By which I mean, they let you bring back Napoleon to fight the Kaiser. But there are always mods that feel a bit more grounded. From the little but essential changes that bring the game to life, to overhauls that try to remake the game completely, these are the best mods to make HOI4 even more realistic. Come join me in the quest for even more precise ways to simulate all-consuming war.
10. Party Emblem Mod
Check Out This Mod This is a nice little mod that makes it so most nations have custom emblems for each of their ruling parties and ideologies. All of these are meticulously researched and accurate, just for your viewing pleasure. It also features unique (and historical) party names. Sadly, base game limitations don’t allow for multiple parties for the same ideology. But otherwise this mod does what it says perfectly. A great mod for more immersive gameplay.
9. Realistic & Immersive War Flags – Uncensored Edition
Check Out This Mod Finally, a mod to give your nation the representation it deserves. This makes it so the war flag your units carry around, and the main flag of your nation, are suitably differentiated. (Think the actual Confederate flag vs. the one certain people like to wave around now) Overall just a very cool mod that allows you to have that extra bit of historical accuracy.
8. Uncensored Focus Tree Icons
Check Out This Mod Paradox has an uneasy relationship with the setting for its largest title. In some iterations, the central figure of it himself was completely blacked out. So it’s quite unsurprising that they opt for less controversial graphics wherever possible. While some may share Paradox’s moral qualms, there’s an argument to be made for acknowledging history, rather than censoring history. If you agree then this mod is for you. It fixes some focus icons of Germany and other nations to be historically accurate.
7. Historical Portraits
Check Out This Mod Historical Portraits gets rid of the goofy cartoon pictures of vanilla, in favor of a much more straightforward yet appealing styles. The mod’s vast array of black and white portraits lets you dive right into the good old thirties for great immersion. And this mod’s scope extends beyond historic figures, too. Generic portraits have been massively expanded to introduce much variety. (Sad news for Jeff, who can no longer rule over half the world by pretending to be fifty different people at the same time).
6. Unique Infantry Equipment
Check Out This Mod Are you tired of seeing countries using just the completely wrong weapons? No? Just me? What do you mean normal people don’t know or care what variety of murder sticks Uruguay used during the winter of 1942-43? Huh. Well, you’re welcome anyway. This mod makes sure everyone’s guns are called by their proper names.
5. Adiya’s Historical Flag Pack
Check Out This Mod I’m going to make the reasonable assumption that a lot of you going through this list have OCD. Or love flags. Or both. So here’s a mod just for you. The Historical Flag Pack touches up every flag in the game. From the correct flag ratios to just nicer flags overall, this helps to scratch whatever your very specific itch is. And as an added bonus, the mod is ironman compatible too!
4. Ultra Historical Mod: Realism Overhaul
Check Out This Mod Here’s the first in our lineup of complete overhaul mods with a focus on realism. And the Ultra Historical Mod really lives up to its name. It actually takes it to the extreme, explicitly favoring realism over balance. Which might be a good or a bad thing, depending on your perspective. So the United States now has 900 factories. And your Tannu Tuva world conquest is probably not going anywhere. There are certain aspects that do feel a bit clunky, though, like the division designer. However, the mod does seem to have made a legitimate effort to portray the time period accurately in terms of the engines behind the war. If actual historical accuracy is what you are looking for, this mod might be your best bet.
3. Hearts of Oak
Check Out This Mod Hearts of Oak is a total overhaul mod that tries to provide a better WW2 experience without overcomplicating or unbalancing things. It includes a comprehensive overhaul of various sectors of the second World War, making for historical accuracy while also improving gameplay. It features improvements to the AI, as well as many smaller changes that make the game both more challenging and more enjoyable. Plus it adds loads of new content ranging from foci and events, to unique armor trees for major players. The mod has also been developed keeping the multiplayer experience in mind, improving PvP gameplay to boot. Relative to the other overhauls in this list, it’s a reasonable compromise mod that doesn’t stray too far off of familiar territory.
2. BlackICE
Check Out This Mod Finally, a mod that lets you experience going mad in your basement as everything falls apart around you. Peak realism. Carrying on from HOI3 into HOI4, BICE is a complete overhaul of all aspects of the game. This is about as hardcore as it gets. It lets you micromanage things like your army’s supply of horses or uniforms – all neat ideas on the surface, but might translate into quite tedious gameplay. While overcomplicating many things seemingly for the sake of it, this mod does offer challenging gameplay. So if you’re after difficulty then it’s worth looking into. Overall, this one’s a rather controversial mod as far as mods go. You may not agree with its priorities – but what it does, it does well.
1. Total War
Check Out This Mod Finally, Total War is yet another complete overhaul with its own unique spin on things. The Total War mod approaches realism in HOI4, while keeping an eye on playability. It features a radically different tech tree and much more flavor in gameplay, among other things. Its efforts to actually train the AI to play over BICE’s subtle approach of divisions materializing from thin air gives this a key edge in my books. Basically, it’s a well-rounded historical immersion mod that’s worth trying at least once.
