Summary
ThoughHearts of Iron 4has mountains of content with its many DLCs, its modding scene is truly extraordinary, radically changing the gameplay experience from top to bottom. Buzzing with activity and full of professional-level devs, the Steam Workshop promises a seemingly endless amount of free expansions to an already stellar game.
These mods offer total, wide-ranging gameplay conversions, whether it be changing the World War 2 ofHearts of Iron 4setting to the Mojave Wasteland ofFalloutor alternate history reimaginings that brim with tantalizing new ways to play the game. Gameplay mods radically change the game experience, adding hundreds of hours of playtime, and new brilliant mods are released every single day.
10End Of A New Beginning
The Victorian Era Reimagined
WhileVictoria 3covers much of the same period, some gamers justifiably prefer the in-depth war system ofHearts of Iron 4to the economics simulator of theVictoria franchise which even beginners can struggle with. Beginning in the 1860s and running up to the beginning of WW2, this mod charts the rise of the industrial empires and the wide-ranging effects of newly discovered nationalism.
Boasting incredible alternate history paths for many nations, End of a New Beginning is perfect for 19th-century history enthusiasts or gamers not quite on the same level asVictoria 3but wanting to explore the period regardless.
9Metro Genesis
The Russian Post-Apocalypse On A Vast Scale
Taking inspiration from theMetronovels and game series, this mod reinterpretsHearts of Iron 4’skey systems into the world of the underground. Taking place across a subway map in the post-apocalypse and using the idiosyncratic bullet economy, this mod radically transposes the core ideas of the base game and turns it into a tense thriller.
With 18 unique factions all with tailor-made focus trees, this mod is ideal for those seeking to playHearts of Iron 4like never before.
8Star Wars: Palpatine’s Gamble
Time To Get Intergalactic
If any mod demonstrates the sheer insanity ofHearts of Iron 4modders, it’s this one. Essentially creating an entirely new game within the framework of Paradox’s source, Ptschalon and team had brought the worldwide warfare of WW2 into the intergalactic stage. Taking place duringthe brilliantly realized Clone Wars saga, play as a variety of competing factions, all with unique focus trees and storylines, while taking over entire planets and star systems instead of nations.
This one is tailor-made forStar Warslore fanatics or people who wanted to love games likeStellarisbut wanted the robust combat system ofHearts of Iron 4instead.
7Hearts of Iron 4: The Great War
Get Bogged Down In Trench Warfare
World War 1 is represented poorly in the gaming space (though there are some great examples). This mod intends to fix that by usingHearts of Iron 4’sbase mechanics and overhauling them for the age of trench warfare. Instead of an age of mechanized warfare, this mod emphasizes raw manpower and diplomacy above all else. Progress requires a massive economy and a smart strategy, enhanced by all new focus trees for the major nations.
With a meticulously reworked map to represent the state of the world in the early 1910s, this mod is ideal for history lovers and war gamers alike.
6Old World Blues
Explore The Post-Apocalypse In A Whole New Way
TheFalloutworld and lore are massive, but the games have barely scratched the surface.Old World Blues, created by President Tandi (presumably not the in-game character) and their remarkable team have brought together the most complete and playable vision ofFallout’s world ever conceived.
With bespoke mission trees, units, and storylines made for the many nations across the United States, this is aFalloutfan’s dream or for fresh followers following the brilliant new TV show.
The Vanilla Expansion Everyone Should Play
More than any other mod,The Road to 56maintains the spirit of the original game but expands and improves in almost every way. Greatexperiment and their team have done a mind-boggling amount of work to overhaul the focus trees of the majority of nations in the game, greatly expanding the potential nations to play, and extending the tech trees far beyond the normal endpoint of 1945.
Where the main game only gives interesting alternate paths to the major countries,The Road to 56ensures that even thelong-neglected difficult South American and African nationshave interesting possibilities in a greatly expanded version of the base game.
4Pax Britannica: An Imperial Timeline
A Steampunk Vision Of The Past
Pax Britannica is a dream for steampunk lovers. The mod occurs after a failed American revolution and a second technological renaissance (spurred on by Nikola Tesla’s Wireless Power concept), resulting in Victorian Britain becoming an undisputed world hegemon. However, as the beginning of the game dawns in 1933, resurgent powers rise to challenge British dominance.
With an exciting alternate history setting and a focus on Wellsian science-fiction, Pax Britannica is a completely fresh take onHearts of Iron 4’s core mechanics and easily one of thebest steampunk strategy games around.
3Millennium Dawn
Modernity In All Its Complexity
Where mostHearts of Iron 4mods explore alternate history or other historical periods than WW2, Millennium Dawn brings the game systems into the 21st Century in 2001. With radically strange and exciting focus trees for each major nation, Millennium Dawn is one part exciting modern war simulator, one part reinvention of every core mechanic in the base game, and one part richly researched historical masterpiece that has unsurprisingly taken years to come to fruition.
Though extremely complex, Millennium Dawn is like an entirely new game that remains popular among players and is one of thebest grand strategy games set in the modern era.
2The New Order
The Cold War Like It’s Never Been Seen
Often abbreviated to TNO, The New Order has a rabid fanbase for good reason. Set in the early 1960s in a version of history where the Axis won WW2, a new Cold War has spawned between an isolated United States, a German Reich whose head is on the verge of death, and discontent on all sides.
This mod completely overhauls the gameplay of the source game and expands mechanics on a grand scale, with each major nation having unique challenges to deal with in the immediate prelude to nuclear war.
1Kaiserreich
The Definitive Alternate History Experience
Perhaps the best-known alternate history mod available forHearts of Iron 4,Kaiserreich tells the story of how the world developed in the wake of Triple Alliance victory in WW1. Communist states have popped up in France and the UK, the old French Republic lie in Africa waiting for their moment to retake the old country, and a beleaguered German Empire struggles to hold its vast domain together.
With some of the best-written storylines in any mod forHearts of Iron 4, Kaiserreich is ideal for players looking for ways to freshen up the well-known path of real history.
