Edition 1.0
Installing BlackICE may seem daunting at first, but provided you follow the directions here, you should have a relatively easy time with it. Step 1: After you have downloaded BlackICE, copy the installer to the same directory that as the hoi3game.exe and hoi3_tfh.exe files in it. Generally speaing, this will be somewhere like: • d:\games\Hearts of Iron 3 or c:\games\steam\steamapps\common\Hearts c:\games\steam\steamapps\common\Hearts of Iron 3
Step 2: Install Podcat's LAA (Large Address Aware) version of the HOI3 .exe file with BlackICE. This will solve a great many issues with the game crashing as as it will take advantage of the larger amounts amounts of memory that newer computers can use. Podcat's LAA .exe file can be found in the following Tech Support thread on the PI forum https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthre https://forum.paradoxpl aza.com/forum/showthread.php?612732-MEGA ad.php?612732-MEGATHREAD-***He THREAD-***Hearts-of-Iron-3-Known-issues-f arts-of-Iron-3-Known-issues-fixesixesworkarounds-etc.***-MEGATHREAD •Overwrite the original hoi3_tfh.exe file with it.
Step 3: Run the installer. Do Not Change ANYTHING unless unless you know what you are doing, just hit next until you see finish. Click on finish. Upgrading From Previous Versions In order to ensure that there are no file conflicts, and that you end up with the correct checksum for the release you are installing, it is highly important that you manually uninstall the previous version of BlackICE then install the new version fresh.
Installation tips •Do not install HOI3 in C: \PROGRAM FILES, install it elsewhere!
Section 1 - Difficulty settings At the start game menu a player can choose the Hoi3 difficulty settings. The mod is tested using the Normal settings. Once BICE has loaded a player will have the BICE difficulty decision which will allow options to give more or less economic benefits to his nation. The mod is tested using the Normal settings here as well. The player will also be able to choose options for the AI controlled major nations, as well as the Allied minors like Canada and Australia. These options tend to grant further economic penalties or bonus. These will stack with the earlier difficulty options. The mod is tested using normal for the AI nations. All the diff iculty iculty settings will combine. So you can choose hard HOI3 and easy BICE and then easy AI nation settings. The HOI3 settings primarily affect the economy and the HOI3 settings affect combat modifiers. They might have an effect in the exe as well. The BICE settings are also economic economic with with some combat modifiers thrown in for good measure. The diff icult icult options here also set flags whic which h can prevent certain events from triggering (such as some AI OOBs) the AI nation diff iculty iculty allows you to boost or reduce the various AI nations whic which h will either be your ally or enemy. So Germany can make Japan normal and Italy stronger, Soviets weak, and the USA strong, for example. These settings are also primarily economic economic.. Using these functions, a player can set different challenges for different types of campaign. There is also the multiplayer setting, with a specific set of modifiers meant only for multiplayer games. It is not advised to play BICE in singleplayer with the multiplayer setting. WARNING – Black ICE is not for the faint hearted. If yo u have no experience with Hearts of Iron III, it is strongly
recommended you play vanilla first to get a feel of the mechanics of the game, or BICE can be a little overwhelming. If your only experience with HOI3 is with vanilla, you may feel as if you are playing a whole new game; BICE adds and changes so many things. Do not expect to win a campaign on the first try. There may be many terms discussed in this guide you do not understand – but fear not, as the forums are full of friendly and helpful people who will be happy to help get the most out of the game and the mod.
Section 2 - Events National Focus Options Each year if a nation has enough supplies (250 for minor nations, 1500 for major nations) a National Focus can be chosen. The options include the ability to create certain new buildings in certain provinces. Depending on the nation there are options to create tank factories, armament factories, aircraft factories, shipyards, or a mix of all of the above. There are also options to create manufacturing plants, Heavy Industry, research centres, hospitals and rail terminus buildings. Choosing an army focus for example will create armament factories in a number of core provinces. The exact amount of armament factories will vary depending on the IC in the Industrial zone* province and the nation’s
Total IC. The more industrial zones with level 10 IC and the higher your total IC count the more factories will be built that year ( to a max of 10 factories)
*StrategIC resources also work the same way as Industrial zones for the purpose of factory placement. Armament Factories ~ 10IC in province/ 650 total IC 9IC in province / 400 total IC 8IC in province / 300 total IC 7IC in province / 200 total IC 6IC in province / 150 total IC 5IC in province / 100 total IC 4IC in province / 50 total IC 3IC in province / 2IC in province / 1IC in province / This means that any nation with at least 1 IC in an Industrial Zone (or other strategIC resource) province will be able to create an armaments factory. As the amount of IC in provinces is developed further more factories can be created depending also on how much total IC that nation has. This same method is applied to tank factories and aircraft factories/ shipyards (with airbases and ports replacing the province IC). To build more buildings you will need to expand the Industrial Zone province IC sizes and total IC (or in the case of air factories and shipyards, the size of airbases and naval bases). The build times of units will tend to rise each year depending on tech increases. Factories can help to negate this build time increase.
Buildings Tank factories
-
Reduces build time of all armor units by 0.7% per level of building.
Armament factories
-
Reduces build time of all non-armor land units by 0.7% per level of building.
Aircraft factories
-
Reduces build time of all air units by 0.5% per level of building.
Ship yards
-
Reduces build time of all naval units by 1% per level of building.
Manufacturing plants
-
Increases supply production by 2% per level of building.
Research labs
-
Increases research efficiency by 5% per level of building.
Police centres
-
Reduces Revolt risk in province by 5% per level of building. Surrounding provinces are reduced by 50% of that building level.
Railway terminus
-
Increases supply throughput by 1% per level of building.
Hospitals
-
Increases casualty trickleback by 0.5% per level of building.
Urban centres
-
Increases province manpower levels by 0.5% per level of building.
Heavy IC
-
Increases province IC by 25% per level of building.
Steel refineries
-
Increases province metal output by 25% per level of building.
Coal mines
-
Increases province energy output by 25% per level of building.
Rares extraction centres
-
Increases province rare materials output by 25% per level of building.
Oil wells
-
Increases province crude oil output by 25% per level of building.
Oil refineries
-
Increases oil to fuel conversion by 0.25% per level of building.
Questions and Answers
Q- Building up the special buildings only help in a province where the item ex ists? Like an oil rig in a province with oil? What about the oil refinery? If that's the case, would it make sense to only allow buildings to be able to be built in the province where they would help?l, Oil wells with oil, rare extraction with rare materials. The Oil refinery building helps convert oil to fuel and doesn’t need a resource in the province.
Section 3 – Technologies Each unit has a number of “golden” techs which are required to advance the model level of the unit. More on this in a future edition…
Section 4 - Units 8.0 Unit and Divisions Guide
LAND UNITS TRANSPORT UNITS
Horse Transport - basic transport transport unit Combined Arms Group - NONE
Pros:
low supply consumption no fuel requirement high rough terrain movement bonuses (mountains, marshes, jungle)
Cons:
slow
Light Vehicle Transport - very mobile and light transport unit Combined Arms Group - MOBILE
Pros:
Can be paradropped fast (7 kph) good terrain movement bonuses
Cons:
requires fuel
Truck Transport - full scale motorized transport uni t Combined Arms Group - MOBILE
Pros:
fast (7 kph) very good terrain movement bonuses for easier terrain types good softness (75%)
Cons:
high supply and fuel consumption
Half-track Transport - heavy duty transport unit Combined Arms Group - MOBILE
Pros:
very fast (9 kph) very good terrain movement bonuses for easier terrain types very good softness (50%)
Cons:
very high supply and fuel consumption
lower terrain movement bonuses for rough terrain
MAIN BRIGADES Combined Arms Group - A special case of combat brigade. They’re only available via events and will disappear after a few months but months but it’s also the only combat combat brigade that unlocks unlocks the Combined Combined Arms bonus bonus - no need for division HQs. There are only few events giving those and mostly for Germany - Kampfgruppen. There are few for USA and Italy. Use ‘em while you’ve got ‘em!
Pros:
very good combat stats high fort attack good terrain modifiers unlocks CA fast
Cons:
temporary
Infantry Unit Types
Infantry - most common WWII era type of unit. uni t. Good for all around fighting. fi ghting. Combined Arms Group - INFANTRY Available as support brigade (Infantry Battalion). Available in SS and Guards variants.
Pros:
cheap and easy to build good all round combat stats (Soft Attack, terrain attack/defence, toughness and defensiveness)
Cons:
slow (3.6 kph - default speed) high softness (100%)
Light Infantry - as name says it lighter version of above unit, stripped from all heavy equipment Combined Arms Group - INFANTRY
Pros:
fast (4.5 kph - default speed) good rough terrain stats for attack and defence cheaper and faster to build than normal Infantry low supply consumption
Cons:
lower strength and defensiveness makes them more prone to shattering high softness (100%)
Elite Light Infantry - much stronger than Infantry and Light Infantry. This unit is mix of Marines, Mountain Infantry and Motorized Infantry. Combined Arms Group - INFANTRY
Available only for Italy, France and Japan. Also available as ELINF Battalion
Pros:
Can be paradropped (for ELINF battalion) very good combat stats low softness (70%) good terrain bonuses for marshes, jungle good fort attack fast (5.6 kph - default speed) low Manpower cost
Cons:
requires fuel high IC cost very long build time extremely high Officer cost
Semi-Motorized Infantry - larval stage of Motorized Infantry. Go od if you want something so mething faster than Infantry and Light Infantry but can’t afford Motorized Infantry. Combined Arms Group - INFANTRY
Pros:
fast (5 kph - default speed) with higher maximum speed than Elite Light Infantry
Cons:
slightly weaker terrain stats than Infantry high MP cost
Motorized Infantry - fully motorized infantry brigade. Strong, fast, expensive. Combined Arms Group - INFANTRY
Available as support brigade (Motorized Infantry Battalion). Available in SS and Guards variants. Pros:
very fast (6 kph - default speed) very good combat stats good terrain bonuses for easier terrain - plains and desert low softness (60%)
Cons:
expensive and slow to build big rough terrain penalties penalties - mountains, mountains, marshes, marshes, jungle high fuel consumption
Mechanised Infantry - heaviest and strongest available infantry unit in game. Combined Arms Group - INFANTRY
Available as support brigade (Mechanised Infantry Battalion) Available in SS and Guards variants Pros:
fastest infantry in game (7 kph - default speed) strongest infantry in game in terms of combat stats very low softness (34%) good desert and plains attack very good fort attack
Cons:
very expensive and slow to build
extremely high officers cost very high rough terrain penalties - mountains, marshes, jungle mostly very high supply and fuel consumption available in 1941
Cavalry – old school horse mounted infantry. Close to useless for anything except anti partisan duty, or encirclements. Combined Arms Group - INFANTRY
Available in Guards and SS variants Pros:
faster than infantry units (5.5 kph default speed) cheaper and much faster to build than other infantry units very good plains and desert attack good suppression
Cons:
relatively high officers cost comparing to overall unit strength very low combat stats high softness (100%)
Militia - poor countries’ infantry, or volunteer fanatics. Combined Arms Group - INFANTRY
Available in Fascist and Communist variants. Pros:
cheap and fast to build the best urban defence in game very high mountains, marsh and jungle defence very low supply consumption very low officer cost high (Communist) and very high (Fascist) suppression
Cons:
very low combat stats weak at attacking very slow
Special Forces
Mountain Infantry - as the name states, designed, trained and equipped for fighting in mountains. Combined Arms Group - SPECIAL FORCES
Also available in SS variant Pros:
the best attack/defence stats for woods, forests, hills and mountains faster than Infantry (4.33 kph) very low supply consumption
Cons:
more expensive than Infantry and Light Infantry requires substantial Leadership investment to show its full potential slightly weaker than Infantry when it comes to combat stats and strength
high softness (100%)
Paratroopers - first available airborne main brigade. Combined Arms Group - SPECIAL FORCES
Also available in SS and Guards variants. Pros:
can be paradropped, obviously faster than infantry (4.5 kph default speed) highest toughness from all non-motorized infantry units very low supply consumption very high organisation
Cons:
very low strength relatively expensive and slow to build high officers cost high softness (100%)
Airlanding Infantry - bigger and heavier version of paratroopers. Combined Arms Group - SPECIAL FORCES
Pros:
you guessed it, they can be paradropped higher combat stats than Paratroopers very low supply consumption similar cost to Infantry faster than infantry (4.5 kph default speed)
Cons:
high softness (100%) very difficult to transport (high weight) which will require more transport planes to move around available in 1941
Ski Infantry - made for fighting in arctic terrain. Combined Arms Group - SPECIAL FORCES
Available in SS variant. Pros:
only unit in game without crippling arctic penalties cheaper than infantry faster than infantry (4.5 kph default speed) low supply consumption
Cons:
much lower combat stats than other infantry units terrible strength/manpower ratio
Marines - naval invasion specialists. Best unit for that job. Combined Arms Group - SPECIAL FORCES
Pros:
high amphibious attack bonus faster than infantry (4.5 kph default speed) better than infantry infantry in toughness toughness and and defensiveness defensiveness very high jungle and marsh attack/defence
low supply consumption lower softness (80%)
Cons:
very expensive and slow to build very high officer cost requires fuel needs lots of research to unlock
Naval Infantry - weaker more available version of Marines made mostly for less naval oriented countries. Combined Arms Group - SPECIAL FORCES
Pros:
cheaper than infantry and marines low supply consumption faster than infantry (4.5 kph default speed) good jungle modifiers and decent amphibious attack
Cons:
weaker than infantry in terms of combat stats terrible strength/manpower ratio
Special Forces/Commando - elite formations trained to fight in every type of terrain, weather and capable of fighting against much larger enemy formations. Combined Arms Group - SPECIAL FORCES
Available in SS variant. Pros:
Can be paradropped high bonuses stats for all types of terrain best manpower manpower to stats ratio in game game extremely high fort and amphibious attack bonuses very low supplies consumption low softness (50%) very fast (9 kph default speed) high combat stats - mostly soft attack, defensiveness and toughness very low MP cost
Cons:
very long build time requires fuel
Armored Unit Types
Light Armor Brigade - standard early war armored unit. Stuarts, Panzer IIs, T70s. Combined Arms Group - ARMORED
Also available as support brigade (Light Armor Attachment) Pros:
fastest main brigade in game (5 kph base speed with much higher potential) huge terrain bonuses for hills, plains and desert low softness (20%)
Cons:
very high terrain penalties for mountains, arctic, jungle and river
“weak weak compared to other tank units” high officer cost (standard for tank units) high build cost
Armor Brigade - main unit for all tank forces f orces around the world. Shermans, Panthers, T34s. Combined Arms Group - ARMORED
Also available as support brigade (Armor Attachment) Also available in SS and Guards variants Pros:
very good combat stats good terrain stats for plains, hills and desert great stats/MP ratio good armourb low softness (10%) decent speed (4 kph with higher potential speed)
Cons:
very high fuel usage and high supply consumption very high terrain penalties for marsh, mountains, jungle, river and amphibious attack high officer cost (standard for tank units) high build cost
Heavy Armor Battalion - Tigers, IS2s, Pershings. Heavy, slow and powerful. Combined Arms Group - ARMORED
Available only as an attachment Also available in SS and Guards variants Pros:
very good combat stats high armor value good piercing great fort attack very good stats/MP ratio relatively short build time low MP cost very low softness (5%)
Cons:
very high IC cost very high attack penalties for most types of terrain very high officer cost very high supply and fuel consumption much slower than other armored units
Infantry Tank - armored unit designed as support for infantry units. Combined Arms Group - ARMORED
Available only as attachment Pros:
very high SA high armor value in first years of the war relatively short build time low softness (10%) good terrain bonuses for plains, desert and fort
Cons:
very high fuel usage and high supply consumption very high terrain penalties for marsh, mountains, jungle, river and amphibious attack low officer cost (for tank units standards) high build cost
Super Heavy Armor - heaviest available unit in game – the Maus. Combined Arms Group - ARMORED
Available only as attachment
Literally a fortress on tracks. Close to impenetrable armour, incredibly high attack stats, but very slow, very high fuel consumption, and takes an age to build.
Special Purpose Armor - created for use with Paratroopers, Airlanding Infantry and naval invasions. Combined Arms Group - ARMORED
Available only as an attachment Pros:
Can be paradropped great amphibious attack bonus
Cons:o
bad stats/cost stats/cost ratio expensive and long to build high officer cost
Other (unassigned) Unit Types
Garrison - unit good at one job only - defending and stalling. Combined Arms Group - NO CATEGORY
Also available as attachment (Garrison Detachment) Pros:
very high defensiveness very fast and cheap to build very low officer cost decent suppression
Cons:
terrible at anything else than defending very slow bad stats/MP ratio ratio high softness (100%)
HQ Defence Attachment - as name states, unit made for OOB HQs - corps, army etc. Combined Arms Group – Group – INFANTRY INFANTRY
Pros:
high defensiveness good speed (5 kph default speed)
Cons:
high officer cost (higher than Infantry Brigade)
requires fuel weak combat stats high softness (100%)
SUPPORT BRIGADES
Mixed Support Brigade - treat this as mix of AT, AA, Eng and Rec.Cav. Combined Arms Group - SUPPORT
Available also in SS variant. Pros:
very good terrain attack and movement bonuses good softness (70%) high defensiveness
Cons:
very high officer cost very long build time high supply consumption for a support brigade doesn’t quite match the stats of dedicated AA/AT etc brigades when combined
Motorized Support Brigade - similar to above but closer to mix of AT, AA, Eng and Mot.Rec/AC Combined Arms Group - SUPPORT
Available also in SS variant. Pros:
good softness (60%) good speed (5 kph default speed) good fort attack bonus
Cons:
very long build time very high officer cost very high supply consumption for a support brigade
Armored Support Brigade - mix of TD, SP AA, Arm.Eng and AC Combined Arms Group - SUPPORT
Available also in SS variant. Pros:
very good piercing value good combat stats very good toughness low softness (20%) good terrain bonuses for movement and attack in plains, hills, desert and against forts good speed (6 kph default speed)
Cons:
extremely high officer cost very high supply and fuel consumption very expensive and slow to build
Airborne Mixed Support - old Airborne Artillery. Now mix of s aid unit, AT and Mot.Rec. Combined Arms Group - SUPPORT
Pros:
Can indeed be paradropped good softness (60%) good combat stats very good terrain movement and decent attack bonuses low supply consumption
Cons:
high IC cost and long build time high officer cost
Artillery – the queen of the battlefield. In 8.0 it has been rebalanced: no more high soft attack. Instead, it gives terrain attack/defence bonuses. Combined Arms Group - ARTILLERY
Available also in SS variant. Pros:
good terrain attack/defence bonuses cheap and fast to build fast (6 kph default speed)
Cons:
weaker than Medium Artillery high officer cost
Medium Artillery - bigger brother of Artillery Brigade. Combined Arms Group - ARTILLERY
Available also in SS variant. Pros:
very good terrain attack/defence bonuses fast (4,5 kph default speed with lots of tech increasing it) more expensive than Artillery but still can be described as cheap
Cons:
requires fuel high officer cost high combat width
Heavy Artillery - heaviest artillery unit with actual movement ability. Combined Arms Group - ARTILLERY
Pros:
great terrain attack/defence bonuses great fort attack
Cons:
slow (3 kph default speed) high supply and fuel consumption high officer cost high combat width expensive and slow to build
Rocket Artillery - all Rocket Artillery units (both!) give soft attack - not terrain attack/defence bonuses. Combined Arms Group - ARTILLERY
Available also in SS and Guards variants. Pros:
very cheap and fast to build decent soft attack lowest officer cost from all artillery brigades lowest MP cost from all artillery brigades
Cons:
requires extra LS investment to unlock terrain penalties
Pack Artillery - artillery created for fighting in mountains, woods, forests and hills. Combined Arms Group - ARTILLERY
Available also in SS variant. Pros:
great attack/defence bonuses for terrain listed above low supply consumption very low combat width
Cons:
high officer cost slow to build requires some research to show its true strength
Self-Propelled Artillery - Artillery that is moving on its own! Combined Arms Group - ARTILLERY
Available also in SS variant. Pros:
it moves. Fast. (5 kph default speed) very good terrain attack/defence bonuses low softness (20%)
Cons:
very expensive to build high supply and fuel consumption high officers cost high combat width high MP cost
Self-Propelled Rocket Artillery - Rocket Artillery that is copying SP Art. Combined Arms Group - ARTILLERY
Available also in SS and Guards variant. Pros:
Cons:
high soft attack low softness (20%) lower combat width than SP Art cheap and fast to build comparing to SP Art fast (6 kph default speed)
high officers cost requires extra LS investment to unlock terrain penalties high fuel consumption only becomes available in 1942
Railway Artillery - huge guns. Gustav, Dora etc. Combined Arms Group - NO CATEGORY
Available only via events! Pros:
highest possible fort attack very high urban attack
Cons:
forced to strategic redeploy useless at defence
Anti-Tank - standard weapon against enemy armore d vehicles Combined Arms Group - DIRECT FIRE
Available also in SS variant. Pros:
good piercing value good hard attack very cheap and fast to build good softness (60%) low officer cost fast (6 kph default speed)
Cons:
not good at anything else than piercing/HA
Heavy Anti-Tank - bigger and better version of Anti-Tank Combined Arms Group - DIRECT FIRE
Available also in SS variant. Pros:
very good piercing value very good hard attack more expensive than AT but still can be considered cheap and fast to build good softness (70%) fast (6 kph default speed)
Cons:
not good at anything else than piercing/HA requires fuel available in 1942
Anti-Air - shoots down enemy aircraft, or other things you point it at. Combined Arms Group - NO C ATEGORY
Available also in SS variant.
Pros:
very high Air Attack very cheap and fast to build low officer cost low supply consumption fast (6 kph default speed) good softness (70%)
Cons:
can’t pierce can’t pierce heavier heavier tanks
Heavy Anti-Air - “must have” brigade in most cases. Combined Arms Group - NO CATEGORY
Available also in SS variant. Pros:
King of piercing. Have a tank you need pierced? Heavy anti-air. Decent other combat stats
Cons:
requires fuel not great at anything else than piercing and air defence
Tank Destroyer - very mobile anti-tank gun. Stug III, GMC M3. Combined Arms Group - DIRECT FIRE
Pros:
very fast (5 kph default speed with lots of techs increasing it) good combat stats very good stats/cost ratio low softness (20%)
Cons:
high officer cost
Medium Tank Destroyer - less mobile, but more powerful class of tank destroyers. Marders, Hetzers, SU-85s, M10s, M18s, Archers, Comets, M36s, Jagdpanzers. Combined Arms Group - DIRECT FIRE
Available also in SS variant. Pros:
very high hard attack good combat stats very good stats/cost ratio low softness (10%)
Cons:
expensive high officer cost very high fuel consumption
Heavy Tank Destroyer - heaviest available unit designed for dealing with enemy heavy armor. Jagdtigers, SU-100s, T28s. Combined Arms Group - DIRECT FIRE
Pros:
highest hard attack in game
great piercing value very high armour value very low softness (3%) very good combat stats
Cons:
very expensive high supply and very high fuel consumption extremely slow (2 kph default speed) very high officer cost
Assault Gun - almost perfect support brigade for infantry units. Stug III ausf. E, SU-76, SU-7 6, Churchill AVRE. Combined Arms Group - DIRECT FIRE
Pros:
good soft attack high armor value, defensiveness and toughness low softness (10%) good stats/cost ratio
Cons:
high officer cost
Heavy Assault Gun - AG on steroids. Lots of steroids. Sturmtiger, ISU-152. Combined Arms Group - DIRECT FIRE
Pros:
extremely high armor value extremely high soft attack great combat stats very low softness (3%) great stats/MP ratio very high fort attack
Cons:
very high fuel and high supply consumption expensive to build high officer cost slow (2 kph base speed)
Self-Propelled Anti-Air - same as in other cases - gun attached to vehicle. Combined Arms Group - NO CATEGORY
Available also in SS variant. Pros:
very good piercing fast (6,67 kph default speed) low softness (20%) good combat stats
Cons:
expensive low defensiveness and toughness
Recon Cavalry - very old school recon unit. Combined Arms Group - RECON
Pros:
very cheap and fast to build as every recon unit gives great terrain bonuses high suppression
Cons:
slowest of all recon units high softness (100%)
Motorcycle Recon - more modern recon unit Combined Arms Group - RECON
Available also in SS variant. Pros:
extremely fast (10 kph default speed) very cheap and fast to build extremely low supply consumption low softness (50%) good suppression
Cons:
requires fuel
Armored Car - armored recon unit Combined Arms Group - RECON
Available also in SS variant. Pros:
extremely fast (5 kph default speed with very high potential) very good toughness very good air attack decent armor low softness (42%) good suppression
Cons:
most expensive recon unit
Engineer - experts at rivers crossing, fort attacking, dealing with all kind of static obstacles Combined Arms Group - ASSAULT
Available also in SS variant. Pros:
very high fort attack good river attack good terrain bonuses low softness (60%)
Cons:
high officer cost low toughness
Armoured Engineer - engineers equipped with heavy specialised vehICles Combined Arms Group - ASSAULT
Available also in SS variant. Pros:
very low softness (20%) very high fort attack good river attack good terrain bonuses very high toughness and defensiveness
Cons:
very expensive and slow to build high fuel consumption very high officer cost
SD - German unit with one job in i n mind - suppression Combined Arms Group - NO CATEGORY
Pros:
very high suppression low MP cost
Cons:
requires fuel
NKVD - Soviet suppression unit Combined Arms Group - NO CATEGORY
Pros:
highest suppression in game very fast (8 kph default speed) very high organisation low softness (55%)
Cons:
requires fuel relatively high build cost
MP - standard military police Combined Arms Group - NO CATEGORY
Pros:
good suppression cheap and fast to build
Cons:
requires fuel
Conscripts - available only via events. Untrained people with rifles. Sometimes, just untrained people with no weapons. Combined Arms Group - INFANTRY
Pros:
free very high fort attack high strength
Cons:
very weak combat stats
AIR UNITS
Interceptor - air combat workhorse. Pros:
cheap and fast to build very good air defence and air attack low supply and fuel consumption
Cons:
short range
Fighter-Bomber - basically it’s an interceptor with small ground attacking ability. A BF109 with a bomb attached to it, for example. Pros:
good air combat stats long range fast night attack bonus (50%)
Cons:
more expensive than INT high supply and fuel consumption weaker than INT at air combat without “Fighter/Bomber to Interceptor conversion” tech
Twin Engine Fighter - a heavy fighter with decent air combat stats Pros:
very high night attack bonus (150%) good ground attack stats very long range
Cons:
lower air combat stats than INT and FTR high supply and fuel consumption expensive to build
Rocket Interceptor – an interceptor with a rocket engine. No surprises here. Pros:
extremely fast
Cons:
uses Rocket Practical low air combat stats for something that supposed to be for intercepting expensive requires lots of research to unlock short range high supply consumption
Jet Fighter - early models of modern fighters f ighters Pros:
very fast long range very good air combat stats
Cons:
extremely expensive and very long build time high supply consumption requires huge LS investment to unlock and keep on par with classic INT
Close Air Support - a single engine plane for ground support Pros:
best hard attack attack of all air units units good soft attack great stats/cost ratio
Cons:
low range slow
Light Bomber - a twin engine plane designed for ground support Pros:
high soft attack decent hard attack good range
Cons:
high fuel consumption
Medium Bomber – simply a bigger version of Light Bomber Pros:
high soft attack decent hard attack long range
Cons:
most expensive ground support unit high supply and fuel consumption
Heavy Bomber - 4 engine bombers designed for strategic bombing Pros:
very high strategic attack very long range
Cons:
very expensive and slow to build very high supply and fuel consumption slow
Jet Bomber - more modern variant of bombers combining strengths of all three types Pros:
high soft attack (lower than Light and Medium Bomber though)
very long range very fast
Cons:
very high supply consumption requires huge LS investment to unlock and keep on par with classic bombers extremely expensive and slow to build
Naval Bomber - a bomber with one purpose: sinking enemy ships Pros:
high sea attack very high surface detection very long range
Cons:
expensive high fuel and supply consumption
Flying Boat - its main task is spotting enemy ships and scouting Pros:
very high surface detection very long range
Cons:
low sea attack expensive high fuel consumption
Carrier Air Group - mix of fighters, fight ers, dive bombers and torpedo bombers operating from a carrier or based on land Pros:
very good sea attack good air combat stats good ground attack long range very high organisation
Cons:
very expensive to build requires lots of LS to show its full potential
Transport Plane - not much to explain here, transports paratroops and can be used to air supply units that are out of supply Pros:
decent range cheapest air transport unit available shares practical with light and medium bombers
Cons:
low range smallest transport capacity of all transport air units
Heavy Transport Plane - 4 engine version of the standard transport plane Pros:
very high transport capacity long range
Cons:
very high build cost and time uses heavy plane practical high fuel and supply consumption
Assault Glider - big gliders designed for transporting troops and equipment Pros:
very high transport capacity cheap and fast to build
Cons:
low range very slow uses heavy plane practical very high fuel consumption
V1 - flying bomb Pros:
very cheap and fast to build high strategic attack
Cons:
requires lots of research to unlock can be easily intercepted very short range
V2 - first strategic rocket Pros:
cheap and fast to build high strategic attack extremely fast
Cons:
short range requires lots of research to unlock
NAVAL UNITS Carriers
Carrier (CV) - queen of the seas! Pros:
fast
2 Carrier Air Groups very long attack range very long range
Cons:
very expensive to build (+2 CAG) requires much higher LS investment than other naval units
Super Carrier (SCV) - bigger and more powerful carrier Pros:
3 Carrier Air Groups very long attack range extremely high range
Cons:
extremely expensive and slow to build slower than CV high supply and fuel consumption extremely high officer cost
Light Carrier (CVL) - small carrier, usually early pre-war construction Pros:
cheap comparing to normal CV
Cons:
slow only 1 CAG
Escort Carrier (CVE) - Carrier designed for Anti-Submarine Warfare and convoy protection Pros:
very high submarine detection high submarine attack very long attack range much cheaper than other CV variants
Cons:
fragile slow 0 CAG
Capitals Battleship (BB) - heavily armored, huge guns, beautiful, deadly Pros:
very resilient high sea and convoy attack good sea attack range
Cons:
relatively slow expensive
Super Heavy Battleship (SBB) - much bigger version of standard BB Pros:
extremely resilient very high sea and convoy attack very good sea attack range
Cons:
very expensive high officer cost high fuel consumption slower than BB
Battlecruiser (BC) - something between CA and BB Pros:
fast high convoy attack decent sea attack much cheaper than BB
Cons:
most fragile capital ship
Pocket Battleship (PBB) - very small battleship. Not exactly pocket sized Pros:
very low officer cost very fast cheap decent combat stats
Cons:
weaker than BC
Screens Heavy Cruiser (CA) - heaviest screen available Pros:
very fast decent combat stats for a screen
Cons:
not as useful or cost efficient as CL or AA-CL
Light Cruiser (CL) - by default used as escort for CV fleets Pros:
fast cheap
Cons:
weak sea defence
Anti-Air Cruiser (AACL) - modified CL with focus on air attack
Pros:
fast high air attack cheap decent submarine attack
Cons:
low sea defence requires additional tech to unlock
Destroyer (DD) - queen of escort ships Pros:
very fast cheap very good submarine attack and detection very low officer cost
Cons:
dies like flies short range
te (DE) - ship good only for ASW Pros:
very high submarine attack high submarine detection very cheap extremely cost officer cost
Cons:
short range weak at anything except ASW dies even quicker than DD
Torpedo Boat (TB) - fast moving small ships armed with few torpedo launchers Pros:
very fast very cheap decent submarine attack
Cons:
very fragile low sea attack very short range
Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) - faster and smaller ships focused on torpedo attack Pros:
fastest naval unit decent submarine attack very low visibility almost free
with almost no officer cost
Cons:
very short range very fragile low sea attack
Submarines Long Range Submarine (LSS) - ocean submarines with extreme range Pros:
great convoy attack very long range low visibility
Cons:
expensive and slow to build only becomes available late in game high officer cost
Submarine (SS) - not much to explain here Pros:
great convoy attack low visibility
Cons:
can be considered expensive
Coastal Submarine (CSS) - smaller sub designed for short range convoy hunting Pros:
decent convoy attack cheaper than SS
Cons:
bad stats/cost stats/cost ratio short range
Midget Submarine (MSS) - miniature subs with very small crew Pros:
high sea attack very low visibility very cheap
Cons:
very short range very slow extremely fragile
Nuclear Submarine - good luck with playing that long Pros:
Cons:
it is nuclear submarine
very expensive only available very very late
Transports Passenger Ship (LINER) - ship only for transporting troops from port to port. IT CAN’T BE USED TO DO NAVAL INVASIONS!!!
Pros:
good transport capacity
Cons:
no combat value quite expensive IT CAN’T BE USED TO DO NAVAL INVASIONS!!!
Landing Craft (LC) - unit designed for sole purpose of doing naval invasions Pros:
CAN BE USED FOR NAVAL INVASIONS quite cheap available early
Cons:
easy to sink
Assault Ship (AS) - more specialised specialised ship for naval invasions Pros:
CAN BE USED FOR NAVAL INVASIONS better invasion invasion speed than than LC
Cons:
easy to sink only available in 1942
Auxiliary Vessels and Long Range Auxiliary Vessels - available only via events, confiscated merchant ships Pros:
CAN BE USED FOR NAVAL INVASIONS available instantly after starting the war
Cons:
extremely fragile low transport capacity low invasion speed
Misc Seaplane Tender (ST) – small ship with floatplane, used for scouting Pros:
Cons:
Good for scouting, spotting ships Can normally escape combat without dying
Doesn’t offer much to combat
Convoy Raider - available only via events, merchant ship equipped with few guns d esigned for hunting enemy merchant ships Pros:
very low visibility despite low stats quite good at convoy raiding free very long range
Cons:
easy to sink… if they can be can be caught caught
DIVISION SETUPS
Infantry
Classic (default) setup:
Infantry Brigade Artillery Anti-Tank Recon Cavalry Engineer HQ Horses (for Axis/Russia), Trucks (Allies) Anti-Air
Good for almost everything, cheap, with short build time and doesn’t need fuel. Its main flaw is that it isn’t great at anyth ing. For more difficult tasks like mountain combat, jungle or breakthroughs it will always be better to use units more suited for those jobs. 100% softness also doesn’t make using them easier especially in late war era (1944+): they won’t last long against armoured formations or heavy air attack.
Heavy Infantry:
Infantry Brigade Medium Artillery Anti-Tank (upgraded to Heavy Anti-Tank when available) Armored Car Engineer HQ Trucks Heavy Anti-Air
As the name says - heavy variant with brigades using fuel. This is main weakness of this division since most players expect their infantry to be easy to supply. It’s also more expensive to bu ild than default divisions. But in return we get much better combat stats, best in game piercing and very good terrain bonuses.
Light Infantry:
Light Infantry Brigade Pack Artillery
Anti-Tank Armoured Car Engineer HQ Light Transport Heavy Anti-Air
This is setup made with one thing in mind - to get relatively cheap infantry division with best possible terrain bonuses and also decent fighting capabilities. At first it may look weird but it works great in combat. LINF lowers build cost and supply consumption while AC+H.AA+AT give mix of Hard Attack, Toughness and Piercing values. Light Transport will unlock Mobile CA bonus. As with all Inf. Divisions main problem is high softness and in this case lower than usual strength (6000 vs 9000 for normal Inf.). And because heavier units and mobile transport it requires fuel.
Mobile Infantry
Elite Light Infantry Division:
Elite Light Infantry Brigade Anti-Tank Artillery or Medium Artillery or Pack Art (if lots of battles in mountains are planned) Motorcycle Recon Engineer Light Transport HQ Heavy Anti-Air
This setup is a nice compromise between speed and firepower. Cost is debatable thing here since ELINF brigade is from “expensive” category. In return we get division that has low supply consumption and very good terrain stats for both combat and movement.
Semi-Motorized Infantry:
Semi-Motorized Infantry Brigade Medium Artillery Anti-Tank (upgrade to Heavy Anti-Tank when available) Armoured Car Engineer Light Transport HQ Heavy Anti-Air
Think of it as a more mobile Heavy Infantry division. It is more expensive though and will consume more fuel and supplies but at some some point will be almost almost twice as fast as normal normal infantry divisions. divisions. It still has good good terrain modifiers modifiers and combat combat stats. With added later Heavy AA it is capable of fighting against almost everything. Still, it has very high softness which will make it vulnerable to enemy attack. What’s making this division tempting is its much lower build cost than Motorized Infantry.
Motorized Infantry Division:
Motorized Infantry Brigade Medium Artillery Tank Destroyer Armored Car Light Armor Attachment or Armor Attachment Trucks
HQ Heavy Anti-Air
With this division there is small problem. It’s fast and powerful but lacks piercing. To solve that problem add Heavy AA (or AT) but this will slow down the who le division. Difference in speed won’t be huge but it’s there. This is something that everyone needs to decide for himself, based on the enemy they are fighting. Overall this setup is strong, but also will suffer in more difficult terrain. As always mob ile units don’t do well in mountains, marshes or jungle. Still it has high combat stats which make fighting in such terrain possible. As always such strong unit will cost us lots of supplies and fuel which might a problem in low infrastructure countries. Moreover, this setup has very high CA bonus thanks to covering almost all possible slots.
Motorized Infantry Division - cheap
Motorized Infantry Brigade Medium Artillery Anti-Tank (later upgraded to Heavy AT) Motorcycle Recon Engineer Light Transport HQ Heavy Anti-Air
Mot.Inf. division for countries with smaller IC or if player wants more, quickly. It has lower combat stats than previous setup but it’s much easier to supply and has better terrain stats thanks to Engineers. Of course it will be also slower. slower. In this case adding Heavy AA isn’t a question but a necessity, because this division will need every SA or HA point it can get in addition to the obvious piercing bonus.
M otorized Infantry Division - speed focus
Motorized Infantry Brigade Tank Destroyer Light Armor Attachment Armored Car Trucks (when available upgrade to Half-tracks) HQ
Only 4 combat brigades to maximize terrain movement bonuses. All brigades here have minimum speed of 7kph so this division will be very fast. But this comes at a huge price. No attack/defence bonuses from artillery and no engineers make it much weaker in combat than previous setups. It also lacks piercing. But if speed is needed it is the second best setup.
Mechanised Infantry Division - generic:
Mechanised Infantry Brigade Self-Propelled Artillery Tank Destroyer (later upgraded to Medium TD) Heavy Anti-Air Armoured Engineers Armor Attachment Half-Tracks HQ
Mechanised Infantry is available in 1941 so Superior Firepower (1940) should already be unlocked. Same goes for Armoured Engineers. Mech.Inf divisions are very expensive, consume lots of fuel and supplies, but are one of the most powerful divisions in game. One of the main weaknesses of those divisions is terrible performance in rough terrain. To balance this out in less demanding places like plains, hills or desert this division will be next to unstoppable.
Mechanised Infantry Division - Fort Buster Setup
Mechanised Infantry Brigade Heavy Armor Heavy Artillery Armoured Engineers Special Forces (Commando) Battle Commander Armored Support Brigade Half-Tracks
This isn’t best thing there is for attacking forts but it will be enough to deal with most fortified places in game - low level mud/snow, random forts scattered across the map etc. Unfortunately it has even worse terrain penalties than previous setup (despite using Heavy Art which gives bigger bonuses), but thanks to very strong brigades it still has great combat stats which make it very dangerous in every situation.
Armor Light Armor Division - standard
Light Armor Brigade Motorized Infantry Attachment Artillery Anti-Tank or Tank Destroyer Motorcycle Recon Light Transport HQ
Typical pre-war pre- war setup for tank division. It has relatively good combat stats and it’s faster than most of units of that era. Even during war when more powerful divisions are commonly used it still retains some of its strengths like good speed and decent firepower. Another plus of this division are good terrain stats. Thanks to its use of lighter equipment it has lower penalties for terrain like mountains or jungle.
Light Armor Divisions - exploitation/speed focus
Light Armor Brigade Motorized Infantry Attachment (later upgraded to Mechanized Infantry Attachment) Tank Destroyer Armored Car Trucks (later upgraded to Half-Tracks) HQ
Earlier I mentioned faster division than exploitation based Mot.Inf. This is it. With 1941 techs it can go more than 10 kph in plains. It’s not not good at front front line combat combat - only 4 brigades, LARM, no artillery, but its purpose isn’t to fight. It can outrun everything, overrun any retreating unit and quickly b e deployed across a large area. Still it’s not advised to use them against huge stack of enemy troops or proper tank divisions.
Tank Division - with upgrades
Armor Brigade Motorized Infantry Attachment (upgr. to Mech.Inf.Att.) Tank Destroyer (upgr. to Medium TD) Medium Artillery (upgr. to Self Propelled Art.) Engineers (upgr. to Armoured Eng.) Trucks (upgr. to Half-Tracks) HQ Heavy Anti-Air (upgr. to Self Propelled AA)
From the day it is available it will be one of the strongest setups possible. What makes it even better is that every part of this division has some stronger version unlocked later in game. Even more amazing is that despite using heavier equipment it will get faster and faster. Terrain bonuses also aren’t bad thanks to Medium Art (SP Art) and Engineers (Arm.Eng). Still, combat effectiveness in marshes or mountains will be very low. As always for strong unit this division will consume huge amount of fuel and supplies.
Specialised Forces
Paratrooper Divisi Division
Paratroopers Paratroopers (eventually replaced with Airlanding Infantry Brigade) Motorcycle Recon Light Transport HQ Airborne Mixed Support Brigade Amphibious Armor Brigade
Specialised divisions are great at one particular job but most of them suffers from same problem: most of useful brigades is unavailable pre-war. pre- war. That’s why this division looks like this. Before war we have only Paratroopers and Mot.Recon to create those divisions. Later, with better techs we get access to new brigades that will make this division stronger and more combat capable. There is side effect of course: more equipment will make division much heavier and harder to carry using a small amount of transport planes. It will also increase fuel and supply consumption which sometimes may be huge problem for division fighting almost always behind enemy lines – be be sure to use a leader with appropriate traits (this goes for all divisions, but especially airborne). Once you have Superior Firepower, and if you can afford it, you can add in a Commando brigade to make these bad boys really capable.
Mountain Division - default setup
Mountain Infantry Pack Artillery Anti-Tank Recon Cavalry Engineer Horse Transport HQ
It’s similar to Inf. division - as simple as possible, available early and good at its job. This division has low supply consumption. Main and obvious strength of this division is ability to fight in mountains. It also has great bonuses for hills, woods and forests combat and movement. It’s slightly more expensive and time consuming to build than standard Inf. division. Also it requires quite big leadership investment but in return we get divisions that in the aforementioned terrain will easily defeat standard Inf. division and lighter mobile divisions. Once Superior Firepower is researched you can add in Light Infantry for more front line capabilities at low cost.
Mountain Division - alternate setup Mountain Infantry Pack Artillery Anti-Tank Armored Car Engineer Light Transport HQ Heavy Anti-Air Heavier setup, more expensive and also consuming some fuel. Not much, but it should be listed. Main difference is adding AC and Light Transport. Those two units will give division more punch (extra CA bonus from Light Transp. and better combat stats from AC) but will increase supply consumption and whole divisions will require fuel to move. Terrain stats will
stay roughly the same so we don’t lose much and we get stronger division in return. Once Superior Firepower is available adding Heavy AA will give this division Piercing Value high enough to fight with any division there is.
Marines/Naval Infantry
Marines (or Naval Infantry if Marines aren’t available) Pack Artillery Anti-Tank Engineer Light Transport HQ Amphibious Armor Special Forces (Commando)
Same problem as with Paratrooper Division - 2 very good additions are unavailable in the first few years. Even without them this division is quite good thanks to Marines being a very strong unit with good terrain stats for terrain like jungle or marshes. It is of course much weaker if we don’t have Marines and we are forced to use Naval Infantry. This setup supply needs are very low and unless Amphibious Armor is used it doesn’t require fuel. Big boost for this division are Commando s with their great terrain bonuses and combat stats. In full setup this unit will perform very well at both naval invasions and fighting on front lines.
Questions and Answers – if you have a question, suggest it in the thread, and we will add it here! Q- What artillery to use for armor and Motorised infantry? Artillery or Medium Artillery? Should I go with trucks or light trucks ? A-
Artillery is best for faster units, medium artillery is more powerful but slower.
Q- What if I add a truck or light vehicle / halftrack to my regular infantry - ENG - ART - AT? A - Infantry with trucks/ light vehicles etc will be faster than horses (and have mobile CA bonus), bonus), however, they will also require more supplies, and fuel. They will also be somewhat more expensive to build and maintain. Q- Will Heavy Artillery with horses be able to move? A-
Horses will move Heavy Artillery very slowly. Poor things, having to lug those big guns around!
Q- Do Corps/Armies HQs need trucks/L-trucks for moving? Q arms, but AT gives the same 5 % slot and brings 9 Hard attack to the table and costs a lot less. My understanding was that artillery historically caused 80 -90% of the soft casualties. But now it is only contributing about 12% of the Soft attack of a HQ+inf+Art div. Is there a hidden factor I am missing? A - Artillery provides large terrain attack and defence bonuses - depending on the terrain terrain and whether the type of artillery. The exception is rocket artillery which provides soft attack but not so much in the way of terrain bonuses. So it basically provides a big support to any attacking or defending units, and is not so useful on its own. (it caused around 75% of casualties, incidentally). Q- I have a problem w ith a British doomstack (around 60 ships) navy landing tro ops in Norway. I attacked them with well balanced fleets and good ad mirals. Lost most of my Destroyers and Light Cruiser and Bismarck, Tirpitz a nd Gneisenau were close to sinking. I even dominated the air and hit their CAG's pretty hard with my landbased CAG and Int. Did I do something wrong? Is there a trick I have to use? A-
The best defence against doomstacks is, unfortunately, a bigger doomstack. Otherwise keep them under observation and avoid crossing paths with them. This is general ly easy to do as t he doomstacks tend to occur if the AI is rebasing its fleet or s upporting an invasion. Wait for its mission to finish and the flee t to return to port. Usually the AI will then split the doomstack up and you can deal w ith the smaller groups as normal . If said doomstack is occurring in a multiplayer game, proceed to slap your opponent for being a douchebag.
Credits Edition 1.0 Panzeroo Oumajgad Edited by Das Gleiche
