Vanilla and More Units - Expanded Military Units and Battalions for Hearts of Iron IV

Vanilla and More Units significantly expands the land warfare system in Hearts of Iron IV by introducing 32 new battalions, additional support companies and 66 military unit models.

The modification fills gaps in the vanilla division designer, allowing players to create specialized formations for mountain operations, desert warfare, fortified positions and combined-arms combat.

Unlike nation-specific military expansions, every new battalion is available to every country. Whether you play Germany, Ethiopia, Siam or Bolivia, you can access the same expanded selection of units.

New formations feature dedicated 3D models and unit counter icons rather than generic placeholders.

New Infantry Battalions

The modification introduces several infantry types with different battlefield roles.

Available formations include:

• Light Infantry - An additional infantry option for division customization.
• Heavy Infantry - A specialized alternative to conventional infantry.
• Garrison Infantry - Units intended for defensive formations.
• Home Guard - Additional territorial defense troops.
• Shock Troops - Elite assault infantry with exceptionally high breakthrough, designed for attacking fortifications and fortified cities.
• Desert Infantry - Soldiers adapted to hot climates, with faster heat acclimatization and strong performance in deserts and open plains.
• Pack Infantry - Mule-supported infantry with extremely low supply requirements and excellent access to difficult terrain.

Shock Troops provide powerful offensive capabilities but come with a corresponding cost.

Pack Infantry sacrifices speed and combat strength in exchange for logistical efficiency and mobility across challenging terrain.

Infantry with Tank Support

One of the most interesting additions is the ability to create infantry battalions with attached armored vehicles.

Available combinations include:

• Infantry with Light Tanks.
• Infantry with Medium Tanks.
• Infantry with Heavy Tanks.
• Infantry with Modern Tanks.

These formations allow players to incorporate armor directly into infantry battalions rather than relying exclusively on separate armored battalions.

Mountain Troops and Rangers

Vanilla and More Units expands specialized mountain and reconnaissance formations.

New options include:

• Mounted Mountaineers and Rangers.
• Armored Car Mountaineers and Rangers.
• Light Tank Mountaineers and Rangers.
• Mountain Artillery - Artillery designed for mountainous operations.
• Pack Artillery - Transportable artillery suited to difficult terrain.
• Mountain Anti-Air - Anti-aircraft support for mountain formations.
• Mountaineer Ranger Recon - Specialized reconnaissance with excellent effectiveness in hills, mountains and forests.
• Elephant Mountaineers - An unusual mountain formation featuring elephants.

These additions provide more flexibility when organizing armies for regions with difficult terrain and limited infrastructure.

Desert Warfare Units

The modification introduces a dedicated family of desert formations:

• Desert Infantry.
• Desert Motorized.
• Desert Mechanized.
• Desert Light Tanks.

These units make it possible to organize specialized armies for North Africa, the Middle East and other arid regions.

Headquarters and Support Companies

Several new support options expand the division designer:

• Forward Headquarters.
• Semi-Armored Headquarters.
• Armored Headquarters.
• Reserve Personnel.
• Light Support Company.
• Mechanized Reconnaissance.

These formations provide additional choices when developing infantry, mechanized and armored divisions.

Automatic Technology Unlocks

New units become available automatically after researching the relevant vanilla technologies.

Examples include:

• Rangers I unlocking corresponding ranger formations.
• Light tank technologies unlocking infantry with light tank support.
• Other specialized formations becoming available through their associated technologies.

No additional technology tree or activation decisions are required.

The modification also accounts for technology differences introduced by major DLCs.

With Arms Against Tyranny, desert formations unlock through Rangers I because the original special forces technology is hidden.

Tank-related unlocks support both the older technology names and those introduced by No Step Back.

Expanded Special Forces Limits

The modification changes how specialized units interact with the special forces capacity system.

• 13 new units count toward the special forces limit, including ranger and mountaineer families, Desert Infantry and Shock Troops.
• 19 new units do not count toward the limit, including Pack Infantry and the desert vehicle formations.

The special forces capacity is also increased:

These values can be adjusted through common/defines/47_defines.lua.

Armored Car Rebalance

Vanilla armored cars receive a balance adjustment intended to improve their effectiveness without changing equipment production prices.

The changes make armored car formations less expensive to field and more effective in combat.

DLC Requirements

No DLC is required to use the modification.

However, two visual models depend on expansion content:

• La Resistance - Sd.Kfz. 222 armored car model.
• Graveyard of Empires - Elephant model.

Without these DLCs, the corresponding units remain fully functional in combat but do not display those specific 3D models.

No DLC files are distributed with the modification.

Compatibility and Achievements

The mod primarily adds new files, making it compatible with many other content modifications.

However, it changes two vanilla components:

• Armored car battalion definitions.
• The defines file controlling special forces capacity.

Mods that replace the same files may conflict.

Important: Vanilla and More Units changes the game's checksum and therefore disables achievements.

Ironman mode remains functional, and existing saves are not inherently invalidated by the checksum change.

Supported Languages

Full localization is available in:

• English.
• German.
• French.
• Spanish.

Partial translations are available in Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. Untranslated text falls back to English.

Vanilla and More Units is designed for players who want more freedom in division design, specialized regional armies and additional tactical options without introducing a completely new technology system.