''Arsenal of Democracy'' is a

grand strategy wargame A grand strategy wargame or simply grand strategy game (GSG) is a wargame that places focus on grand strategy: military strategy at the level of movement and use of a nation state or empire's resources. It is a genre that has considerable overlap ...

that is based on '' Hearts of Iron II - Armageddon'' and its Europa Engine. It is developed by BL-Logic, a development studio made up by fans of the ''Hearts of Iron'' series and active members of the modding community.Arsenal of Democracy: A Hearts of Iron Game
IGN. ''Arsenal of Democracy'' was announced on September 8, 2009Arsenal of Democracy Announcement
Paradox Plaza. and released on February 23, 2010. As in other games in the grand strategy ''Hearts of Iron'' series, ''Arsenal of Democracy'' allows for the player take control of and manage nearly any

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and early Cold War era nation-state including its

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

, diplomatic,

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

economic An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

, and technological aspects.

Gameplay

The player can build land divisions, aircraft

wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...

, and naval ships/ fleets, and combine these into

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

and

armies An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. The player also has the ability to control the appointment of commanders of forces under their nation's flag or that of controlled nations as well as to control the appointment of individual government

ministers Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

and military commanders in key General Staff positions. The player also has a broader ability to control the

heads of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...

and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

; however, this option is only available to democracies and only then through elections, in which the player chooses the winner. The player can stage coups,

declare war A declaration of war is a formal act by which one state announces existing or impending war activity against another. The declaration is a performative speech act (or the signing of a document) by an authorized party of a national government, in ...

annex Annex or Annexe refers to a building joined to or associated with a main building, providing additional space or accommodations. It may also refer to: Places * The Annex, a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada * The Annex (New H ...

territories and make

alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

s. The player can also alter the

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

and

policies of their nation using sliders, such as democratic versus authoritarian,

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

versus

central planning A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, pa ...

and so on. Moving the sliders will result in different bonuses and penalties, allowing for a range of choices and strategies. Technological research is controlled by the player. All this is on a global scale, with the player simultaneously dealing and interacting with nations across the world. The game can be paused at any point.

Changes from ''Hearts of Iron II - Armageddon''

''Arsenal of Democracy'' maintains the general look and feel of the original game, but features a number of changes and improvements over its ''Armageddon'' 1.2 starting point. The purpose and result of these changes was to make the game less management intensive, more user friendly, and, through improving the AI, more challenging. The changes were focused around the game's economy, production, combat and historical accuracy. There was an overhaul of the graphics and user interfaces. This impacted many systems including espionage, trade, and notifications. There are increased screen resolutions and a freely selectable window mode. Numerous mechanics were adjusted. The production and economic now give user significantly more control and had the result of making the AI more competitive when compared to the original ''Hearts of Iron II: Armageddon''. The combat mechanics, including

attrition Attrition may refer to *Attrition warfare, the military strategy of wearing down the enemy by continual losses in personnel and material **War of Attrition, fought between Egypt and Israel from 1968 to 1970 **War of attrition (game), a model of agg ...

algorithms, were completely reworked to better reflect realistic unit behavior and losses.Arsenal of Democracy: Development Diary 2
IGN. The AI was modified to present more of a challenge to players and to adapt it to the new features in ''Arsenal of Democracy''. These new features include a completely new supply system,

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

, national ideas (similar to the ones in the ''

Europa Universalis ''Europa Universalis'' is a grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published in 2000 by Strategy First. Development The game was originally based on a French board game of the same name by Philippe Thibaut that ...

'' series), an expanded technology system and four new battle scenarios. There were numerous smaller changes as well, and as with other

Paradox Interactive Paradox Interactive AB is a video game publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company started out as the video game division of Target Games and then Paradox Entertainment (now Cabinet Entertainment) before being spun out into an independen ...

games it is very

modification Modification may refer to: * Modifications of school work for students with special educational needs * Modifications (genetics), changes in appearance arising from changes in the environment * Posttranslational modifications, changes to prote ...

friendly.

Development

''Arsenal of Democracy'' was announced on September 8, 2009, on the Paradox forums. The game became possible due to Paradox Interactive licensing the Europa Engine to independent developers. It was developed by and for hardcore strategy gamers.

Expansion pack

The ''Iron Cross'' expansion for ''

Hearts of Iron II ''Hearts of Iron II'' is a grand strategy computer war game for the PC based upon its predecessor, ''Hearts of Iron'', which was developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. It takes place in the time period fr ...

'' and '' Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game'' is also compatible with ''Arsenal of Democracy''.

References

External links

*
Paradox Plaza Game Page
{{Europa engine games 2010 video games Computer wargames World War II grand strategy computer games Government simulation video games Paradox Interactive games Real-time strategy video games Video game sequels Windows games Windows-only games Cold War video games Multiplayer and single-player video games