GAME MANUAL - Steam

HEARTS OF IRON DARKEST HOURAnti-aircraft guns offer a thirdpossible means of defence.Unlike land and coastalfortifications, anti-aircraft gunsdo not need to be manned byyour forces in order tooperate, as their constructionincludes a manpowercomponent. Their function is toprovide added defenceagainst air missions flownagainst targets in the provinceand to disrupt any enemyaircraft that pass overhead.They will not in any way helpto defend you against theassault of a ground force ornaval invasion. If you haveresearched the necessarytechnologies, you will also beable to build radar sites in yourterritories. These stations willgreatly improve any aerialdefence that you mount in thatprovince against enemybombers and fighters. Radarsites do not need to bemanned by your troops to beoperational.Naval and AirBasingMilitary vessels and aircraftusually have specialrequirements that necessitatethe construction of dedicatedport facilities and air fields tofully meet their needs. Eachsquadron must be assigned toan Air Base that is located in aprovince that you control orthat is friendly to your forces,and all operations that itconducts must be launchedfrom that base, to which it willreturn after the mission hasbeen flown. If you assign toomany air wings to too small abase, then you may find thatthe ground staff will havetrouble maintaining andservicing all of those aircraft ina reasonable period of time.You can either enlarge thebase to increase its capacityto a predetermined maximumsize, or reassign some of thesquadrons to a different basethat has sufficient space forthem. If there isn’t a suitablelocation, you can alsoconstruct a new base to housethem, although this will takesome time to prepare.Similarly, Naval Bases areneeded to act as home portsfor your fleets. Ships areassigned to them and mustreturn periodically to conductminor - or not so minor -repairs. Any number of shipsmay use the same naval base,although a base’s sizedetermines how rapidly it canrepair those vessels, and itslocation will affect what seasyour navies will be able topatrol. Existing naval basescan be enlarged with certainrestrictions, and new ones canbe built. There are also manyprovincial ports that your fleetsmay use as temporarymoorings; however, thoseharbours lack the facilities tocarry out any repairs or offersupply to your vessels.Bases are susceptible tobombardment and can fall intoenemy hands. Enemy aircraftcan be given missions to strikeat your ports or crater yourcoupled to a selective conscription, i.e. USSR orat least Tsarist Russia).● Partial mobilization: often an immediate pre-warmeasure. Classes that had just accomplishedtheir military service term are recalled under theflag, as they are generally liable for such a thingfor a few years after the end of their term. Somereserve units are activated, reservists aresometimes called back too.● General mobilization: the standard wartimemeasure of that era. All men between 20 and45/50 are mobilized (though in practice manyremain in the civilian life, at least for some time),all reserve units are activated.● Extended mobilization: a further effort to facethe bloody needs of war. Men previously left backin their factories are transferred to the front, agelimits for military service is often pushed to 18-50/55 years old.● Total mobilization: the supreme sacrifice, thelast effort to put men on the battlefield. Every manfit for military service is mustered in, withteenagers of 15/16 and old men up to 60 or 65also incorporated – often as a militia.18