GAME MANUAL - Steam

HEARTS OF IRON DARKEST HOURcharacteristics that may play alarge role in certain aspects ofyour economy or military.The cabinet of each nation isautomatically assigned basedon the prevailing domesticpolicy conditions, particularlythe type of government, and isformed of ten officials who willoversee its affairs. Eachminister may possesspersonality traits that makehim ideally suited to hold thatpost, although in many casesthere are trade-offs betweenhis natural expertise and hiscorresponding deficiencies.You can achieve amazingsuccess simply by takingadvantage of your ministers’attributes and working tominimise or avoid the lessdesirable aspects of theirpersonalities.Appointment of MinistersMinisters are appointedautomatically based on anation’s domestic policies anddrawn from the available poolof potential officials in theregion. Every country willappoint ten ministers to servein its cabinet, although insome regimes, a minister mayoccupy more than one cabinetposition, most notably in thecase of a dictatorship, wherethe head of state will usuallyalso hold the head ofgovernment post.The ministerial files of thegame not only include thenames of almost everysignificant government officialof the era, they also containadditional “possible” ministerswho did not historically occupyposts on cabinet. During thecourse of play, these ministersmay come to power as a resultof the domestic policies youpursue, or through civil war,dissident uprisings, an enemyfundedcoup d’état, or as aresult of special events. Youmay also voluntarily changemany of your ministers byclicking on the appropriateportrait and selecting from thelist of other availableministers. The ones that arelisted will depend on yourcurrent domestic policies, soyou may find that someprospective ministers may notbe available until you havemade a significant change toyour policies.It is not practical in the spaceavailable in this manual todetail each of the variousministers’ possible traits andtheir effects. This informationis clearly displayed in theexpanding tooltips that appearwhen you hover your mouseover each person’s portrait.The following is a generalsummary of each nation’scabinet positions:The Head of StateThe Head of Stateoccupies the highestposition in the nation.He will often have a trait thatwill have a significant effect onyour nation and the assignedAI character’s actions. Theperson that occupies thisposition is usually - though notalways - determined by thetype of government that is inplace.The Head ofGovernmentThe Head of Governmentis in charge ofdirecting the nation’s generalaffairs and its cabinet. He mayhave any one of a number ofwidely varying traits that mayaffect the industry, diplomacyor military success of hisnation.The Foreign MinisterThe Foreign Minister ischarged withconducting the majorityof a nation’s internationaldiplomacy and may possesstraits that will benefit or hinderthose activities to variousdegrees. These traits will oftengive bonuses to certaindiplomatic options whileincurring penalties for othertypes of negotiations.The Minister ofArmamentThe Minister of Armamentoversees allresearch and production in anation. His traits will usuallyaffect research times,production time and costs, andresource availability, althoughmost characteristics willinvolve potential trade-offs inopposing areas.The Minister ofSecurityCharged with maintainingthe internalstability of a nation, theMinister of Security will usuallypossess traits that will affectdomestic affairs. He may beproficient at maintaining lowerlevels of dissent, orpartisanship, or be adept atpreventing hostile intelligenceactivities.71