That said, East vs. West is shaping up to be very different despite carrying the Hearts of Iron title. Invading a country is grounds for nuclear strike this time. Quite the first for a Paradox Game.
I'm sure that's true for the major countries but I think as a minor country you'll pretty much be free of most nuclear threats. The biggest threat of a minor trying to expand would probably be the major countries invading you or having client states fight you. A strong alliance to either "east" or "west" would be the key to minor expansion.
Playing as a minor sounds pretty fun as you might be able to start/avoid WWIII with some clever diplomacy. Kongo starting WWIII and plunging the word into nuclear war is quite the achievement.
I never played HoI but I picked up Crusader Kings 2 during the Steam sale now, is it somewhat comparable? I'm currently addicted to CK2
HoI is extremely military focused. It goes into a lot of combat depth compared to other Paradox games. There's also "victory conditions" which make it less of a sandbox. Personally I couldn't really get into HoI as much as the other titles. I'm just horrible with modern "combined arms" tactics.
I do like the diplomacy and economy in the game but when it comes to anything military I almost always get roflstomped. Massive learning cliff there.
What game? 1, 2, 3?
If that's directed at me I've mostly played the third, although I dabbled in the second a bit.
I've heard a lot of people prefer the second game but I found the third a little bit more new-player friendly, particularly in the UI and graphics department. It is with all the expansion except the latest one since I bought the Paradox complete pack a while back on Steam.