14 DAY TRIAL // Can Turkey abandon its careful neutrality during World War II to restore Ottoman rule and gain back territories lost during the ‘20s? Can the Greek Republic redefine itself as a strong democracy and then become the protector of the Balkans against both the Axis and the Comintern? Is there any chance to make Bulgaria a powerhouse ally of the Axis that has the power to gobble up Romania and Hungary?
These are the kinds of questions that become potential playthrough paths in the most recent expansion for Hearts of Iron IV, the grand strategy title from Paradox. It’s not always easy to achieve these kinds of alternate historical outcomes. It’s almost always engaging to try to, even when the game throws curveballs or delivers impressively weird outcomes.
The Battle for the Bosporus country pack introduces new content for three countries but does not fundamentally alter any of the main mechanics. It’s s neat little package that creates cool moments but sometimes makes it harder to overlook some core problems of this strategy experience.
There are new focus trees (ways to decide the strategy that each government should take) for Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey. To make the Balkan region more dynamic there are also tweaks to the way Romania and Yugoslavia behave, depending on how the situation evolved during World War II.
Players who have not played Hearts of Iron IV for some time would do well to first try out Bulgaria. The paths that it can take through World War II are not too outlandish. It offers plenty of time to become familiar with the new internal faction concept and the variety of new decisions that Paradox introduces. A relatively historical path is a safe choice for a first campaign but there are plenty of other options to explore.
The most complex tree in the expansion is reserved for Turkey, which is ironically one of the mid-sized powers that did little on the battlefield in World War II. Gamers will have to deal with internal problems and the death of Ataturk. But Turkey also has a lot of potential for expansion and can be an interesting addition to any of the big three alliances. The option to restore Ottoman rule is also very well designed but it takes time and careful decisions to create a truly powerful empire that will antagonize all other major powers.
Greece also gets a wide-ranging rework that opens up multiple progression paths. There’s, of course, a way to try and re-create the Byzantine Empire, boosting military and tech enough to make the new entity a powerful mid-sized power. Players can also choose to try and do a little better than the country did historically and maybe even turn the tide against Germany and Italy with Allied help.
Conclusion
The problem is that it takes a conscientious effort to ignore the weirdness that tends to pop up after 1943. This happens regardless of whether the game is running historical or not. It pop-up mostly because alliances and peace conferences get wonky. It makes it hard to be immersed and engaged in the long term. Hearts of Iron IV, with all its expansions, is great at delivering cool and intriguing beginnings but fails to offer satisfying conclusions.
