Hello! My name is Mordred Viking, though you may also know me as Gareth. I’d like to welcome you to this Dev Corner about the lovely nation of the Philippines. Wait, the Philippines? What could they have done in the Second World War? Well, turns out that much like Belgium, they had more of an impact than you might expect.
Let’s begin with a little background; in 1936 the Philippines were a surprisingly prosperous American Commonwealth nation, and in 1935 they had been promised a 10 year transition to full independence. Then, in December 1941, just a few hours after the attack on Pearl Harbour, the Japanese launched an invasion of their islands and a couple of days later, despite General Douglas MacArthur’s best efforts, the American and Filipino defenders surrendered. They were then under Japanese occupation until their liberation by the Americans in 1944 / 45. In 1946, the Americans kept their promise and the nation was granted its independence.
As you might see, this leads to some pretty significant gameplay and design questions; how do you keep a puppet nation interesting until they are attacked in late 1941? How do you portray this path to independence? How do you represent the massive efforts of the resistance? What about their relationship with the USA? How does MacArthur factor into all this?
Commonwealth of the Philippines - Peace until late 1941
The early years of the game are dedicated to the Philippines’ path to independence, and in this they have two options. They can accept the gradual, planned path as happened historically, establishing their own government systems, taxation systems, military, etc with more than a little American help. Alternatively, they can seek Japanese assistance in expediting their independence.
This branch is the central political playground, where you are able to play the USA off against the Japanese. Going down the American path will take you longer, but generally give larger bonuses. Completing the Japanese focuses however, will actually make several of the central focuses complete more quickly (hence the little clock symbols). Therefore, you’ll be able to make your way to freedom more quickly, but at a cost of long term industrial and military power. If you finally manage to sign the Treaty of Manila then you will gain some major economic advantages.
Although you’ll be able to unlock this American Support branch from the start, you’ll only be able to access the lower elements if you continue to remain pro-USA. The more loyal you remain, the more requisitions you will be able to get from them.
Incidentally, did you know that MacArthur’s second in command was a certain Major Dwight D. Eisenhower until 1939? Yes, that Eisenhower. He was even asked to remain as the Police Chief of Quezon City, which he rejected. Well, this is one of those cool “what-if” situations we like to explore in Hearts of Iron!
Alt History Paths
This is the most WIP and the most likely to see things changed or removed!
The alt-history paths are meant to be plausible options that the Philippines could have taken were things to be a little different. The fascist path, where the nation tumbles down the slippery slope of Japanese pressure. There is also the communist path, where you can embrace the ideal of “Maritime Communism”, unleashing a mass naval assault with lots of ships, rather than the usual flood of manpower.
Now, let’s talk about the Philippine military. Historically, the USA provided basically all the war fighting equipment that the Philippines used in the Second World War, they didn’t really have much of a military industry of their own. This is represented by the United States Army in the Far East focus branch we saw earlier.
To unlock your own capabilities, you will need to complete the National Defense Act which is a whopping 245 day focus. This is, I believe, the longest focus on Heart of Iron history. However, each time you complete one tier of align USA / Japan in the Commonwealth of the Philippines branch, this number goes down. It will then be up to you to balance the political development against military necessity on when to embark on your own rearmament.
Subject Surrender
Much like with Belgium, I wanted to keep the game interesting even when you lose, and while Belgium could fall back on the Congo, the Philippines can fall back on daddy USA. You will be able to continue the struggle in your home islands, be able to acquire resources and manpower and ultimately prepare to stage a magnificent return to the Philippines.
And that’s your lot! This is just a glance into the design and intention behind the Philippines focus tree as I wanted to get your thoughts and opinions on how things are shaping up.
I’ve not yet spoken much about the characters involved, shown off new art, nor introduced the various national spirits. The Philippines content is still very much in development, but don’t worry we’ll go through that in a future Dev Diary… but for that, you’ll just have to stay tuned for more.
I Shall Return
