Unfortunately, since Germany is the main antagonist of Hearts of Iron 4, it will have to face all the great powers of the world at once and try to actually win somehow.
Most players think that strategies are enough to win everything. However, if you have only bad divisions, it’s impossible to beat any country’s army.
Since there are players that have managed to fail their push into France or Poland as Germany, it is clear that a little bit of help would go a long way.
So, in this guide, we will show you the best division templates you can use for Germany in Hearts of Iron 4 for all possible occasions.
Table of Contents
Best Garrison Template for Germany in HOI4
Though there are many debates about the best Garrison template in HOI4, the clear winner is a one battalion Cavalry division.
No Support, no extra Cavalry. To be clear, by Garrison, we refer to the template you use to control Resistance and Compliance, not actual divisions that you use to defend territories!
With one battalion of Cavalry, players will get the second-best Suppression/Manpower ratio that they can get.
The best one would be a full 50 width Cavalry division with Military Police support company, but that costs quite a bit of Army Experience at the start of the game, so keep it in mind for the late game.
Best Coastline Garrisons/VP Defenders Template for Germany
One of the most common problems Germany has in a HOI4 game is D-Day. When the Allies decide to attack its coastline, the war usually ends if the troops there aren’t decent enough.
However, Germany can’t invest too much on that part of the country considering the war with the USSR.
So, we have to come up with a decent compromise:
- x3 Infantry
- Support: Anti-Air, Engineer
The whole point of this template is to protect lands from debuffed naval invasions or out-of-supply attackers while not losing a lot of equipment and Manpower in their making.
Considering you aren’t planning on stacking these divisions on top of each other, they will do great in individually protecting their respective territory from attackers.
The Engineers will also be vital since they will give the division the necessary Entrenchment bonus to survive incoming attacks.
The Anti-Air will also be extremely useful, considering most players will want their CAS and Fighters on the front with the Soviets, leaving the whole of France and Germany without any protection from the Allies’ air wings.
Best German Infantry Templates
The Infantry template for Germany should evolve as the game goes on, as they will be important throughout the whole playthrough.
Even though the final goal would be getting a full army of Motorized/Mechanized Infantry, we will have to make due with what we got:
1939 Division
- x4 Infantry
- x3 Infantry
- Support: Anti-Air, Engineer, Artillery, Cavalry Recon
At the start of the game, the best combat width for smaller divisions would be either 14 or 15. For a pure Infantry division, that would mean 7 battalions stacked with good support companies.
Anti-Air and Engineers are a must for their amazing defensive capabilities. The Artillery and the Recon will be important if you want the divisions to actually push through anything.
Still, it depends on what front you are using the divisions. If they push the Soviet border, the Air won’t be as much of a problem, since Germany has to defeat their Air wings every time.
So, if they’re Anti-Soviet Infantry, you can remove the Anti-Air and change it to Anti-Tank.
On the Western front, Anti-Air will be very important, as they will have a never ending supply of new Air wings in the UK to bomb your territories.
1939 Mot Division
- 2×3 Motorized Infantry
- x1 Motorized Artillery
- Support: Engineer, Artillery, Motorized Recon, Maintenance
Since the main idea behind the way Germany fights is speed, normal Infantry won’t really cut it in France or Poland. For the Soviet front, players can use Leg Infantry, since there won’t be a lot of fast advancing of the line.
However, we need something more than Tanks to defeat the Allies. With very high Max Speed, this template will allow German players to cruise through broken frontlines.
With a relatively high stat in both Soft Attack and Defense, this division is ready to both hold lines and push them.
To make sure the Soft Attack is as high as possible, we stick a line Artillery and a support one as well. There’s no need for Anti-Air or Anti-Tank at this point, especially for what we need them to do.
Maintenance will be very important since the Reliability of this division will be poor.
One thing players might do to make this division extremely good for multiplayer and better, in general, is to remove one Motorized Infantry and add a Medium Tank to the mix, a tank with a design that keeps the 12 km/h Max Speed while also adding much needed Armor to the division.
This way, this template can face any type of Infantry division and more likely than not win, and also withstand the powerful attack of Tank divisions.
Best German Tank Divisions
Tank divisions are the most important part of the German army. Though there is no way to make a full army of just Tank divisions, Germany is the only country in HOI4 that can try.
The point of Tank divisions will be pushing through the frontline and advancing behind enemy lines, allowing the Infantry to push the whole line alongside them.
This is why the most important stats for Tank divisions will be a combination of Soft Attack with high Armor, Hardness, and Max Speed.
Generally, Tank divisions find their best footing at 35 Combat Width, so try to maintain that for all of them. In the worst case, you can also use 36 if you want some room for improvisation.
1939 Division
- 2×4 Medium Tank
- 2×4 Motorized Infantry
- x1 Motorized Artillery
- Support: Engineer, Motorized Recon, Logistics, Maintenance, Flame Tank
Medium Tanks are the best choice for both single-player and multiplayer HOI4 games since they have the best balance between power and speed with the right design, allowing you to use tanks the way it was intended.
We should also try to keep Organization close to 50 since this will make the division more powerful than most of the ones the AI will throw at you.
If you want to buff the template and make it more powerful, but less resistant, you can go for 3×4 Medium Tanks and 1×4 Motorized Infantry.
1942 Division
- 4 Medium Tank
- 3 Medium Tank
- 2×4 Mechanized Infantry
- x1 SP Artillery, x1 Tank Destroyer
- Support: Engineer, Motorized Recon, Logistics, Maintenance, Flame Tank
That’s everything you need to know about the best German templates in Hearts of Iron 4!
Have any input or suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.