Mod «The Dragon Rises: What if China modernized during the 19th Century?» for Hearts of Iron 4 (v1.11.1 - 1.11.13)

The 19th Century was a Century of Chinese Humiliation. A foreign dynasty mismanaged one of history’s greatest civilizations, losing heaven’s mandate to rule as the Europeans plundered her cities and poisoned her people.

But what if instead of a century of humiliation, China had a century of challenges, yes, but also of prosperity and growth? What if China that overthrew the decadent Qing and embraced a dynasty intent on modernization and martial power?

What if China entered the 20th century not divided, but instead more powerful than ever?

What if China entered the 1930s prepared to avenge all the wrongs done against it?

What if America was the only one who could stop them?

This, is The Dragon Rises

Features

A World War to Remember: Two titans stand against one another; the United States of America, and China. No debuffs or civil wars are needed to balance against the struggle between these two adversaries.

Meaningful Choices, Multiple Playthroughs: Geo-politically, some conflicts are inevitable. China and the US are going to be destined to fight. But how the war will be fought, where it will be fought, and what the world will look like after the confrontation will be different depending on your choices.

As the United States, do you want to commit to anti-colonial crusade alienating Europe and forcing an early war, but winning the hearts and minds of Asians? Or do you want to allow the Chinese to bring the independent states of Asia under its rule while you buy time in convincing the Old World that the greatest threat to their prosperity is an ocean away?

As China, do you want to commit to liberating all of Asia under your guidance, even if it means fighting the two most powerful navies in the world? Or would you rather fight a limited war that weaken’s America’s hand in the region, but lets Europe consolidate its influence in the Pacific?

Don’t expect an easy victory, but take heart in that there will be plenty of choices for you to gear your army and economy for the war to come.

Low Build Up Times: Personally for me, the worst part about Hearts of Iron is the build up time. Instead, The Dragon Rises intends to throw you in the thick of things, with the ability to be at war by 1937.

Balanced Buffs: While I admit a good romp over my enemies can be fun, sometimes it can get tediously easy if the game isn’t properly balanced. In The Dragon Rises, every buff you take will come with a consequence.

Quick Focus Times: The standard focus tree time is 35 days.

FAQs

What is the Great Xiao?

The Great Xiao is the name of the Chinese dynasty that rules over the country. Founded in the 1860s after several decades of Qing incompetence, the Xiao rose to power as an ethnically Han dynasty. The Xiao are a conservative, militarist dynasty,with their founder being a military general, though they have embraced some Western institutions such as capitalism and a (rubber-stamp) parliament (similar to Japan in OTL).

What countries will have focuses?

Currently the United States, The Great Xiao (China), Russia, France, and Germany all have full focus trees. There are minor focus trees for Italy and the Ottoman Empire.

The next update will include focus trees for Britain, Austria, Bulgaria, and Greece, as well as a fleshing out of content for the Ottoman Empire.

The next major update will also include focuses for greater post-first war content for USA, China, France, Italy, and Russia to help them better set up for a final Endwar

As the mod continues to expand, I will continue adding focuses for countries.