One thing I never really got in HOI3 (although it may be my ignorance) was why separate garrison divisions existed. Surely IRL garrison forces of forts or ports or other such installations were too small to be modelled in game and if they were boosted they would have been boosted by traditional inf? Please correct/educate me on this if I'm wrong, but if this is true, do we need separate GAR units in HOI4? They always felt a bit gamey to me. What do ppl think?
GAR in HOI3 isn't just about garrisoning ports. Take a look at their stats again.
See that suppression value? See their low speed? And see their low officer, manpower, and IC costs?
GAR brigades specialize at occupying enemy territory. You essentially use them in 2 ways in HOI3.
1) Static defense: Give them some support brigades, or put them in all GAR divisions, and stick them in ports. They represent all the second-tier troops used to garrison fortifications. They are so cheap that they are easy to mass produce, and they make it possible for Germany (or anyone else) to defend large swaths of coastline from attack, along with islands, and any other occupied area that needs static defense.
2) Partisan suppression: You stack GAR with multiple MP brigades and place them in areas where partisans are operating. They discover and eliminate URs with ruthless efficiency, and reduce both revolt risk and partisan penalties to zero. Because POL are support brigades, the GAR ensures that any mass uprising will not cause the suppression division to retreat. You can put it in place and ignore it for the rest of the game.
For my part, I prefer MIL for static defense to GAR (lower officer cost). For suppression, I do create GAR/MP divisions and place them in strategic areas (resources, IC, supply arteries) to kill URs and eliminate partisan effects on supply throughput.
They aren't really unbalanced. Their slow speed ensures that in any kind of serious combat, if they lose, they tend to get overrun and wiped.
