Hearts of Iron 4: No Step Back Review - The People's Democratic DLC

No Step Back is here, and it's a large expansion that severely fleshes out the focus trees of the Soviet Union, Poland, and the Baltic States. It does something else though, it also adds a massively important supply system, a tank designer, and changes up the system of the army command. Oh, and Stalin is extremely paranoid. But is the latest HOI4 DLC worth it? Check out the video to find out!
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[@gurufabbes1]

Believe it or not, this was the only video I could find that went through the features. Thank you very much, Andy.

[@AndysTake]

Thank YOU, gurufabbes! :D

[@gamingmoment1061]

Yeah I always loved playing the Soviet’s but the issue was always that the focus tree was shit same with Poland since I’m from Poland.

[@AndysTake]

And now that issue has been fixed! I’m sure you’ll have a lot more fun with Poland now, especially as a Pole! 😎

[@MateusVIII]

At least Poland is on its second custom tree. Poor Italians that never had any rework done.

[@AndysTake]

@@MateusVIII Poor Italians indeed, that tree looks sooo sad right now :( same with Norway!

[@Free_Palestine_419]

Polish gamers like playing as the Russians? I thought you poles hated the Russians because of the atrocities they inflicted on you people during Stalin's reign of terror and during the Cold War.

[@somehippies]

@@Free_Palestine_419 dude that’s like saying americans hate britain for the revolutionary war

[@Seymorebuttz]

My only hesitation about the No Step Back dlc is the fact that even without the dlc, I still have the officer corps instead of needing to research doctrines the old fashioned way, Poland, Soviet Union, and other countries have their new focuses and the railway/supply system is in place. This is all without the dlc keep in mind, so because of that I am not sure if it is even worth the $20 to get a few small things like railway artillery guns and the Stalin paranoia system.

[@Cdre_Satori]

Yeah, I am very on the fence about this one too, it adds/fucks enough for free and giving Paradox 20€ for basically copying a mod and adding complicated mechanics to break the meta would be setting bad example for them.

[@TalonAshlar]

I still feel that the allied minors should get more choices in their focus trees. For example between new production designers and a increased special forces cap. The game could also add unique special forces units for Maori and The North Australian Observer Unit (Maoris are an underwhelming vanilla infantry atm Makes more sense to make them mountain). There should also be a choice between aboriginal Australian rights (democratic) and repealing the white Australia Policy (communist option) granting additional population to the inland or going the colonial route and gaining rubber plantations and mines in New Guinea and extra civilian factories (to represent lands confiscated form the indigenous). It would also be interesting to give new Zeeland some more air buffs, (or a submarine buff) and maybe force a choice between that or boosting special forces cap with Maori's.

[@thesyntaxtree2528]

I also appreciate Waking the Tiger, but I would argue: 1. It should be valued for adding Chinese focus trees (imo the most important part of the DLC) even more than the alternate history paths for Germany, which were far less necessary. It was almost criminal that China, a huge player in WW2, didn’t get a focus tree right off the bat. 2. Despite Paradox adding focus trees for Nationalist China, the warlords, Manchukuo and Communist China, I’m a little disappointed that the Nationalist Chinese focus tree isn’t wholly unique to them, and would’ve liked to see Paradox put more effort into China as a whole. If they could create really detailed alt-history paths for Germany, then they should’ve made China content more deep and varied.

[@AndysTake]

Thanks for that perspective! Definitely, the main aspect of that DLC is East Asia in particular, but for me, who’s more focused on Europe, that’s why I liked it. Haven’t really figured out how to get very far in China yet haha

[@thesyntaxtree2528]

Yeah; to each his own, which is perfectly fine. For people who primarily play in Europe, then the alt-history Germany paths would be more relevant. I myself have a deep interest in Chinese history, so I find myself gravitating towards that area when I play HOI4. But I realise my original comment didn’t really talk about the rest of your review at all, haha. To be honest, I haven’t played vanilla HOI4 at all; only mods, so I’m hyped for the addition of railways and new supply mechanics to mods like Kaiserreich and Autumn Begonia. But there is of course the period of waiting while the devs patch the mods to be compatible with the Barbarossa patch. And what you said about waiting for a sale confirmed what I already thought. Even if Barbarossa and NSB’s features turn out to be great, I’d wait for a sale anyway, since there’s no hurry, and I always like to save money!

[@AndysTake]

@@thesyntaxtree2528 Haha exactly! Who knows, it might even just be on the Christmas sale starting December 22!

[@thesyntaxtree2528]

That’d actually be incredible, haha. I doubt it though, since it only dropped a couple of days ago (from Australia time), so it’d probably be unfair to those who purchased it at full price. Still, I’ll keep an eye on it!

[@1Madlycat]

The issue with researching China and Japan in this period, is that primary source documents are scarce and many haven’t been translated to English.

[@extal6896]

Really nice review! Got the game today and I guess I have a new save to start & new dlc to acquire ;)

[@AndysTake]

Thank you so much, Extal! 😄 love hearing that! Let me know if you have any questions, I’d be happy to help. It’s a massive game, so I would totally recommend watching some tutorials and guides!

[@jakdkr]

I noticed of which you forgot to mention the change of the air places in the USA and Africa.

[@sawsonex3215]

Har likt det veldig godt så langt, men det er mye som må læres på nytt! Nice review :)

[@AndysTake]

Tusen takk! :D ja du har rett, det tok meg timevis å få sånn halvveis peiling på ting haha, må definitivt lære meg enda mer!

[@neonthethief8499]

after playing with the expansion pack and without it on the current update i found that playing without the new focus tree of russia is more fun. the game is best when you can just focus on the war part of it and not 10 mini games and tight time events.

[@HistoryTeacherSteve]

Great review, I just subbed! 💕

[@AndysTake]

Thank you so much!! ❤️

[@jacklockemeyer3037]

Good video. Very informative.

[@AndysTake]

Thank you so much, Jack!

[@71nth46]

bruh man i bought the pre order version i dont have the baltic focuses the polish focus tree is shortened, same with the soviets, dont have the bonus pack i dont think how fix pls

[@AndysTake]

Bruh man did you enable the DLC? Check if you did in Steam, there’s a DLC section on your game’s library page 😊 and make sure you’re not using any mods, might mess up some stuff! Let me know if you managed to fix it!

[@catloverjerrygarcia5086]

Can you offer any insight to if/how the supply system affects air units? Or the high command system affecting the same?

[@AndysTake]

Hey, Jerry! Hm, good question! In my experience, air units should be mainly impacted by fuel supply, but the fuel needs to get to the airports through the supply system I believe. However, seeing as most of your airports should be in safe territory some ways away from the frontline, its rarely an issue as long as you have enough fuel/oil. The high command system lets you hire or implement bonuses for each of your military branch, at the moment I don’t remember if there’s a general/tradition that impacts supply/fuel consumption or availability. Someone correct me if I’m wrong! :)

[@catloverjerrygarcia5086]

@@AndysTake Yeah but the main issue would still be that the AI can just throw thousands of planes in the air even though they have no effectiveness and affect things still. One of the biggest issues with air I still have. Anyzoo have you been ignoring me on Twitter and Reddit been trying to message for months now.

[@Luredreier]

@@AndysTake Remember that the frontline supply depots has to draw supplies *from* somewhere too. So if you have an airport supplied by a supply depot that's on a railway line that's going *to* the frontline, and the troops there are already using up a lot of the resources there then there might be supply issues if you move a lot of planes to that airport. Or basically, if you have your capital in state A, then a railway going through state B into state C where the supply depot is located for the frontline. Then the troops will first use up the supplies in state C, then the trains will move in supplies to C along the railway from other supply depots that's *not* empty, so in this case the supply depot in state B till it's empty, and B draws supplies from state A where the capital is. At least that's my understanding. And since your troops are not literally fighting *in* the supply depot most of the time, you'll use either horses or trucks to get the supplies from the supply depot to the front. The more trucks you use the better the supplies and the better the troops further away from the supply depot will be supplied. Of course, you'll be using up your trucks on this...

[@AndysTake]

@@Luredreier Hahaha yes, this IS complicated! Thank you for trying to explain it, appreciate it 🙏

[@dennisvlahos]

Planes require supply. Undersupplied wings lose mission effectiveness proportionally to supply missing.

[@PopsicleMan756]

waking the tiger was a nice DLC, but why the hell did paradox not give tibet a focus tree?

[@dreamsucksnoonelikeshim5067]

Anyone else notice he’s talking about the Soviets in the polish time stamp?!?

[@kasperfrank6639]

I cant tell whats in the update and what in the dlc

[@cng979]

No Italian tree? Me sad pizza noise

[@andrejhallder1016]

Well I just played soviet union and I guess either I got really unlucky or idk, managing that paranoia cost me literally everyone I appointed previously, I did ONE upgrade to doctrine, I just lacked army exp whole game despite taking whole middle east and finland and helping in spanish war. Built up the railway system, all provinces in good color on front. War starts, germany attacks and after like one month all of my supply is destroyed and hes pushing me like nothing, getting encircled but I cant move my divisons cuz of destroyed supply system....idk, I like it on a paper, but reality is just not so fun

[@starhalv2427]

Perhaps you focused too much on conquest?

[@historiasmundiais8972]

Transport planes will solve our problem, is realy op

[@AndysTake]

Damn! Maybe you got overextended?

[@isaacbrowne4408]

Has XP been easier to get or is it still a grid?

[@AndysTake]

It’s a grind, but generals and commanders can enhance your XP gain, and you can imagine how vital it is to partake in the Spanish civil war now!

[@isaacbrowne4408]

@@AndysTake Thanks for the info!😁

[@AndysTake]

@@isaacbrowne4408 My pleasure, Isaac! 💪

[@patttrick]

@@AndysTake Playing as uk I can get doctrines but upgrading planes, rosters is a grind

[@theleninator5739]

dear monarchists, how you can make the romanovs return if there is no romanov? courius. (turning point USSR)

[@patttrick]

Im Andrew Andreevich were still here

[@AndysTake]

Hahaha!

[@theleninator5739]

@@AndysTake yes

[@chellybub]

The fake Russian accents in the promo material bothers me lol "Where хав mama and papa gone?" I dunno why, I guess because they sound so corny lol. Бабушка, почему мы должны быть тупыми русскими? The DLC looks cool I've not played Hoi4 for ages but maybe I should now ;) thanks for the sneak peek at the content and giving your feedback. Maybe it could be cool to play Poland... I wonder when they will give us Motti tactics for Finland lol. There's a funny story of Finn's going into Russia and coming back to Finland and emptying out their pockets, bringing back Karelia one handful of dirt at a time lol.

[@AndysTake]

Hahaha yeah, they had to include the word “babushka”(?) since that’s a word everyone knows. I think it has some awesome visuals though, the promo. Do you speak Russian? And yea, the expansion IS cool! :D if you haven’t played in a while omg, that was me a few weeks ago and this game is hard to relearn… but once you do! It can be a lot of fun! 😁 I definitely think Poland is a lot more fun now, a ton of diverse paths to take. Thanks for commenting, Chelsea!

[@chellybub]

@@AndysTake Not really, I have Russian relatives though, so I often find the way that western people's portray the Russians as a little silly. Fake accents are often over the top. Like most people with foreign languages, I can say a bunch of swear words. And because I sometimes look up things I have the Cyrillic keyboard installed but I am no expert or anywhere near fluent. I really liked Hearts of Iron 4, it was a lot more streamlined than 3. I will check out the DLC when they put it on sale next. I have been putting together a plan to do the Full Mega Campaign where you play CK3 then transfer your save into EU4 then Vicky 2 and lastly HoI4. It makes for an interesting story... So having this new DLC, I might have to start with a kind of mediaeval Poland and work my way up :P You should totally give the Mega campaigns a look over, I am hoping Vicky 3 takes the Mega to a whole new level. Right now EU4 and Vicky 2 are getting a bit old... So it's a little rough to switch between games.

[@090giver090]

@@chellybub The accent may vary depending in speaker proficiency in English. And yes, some Russians may sound just like any "Hollywood Яusski" e.g. russian minister of sport in 2018 kzbin.info/www/bejne/r2fbf39qZqh1b9E :)

[@Global_majesty]

How to get penal battalions,I don't see it in my Research tree

[@TheRealPog1]

It's a focus

[@yato329]

i dont have the dlc so why do i have the new focus tree for soviet union???

[@AndysTake]

Maybe it came with the free update?

[@pututunik8748]

is the tank design filled with meme build?

[@AndysTake]

It’s quite varied, depends on what you mean by meme build. If you’re talking flamethrower ARMY that’s up to you ;)

[@pututunik8748]

oh hell yes

[@strategymaster9048]

You got the game free? I am from steam.

[@AndysTake]

Paradox provided me with a code for the game, and I worked to make this review in time for the game’s release, you know, how many reviews work :)

[@Bilalovic2345]

YOOOOOO POLAND FINALLY GOT A GOOD FOCUS TREE LETS GOOOO

[@gaberobison680]

Soviet dlc aka let’s give them the BfB treatment where the focus tree just removes unnecessary draconian debuffs

[@MedjayofFaiyum]

Shame I don't own HOIV, but I like studying about the period, just not enough to play it

[@1Madlycat]

Cadet edition is $10 as of a week ago

[@bobpage6597]

I like No Step Back for the most part......but if there is one bit I do hate (and I'm probably the minority here) - its the fact you get FORCED into a civil war if you want to replace Stalin. I don't like the 'paranoia' gauge and having dance around pressing buttons for setting up secret headquarters here, building support there yada yada yada. The guys who did RT56 had the right idea - press one button, get a new leader straight away with no faff or costly war. I know many will disagree with me on that point, but, its just my opinion. Give me a leader that allows me to avoid the purge so the Red Army isn't wrecked, and let me at the Germans next 🤣

[@AndysTake]

Hahaha yeah it’s a whole mess! Imagine how bad the paranoia must’ve been in real life!

[@danielsonlisik534]

Good bye encirclements

[@teresarose685]

Big old Canadian women. Victoria really is a secret over there 👉

[@Tate.com2]

I hate no step back it changed stuff which didn’t it need the supply is hard now to control and the focus tree is good but plus making the tank is a good idea but they ruined it so don’t buy

[@TheRealPog1]

The supply is ten times better now

[@Tate.com2]

@@TheRealPog1 nope totally disagree with you

[@LahtariFIN]

There are some positive sides to the new DLC, but you may not have found the negatives yet: - war support remains bugged. If you annex a country while running an offensive propaganda campaign, you can be permanently stuck at zero wars support (yes, literally 0% for some countries). - war propaganda is still not always available when it should in some cases, even when it should (Italy fighting in Ethiopia at the start of the game, for example). This bug is unrelated to the previous one - Paradox has failed to balance the new supply system. Your units now need hand-holding for extra micro-management. People have reported that some units even start the game out of supply. - Building supply depots is very costly, and people have reported that instead of building up their military, they now spend all game building only supply depots - People have reported that the new supply system causes the game to run extremely slowly from 1942 onward, leading to players abandoning their campaigns. - The game gives you false pop-ups for government changes, when you have Political Power for none. I am not saying that this DLC will never be good. But right now, No Step Back is more like Several Steps Back. The new content is unfinished, unbalanced, buggy. At the moment of writing this, the entire game is one hot mess and playing it is not enjoyable. Personally, I had pre-ordered this DLC, but chose to return my purchase and get my money back, something I have never done before. I am not saying I will never buy NSB again, but I will only do so when and if Paradox chooses to fix all of the major issues in the game. Personally, I think this is the 2nd worst launch by Paradox, surpassed only by EU4 Leviathan in its shortcomings.

[@TheRealPog1]

It's weird the thing with the game running slowly in 9 out of 10 games i played for now the game actually ran fine until like the late game so 1945 but in one save when I was on ironman and played Iran everything was normal and them suddenly in 1941 the game literally runs at 50 second irl is one hour I'm game but when you exit and re enter the game resumes the normal speed for two days and then it just slows down again

[@mayo6009]

If the game runs slowly I would take down graphics like trees trains and rivers

[@Groxcima]

Honestly best dlc ever 10/10 cause it adds my home nations dlc therefore it's the best dlc ever

[@AndysTake]

Totally get it, mate! And which nation is that? I WISH they would give Norway the same treatment haha, quite a big part of the war, but still rocks a generic focus tree…

[@Groxcima]

@@AndysTake Lithuania. I actually do live in Norway and would like to see focus trees for them as well, though I think fleshing out the focus trees in the Balkans or South America would be a wiser choice. Also that was a joke, for the record, that's not the only reason I like the dlc haha

[@AndysTake]

@@Groxcima Hahaha, oh that’s awesome, I hope you like it! And yes, just more unique focus trees in general would be great

[@Ahmetevy920]

@@AndysTakehey mate I have news

[@willowsburg4062]

I hate this DLC, so much in fact I refunded it because it is not at all by any strech of the imagination worth 20 dollars, and no it's not because of supply, that needed a rework and the system functions mostly as intended if you actually read the tooltips (also that's in the free update, along with the historical poland & USSR path+lenins path). What I do hate tho is the fact "the tank DLC" ended up being a God damn plane DLC because they actually nerfed tanks AND AA FOR SOME GOD DAMN REASON, and made buffed CAS, as if CAS wasn't already strong enough, and don't even get me started on the fact the baltics can become industrial super powers with their copy paste industry focuses.

[@theleninator5739]

they need to stop adding monarchists

[@TheRealPog1]

Ok and ?

[@ert1393]

чел харош

[@AndysTake]

Meaning? Hahaha

[@ert1393]

@@AndysTake It means that you make great videos

[@AndysTake]

@@ert1393 Haha wow! Thank you so much! :D Spasiba! 👨‍🎨

[@hanzgezteflammenwerfer853]

No step back is the worst hoi4 dlc the supply system is in the base game 3 out of 5 nations who got a focus are minors no one plays

[@julio1116]

>should you buy the DLC? >>>>>>>buy Just pirate it

[@racon8272]

how?

[@gaberobison680]

It’s an ass dlc! All it did was make the Soviets weaker, make supplying your troops MORE expensive and confusing and put more of a burden on the already over stretched military exp system

[@HistoryTeacherSteve]

Lol OK bruh

[@xijinping880]

The dlc is more complicated than it looks dumbass I literally only played one game of the dlc and watched a few vids and I understand everything

[@xijinping880]

Also most the stuff in the dlc are being fixed and this dlc is literally the best out of all them

[@theleninator5739]

@@xijinping880 exept for the romanov larpers, that is not cool

[@SJ-xb7lg]

@@theleninator5739 be quite commie