HOI IV Dev Corner | Warfare in the Third Dimension - Airborne Units in HOI

Hi all, it's time for the next Dev Corner.I'm Jamor. I started as a producer on Stellaris, Imperator, and other games back in 2017, and now I'm happy to be back as a designer on HOI. Hearts of Iron 2 was my first PDS game, and I've had a lifelong obsession with the story of this most fascinating time period in history. It's an honour to be able to contribute to something so close to my heart.One of my goals for a future release is to improve airborne troops in HOI. Although they’ve been in the game since launch, they have a number of practical issues that limit their use: Airborne jumps are queued up by a number of tedious manual steps, from separately planned operations, the finicky process of getting jump capable troops to the same place as their transports, then the rather nebulous process of waiting for the right amount of air superiority to accrue so they will finally jump. Then, you leap completely blind into the unknown. Airborne units teleport on to their objectives, in such a subtle way that it's quite easy for both attacker and defender to not notice it has even happened. Airborne troops take such ruinous damage and disorganization that they are incredibly feeble once landed, being generally only suited for the sort of highly gamified VP sniping attacks that gets them widely restricted in many multiplayer groups. And the final straw for me, that a unit like the 101st Airborne, an ultra-elite division of 10,000+ men containing the cream of the army and famous for numerous high profile battles IRL, can be deleted outright by a single bad drop. Kinda anticlimactic and disheartening to see Capt. Winters, his men, 26 other rifle companies plus all the divarty, engineers, and everything else in that awesome division just disappear in one tick because of a mechanically limited system.Let’s tackle this in two parts: What issues with airborne troops would you add to this list? What would you like to see changed or added to improve the HOI airborne experience?Please let me know in the comments!Good to know: The difference between a Dev Diary and a Dev CornerBy now (most of you) you will know that we have two main types of Developer post:Developer Diaries Start appearing closer to release Give you more detailed insight into content that’s more or less finished and is being polished Will generally include a plethora of images and screenshots Give you a chance to ask our developers questions, and perhaps even let us know if there’s anything glaringly obvious we missed (and may still have time to either fix quickly, or already start planning to include in a future Patch; being a Day-x, Hotfix or a War Effort.)Developer Corners, like this one, serve a different purpose.They: Need your feedback, specific to the Dev Corner Should be short and to the point May or may not include any images May generally give you some idea of something that might come in future content, but it’s not guaranteed Are not usually planned far ahead. Instead, if at any point any developer has something they want to get feedback on, we’ll pick an upcoming weekly slot, usually a Tuesday or a Thursday

Jul 14, 2026 - 20:06

HOI IV Dev Corner | Warfare in the Third Dimension - Airborne Units in HOI

Hi all, it's time for the next Dev Corner.

I'm Jamor. I started as a producer on Stellaris, Imperator, and other games back in 2017, and now I'm happy to be back as a designer on HOI. Hearts of Iron 2 was my first PDS game, and I've had a lifelong obsession with the story of this most fascinating time period in history. It's an honour to be able to contribute to something so close to my heart.

One of my goals for a future release is to improve airborne troops in HOI. Although they’ve been in the game since launch, they have a number of practical issues that limit their use:

Airborne jumps are queued up by a number of tedious manual steps, from separately planned operations, the finicky process of getting jump capable troops to the same place as their transports, then the rather nebulous process of waiting for the right amount of air superiority to accrue so they will finally jump. Then, you leap completely blind into the unknown.
Airborne units teleport on to their objectives, in such a subtle way that it's quite easy for both attacker and defender to not notice it has even happened.
Airborne troops take such ruinous damage and disorganization that they are incredibly feeble once landed, being generally only suited for the sort of highly gamified VP sniping attacks that gets them widely restricted in many multiplayer groups.
And the final straw for me, that a unit like the 101st Airborne, an ultra-elite division of 10,000+ men containing the cream of the army and famous for numerous high profile battles IRL, can be deleted outright by a single bad drop. Kinda anticlimactic and disheartening to see Capt. Winters, his men, 26 other rifle companies plus all the divarty, engineers, and everything else in that awesome division just disappear in one tick because of a mechanically limited system.

Let’s tackle this in two parts:

What issues with airborne troops would you add to this list?
What would you like to see changed or added to improve the HOI airborne experience?

Please let me know in the comments!

Good to know: The difference between a Dev Diary and a Dev Corner
By now (most of you) you will know that we have two main types of Developer post:

Developer Diaries

Start appearing closer to release
Give you more detailed insight into content that’s more or less finished and is being polished
Will generally include a plethora of images and screenshots
Give you a chance to ask our developers questions, and perhaps even let us know if there’s anything glaringly obvious we missed
(and may still have time to either fix quickly, or already start planning to include in a future Patch; being a Day-x, Hotfix or a War Effort.)

Developer Corners, like this one, serve a different purpose.
They:

Need your feedback, specific to the Dev Corner
Should be short and to the point
May or may not include any images
May generally give you some idea of something that might come in future content, but it’s not guaranteed
Are not usually planned far ahead. Instead, if at any point any developer has something they want to get feedback on, we’ll pick an upcoming weekly slot, usually a Tuesday or a Thursday

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