HOI IV Dev Corner | One if by Land, Two if by Sea, Three if by…Air?

Hello everyone, and welcome back to our ongoing series of 2026 Dev Corners. Your insights into our early-stage concepts—such as my previous discussions on army quality and airborne troops—have been immensely valuable. Today, I am eager to tap into your expertise once again.

As my past developer diaries probably reveal, I have a deep fascination with the history of airborne forces. If you have even a passing interest in World War II, it is hard not to be captivated by the striking imagery of elite, lightly equipped soldiers leaping into the unknown. They bypassed heavily fortified frontlines to strike straight at the vulnerable underbelly of the enemy rear. The immense risks, the staggering physical and mental demands placed on these men, and the sheer audacity of jumping out of a perfectly functioning aircraft straight into the chaos of battle never fail to inspire.

Yet, from the very dawn of airborne experimentation, military planners realized a harsh truth: even the finest soldiers on earth cannot sustain a campaign armed with only what they can carry. Valor matters little when ammunition runs dry. Consequently, immense effort went into figuring out how to supply large bodies of paratroopers after landing, transforming them from localized sabotage squads into a force capable of achieving sweeping, strategic objectives.

As seasoned players know, aerial resupply already exists in the game through airdrops. If you have the surplus transport planes and the fuel to spare, you can keep troops supplied. Even so, the current impact is somewhat generalized and scattered indiscriminately across an entire air zone. Since we are currently revamping airborne mechanics, it feels like the ideal moment to enhance how these forces receive logistical support from the sky.

To help guide our design, I would love to hear your thoughts on the following questions:

• What do you find to be the most frustrating limitations of the current air transport wing system when it comes to deploying airborne troops and delivering supplies?
• How would you feel about streamlining transport wings so you no longer have to manage them manually—perhaps shifting to a national-level abstraction akin to naval convoys, where they are allocated automatically based on demand?
• Would you welcome a more focused, point-to-point airbridge connecting two friendly airfields, offering far greater efficiency and precision than the current blanket parachute-supply method?
• Would you enjoy executing classic Crete-style operations—using airborne troops to seize and secure an enemy airfield, transforming it into a vital logistics hub to eliminate the danger of fighting completely cut off?

Thank you as always for your thoughtful feedback, and I look forward to reading your thoughts in the comments below!

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