HOI2 and Victoria

[Hooahguy]

so ive been looking into these games, both look interesting.
can someone tell me the differences between them, besides the time periods? both look good and the wikis on them dont help much.
EDIT: also, what about HOI3?

[CountArach]

Haven't played HoI3, but it looks fantastic.

HoI2 is very much focussed on the warfare side fo the game and involves a great deal more micro-managing of the combat. On the other hand the economic aspect of the game is very much hands-off apart from ensuring you have enough of each resource every day for your factories.

Victoria, on the other hand, focusses more on Diplomacy, Politics and the Economy. These things in combination make for a much more micro-managing game that has a great deal more depth. Howevever, the learning curves is much steeper - a fact which isn't helped by having a rather poor manual. I have been playing it for a while and still discover new things all the time.

Whichever one you decide to get, make sure you get the expansions. Revolutions turns Vicky into an entirely new game that is even more fantastic. Meanwhile Doomsday and Armageddon allow you to play the fantastic mods that have been made for HoI2 and also add in new features.

[Hooahguy]

i tried the HOI2 demo. the map is very, very cluttered, which i dont like, and why does it take ages to move units around?

[pevergreen]

It might be realistic for a change, isntead of R:TW speeds.

[CountArach]

i tried the HOI2 demo. the map is very, very cluttered, which i dont like, and why does it take ages to move units around?

Because a day takes some time to pass. Change the speed if you prefer. Oh and if you think that map is too cluttered don't bother with HoI3 or even Vicky for that matter. Both have far more territories.

[Warluster]

You should buy the complete editions of both. They're both cheap ($20 total for both plus expansions). But if your looking at buying a specific one I would recommend HoI 2. They are both similar but I've always found HoI 2 to be the funnest.

HoI 3 is a good game. Its cheap ($40 AUD on Steam). Its imrpoved on everything from HoI 2 and added more. AI which will look after every part of the game (E.G: Playing as Britain you can focus solely on the Italian front in '43 while the AI looks after everything else). Its a great game worth its money. The only problems I've had with it are some minor ones (Can't make your own theatres...) and that the AI needs a LOT of improving to bring it to the level of HoI 2 or Victoria, but it still completely beats ETW...

HoI 2 with Doomsday and Armageddon is my recommendation.

[Hooahguy]

Because a day takes some time to pass. Change the speed if you prefer. Oh and if you think that map is too cluttered don't bother with HoI3 or even Vicky for that matter. Both have far more territories.

not cluttered in the sense of territories. cluttered in the sese that there are too many objects in a certain area and they are too large and hard to control. without losing track of other armies.

[Jolt]

HoI 2 is basically a "Real Time Grand Strategy World War 2 Simulation Game". You lead a nation in the timeframe of World War 2 and into conflict between the various alliances. Indeed, for a RTW fan, the game philosophy is very hard to get into (Even for me who had played EU 2 before getting HoI 2). And for someone who is used to conquering settlements and limitting to build armies and buildings to conquer more settlements, the complexity of HoI 2 will dazzle (How much more HoI 3, which is even more complex). In HoI 2, you have to keep your war economy and military afloat, while making sensible choices into your research path, which are crucial in your success or failure, and finally tuning up your overall IC (Industrial Capacity) to build what you want, while making sure all other ledges support your objectives. It is quite difficult to handle for a RTW Turn-based game Fan. Hooahguy, for that you have the pause button, which you need to use repeatedly in all Paradox games if you ever want to have a chance of success. Pausing gives you the time to set all orders together for a coordinated attack (Clicking all armies, attacking/Support Attacking, clicking all air forces, deciding which missions they will do, and in which region, etc). Then of course, everything is as real as possible, and that means Carriers take historical amounts of time to be built (Up to a full year), and land divisions and air force squadrons. That also pissed me off a lot in the beginning as I also wanted instant action. The problem to fix that is to put high speeds during peace time while you pause to tweak your production (Building new things/Allocating to what will your IC cover) and diplomacy. The best newbie country to play in this game is Nazi Germany (Curious.) Of course, provided you beat the out of the UK, you can always take the Holy Lands and release Israel (Though it won't have that much IC and won't be able to build practically nothing)
EDIT: To do what I did in my screenshots as the Soviet Union, you need a lot of skill (Knowing what and when to build/research), intelligence (strategically outsmarting the AI, which isn't that difficult in vanilla HoI 2, and basically knowing when to attack/dug-in/retreat to better defensible terrain) and common sense (Going all out assault with all your forces under any circumstances usually leads to your speedy defeat)

Victoria on the other hand is much more an economic simulator where you lead your country through the 19th Century, trying to build an Industry capable of rivalling and surpassing other rivals, while keeping your population happy (Getting the goods they need). All this while you also need to keep a sizeable military to make sure other jealous powers don't attack you and force you to your knees. The USA is a cakewalk and a good sandbox in Victoria, since it has a huge assimilation bonus (Foreign People migrating to the USA are immediately assimilated into the USA's accepted culture, Yankee, making them fully productive and able to contribute to the fullest output in your economy) though it doesn't have much of the fun of European intrigues (Wars and diplomacy and stuff). The only mild fun you can have is the Civil War against the CSA. Afterwards, its just build up your industry to be the largest goods producer in the world.