The optimal tank divison in 1.3.3

[GermanDave]

What is the best tank division composition in this meta and what is the optimal Arm-SPG-MOT/MECH ratio atm?

 

[Alex_brunius]

Depends on what you want it to fight. AI or player opponents is a good first question to answer, and the next question you want to answer is what kind of tank divisions and AT you expect the enemy to have available.

 

[Meglok]

Depends on what you are fighting. And may change when 1.4 comes out in about a month.

 

[Diados]

15 MARM 5 MOT is a good place to start. Try to keep support companies to a minimum (2-3) since they lower the armor rating.

This division will have an armor rating that is very close to what a somewhat reasonable division with line AT can pierce. Putting in variants can drop you below that threshold.

Another bonus of only using one type of tank is that you can drop some egine upgrades on them when you create the line and move the division speed closer to the mot speed. If you were using variants you would have to do that for each variant.

 

[GermanDave]

Sorry I didn't specify, I only play against the ai.
Also, what is the best exploitation division that I can build in the current meta (as Germany)?

 

[Alex_brunius]

Sorry I didn't specify, I only play against the ai.
Also, what is the best exploitation division that I can build in the current meta (as Germany)?

Against the AI you want something with lots of soft attack since it currently builds mostly soft units like infantry, motorized and such.

So I recommend stacking lots of SPG ( SP Artillery ), at least 1 battalion per 10 width in your division.

You also don't need that much armor/piercing, so you can probably get by with spreading your armor out to get more total divisions. Something like 3ARM+2SPG+4MOT should be pretty decent all-round, or if you want to go for more powerful 40 width double these numbers. If the AI starts piercing your divisions you can swap some MOT for ARM or make armor variants on the tanks fairly easy later on.


For exploitation there are a few approaches depending on your playstyle. Some players want to make divisions with only Light Armor variants with +5 engine to get silly speeds, others want to include Motorized to get more staying power and be able to defensively hold an encirclement shut closed. For the second option as Germany you can easily get Medium tanks fast enough to keep or even surpass the Motorized, and skip light tanks altogether. I've also seen players use cheaper MOT+SPG divisions without any tanks for exploitation, and as long as you don't need to attack with them that works well too. You probably don't want the exploitation divisions to be bigger then at most 20 width since their job is to spread out and cover as much ground as possible.

 

[Sir Garnet]

Early game, for something cheap you can make at home without fuss from common odds and ends, a pursuit brigade of one or two LT and 3 Cav with Sup Arty for catching retreating enemies, taking up a defensive blocking position and creating confusion behind the lines. It avoids the MOT problem of losing or lacking trucks. A Medium Tank Bn would serve better and has enough armor and piercing to matter in many cases. LSPGs are for firepower. MSPGs have enough armor to matter against infantry without much ipiercing. The idea is to have several of these set loose through a gap in the enemy lines.

Italian players will note these resemble the early game Celere divisions.

 

[Metz]

What are good support companies to have for armor division?

Also does it make a difference if you stack army wide/deep?