand-driven. If people didn't get goods, it was because there was not goods to give them, not that they couldn't afford them. This models that.
Trade
Items from other countries cost more. In my V3 economic model, this is done via Infrastructure Companies, to avoid a Money Pit. In this simplified version, the extra money goes to the Company, who is assumed to handle transportation themselves. It's cheaper to buy goods from your country, than from other countries on the same continent, than from other countries on different continents. This can be balanced out, however, by other countries having more efficient lines, setting the base price of their good lower. Thus, it may be cheaper in the end to import lumber from China than to get it from France.
Additionally, Tariffs can be set on specific Types of Lines or Raw Goods, to protect local industries, and encourage local Pops and Companies to buy from other local Companies rather than abroad.
Economy of the State
In addition to the Tariffs mentioned above, the state also sets Tax levels different for each Pop, as well as sales from any state-owned factories. These are the main sources of income for the state.
How does ordering military goods work? In the "Orders and Stockpiles" page, you can place an order for a specific type of good. Under, for example, "Small Arms", you will see any Small Arms lines currently operating in your country, plus a list of other countries offering their own Small Arms for sale. Unless you are a major power, it will most likely be to your benefit to buy arms from someone who is, as your own tech will not be as powerful, or your factories as efficient. When you place an order from a company, you buy first from their immediate available stockpile, and then from on-going production. If demand is higher than production rates OR no production exists for the specific good you require, a company will transfer or create a line to make the desired product, after a short delay.
Espionage
Espionage Points
Espionage Points are points that are collected by Intelligence Center buildings (on a slow trickle), and by carrying out the cheap Spy Ring espionage mission, and spent on all missions. Espionage points are for a specific country, and can only be spent on missions in that country, and have to be built up by Spy Ring missions in that country. The Intelligence Centre gives a small trickle up to a maximum based on the total levels of intelligence centres you have in all countries, and a large trickle in your own country. Countries that are annexed give half of the espionage points in them to the country that annexed them. Missions only last a certain # of months. They also may trigger random events related to the mission.
Supporting Coups
Can either trigger a popular revolution by raising dissent and raising organization or popularity of a specific party, OR can directly cause a “vanguard” revolution allied with a high-organization party.
Tech Espionage
Used to learn technology the target knows that you do not.
Military Espionage
Used to learn about enemies military division patters, strength, and nuclear warhead #s, silo locations.
Tech and Research
Same as in HoI 4, plus ability to reverse engineer captured or bought Equipment of other nations to attempt to learn that tech. Consumes the captured Equipment, instead of using it.
Take EvW’s ability of setting “goals”, and the automating tech towards those goals. If tech is automated and there is excess research available not being used, it will automatically choose a tech using the same logic as the AI. AI also uses this system; it will choose a few goals (balance between long, short, and medium-term goals), and fill in gaps.
I'm still working on the Internal Politics section of the design bible, not sure quite what that's gonna look like. It may end up being more complicated than either HoI3 or Vicky2, as I want to be able to model different types of democracies better...
