An effective Combat Infantry division template for NO STEP BACK.
 
 

Mantra

First, our mantra!
 
 

‘Not every division works for every situation so I need to change things sometimes.’

 
 
that said, may I present:
 
 
 

A NEW HOI4 Meta – ‘The 28F’

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(28w Fire Supported Infantry)
 
 
As of writing this, I have over 11,500 Hours – [steamcommunity.com]  of HOI4 playtime; it is my favourite game. When NO STEP BACK introduced the tank designer I knew there were going to be some really fun things to try out. However, I was less than thrilled to have the complete rework of the combat width throw my invasion plans to the quagmire immediately.
 
 
The rework has been a blessing and a curse.
 
 
There are great videos from the community that provides a wealth of information, so I do want to acknowledge a couple for what part(s) I’m using/discussing – Feedback (
 

 
) and Taureor (
 

 
) are excellent watches and I encourage you to give them each a view if you haven’t.
 
 
But I was still struggling to find a viable division template to use effectively, probably like many of you. One of my long-time viewers had been CRUSHING achievements so I knew there was a good design out there; the notifications on my Steam page were becoming irksome, so I just asked what he was doing. Well, after using it a few times and in a couple of specific scenarios (Communist France with no air support, low supply, low manpower, and no doctrine!) I feel confident you will use this as a new ‘attack infantry’. Albeit with your own take. So… here it is:
 
 

 
 
 

Elements

Support companies as explained in the above video have a much larger role in the game now. For this reason, I have purposefully left the final slot empty.
 
 
I prefer to fill it with a Logistics Company or nothing, to provide a bit more organization. But you can manage that last spot how you see fit.
 
 
1x Light Scout Tank.
 
 
Make it cheap. Build whatever, honestly. I didn’t really get creative here.
 
 
1x Heavy Flame Tank.
 
 
I don’t think this HAS to be a Heavy Tank, but it can be cheaper for Canada to produce so I used it in this example. What the takeaway here is: Use what you’ve got available, light, medium, or heavy – the Flame Tank is what you’re looking for.
 
 
You’ll need Engineering II for the flame thrower mount and any tank cha*sis.
 
 
Then create a design with a minimum of 80% reliability and increase the armor as much as possible. The Infantry only moves at 4km/h so you don’t really need to crank out the engines, but keep it above 4km/h or you cant save your template. Bonus things to production like machine guns et al are totally up to you and how much production you want to dedicate to making support company tanks.
 
 
But, less is more I feel. (make them fuggn’ cheeeeeep)
 
 
Once created make sure to specify via the dropdown that it is a FLAME SUPPORT COMPANY. This will unlock the option in the division designer to add the appropriately sized flame tank company to your template.
 
 

 
 
 

Width

The odd 28 size combat width may feel or appear clunky, and the stats are not exactly what we’d call ‘appealing’. However, the effectiveness – the winning… that should give you some pause.
 
 

 
 
I have used this template with Grand Battleplan, Mobile Warfare, and Superior Firepower, the latter does provide the best results. and even switched it to a totally mobile German division – holy schnitzel!!! Air support goes a long way here, as it does everywhere, but it’s not required for success.
 
 
Try it as France or like I did above with Italy and watch the enemies melt away.
 
 
Finally, and most importantly, I want to thank Nikemac and his brother for this template design. Nike’s been a long-time supporter of my show on Twitch and I would love to see and hear YOUR division template designs, success or failure!
 
 
-OWC
 
 

 
 
This is all about Hearts of Iron IV – Effective Combat Infantry Division Template; I hope you enjoy reading the Guide! If you feel like we should add more information or we forget/mistake, please let us know via commenting below, and thanks! See you soon!