GAME MANUAL - Steam

HEARTS OF IRON DARKEST HOURa base does not mean that it iscurrently located there. Itonly indicates that this is theirhome naval base assignment.Allied naval bases will notnormally appear on thisdisplay; however, if you haveassigned one of your fleets toan allied base, it will beincluded in the list untilsuch time as you reassign thefleet to a different location.If a fleet is carrying out amission, its mission box willprovide a summary of themission and a tooltip will giveyou additional details of themission’s parameters. Youmay click directly on the fleetname to select the fleetand center it on the map, oryou may click on the missionbox to assign it a missiondirectly from this interface.If a small red combat iconappears in this listing, yourfleet is engaged in battle andthus might be worth lookingat, if you weren’t previouslyaware of this.Basic NavalMovementBasic naval movement is doneusing the normal gamecontrols, but in some ways iseven easier since sea zones,the naval equivalent of aprovince, aren’t subject tonational control. Right-clickingin any sea zone will order yourfleet to move there andattempt to engage any enemyvessels it encounters. If youmove multiple sea zones, yourfleet will also engage anyenemies it meets along theway. There are only twolimitations on sea movement:Fleet range: You cannotexceed the maximumrange of the “worst” flotillain the fleet. Darkest Hourmakes this simple toavoid by prohibiting anyorder that would take afleet out of range of itsassigned base. When afleet is selected, you willsee a tooltip for each seazone that displays thefleet’s range and thedistance from the fleet’snaval base to that seazone.Denied Zones: There areseveral sea zones thatrepresent very narrow straits,canals, or channels. Enemycontrol of the adjacentprovince will deny your fleetpassage through that zone.These include the Strait ofGibraltar, the Panama Canal,Suez Canal, Kiel Canal andSea of Marmara.If you wish to move your fleetto a province that contains aport or a naval base, simplyright-click on the province.Because there are a severalpossible options in the waythat a fleet and province can“interact”, you will see anabbreviated list of theseorders. Select the move optionto enter the harbour. Even ifthe province contains a navalbase, this will not rebase yourfleets, nor will a base or a portto which you move be able tooffer you fuel or supplies whenyou arrive. Ports cannot meetthe needs of military vesselsand you must use the rebaseoption to allow a naval base tooffer you supply.As you will soon discover inthe Naval Combat section,opposing fleets do notnecessarily engage when theyare both in the same seazone. Each zone represents afairly large expanse of waterand it is entirely possiblethat two fleets may simply failto detect one another’spresence unless they haveexcellent spotting capabilities.Even when you have spottedan enemy fleet, it is rarely safeto assume that you’ve sightedits entire complementof ships.Rebasing aFleetYou may assign a fleet to adifferent naval base by issuingit an order to rebase. If youselect a fleet and right-click ona province that contains anaval base belonging to you orto an ally, the rebase option133