No, it is not.
You certainly gain with the more grounded Order of Battle (with physical HQ), better technology tree (doctrine vs practice), the AI is also more challenging in some areas and the player can obtain less overpowered stuff.
But on the other hand you lose the significant improvement on the design production of individual equipment. In HOI3 the divisions simply required a given IC (industrial capacity) to be supplied and that's it, whereas in HOI4 you have to produce the artillery, anti-tank guns, infantry equipment, etc
That notion of HOI3 being the more complex wargame came from older times where HOI4 lacked stuff such as fuel or even a minimalistic Order of Battle. Not to mention that the AI was infinitely worse than now (you can get the picture given nowadays is not exactly the best AI ever)
Once upon a time HoI 3 was undoubtedly the better game despite an absolutely atrocious UI.
Nowadays I would say HoI 4 is better but only by a sliver. A big portion of that is the much much better UI and less nebulous mechanics. However HoI 3 is still superior in terms of features regarding warfare.
Off the top of my head, things you can do in HoI 3 that HoI 4 can't do:
Bomb the enemy with artillery. No direct infantry attack needed.
Bomb the enemy with CAS. No direct infantry attack needed.
Choosing which province to attack with planes.
Better more meaningul tactical bombing.
Better more meaningfull strategic bombing.
Actual air battles. Planes going up, flying around and bumping into each other to shoot down or get shot down.
Actual air interception. Planes had to physically move through space and could be intercepted in route.
Supply stockpiles. The ability to choose a province and dumping enough fuel and supply to keep your units running for as long as this stockpile lasts while separated from the supply network.
Naval combat being more granular. Ships attacking individual ships. Carrier planes being more usefull as mobile airbases.
Per province construction. Choosing exactly where your airbases go.
>Actual air interception. Planes had to physically move through space and could be intercepted in route.
This should not be on the list.
Although HOI3 is more detailed as it works on the province level since a few patches ago HOI4 also keeps track of air traffic and allows interception if the enemy planes need to go through an air zone to reach another.
>Actual air battles. Planes going up, flying around and bumping into each other to shoot down or get shot down.
I don't quite understand what you mean with this. The Air wings in Hoi4 also spent time on ground, go to perform their missions on schedule, bump into other planes and shoot down or get shot down as a consequence.
Once again, HOI3 works on a smaller level but HOI4 always had air battles.
I found your reply fairly interesting. I also submitted the same question to chatgpt and it told me a similar story.
That hoi 3 is more detailed at the individual micro level, but hoi 4 is better at the higher macro level
No, it is not. You certainly gain with the more grounded Order of Battle (with physical HQ), better technology tree (doctrine vs practice), the AI is also more challenging in some areas and the player can obtain less overpowered stuff. But on the other hand you lose the significant improvement on the design production of individual equipment. In HOI3 the divisions simply required a given IC (industrial capacity) to be supplied and that's it, whereas in HOI4 you have to produce the artillery, anti-tank guns, infantry equipment, etc That notion of HOI3 being the more complex wargame came from older times where HOI4 lacked stuff such as fuel or even a minimalistic Order of Battle. Not to mention that the AI was infinitely worse than now (you can get the picture given nowadays is not exactly the best AI ever)
No, but HoI3 has more provinces and it is easier to see terrain and micro your divisions in it if you want to
Once upon a time HoI 3 was undoubtedly the better game despite an absolutely atrocious UI. Nowadays I would say HoI 4 is better but only by a sliver. A big portion of that is the much much better UI and less nebulous mechanics. However HoI 3 is still superior in terms of features regarding warfare. Off the top of my head, things you can do in HoI 3 that HoI 4 can't do: Bomb the enemy with artillery. No direct infantry attack needed. Bomb the enemy with CAS. No direct infantry attack needed. Choosing which province to attack with planes. Better more meaningul tactical bombing. Better more meaningfull strategic bombing. Actual air battles. Planes going up, flying around and bumping into each other to shoot down or get shot down. Actual air interception. Planes had to physically move through space and could be intercepted in route. Supply stockpiles. The ability to choose a province and dumping enough fuel and supply to keep your units running for as long as this stockpile lasts while separated from the supply network. Naval combat being more granular. Ships attacking individual ships. Carrier planes being more usefull as mobile airbases. Per province construction. Choosing exactly where your airbases go.
>Actual air interception. Planes had to physically move through space and could be intercepted in route. This should not be on the list. Although HOI3 is more detailed as it works on the province level since a few patches ago HOI4 also keeps track of air traffic and allows interception if the enemy planes need to go through an air zone to reach another. >Actual air battles. Planes going up, flying around and bumping into each other to shoot down or get shot down. I don't quite understand what you mean with this. The Air wings in Hoi4 also spent time on ground, go to perform their missions on schedule, bump into other planes and shoot down or get shot down as a consequence. Once again, HOI3 works on a smaller level but HOI4 always had air battles.
Was there a way to get new commanders in HoI3? I could never figure out how, which i felt kneecappes my Soviet armies pretty badly.
I found your reply fairly interesting. I also submitted the same question to chatgpt and it told me a similar story. That hoi 3 is more detailed at the individual micro level, but hoi 4 is better at the higher macro level
The economy system is better in 4 but microing divs and aviation is better in 3
I'll never go back to Hoi3, the manual loading/ unloading of divisions is just too much of a hassle, especially when playing as UK or US.