Mountaineer div help

[BrianV]

Hi , so coming from HOI3 the only division someone would attach to a Mountain div was maybe an armored car and that’s it for the armor advantage. But mostly was all mountaineer brigades. So now in HOI4 can you attach artillery brigades in the support column without any penalties? Can you attach Artillery in the line as well? Does the mountaineer div take a penalty to attack or defense attaching support to it when fighting in the terrain they were designed for? What combat width do they excel at? Would you add a armored scout support to it for the armor advantage? Thanks

 

[walt526]

So now in HOI4 can you attach artillery brigades in the support column without any penalties? Can you attach Artillery in the line as well?

Yes.

Does the mountaineer div take a penalty to attack or defense attaching support to it when fighting in the terrain they were designed for?

Mountaineers get a 20% attack bonus on hills and a 35% attack bonus on mountains. They get a 5% and 10% defense bonus on hills and mountains, respectively. And 10% and 20% movement bonuses on hills and mountains, respectively.

What combat width do they excel at?

There's a cap on the number of special forces (Marines, Mountaineers, Paratroopers) that you can field (5% of your combat battalions, IIRC). So you'll need to either make 10 width pure mountaineer divisions or mix and match Mountaineer battalions in with Infantry or Artillery (this will dilute the attack/defense/movement bonuses).

Honestly, of the three types of special forces, I find mountaineers to be the least useful. I'd rather allocate the scarce special forces slots to Marines or Paratroopers.

Would you add a armored scout support to it for the armor advantage?

An armored car recon support company is not going to boost the armor in any meaningful way. For armor to be useful, your division's armor rating has to exceed the enemy's piercing. The armor bonus from recon AC will just raise the armor from 0 to 1 or so, which will be pierced by any enemy division.

 

[him_15]

Why would you wanna put an armoured car support company to a mountain division? It helps nothing.

 

[halvorni]

Hmmm. I think OP was asking for advice, not abuse.

 

[BrianV]

Hmmm. I think OP was asking for advice, not abuse.

Yes thanks, I’m trying to learn HOI4 and the mechanics are different coming from the other game. Realistically though in real life how would you run up an artillery brigade up the side of a mountain-lol.

 

[coffeelingfine]

Is it worth it to mix them with regular infantry? Like say as Italy that won't be able to field enough pure mountaineers early on

 

[MR2]

Interesting discussion on Artillery with Mountaineers here:

What is a good marine and mountaineer division?

As for marines, in earlier threads they came to that they are best employed as the main naval invasion force against a port, while you have like 3 other divisions around the port to circumvent it and to encircle the port garrison while the...

forum.paradoxplaza.com

 

[SophieX]

There's a cap on the number of special forces (Marines, Mountaineers, Paratroopers) that you can field (5% of your combat battalions, IIRC).

Correct.
In addition: but you can always field a minimum of 24 spec-forces-battalions, regardless of the number of non-special forces battalions you have.

 

[Secret Master]

in real life how would you run up an artillery brigade up the side of a mountain-lol.

You just need to have cores on Tibet to do it.

 

[MR2]

Peru 1979, attended a school to pack M116 Howitzers, etc. up down and all around. Worked with the Spanish Legion using an old British WW2 pack howitzer in Africa in the 80's.

Pic of a SS-Karstwehr and horse moving parts of a Skota 75mm in 42/44.

 

[homerCCCP]

Peru 1979, attended a school to pack M116 Howitzers, etc. up down and all around. Worked with the Spanish Legion using an old British WW2 pack howitzer in Africa in the 80's.

Pic of a SS-Karstwehr and horse moving parts of a Skota 75mm in 42/44.

I wonder if AA guns were used witihin mountaineer divisions / in mountain terrain during WW2.
I know that the Soviets quite effectively used ZSU-23-4s in Afghanistan. But I don't know any example in WW2.

 

[SophieX]

I wonder if AA guns were used witihin mountaineer divisions

Yes.
Example: The German 1. Mountain-division ( year 1938 ) used AA-Guns in their 4. division-company ( which was a part of the AT-division-battalion ) and was equipped with AA-MGs and 12x 2cm AA-guns.

Realistically though in real life how would you run up an artillery brigade up the side of a mountain-lol.

.... Those guns often were broken down into "main-pieces" which could be transported by mules and / or the mountaineers. After reaching their destination the "pieces" were put together and the gun could fire. The normal caliber for those guns were 6,5cm and 7,5cm and even 10,5cm

10.5 cm Gebirgshaubitze 40 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Cavalry]

Is it worth it to mix them with regular infantry? Like say as Italy that won't be able to field enough pure mountaineers early on

The Mtn is good for attacking into mountain with high org and attacking terrain modifiers, if you just want mountain defense, then regular infantry is good enough or even better on casualties rate.

Another use of Mtn is to boost Org of elite divisions.

So yes, Mtn mix fine with Infantry. I often use them to make cheap Tank division, mixing 1 Mtn with infantry and tank so the division will be a Tank division to use tank division bonus, not Infantry.
1-2 tank will be great for Mtn, if you can afford the loss of tank for just moving around in mountain.

 

[dasaard200]

Also, consider the terrain you need to go through to get to your goals ...
in my current game, Japan has been nibbling on Siberia, Mongolia, Sinkiang, and now the far western [capitulated] China provinces .
There's a whole LOTTA hills and mountains to take before I reach the South China Sea; so yes, I'll build MTN XXs (12 MTN/ 4 ARTY/ 2 AA/ 2 R. ARTY {+supports}) .