Infantry Div + Eng Brgds + ?

[Garmorn]

What brigade would you add to the above combination?

Engineers give a +.5 speed boost. I would normaly add artilliery but that caps the speed at the base infantry division speed, nullifing the Eng speed boost. The same applies for all of the Armor type brigades.

[BeardedHoplite]

I like to use armored cars or self-propelled Arty. But mostly armored cars since they're less IC-intense to make

[Lifewalker]

I agree with Armored cars. They are cheap, and have no upgrades needed between 36-42. They give toughness which is useful on attack, as well as giving +org/+hardness and no speed reduction.
Also their oil usage is low.

[adiuvat]

I agree with Armored cars. They are cheap, and have no upgrades needed between 36-42. They give toughness which is useful on attack, as well as giving +org/+hardness and no speed reduction.
Also their oil usage is low.

So far I've made about 18 brigades of ART for times when extra defensive ability is necessary, and otherwise just gone with unbrigaded INF. There are lots of provinces and never enough divisions. Mostly INF's job is to sit there blocking the road. When you want someone moved out of the way.. ARM+SP-ART. They get moved.

[LiamRiordan]

I like eng brigaes simply because it lowers that god awful river crossing penalty. Makes MTN indispensable in China.

[Lord Finnish]

INF+Art+Eng is my favored combo.

[Garmorn]

INF+Art+Eng is my favored combo.

Why add the engineers if most of the time they are not going to be useful. What makes them useful is the slight speed increase and the bonuses to river crossing. Artillery cancels half of their major benefits.

The AC seems a useful combo. It does not hurt the Eng major benefits.

Thanks for the replies.

[Lord Finnish]

Artillery has speed penalty but that has never been a problem for me.

[Pityubaa]

If I can afford, Art+MedArm.
Otherwise either Art or AC or LArm.

[Garmorn]

Artillery has speed penalty but that has never been a problem for me.

Actually the way it seems to work is more of a speed cap. You can not move faster than the based unit + the lowest speed cap.

Look at it this way. The Eng has two major benefits: The Speed bonus and its river/fort bonuses.

With the Art Speed Cap the speed of an Inf unit is figured as follows:
Inf base speed: 4
Artillery speed cap means the maximum speed is 4+0 = 4. The unit cannot move faster than this.
If you add the Eng unit the speed is 4+0.5=4.5, reduced to the Artillery allowed max speed of 4.

If you think the Eng are cost effective with out the speed bonus then it is fine but if you think it is not or if you plan to off set the speed reduction then you will not be getting what you want.

That is why I was looking for a non speed caped you to use with the Eng unit.

[Weserübung]

doesnt land doctrine tech gives an HQ speed cap +1 somewhere? would that raise the speed cap of the unit if it was near an HQ or what does that mean?

[adiuvat]

doesnt land doctrine tech gives an HQ speed cap +1 somewhere? would that raise the speed cap of the unit if it was near an HQ or what does that mean?

Unsure. I find the whole speed cap system redundant-- having the brigades add or subtract speed is sufficient. So I mod all the speed caps out. Shame about the doctrine loss, but, omelettes and eggs.

[Gort11]

I find the best combination for infantry to be artillery and self-propelled artillery. The soft attack you end up with is INSANE. If you find the speed reduction problematic, you can always replace the arty with armoured cars.

Anyone know what the rationale behind making ONLY infantry able to have two brigades is? It kinda makes them the obvious best unit to make up 99% of your army.

[adiuvat]

I find the best combination for infantry to be artillery and self-propelled artillery. The soft attack you end up with is INSANE. If you find the speed reduction problematic, you can always replace the arty with armoured cars.

Anyone know what the rationale behind making ONLY infantry able to have two brigades is? It kinda makes them the obvious best unit to make up 99% of your army.

ARM with SP-ART and SP-AA would be kinda evil.

[Gort11]

Hell, I'd put self-propelled arty and armoured cars on my ARM. They spend 99% of the time fighting infantry, after all.

[adiuvat]

Hell, I'd put self-propelled arty and armoured cars on my ARM. They spend 99% of the time fighting infantry, after all.

my point was that they'd be just about unstoppable.. not even tac/cas would shift them with late AA.

But if you want to be really gross about mashing up infantry with ARM, how about rocket SP-ART + SP-ART? For great justice.

[Sertorius Black]

What you pick for brigades should mesh with your overall style of strategy/play. Also, Cost effectiveness in terms of ic and manpower are huge factors, the terrain, and the metagame are things to consider when choosing what to put on your divisions. I personally go with Art+Eng, because I love playing Germany and the Soviet Union. It's a good balance of power and speed. There are alot of rivers in Europe and the terrain makes a mobility focused strat very effective. If you wanna pick a defensive strat and can afford to not care about speed, like in mountainous or low infa provinces, then stacking medium or Super-Heavy armour might be a good. Lol, there are so many factors to consider, but exterminating and learning what's worth using is so much fun. I would NEVER, ever, use naked divisions, or inf with one Brigade. The stacking penalty for divisions is very potent and should always be avoided. If you overstack, your advances have a high chance of failure. You'll be wasting manpower, Organization, resources and time. The next patch is going to increase the stacking penalty, so be sure to have every div. with max brigades. So avoid a inf div. spam strat. cuz it's getting nerfed and it's kinda for noobs.

[SpaceViking]

I work toward getting all INF with a ENG brigade and most also with AC if I am going to be on the offensive. Alas with an IC poor country like Japan this doesn't work very well and you have to pick just a few units for special treatment.

If you are going to be on the defensive a lot (like the Soviets) then ART is the way to go.

Another really nice thing about using brigades is you can set up separate production lines for them and they quickly hit the maximum gearing bonus.