Hearts of Iron III expansion announced at E3

Finally, some E3 2012 news for the PC Elite. And by PC Elite, I mean that portion of it that doesn't get a headache and lie down when confronted with the amazingly complicated grand strategy Hearts of Iron III, which is about to get even bigger.

Paradox has announced Their Finest Hour, a new expansion pack. It hasn't been dated beyond late this year. It'll be the third major content release since Hearts of Iron III launched in 2009. Get the run down below:

• Expanded espionage system with new and reworked missions, including new covert operations that can be performed on the map.
• New 'battle plans' mode where you can load historical plans, or draw your own and share with your allies in real-time in multiplayer games.
• New unique elite units for each major nation's army - Gurkhas, Rangers, Imperial Guards etc.
• Deeper naval invasions system including the development of specialized landing and assault crafts to improve the effectiveness of your assault.
• More detailed control over strategic warfare and a generalized lend-lease system to support your distant allies with your industrial might.
• Leaders are now able to gain traits, and assigning them to duty is more important than ever with the new combat tactics system for battles.
• A new custom game mode for both single and multiplayer. You start with a clean slate and can instantly produce units, research technologies and affect political alignment before the game begins. This allows you to model interesting 'what-if' scenarios and speeds up the early years for those who would like to jump straight into the action with no slow build-up.
• Two new detailed battle scenarios, the Russo-Finnish Winter War and the Spanish Civil War