Hearts of Iron 4is a complex grand-strategy game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. The game focuses on World War 2 era warfare and politics, where players can takecontrol of a countryleading up to or during the Second World War. Aside from the incredibly complex and wide range of gameplay mechanics, including diplomacy, research, production, economy, and industry, players must funnel their efforts into building and managing a military worthy of war.
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Warfare inHearts of Iron 4can be conducted (at its most basic level) from land, air, or sea. Players who have chosen a coastal country to begin their journey must invest in their country’s navy to maintain sea power. Enthusiastic players will quickly discover that merely sending out a bunch of subs will ultimately result in their naval forces being decimated. To bring out their maximum potential as admirals, it is important to understandfleet composition inHearts of Iron 4.Here are thebest fleet compositionsthat Commanders can use to ultimately win the World War.
Important Information
Before diving in, there is some important information players should know.
6Sub-Hunting And Coastal Patrol
Hearts of Iron 4players can assign the help of CL (Light Cruisers) x1 and DD (Destroyers) x3 to maintain sea superiority in certain key regions along their coastlines. This fleet composition is especially powerful and dynamic since it can not only inhibit submarine activity in their zones but also guard important establishments along their coastlines.
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An optional addition to naval theaters could be ASW (Anti-submarine warfare) air and seacraft. The surface ships are used to detect and engage enemy submarines, while the ASW aircraft provide additional detection and attack capabilities. Commanders should set their Sub-Hunting/Coastal Patrol fleet toPatroland setEngagementto high-risk, i.e., ships attack any and all enemies detected.
5Convoy Raiding
The Convoy Raiding composition focuses on assigning task forces of 9-12submarinesin each fleet. Each fleet should ideally be sent to a location with negligible to no air cover. Each fleet is given a deep water zone to control (i.e. raid convoys). Ideally, players should try building at least 5 fleets with submarine task forces, giving each an adjacent zone to control.
Battle commanders should set their Convoy Raiding fleet toSearch and Destroy, or better, give the order toRaid Convoys.
4Anti-Aircraft Fleet
Commanding Officers can enlist the help of CL x1 and DD x2 to solidify their air defense in a certain region. Care must be taken that these ships are equipped with AA (Anti-Air) components. Thus, players are encouraged to design fleets taking into account the AA ratings of individual ships.
Players can scale this task force to their required proportions, depending on their opposing country’s air supremacy. Up to CL x20 and DD x40 is pretty powerful and gets the job done for most games. Of course, players can also choose to fight fire with fire and incorporate CVs (aircraft carriers) into their anti-air task force.
3Convoy Escort
But instead of just attacking enemies, how can players protect their own ships? That is where the possibility of a convoy escort comes in. Considering that the most popular convoy raiding fleets make good use of submarines, fans are going to want to use ships that can effectively counter them and aircraft alike.
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DD x (5-20) is an optimal combination for this purpose. Each destroyer must have AA components, sonar, and depth charges to effectively counter enemy submersibles and aircraft. Commanders can also enlist the help of CL x (4-5) and CA (Heavy Cruiser) x (2-4) to further increase the strength of their escort missions inHearts of Iron 4.
2Sea Zone: Patrol Fleet
There may come a scenario where players need to gather intelligence on enemy presence in certain sea zones. For that purpose, a final fleet consisting of CA x(2-4) or BC (Battle Cruiser) x(1-2), CL x(4-7), and DD x10 is a fleet composition to be reckoned with.
Initially, owing to lesser resources, players may only manage to scrounge together a few DDs for patrol, but as the game progresses and the need arises, commanding officers can invest in creating larger task forces to create a fleet that is formidable.
1Strike Fleet
Strike Fleets are amalgamations of a majority of a nation’s seacraft into a singular task force. Usually, fans are going to want to keep a few solitary patrol ships nearby to watch out for intruders and to snuff out enemy ships for the strike fleet to annihilate. Because of this, players will find it effective to keep their strike fleet close to their patrol ships.
Strike Fleets, thanks to their size, are costly to maintain and keep active. These fleets consume fuel very quickly and can only perform operations in a single sea zone at a time. Thus, players must only engage their main strike fleet when victory appears absolute. Strike fleets don’t have a set number of ships/submersibles; the more, the merrier. However, players must keep somerules of thumb in mind: These ships are recommended in a strike fleet:
Hearts of Iron 4can be played on macOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Classic MacOS
