Hearts of Iron IV: By Blood Alone

By Blood Alone is the seventh major expansion for Hearts of Iron IV, a strategy game released in 2016. The add-on was developed by the authors of the basic version of the game, the Paradox Development Studio team.

Game mechanics

The biggest novelty introduced in Hearts of Iron IV: By Blood Alone are new alternate history options for the three nations. The add-on allows us to both recreate Italy's politics under Mussolini and lead the country down a completely different path by introducing a monarchy, causing a communist revolution or making a turn towards democracy. Switzerland must build its neutrality in such a way as to maintain balance with all its neighbors, while Ethiopia under our rule (when necessary exercised also in exile) can be given a chance to repel an Italian invasion.

The expansion also introduces a number of new peace conference options. Thanks to them, nothing stands in the way of creating demilitarized zones on the map or neutralizing entire countries, disposing of the ships of defeated countries, as well as taking control over their factories and resources as reparations. In addition, we can impose embargoes on our enemies, preventing them from trading and thus cutting off a significant portion of profits. Moreover, the add-on introduces the possibility of tracking the effectiveness of individual divisions, developing the passive skills of their commanders and rewarding them with medals.

In addition, the add-on brings over 20 new units for Italy, Ethiopia and Switzerland, as well as 67 previously unavailable aircraft models. The latter can also be designed by ourselves in a special wizard.

Game modes

In Hearts of Iron IV: By Blood Alone you can play solo or in multiplayer mode for up to 32 players.

Technical aspects

By Blood Alone is a standalone DLC and therefore requires the base version of Hearts of Iron IV. The expansion does not introduce any changes to the visuals, however it contains 12 new music tracks.