OK, Hendricks thanks for asking a very good question.
First thing, this is a mod "in development", meaning I'm still working on ideas and trying to get them to work in the game.
Lots of guys want much more detail on tanks and especially the German and Russian types. I share that itch.
On the itch to have much more details, as regards possibly gun type, different model of panzer etc and have THAT have an effect in the game. It can be done.
Please realise that right now in dh, when you research an armour tech, you are ONLY researching a new model. It does nothing other than give you a new model. That new model is only different in the parameters set up in the unit files, which can be very small effects. Go look in the tech files!
If I remember correctly, the most common German tank in ww2 was the PzIV, yet in the dh tech tree, it hardly gets a mention and it may even be sharing its mention with the PzIII? What use is that? Lots of tanks are simply missed or passed over.
Anyway...
So, to your question, what difference will having one model of tank or another make to the mod?
Well I have all the tanks books and information I need to make a good job of this. First the player will need to research the SdKfz101 to get a Pz1A. If he leaves the model at A and does not progress to model B, which had a longer chassis and one more wheel, he will not be able to have all those variants of other units which used the PzI model B chassis: 15cm sIG33 40, the Panzerjaeger PaK 40 come to mind, among others being possibly flamethrower and munition carrier models?
If the player does not invade and conquer CZE, he will not have the Pz35(t)/Pz38(t) and all the models that came from that: The Marder III and the Grille etc.
Going from say a 7.5cm KwK L/24 to a 7.5cm KwK L/48 for the PzIV, gave the gun a higher velocity, so it could take on the enemy tanks and destroy them, whereas with the L/24 it could not so easily. So, this will be reflected in the PzIV having a higher hard_attack rating with the new L/48 gun.
I don't as yet have all the answers, even to my own questions, why? well I've been working on solving one major problem and yesterday I solved it to my satisfaction. I could have just used decisions and events to have the different models, but for the player, he has no record of what model he is on, so that is why I needed to have some reference on the tech page.
All tanks will have to be researched as prototypes, then as different models if the player chooses to. He does not HAVE to. It is up to him. So for the later tanks like the Tiger I, he may choose to take the earlier prototype models instead and build them, giving him a heavy tank at an earlier date in the game.
THE TECH PAGES:
I am leaving the original techs as they are, simply because the AI and events are all tied to these. Some pages will be extended, for instance the Armour tech page will have all the GER and SOV tanks listed, Possibly the USA and ENG as well, if I have room. This is in addition to the vanilla techs. So the new techs for the GER player will give him the abiity to:
build the exact model of panzer
have panzer brigades and regiments as they were historically
fight solely panzer to soviet tank battles
panzer regiments and brigades as individual units on the map, not just attached, I mean free units
different models of gun giving varying hard_attack, or whatever
different chassis gives historical variants
as much as I can: build the historical panzer divisions with regiments of tanks and brigades of mot etc.
only have tank divisions available as they were historically, near the end of ww2
GER has panzer divisions in ? 1938
everyone else has ARM only as attachments to infantry units for most of the war.
So Yes, I too want to have all the technical details included and having varying effects happen in the game. If you have any more questions or if I have missed out on something, please let me know. Right now, I'm full steam ahead on this mod as I have overcome the major problem that was holding me back.
I've been researching and trying different ideas for months now. But nothing was fully satisfactory to me until yesterday.But all this does is give the player a choice to do this, he does not have to. He can play dh in the E3 map as vanilla, or with all the extra detail, it is up to him.
Yes I do have other new ideas as how I am going to do this. It works!
Cheers
EDIT: To build a panzer division:
I can build a Pz1 regiment and keep it in my locker.
I can build a PzII regiment and also keep it.
I can build an MOT brigade and keep it.
I can build a PzI HQ unit to include all the other sub-units like logistics, medical etc.
I can build one other (total is 5) unit as I desire.
These are all in my locker, waiting.
I can then build a REGT or BRIG or DIV recruit unit and put this on the map.
To make my panzer division, I then simply attach the above to this recruit unit.
I now have a panzer division including all the desired and historical parts, as much as I possibly can do in dh.
I can see the different parts of the panzer division unit, as their "brigade" icons are visible in the unit gui. I can even swap them out as desired, a PzI for another PzII...
Other than this, I CAN simply place the unit on the map and it is now a free, independent unit, which for instance as an Arm Regt, I can go chase partizans, or go guard a port, or go battle a soviet unit of similar size, or whatever I want to do. With the E3 map, I have lots of more choices of where to go.
can't wait to try this new mod of yours out. Any update as to when you might have "Homeland" ready for DH 1.04? just curious as usual 
