If the war of attrition had a picture, it would be the map of Russia. This large, political and geographical, entity was given options in HOI 4 that lock it into certain possible futures, but no longer!
Some of the biggest criticism Paradox received from fans was the fact that the Western and Eastern expansion branches depended on whether you went down the Tsarist or Fascist branches. And rightly so! It made no sense to arbitrarily lock some of these options behind an ideology choice; a Fascist Russia would certainly have cause to wish to reconquer in the West, and a Tsarist Russia might well have even more reason to exact vengeance upon the Japanese than the Fascists would.
Making these two expansion paths available to both branches would, however, mean other focuses were required to continue to offer a unique identity to both of the ideological branches. Some people suggested more focuses geared to creating alliances, and Paradox have paired these with certain focuses intended to offer some flavor to the branches.
The difference among these branches will be immediately apparent. The tree has ‘thickened’ quite a bit, with over 10 new focuses, and the branches against Sweden, the Baltics, and Finland on one side, and Japan on the other, are now available regardless of the political choice you made, clustered near the center of the branch. Nothing has changed in these focuses, except The Lonely Island, which, if you relied upon Japanese aid too much and thus were puppeted after the end of the civil war, converts into a “war for independence” focus.
Paradox Interactive
As for the focuses themselves, on the Tsarist side, the Capital of the Tsars moves the capital to St. Petersburg and adds a bunch of goodies for the state itself. Reforge the Triple entente does what it says on the tin: reach out to the UK and France to re-establish the old alliance aimed squarely at Germany.
On the Fascist side, the Russian Corporate State offers some factories and industrial bonuses. There is a focus to create a Berlin-Moscow Axis, and a follow-up focus called Japanese Overtures allows for an alternative choice to simply avenging the war of 1905 by going to war with the Japanese: you can invite them into the new Axis and secure Russia’s flank that.
