Battleplan AI just got a leash. The 'Musketeer' hotfix (1.17.0.1) for Hearts of Iron IV introduces a new 'Immobile' cohesion setting, finally giving players a way to stop units from shuffling across the front line automatically.
The End of the "Frontline Shuffle"
For years, one of the biggest frustrations in standard play has been the battleplan AI's tendency to strategically redeploy units to "fill gaps" right when you need them holding a specific province. High-level multiplayer meta often involved deleting orders entirely to micro units manually. This update bridges that gap.
The new Immobile Cohesion setting prevents the AI from automatically relocating units under a battleplan. Essentially, your divisions will stay exactly where you put them until ordered otherwise.
How does the new Immobile Cohesion affect planning?
This control comes with a significant trade-off: when Immobile Cohesion is active, planning speed is halved. Paradox explicitly noted that this validates the "manual micro" behavior often seen in the competitive community, treating it as an intended feature rather than an exploit or workaround. You gain positional certainty, but you lose the speed of preparation that flexible plans offer.
Critical Fixes and Localization
Beyond the mechanical changes, the 'Musketeer' update addresses several stability issues that surfaced recently.
- Korean Localization: Official Korean language support has been added to the game options.
- Naval HQ Fixes: The Naval HQ view had a nasty bug where scrolling wouldn't update the list properly. This has been resolved.
- 1939 Scenario Stability: A crash occurring when switching to the 1939 start date has been patched out.
The developers are also currently investigating reports regarding issues with purchasing the Hearts of Iron IV subscription service. If you are encountering transaction errors, a fix is likely in the pipeline.