Best army composition

Generally I try to keep one artillery per each infantry in an army (thus each infantry getting a bonus from having a gun behind it). Cavalry I never put in a larger number than 4 (sometimes 2), as in this case they are helping your infantry as well (unless the enemy has a larger front line than you).
If you want to get really technical, it's best to count the available combat squares at your tech level (higher tech = narrower front line) and have one inf and artillery for each space of the front line, possibly with room for a cav on each side.

The above is what I would use to create a 'full army', which is meant to go toe-to-toe with enemies. I would usually supplement full armies with 'mobile armies' which include 4 cav and x inf, but no artilllery. These are used to get to the defensive positions before enemy armies with cannon can, to rush to the aid of a full army in danger, occupy provinces, etc.

Finally, it all depends on your economic and numeric possibilities. As Russia you should be able to use the above formulae pretty effectively, but keep in mind that when fighting more advanced (i.e. any) Europeans, you will need to use your manpower and superior numbers to your advantage. Having a number of armies fighting in one battle can be very useful for a country like Russia, where cycling out demoralized armies and replacing them with fresh ones will be a surefire way to overwhelm the smaller manpower pools of your western foes.

While in ideal conditions, having one art for each inf will get you the most firepower, keep in mind that infantry will be depleted throughout the course of multiple battles unless you give the army enough time to recover. Thus I prefer to use a 2:1:1 ratio of inf:cav:art. In later stages, the proportions shift to include more artillery and less cavalry (approx 3:1:2).

EDIT: As for techs, the most useful are the second column (to unlock guards, MGs, and bolt-actions) and the last column which gives Tactics bonuses. All will give you an advantage, but if you're investing a minimal amount of research on military, those two trees are the most worth it.

Well the 3k just represent the men arming the brigade, now the actual amount of cannons.

I don't usually pay attention to army composition (mostly its quantity and tech level) so I'm building armies with guards and some artillery - they remain powerful to the end of the game, so there is no need to replace them. Also, building tanks and airplanes in the late game.

But I have some questions: am I missing something really cool without cavalry? If yes, which type of cavalry is best (because they seem almost the same to me)?
And also how crucial to have cavalry for different types of countries (colonial powers, mid-european continental, high tech level, low-level, etc.) and different periods of game?

ajax.hsp said:

I don't usually pay attention to army composition (mostly its quantity and tech level) so I'm building armies with guards and some artillery - they remain powerful to the end of the game, so there is no need to replace them. Also, building tanks and airplanes in the late game.

But I have some questions: am I missing something really cool without cavalry? If yes, which type of cavalry is best (because they seem almost the same to me)?
And also how crucial to have cavalry for different types of countries (colonial powers, mid-european continental, high tech level, low-level, etc.) and different periods of game?

Click to expand...

cavalry has a bonus for reconaisance, making for faster capture of territory and faster reducing of the enemy's dig-in bonus, they also move faster
their stats are still somewhat good in early game, but in middle and end-game they are best used for rebel hunting, occupation and colonial wars

Cavalry, except dragoons, can flank : they can engage a unit which is two squares away from it, sorta like how artillery can engage from behind the frontline, but horizontally instead of vertically.

I generally build armies according to the supply limit I have researched.

Generally, I will scan the map and see what the average supply limit of the provinces within my immediate area can support. I will then divide it by 2, on the supposition that, when engaging an enemy, there will be two armies of roughly equal size in the region (his and mine). This will give me a good estimate of the overall size of any army I want to build.

For this purpose, do not overlook the advances in the Industry/Chemistry & Electricity file. These allow a larger sized force as time progresses, and keep attrition to a minimum.

Once I know the general size of the army I can support, I will build out in the proportion of 4 Infantry:4 Artillery:2 Cavalry (early game), substituting Armour & Aircraft (for Artillery & Cavalry respectively) as research progresses.

My initial armies will usually be 10 brigades, increasing as research advances. Late-game, I usually have 57-60k sized armies (20 brigades). I always use at least 2 cavalry units per army, one for each end of the line.

For Cavalry, I distinguish between Regular Cavalry/Hussars and Dragoons/Cuirassiers. The former I use with standard Infantry to augment their low recon value; the latter I pair with Guards when available, as the Guards' intrinsic recon value is sufficient for conversion of occupied territories.

When Guards become available, I will cycle Regular Cavalry into their own Armies and replace them with Dragoons/Cuirassiers. The latter have a better defense value, which helps them hold the flanks should the enemy outnumber me and get multiple units firing on each end of the line. The Cavalry armies I will use as advance guards, entering an enemy province ahead of my main force(s) and converting it to raise the supply level.

Hope that helps.