Beginner's Guide to Unit Types & Division Design

[GAGA Extrem]

I usually don't use REC, because I find that it is very hard to verify their impact (even more so if you already have a leader with higher skill level). It also depends a lot on the tactics you have available. In defines.lue it stats: "RECON_SKILL_IMPACT = 5, -- how many skillpoints is a recon advantage worth when picking a tactic."

Which implies that recon advantage unlocks the following tactics (or prevents them for your superior enemy):
- tactic_counterattack (DEF) (+25% defender)
- tactic_encirclement (ATK) (+25% as attacker, +5% defender), also requires full frontage AND reserves AND [Panzer Leader OR Trickster]
- tactic_tactical_withdrawal (DEF) (-25% both sides, -25% width), also available if a leader has Trickster
- tactic_breakthrough (ATK) (+25% attacker, -15% defender), also available if >50% Hardness
- tactic_ambush (DEF) (-25% attacker), also available if leader has skill 3+ OR Trickster
- tactic_blitz (ATK) (+15 attacker, -15% defender), also requires >50% Hardness AND also available if leader has skill 3+ OR Panzer Leader
(And ofc none of the tactics work if you are in a phase - Bridge Combat, Close Quarters, Withdrawel, etc)

You also get a second chance to pick a tactic. Most tactics have "base = 4", so there should be an equal chance between all by default, which implies that a second roll at similiar odds improves your tactic chances by [1/Number of available tactics] - how much is that? No idea, really.

I guess you could make the argument that REC is more important for countries with bad leaders, since it counters a lot of tactics AND gives you the chance to trigger them instead (while a country with superior leaders doesn't really get anything). Might also be possible that it's enough to add one "Recon Division" to each combat, but that would be a micro nightmare.

Either way, I usually prefer to go with a unit that provides combat stats instead - so either ART/AT/AA/ENG/LOG or ART/AT/R-ART/ENG/LOG. On tanks the situation is more difficult to assess, because support lowers your ARM and PIER. I usually stick to something like ART/AT/MAIN/LOG on LARM divisions and often just ART/MAIN/LOG on MARM.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

(1) It costs a significant amount of Land XP to create these templates, which could instead be used to design other divisions or variants.
(2) Big units are less flexible (you can't easily split your forces).
(3) Using smaller templates allows you to use more frontage-free support units (e.g. ART), resulting in higher firepower-per-frontage.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

Frontage = width
...I think I carried that over from HOI3. Sorry.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

What is the trade-off like between the penalty for having too much frontage present in a battle versus the reinforce change you get when having reserves? If I have a narrow front of 80 and throw 100 width worth of units at it, will the 20 reserves provide a meaningful bonus or will the frontage penalty make it a net loss?

If you exceed the frontage, all your units in combat will suffer a -3% penalty per exceess (percentage?) of frontage.

The game usually doesn't reinforce with a unit that would exceed the frontage if it would do more harm than good. Still, by sticking to 20 frontage divisions you can avoid exceeding the frontage completely (outside of some combat tactics) that will result in much more consistent performance.

In your case, the unit would stay in reserve and do nothing. But keep in mind: While reserves have no impact on the combat until they reach the frontlines, some tactics will only trigger if you have reserves and/or full frontage.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

How big of an area can the Partisan supression unit cover? One province? All of France?

Partisan suppression is state wide (same area as used for building slots). You can also check the resistance mapmode -> F6.

Ah. When I look for "combat width" I find this.

Does that mean I try to build divisions to have an even 80 "frontage" in each attack? Basically 4 divisions at 20 line battalions each?

Yes.

Really noob question: does it matter if your division is wide or deep? Ie 8 inf in a 4 wide 2 deep configuration vs 2 wide 4 deep?

No, it has no effect on combat performance.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

Special forces have width 2 like normal INF. If you want more firepower per frontage focus on ART or SP-ART (or use bombers to blast away your enemies).

 

[GAGA Extrem]

I have only read @GAGA Extrem s opening post. But it is lacking alot of stuff that you should include if you ain your guide towards beginners:
How do you create new templates ?
[...]
Just trying to give you some constructive critisism. This guide you have written is for advanced players. If you call it a beginners guide please include the basics how equipment and divisiontemplates work together.

I assumed that the actual tutorial cover this.
(Not that I played it )

I argue that you want to maximize support on tank divisions. [...]

He actually talks about *minimizing* - which actually makes sense for MARM and HARM, since these benefit a lot from armor.

As for HARM in general: Way too costly for the minor benefits you get. Just spam medium TDs instead.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

What are your thoughts on mixing Armor (LARM/MARM/HARM) into Infantry Divisions?

Why did you suggest adding AT support companies to Armored Divisions and not to MOT Divisions?

Since Recon give attack bonuses over terrain, wouldn't a good Division be:

8xMARINE + 1xLARM + SP-ART [ENG/REC/AT/SIG/LOG] ?

(1) I don't think mixing INF and ARM is a good idea. LARM's biggest advantage is speed, so they work best with MOT. You pay a premium price to get that armor/hardness on MARM/HARM and it gets watered down almost completely by the INF. I'd rather build proper armor divisions that might end up unpierced by enemy INF divisions with only support AT.
If you really want to mix INF and ARM, I'd suggest to use (medium or heavy) TDs - lots of armor/HA/pierce and much lower cost than regular ARM bridages.

(2) The MOT divisions were meant for the exploit after a breakthrough, so the idea is that you shouldn't face serious opposition anymore. If you have the IC, it's not a bad idea to add AT.

(3) REC grants a movement bonus, not a combat bonus.

I feel like AA Support is not really necessary at all. As most major powers, you should be able to stockpile enough fighters to maintain at least a semblance of parity in the air war. [...]

AA is actually rather weak against enemy air units (only seems to take out CAS reliably) and, true, as a major nation FGT are usually a more versatile option. But minors are certainly better off with AA and AAA - and it is a versatile hybrid support unit because it provides some extra HA and pierce. Since you can only use one support AT per division, getting a bit of extra HA/pierce without frontage can be great to counter enemy MARM divisions (particularly once variants with armor bonuses are used). I have yet to test, however, if dedicated AA divisions (e.g. 2xINF + 6xAA) are a good counter to bombers.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

Superior Firepower benefits from small templates with a higher % of ART, so something like:
2xINF + 2xART (10 width) or 4xINF + 4xART (20 width) works pretty well if (you have the IC for it).

 

[GAGA Extrem]

I'd got with [ART/AT/R-ART/ENG/LOG], but keep an eye on your max ORG (I haven't played Superior Firepower in quite a while).

 

[GAGA Extrem]

Already done, but that thread apparently got buried somewhere here.
It's called "Beginner's Guide to Doctrines".

 

[GAGA Extrem]

I don't have the text saved, sorry.
But in short: Minors should go for Mass Assault (right branch), because it offers a ton of great benefits (including +5% MP, which is usually the biggest problem of a small nation).

edit: Google helps: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/beginners-guide-to-doctrines.942522/

 

[GAGA Extrem]

The upgrades improve the supply use reduction of LOG. Not sure if it's addive or multiplicative, but it's certainly one of the support brigades where researching past T1 makes sense.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

What are the plusses/minuses of having, for example, 5 regiments in a single brigade (tall) VS 5 brigades with 1 regiment each (wide)

There is no difference in terms of that stuff, it's purely graphical.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

Slight update to the first post to mention that:
(1) Dig-in does boost ALL stats on defence (not just DEF)
(2) The armor/pierce value of a division is mostly depending on the best unit (so HARM/H-TD are an excellent way to boost outdated equipment)
(3) SP-ART now costs quite a bit more, which actually gives M-R-ART a reason to exist (it is fantastic for Motorized divisions or as a "soft" attachment to armored divisions (and updated Motorized division template to reflect this)
(4) Added "Heavy Infantry" division template (which I actually found quite good after some testing)

 

[GAGA Extrem]

Yes, because when you use an Offensive Doctrine field marshal, it get's reduced down to ~20 width.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

The layout does not matter. It is purely cosmetic.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

Well, I am now, back then I was just a beta tester.
*rises up to the olympus of developers*

 

[GAGA Extrem]

I know this is old but just wanted to say a massive thank you! Every time I come back to HOI I need a refresher and your example templates are great. Thank you so much for the guide!

Well, I am glad that it was of help.
It's also rather fun to look back and see how (and how I thought) certain things in worked in 2016.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

My problems with 40-width divisions has always been that they lack the ORG to sustain prolonged combat. Whenever I used them as SOV in my SP games, even the GER AI can threaten breakthroughs when attacking, forcing me to constantly shuffle defenders around, a problem I rarely have with 20-width designs.

...that being said, I am mostly playing a game of static defence along the rivers as SOV, backed up by a pretty large air force that makes it pretty irrelevant what I use for attacks - my dive bombers will make sure that the enemy suffers more losses.