What's a good combination for an army? Lots of infantry with cannons? Lots of dragoons and irregulars? What?
Army Composition
- Thread starter skynet464
- Start date
-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
With HOD?
The consensus seems to be you want about equal parts of infantry and artillery, maybe a little more infantry than artillery. Artillery can fire from the second 'square', so having infantry in front of them is essential. The new 'recon' and 'siege' stats now make at least one Hussar (or cavalry) and Engineer essential. Guards can be added as 'shock' troops to give invading armies a little more punch, but shouldn't replace infantry. Irregulars can be used if you're playing a weaker power (like an unciv, or the Ottoman Empire) that only needs cheap troops to fight an unciv. If you reach the point in the game where you can build tanks and aeroplanes, aeroplanes can replace cavalry/hussar and tanks can replace the engineer. (Possibly, or add one to a group besides an engineer.) Never make the mistake of thinking having aeroplanes and tanks means you're playing Hearts of Iron all of a sudden and compose entire armies of tanks and/or aeroplanes, that's a recipe for disaster.
If you're playing AHD: Infantry and Artillery, and Guards should take the place of your Infantry eventually when you can afford it because Guards are just stronger Infantry. Maybe include two cavalry/dragoons/hussars because they can attack diagonally. Other than that, you should have many one-brigade infantry armies to occupy a lot of territory at once. (You can't get away with that in HOD.)
Hope more knowledgeable players can confirm/correct this.
The consensus seems to be you want about equal parts of infantry and artillery, maybe a little more infantry than artillery. Artillery can fire from the second 'square', so having infantry in front of them is essential. The new 'recon' and 'siege' stats now make at least one Hussar (or cavalry) and Engineer essential. Guards can be added as 'shock' troops to give invading armies a little more punch, but shouldn't replace infantry. Irregulars can be used if you're playing a weaker power (like an unciv, or the Ottoman Empire) that only needs cheap troops to fight an unciv. If you reach the point in the game where you can build tanks and aeroplanes, aeroplanes can replace cavalry/hussar and tanks can replace the engineer. (Possibly, or add one to a group besides an engineer.) Never make the mistake of thinking having aeroplanes and tanks means you're playing Hearts of Iron all of a sudden and compose entire armies of tanks and/or aeroplanes, that's a recipe for disaster.
If you're playing AHD: Infantry and Artillery, and Guards should take the place of your Infantry eventually when you can afford it because Guards are just stronger Infantry. Maybe include two cavalry/dragoons/hussars because they can attack diagonally. Other than that, you should have many one-brigade infantry armies to occupy a lot of territory at once. (You can't get away with that in HOD.)
Hope more knowledgeable players can confirm/correct this.
Pre HoD: Just use pure ART, they are better than any other unit.
HoD: 50% INF + 50% ART + some ENG/ARM + some HUS/AIR. Shock divisions can use GRD instead of INF. Early game armies can also benefit from using 4 additional DRA to cover the flanks.
Tanks are quite costly, but provide insane firepower against enemies that are behind in tech. Build a lategame division of 8xARM + 8xART and you will rip any low-tech army apart.
HoD: 50% INF + 50% ART + some ENG/ARM + some HUS/AIR. Shock divisions can use GRD instead of INF. Early game armies can also benefit from using 4 additional DRA to cover the flanks.
Tanks are quite costly, but provide insane firepower against enemies that are behind in tech. Build a lategame division of 8xARM + 8xART and you will rip any low-tech army apart.
Currently I'm using a 2hus/6inf/2art composition for HoD games where art gains more brigades as the game goes on also 2 eng-brigades join after a while (fort lvl 2-3 appearing).
Later you can add planes or tanks but they are pretty supply cost intensive so you might use more standard armies instead.
Later you can add planes or tanks but they are pretty supply cost intensive so you might use more standard armies instead.
I usually use 7 inf, 1 eng, 2 hussar, 4 art for my starting prussian army. Toward the end of the game I've been using 6 inf/6 grd/3 arm/3 air/12 art. That's 90k men I fit onto 30 ship transport fleets. If supply at my destination taxes the 90k men I just split them into two 45k squads that come back together against any sufficient force.
I think the "guards are glass cannons" has been greatly overstated. They give up 2 defense for 2 offense compared to infantry, and in the late game of like 14/14 infantry vs. 16/12 guards its /shrug. They get one extra maneuver in the bargain, but they cost twice as much to maintain. I use quite a bit of guards in the late game. When you have a technological advantage your guards probably have as good or better defense than your enemies anyway. Likewise with tanks. Use either against low-tech or mobilized brigades that don't have art/cav support and they'll melt.
Engineers and Hussars are entirely replaced by Armor and Air.
I think the "guards are glass cannons" has been greatly overstated. They give up 2 defense for 2 offense compared to infantry, and in the late game of like 14/14 infantry vs. 16/12 guards its /shrug. They get one extra maneuver in the bargain, but they cost twice as much to maintain. I use quite a bit of guards in the late game. When you have a technological advantage your guards probably have as good or better defense than your enemies anyway. Likewise with tanks. Use either against low-tech or mobilized brigades that don't have art/cav support and they'll melt.
Engineers and Hussars are entirely replaced by Armor and Air.
i tend to create armies that have a strenght of 30K i.e. 10 brigades with 4inf, 3art, 1eng, 1hussar, 1curraissier. in the 50's i either replace 2 inf for guards or only do 2inf/2guards for the new armies. havent reached the age of tanks and planes yet, so no composition for those.
My HoD armies currently run 2 hussars, 2 dragoons, 2 guards, 2 engineers... rest art/infantry. Hussars and dragoons are great on the wings, guards and engineers pair up really well (with the engineers giving the guards some much needed defense) and infantry + artillery pairs are of course the core of any army. 