84/21 = 4 remainder 0 for 0 ‘wasted’ width. Forest tiles have a combat width of 84 with an additional attack direction adding another 42 for a total of 126. To demonstrate, I will provide an example. Taking attacks and additional attacks, which add width, into account, 21-width divisions and 42-width divisions are the ones with the least ‘wastage.’ *I ignored marshes because they are rare and hills and mountains because only specialized mountaineer divisions should be fighting there. To get this number I simply looked at all of the terrain widths (except marshes, mountains, and hills) and picked the number that was divisible into each with the least remainder. In my opinion, the most efficient width for divisions is 21. Now players must settle for optimum width most of the time. The game devs made sure that there was no one ‘perfect’ division width that would fit every terrain. (For a more in-depth look at terrain, be sure to check out our guide on land combat here. Combat width now varies depending on the terrain in which the battle takes place. As the combat width was 80, some multiple of 80 be it 40, 20, or 10, was desirable. Previously in HOI4 the ideal combat width for division templates was easy to decipher. For this guide, I used 1940 tech (usually when the decisive fighting begins) and left the doctrine blank so as not to skew the stats for any battalion type. You can customize everything including tech level and doctrine. It allows you to play around with division composition.

** A great resource when experimenting with division design is this website: The best template for you will depend on the country you are playing and its current situation. To repeat: After the NSB DLC, there really aren’t any division templates that are objectively ‘the best’.In this article, I will give you what I believe are the best division templates and why I think so.

While I am happy to see the game add some strategic depth to give the player more options, it can also be a little confusing, especially for newer players, when trying to decide the best route to take. Whereas before, players had only to decide between one or two division templates to make the best division possible, now there is much more room for variation. Ever since the release of the ‘No Step Back’ DLC, the META (most effective tactic available) for Hearts of Iron 4 division templates has been in flux.

Best modern tank template hoi4