The release date for the next Hearts of Iron 4 DLC, No Step Back, has finally been revealed. After several months of dev diaries teasing the expansion’s content, publisher Paradox has today revealed the upcoming DLC will release on November 23, alongside the free 1.11 Barbarossa update. Check out the new trailer below.
No Step Back adds a bounty of new National Focus Trees for several countries on the Eastern Front. Heaps of alt-history pathways for the Soviet Union will let you determine its political direction, whether that’s taking the country further left, or returning the Tsar to power. Poland is also receiving several bonkers alt-history pathways, which may have you entrench a military dictatorship or enact a pro-Soviet rebellion, and several Baltic states are receiving custom paths that might have them shifting the fate of the war.
Alongside those, No Step Back will also introduce a new tank designer mechanic, letting you customise your armoured divisions to allow for all sorts of wacky designs (such as amphibious rocket launchers). A new officer corps system will grant you greater control of your leaders and military tactics on the field, while a new supply system provides more ways of interacting with your enemy’s logistics, such as enacting scorched earth tactics to disrupt their lines. Some big railway guns are also coming.
The DLC will release alongside the free 1.11 Barbarossa update. The patch will introduce a new supply and logistics system, which places greater focus on using railways to shift resources between supply hubs, alongside several quality-of-life improvements.
Here’s the trailer:
The expansion will give players “many new ways to imagine the course of World War II in Eastern Europe,” Paradox says in a press release. “Major nations have been entirely reworked to offer unique challenges and original histories.”
No Step Back will release on November 23 for $19.99 / £15.49. If you pre-order, you’ll get bonus access to an original arrangement of Katyusha, a Soviet-era wartime song. You can even watch a behind-the-scenes recording of the piece now.
While you wait for November to roll around, read our Hearts of Iron 4 DLC guide for our pick of the best expansions, or read our selection of the best Hearts of Iron 4 mods that will add a bit of colour to your battles.