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Zzracer

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Yes sorry i'm posting a lot today but I just got back into playing HOI 3 FTM! My favorite country to play as is Germany. I think they have awesome potential and you can use them many different ways. Now my questions are about the basics. It's been awhile since I last played so my knowledge is a bit fuzzy. First im curious as to what everyone things the best divi builds are? I used to build divs of 3 INF+1 ART, 3 INF+ 1 ENG, 1 ARM+ 2 MOT+ 1SPA, etc....etc... Is the 4 brigades to a div a good strategy or should is 3 better? I know it usually depends on who you're playing as but as an overall general rule it would be good to know. My next question is while playing as Germany is their any point to building an air force other than some INT to protect IC from British Bombing? Lastly, what's the deal with "practicals" and theories? I know when building lets say MOT it increases different practicals and from what I understand different practicals increase build speed? Do researching theories also increase build speed and if so is it valuable researching them? I hope tis isn't too much!:eek:o
 

unmerged(180647)

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In FtM, the standard build for German inf divisions is either 3Inf/1Art or 2Inf/2Art. The former has better standing power when being attacked, while the latter saves some manpower and allows higher concentration of power because its width is only 2 rather than 3. I personally prefer 2Inf/2Art. 3Inf/1Eng is a good build for a specialized division for river crossings and fort assaults.

As the combined arms bonus in FtM is achieved by softness being between 33% and 66%, and divisions with a softness lower than 50% receive an extra bonus, the tank divisions should be between 33% and 49% softness. That can best be done with 3Arm/1Sp-Art. When superior firepower is researched, an Eng brigade can be added as 5th.

If you like Mot-based divisions, it is usually better to pair them with TD, such as 2Mot/2TD with an Sp-Art added later.

As far as aircraft are concerned: you will need _a lot_ of Int to hold the royal air force and the Russian air force at bay at the same time.

Research in the theory tab is not recommended (widely seen as wasted leadership), with the exeption of the three logistics improving ones, which are also found in this tab.
 

Kovax

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As pointed out, your individual strategy and play style will dictate the best division composition, but 3xINF+ART or 2xINF+2xART are both very workable. I tend to build one 3xINF+ENG and one 2xINF+ART+AT or 3xINF+AT per Corps along with the standard divisions, the former for river crossings, forests, and urban attacks, and the latter to deal with opposing armor. Remember that even "hard" divisions typically consist of mostly "soft" units, so any AT that you build will be a wasted division slot against the majority of the units that it will face. AT and ENG are both "situational", in that you don't want to build a lot of them, since they're usually weaker than almost anything else you can put in their place, but it really hurts not to have them when you do need their special capabilities.

INT is good in a defensive role, particularly in the West, where good airfields are plentiful and targets are fairly nearby, but I generally switch to building longer-ranged FTR at some point, for use in the East. You probably want either TAC or CAS for offensive capability (or both) to support your attacks by ground forces, because their ability to disorganize ground targets is pretty powerful over the course of a combat. Hitting a target that's not in combat isn't all that effective, because they regain the lost ORG and STR almost as fast as you deplete it, but it makes a significant difference on a unit that's locked in ground combat and can't replace losses. TAC has far better range, and is around 50% more effective versus Soft targets (most targets) versus CAS being 50% better against Hard (Armor) and ships just offshore. I often forego CAS, since it's a lot further between airbases in the East, where you need the range even more than the firepower, but others prefer to concentrate on single-engine aircraft (INT, CAS, CAG) to save Leadership. TAC will also improve more with techs as the game goes, versus CAS.

Unless you're targeting a specific field (like trying to develop nuclear weapons or massive waves of heavy bombers), the vast majority of the Theory tab entries are a waste. As pointed out, the 3 in the Logistics field are vital, especially for a German player looking to the East, but the rest are purely situational. In the latest expansion, most of the others reduce the rate at which Practicals decay, so if you intend to spam mass quantities of something at the expense of most of everything else (such as an all-motorized army), you might consider bumping the related Theory tech up a notch or two.
 

Zzracer

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As pointed out, the 3 in the Logistics field are vital, especially for a German player looking to the East, but the rest are purely situational. In the latest expansion, most of the others reduce the rate at which Practicals decay, so if you intend to spam mass quantities of something at the expense of most of everything else (such as an all-motorized army), you might consider bumping the related Theory tech up a notch or two.

Can you explain decay? I know it effects the game but I never really understood it!
 

Caesarianus

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hello

my first suggestion is to invest a few bugs to upgrade to tfh. especially as german it provides a lot of new division building options due to the new combined arms bonus.
its always good to build 4 brigade divisions except for low infrastructure regions (scandinavia, afrika). i suggest 3 inf+art as standart division, especially at the beginning of the war in 39. later vs russia u might need more at but you may already have the 5 brigade division so you just may add a at to your divisions. i also build corps troops, troops directly added to the hq. till ftm i added inf+at+aa. for tank corps hq i added 1 (h)tank, inf +ac (to improve speed of the hq) . the reason why add troops to hq is to find a place for less needed troops (at,aa) and give the corps commanders a way to earn some combat xp. even before tfh i was against the tank div without mot/mec inf - because of the already present combat modifiers in non plain terrain.

tfh offers more options due to the canged combined arms rule. usually i have NO division without combined arms bonus in tfh except of para. i build no militia, garrison units because i dont research anything in that part. army and army group commanders either get extra troops like the corps hq or just get an ac for mobility and partisan training.

at the beginning of war you should have about 12 int (either 4x3 or 6x2 or a mix of it). later you need more depending on how many regions you have to cover (if you invade spain/balkan)
 

Opanashc

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Can you explain decay? I know it effects the game but I never really understood it!
Building something increases corresponding Practical - building leg infantry gives INF practical, building armor increases ARM Practical, so on. Researching a Technology increases corresponding Theory. Researching Small Arms increases INF Theory, etc. The higher the practical, the faster corresponding units/buildings will be made, and the cheaper they cost. The higher the theory, the faster techs that rely on the theory will be researched.
Decay is exactly that. Every month all practicals/theories are reduced by 2.5% from their current amount. IE, practical of 10 is reduced to 9.75, while theory of 20 is reduced to 19.5.