Has anyone had success using wheeled or half-track tanks?

[Kanitatlan]

Let's take a different approach:

No chromium and no tungsten cost. Also significantly cheaper and has actual breakthrough. And more hardness. And much lower supply draw. Most countries that start with IW tank tech can build this tank from day 1 as well. The improved howitzer requires quite a bit of research and doesn't come online anytime soon.

And it only uses 2 width:

Now, because the cheap light tank can't mount the howitzer, it does have less firepower per width than the SPG version, but I think it wins out as a cheap AFV that I can just make with off the shelf tech in 1936. Slap it into some foot infantry divisions, and the Soviets should be able to literally put 1 of these in all 300 rifle divisions by Barbarossa. Those production lines are going to be running non-stop for years. And I won't have to import tungsten or chromium for this design. (Which is relevant to a number of countries.)

Let's be honest. As the Soviets I can add a battalion of these (or slightly improved later versions) to all of 300 infantry divisions in time for Barbarossa

The light tank alternative for the same cost kind of means 6 battalions of light tanks in every infantry division which is starting to look like a mechanised army. The real question is what properties are you trying to generate. If it is simply more soft attack then swarms of super cheap light tanks are an excellent investment as long as you don't end up ridiculously over stacked.

But if you are going for cheap what about these - less soft attack but still enough if stacked

but given the starting tech available it would still be tempting to go for a slightly more expensive tracked light tank on a better chassis. I see the real problem with wheeled tanks is the massive loss of hardness and significant reliability cost for a very minor cost reduction. Both cheap tanks are about the same firepower per IC but the cheaper ones significantly reduce IC loss from combat because the vehicles are cheaper.

So, moving on, the question of cheap tanks or wheeled tanks isn't really relevant to the Soviets, it's more an issue for a nation with very limited IC in which case SPG battalions reduced vehicle count isn't ridiculous

 

[TheMeInTeam]

but given the starting tech available it would still be tempting to go for a slightly more expensive tracked light tank on a better chassis. I see the real problem with wheeled tanks is the massive loss of hardness and significant reliability cost for a very minor cost reduction.

hardness barely matters as an infantry support vehicle. losing breakthrough is noticeable when you attack stuff, but hardness more or less isn't.

wheels make interwar lights unreliable, but not the improved light tank chassis which is '36 tech. most nations i actually pick don't have improved light at start though.

imo if you make the lights use a better gun than in your example and designate td. yes, you're paying 4-6 rather than 2.9. on the other hand, they do way more damage to both infantry and tanks, can pierce tanks, and you can still get 4-5 per heavy. you *could* make that many...or you could put that production into planes or other things.

 

[Kanitatlan]

hardness barely matters as an infantry support vehicle. losing breakthrough is noticeable when you attack stuff, but hardness more or less isn't.

wheels make interwar lights unreliable, but not the improved light tank chassis which is '36 tech. most nations i actually pick don't have improved light at start though.

imo if you make the lights use a better gun than in your example and designate td. yes, you're paying 4-6 rather than 2.9. on the other hand, they do way more damage to both infantry and tanks, can pierce tanks, and you can still get 4-5 per heavy. you *could* make that many...or you could put that production into planes or other things.

I was thinking of the real usage of super cheap tanks which is mobile forces for lesser nations. You can pump out an awful lot of super cheap light tanks for very little cost. Poor mans light tank division would benefit from a bit more hardness and the 10% cost reduction for wheeled is quite honestly rubbish. The real issue with this is the best choice of cheap light tank is extremely circumstantial. It depends on the density of the combat environment you are expecting and the actual industrial resources at your disposal. Going cheap assumes sufficient space to use the quantity you can produce effectively. The emphasis is that you need an environment where each province is receiving forces well below the combat width limit.

 

[$ilent_$trider]

Is there a wheeled or half track "Tank" irl in WW2?

Brazil designed one on their own but they were 30 years too late to send it to Italy

 

[mursolini]

Halftracks are kinda pointless in the game because HOI4 doesn't model Road networks, Road speed, Off-road speed, Cross-country speed, vehicle ground pressure, etc. So they don't have much of a role or serve much of a purpose in HOI4.

That's like saying "tanks are pointless..." for same reason.

Half-tracks are useful, however tanks pretty much steal the show, and mechanized is set up inconveniently as 1940 tech, so nobody bothers to upgrade. They need to come earlier and/or have something unique about them to help, since breakthrough stat of the tank pretty much negates all defensive fire.

 

[Secret Master]

Let's be honest. As the Soviets I can add a battalion of these (or slightly improved later versions) to all of 300 infantry divisions in time for Barbarossa

View attachment 1053470
The light tank alternative for the same cost kind of means 6 battalions of light tanks in every infantry division which is starting to look like a mechanised army. The real question is what properties are you trying to generate. If it is simply more soft attack then swarms of super cheap light tanks are an excellent investment as long as you don't end up ridiculously over stacked.

But if you are going for cheap what about these - less soft attack but still enough if stacked
View attachment 1053472

but given the starting tech available it would still be tempting to go for a slightly more expensive tracked light tank on a better chassis. I see the real problem with wheeled tanks is the massive loss of hardness and significant reliability cost for a very minor cost reduction. Both cheap tanks are about the same firepower per IC but the cheaper ones significantly reduce IC loss from combat because the vehicles are cheaper.

So, moving on, the question of cheap tanks or wheeled tanks isn't really relevant to the Soviets, it's more an issue for a nation with very limited IC in which case SPG battalions reduced vehicle count isn't ridiculous

You're not wrong (I use the cheap SMK all the time as the Soviets), but that individual was specifically thinking about using LSPART because they could mount an expensive howitzer on it. It's a waste in that scenario (and many others).