It might not have made the big splash Stellaris did, but Hearts of Iron IV is by all accounts an absolute monster of a strategy game. The sort of game which has you puffing far cigars until the wee hours, rewriting history with your maniacal plans. Now it’s in gamers’ hands, Paradox has been busy working on the first major patch - tweaking the AI, fixing several memory leaks, and generally making this arch-strategy game all the better.

Paradox has announced pre-orders are open for its upcoming World War II grand strategy title Hearts of Iron IV. There are three editions to choose from, comprising Cadet, Colonel Marshal, with the latter coming with extra goodies including access to Hearts of Iron IV’s first two expansion DLC packs. The pre-order news is joined by a brand new trailer, revealing the Soviet struggle.

Paradox is being unusually cruel to strategy gamers’ free time this year. Never usually one to shy away from massive, engrossing, strategy titles, the Swedish publisher has seen fit to follow up Stellaris with Hearts of Iron IV just a month later. Relationships will be ruined, but at least we can find out what would have happened if the Germans had occupied Russia. A brand new pair of developer diaries take us behind the scenes of Hearts of Iron IV, detailing how naval, land and air forces will work, while the other encompasses the grand strategy on offer.

Paradox strategy games are infamous for getting their hooks into unwary players. Many a gamer has spent thousands of hours in Europa Universalis and it’s like, so it’s with some trepidation I inform you that Paradox Interactive has announced the dates of not one, but two new strategy titles winging our way.

For people who love musty old sofas, smoking rooms and well worn slippers, there are few greater thrills in life than the arrival of Hearts of Iron IV. Paradox Development Studios' tactical grand strategy series set during World War II has proven an alluring pull for armchair strategists worldwide, allowing players to dictate and alter the events of the largest conflict the globe has ever seen.

Paradox’s grand strategy titles have always been about what ifs. What if Gandhi became a warmonger? What if the Native Americans fought off the invaders? And now Paradox Interactive is asking what if Germany’s military know-how was enough to see off England once and for all.

Talking about World War 2 without alluding to Nazis is a bit of a tricky feat, so Paradox have said sod it, releasing theirs Hearts of Iron IV gameplay reveal trailer (not at) Gamescom 2014. The gaming conference in the heart of Cologne isn’t an ideal place for Nazi imagery, so they’ve tactically pushed it out on to the world wide web ahead of schedule.

Not content with unveiling Runemaster, Paradox Development Studio has also been busy unveiling a return to the Hearts of Iron series.