How big should a nation be for light armor to cost-effective?

[MrWilis]

I was planning on getting into Darkest Hour again and I was wondering how big a nation should be for light tanks to be effective.

I was wondering because I want to play with a country that has the ability to use light tanks to combat to fun and dynamic but at the same time small enough to be a challenge.

 

[Eugenioso]

More than worrying about a small country with tanks, you should pay more heed to the terrain methinks. Playing as my home country, Chile, and after a few years of research and IC building i could potentially have the only south american armored division, but the terrain and infrastructure are so horrendous that i might as well wait for the heat death of the universe to destroy my enemies. Japan could also build tanks if it wanted, but there was a reason they didnt build many.

A good country to use might be one of the small powers like Hungary or Romania for a supporting role vs the reds with german help, or of Canada for allied aid. Using Brazil to build armored divs might not be a good idea though, as previously stated. Italy can certainly do with some armored divs for a little bit of desert warfare or punch in Eurasia, but it really lacks the IC needed to continue said projects.

 

[MrWilis]

More than worrying about a small country with tanks, you should pay more heed to the terrain methinks. Playing as my home country, Chile, and after a few years of research and IC building i could potentially have the only south american armored division, but the terrain and infrastructure are so horrendous that i might as well wait for the heat death of the universe to destroy my enemies. Japan could also build tanks if it wanted, but there was a reason they didnt build many.

A good country to use might be one of the small powers like Hungary or Romania for a supporting role vs the reds with german help, or of Canada for allied aid. Using Brazil to build armored divs might not be a good idea though, as previously stated. Italy can certainly do with some armored divs for a little bit of desert warfare or punch in Eurasia, but it really lacks the IC needed to continue said projects.

So micropower's such as Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia cannot use it as they have too small IC. Because I plan on playing with Peace Without Victory mod.

 

[Pasha]

So micropower's such as Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia cannot use it as they have too small IC. Because I plan on playing with Peace Without Victory mod.

You'll have to plan your industry carefully right from the beginning scenario which I think is 1920. Build as much IC as possible and see if you can conquer the other 2 Baltic States. You can use cheats too if you like, but don't tell Ericafaq, he hates when players use cheats with is Mod

 

[MrWilis]

You'll have to plan your industry carefully right from the beginning scenario which I think is 1920. Build as much IC as possible and see if you can conquer the other 2 Baltic States. You can use cheats too if you like, but don't tell Ericafaq, he hates when players use cheats with is Mod

Dangit. There goes my historical-esque path (minus getting conquered by USSR). Well I guess I can use cavalry as a possible alternative fast-moving unit; use anti-tank or artillery brigades to give them a bigger punch.

 

[Drakey]

Also if you simply want unit that is fast and punch hole in enemy lines you might consider using motorized infantry or cavalry with tanks brigade. I used them when playing as US along with normal armored divisions and they were better, not as hard hitting as normal tanks, but they were a lot faster and nicely caused havoc on Ukrainian steppes.

 

[MrWilis]

Also if you simply want unit that is fast and punch hole in enemy lines you might consider using motorized infantry or cavalry with tanks brigade. I used them when playing as US along with normal armored divisions and they were better, not as hard hitting as normal tanks, but they were a lot faster and nicely caused havoc on Ukrainian steppes.

Awesome! Yeah, I start my Estonia First Attempt Run and so far I am doing well, it is 1923 I have two three company divisions at Vorpu and Narva, with AC and Artillery. Right now I am catching up with land doctrine and getting my cavalry up to snuff. I will probably lean towards cavalry with light tank brigade as that might be possibly be cheaper than motorized infantry. However I still have the problem of only have 8 IC with my Tax policy at being minimum, which sucks. I wish there was an event that could possibly add IC to provinces at a random that did not require 500 Money Resource as I have trouble keeping my income in the green.

However this is only my first run, only three years in, and I feel like I can actually hold out against the USSR when WWII comes knocking at my door. I just need to ally myself with a big country and get some blueprints from them on the cheap.