One of the most common ways to overwhelm your enemies and defeat them in Hearts of Iron 4 is to naval invade their territories in unexpected locations.
Though you could send any type of divisions on these very dangerous missions, the best water-to-land fighters in the whole game are Marines.
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These troops are specialized in combat where they would normally be disadvantaged by the naval invasion, making them perfect for these operations.
Unfortunately, there is a high chance that you won’t know how to make very good Marine templates since you are very limited by the Special Forces cap.
In this guide, we will show you some of the best Marine templates you can use in Hearts of Iron 4 that will work no matter your Special Forces cap.
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Best Marine Division Templates in HOI4
Your main problem throughout a playthrough using Marines in HOI4 is that Special Forces cap.
At the start, you won’t really be able to build large Marine division templates due to the low amount of Special Forces battalions you can actually field.
As time passes, you can make them bigger and better, so we will show you the best Marine division templates you can use in HOI4 at the start, in 1936, as well at around 1940, when the war starts, and the objectively best combination you can use in the late game.
Best Early Game Marine Template
In the early game, you won’t have access to a lot of technologies and battalions, making your Marines divisions very weak.
One of the most important battalions the Marines should have is the Flame Tank support company, but you won’t get them until around 1940.
This is why the best Marine template for HOI4 in the early game looks like this:
- Marine Battalion 2×2
- Artillery x2
- Support Companies: Engineers, Artillery, Anti-Air, Signal
So, you should have 2 columns of Marines and one of Line Artillery, both 2 battalions long.
This will be a 12 width battalion, which should be relatively easy to make in the early game and will have enough Soft Attack and HP to survive on the frontlines.
Since you can’t field a lot of Special Forces battalions at the start of the game, this template makes sure that you can actually get more divisions out there to attack.
Unfortunately, since you can only use 10 divisions to naval invade at the same time, you should increase or decrease the number of Marine battalions in the division based on your country’s Special Forces cap.
The bigger the division, the better since you only have a few you can use for your attacks, which will have to push hard before the enemy can reinforce their ports.
For support, Engineers are always a must since they make any division better. Anti-Air will make a huge difference considering you will be in enemy lands, and they will most likely have Air Superiority in the region.
The last thing that you can’t get right from the start, and you will need to research are Signal Companies, which will increase the Initiative of your divisions.
This means that they will enter fights faster, allowing them to use the element of surprise properly.
Best 1940 Marine Template
This is the division template you will likely use most of the time in HOI4 for your Marines since there is no better combination:
- Marines 3×3
- Artillery x4
- Support Companies: Engineers, Artillery, Anti-Air, Signal, Flame Tank
All we did for this division was increase the size to 26 width, making everything a lot beefier. With this division, you can make sure that you won’t instantly get encircled and destroyed.
By this time, you should have more troops, allowing you to also field more Marine battalions. You should have also unlocked the research to use 50 divisions for naval invasions, allowing you to use Marnies at their full potential.
This division will be relatively easy to supply and deploy since it will mostly need Infantry Equipment and Artillery.
The most important addition to the template is the Flame Tank support company, which increases the attack of the division during amphibious fights, which will likely be the most of their battles.
Flame Tanks make any division a lot better in HOI4 since it gives them advantages in most terrains and can also add the necessary Armor to the division to make them horrible to deal with.
Make sure when you design the Flame Tanks to give them as much Armor as possible, to make sure that they really pump that Defense up for the whole Marine division.
This way, you will also destroy most normal garrison troops that usually stand in ports.
Best Amtrac Division Template
As you progress through the research tree, you will discover the Amtrac battalions by going down the trucks path.
These amphibious trucks will change the whole naval invasion game since they can easily replace your Marines and get better results.
Though you will need more resources to make these divisions, they will usually be worth it due to their higher speed, Defense, and Breakthrough.
The Amtrac division should have the exact same support companies as the 1940 Marine templates, but we will remove the Artillery and go for 3×5 Amtrac battalions.
This template will have one of the highest HP stats you can get for a division, along with huge Defense and Breakthrough.
These will be very important as the rest of your army comes to join them after the first few battles to land.
That’s everything you need to know about the best Marine templates in Hearts of Iron 4!
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