Best Infantry Template 2026

The cheapest defensive infantry division template. Five “Infantry” battalions and “Engineer Company”. No tanks, no artillery, no regimental companies. Almost zero research: everyone has infantry from 1936, you unlock engineers early. Combat Width 10 stacks into any land tile as a pack: you are not “holding the front with one fist”, you flood the line with numbers.

One such division will not hold an army. The trick is the price. A minor builds them by the dozen. Against another minor put several on a tile, not one. Against tanks there is no Soft Attack and no armor: if the neighbor already has tanks, you can later add “Support Anti-Tank” to the companies if Organization allows. You can also add “Support Artillery” after doctrines — a bit of Soft Attack appears, but the division gets more expensive and starts eating Towed Artillery.

There are no regiments here on purpose. If you really want “Heavy Weapons Company” — put it only when Organization does not fall through the floor and Support Equipment is actually being stamped. Otherwise drop it: a full cheap division is better than a pretty template with holes.

This is an armored infantry division template, not a tank one. Four “Infantry” battalions, one “Medium SP Anti-Air” battalion, “Engineer Company”. The division lives off SP Anti-Air armor: if the enemy has no tanks and anti-tank, armor simply does not let part of the damage through. SP Anti-Air also cuts the penalty from enemy air and shoots planes down. Organization is sadder than on the naked ten, but playable.

Make the SP Anti-Air design itself cheap, armor to the max. An interwar chassis is enough: you do not have to wait for 1938–40. A light gun and a basic anti-air piece are a fine idea — you are not building a “tank killer”, you hang armor on infantry. A few military factories on SP Anti-Air — and in a year or two you have vehicles for a pack of these divisions. 1–2 armored ones sit well on a tile with regular tens beside them.

No regiments. “Heavy Weapons Company” is worth adding only after the infantry subdoctrine, if final Organization does not collapse. If industry cannot feed SP Anti-Air — go back to naked 10 CW, do not copy armor “because it looks pretty”.

A flexible infantry division template: seven “Infantry” battalions, “Engineer Company” and “Support Artillery” in the companies, “Heavy Weapons Company” and “Infantry Guns” in the regiments. Combat Width 14. This is no longer “just stand”. Soft Attack appears from artillery in the company and Infantry Guns in the regiment. Defense is alive too: more men than on the ten, engineers dig.

Take it as a confident minor or a weak major when you have a couple of military factories on artillery and Support Equipment. The division can both take a tile back and not fall apart at once if poked. This is not a tank wedge and not mountaineers: it works on plains and ordinary forest, it does not promise miracles on marsh.

The regiments here are exactly the case I wrote about above. “Heavy Weapons Company” and “Infantry Guns” eat Organization and equipment. If after you build the template Organization falls so the division dies in a minute of combat, or factories cannot close the queue — drop the regimental companies. You will have seven infantry, engineers and Support Artillery left: poorer in attack, but the template will go to the front whole.

A mostly offensive infantry division template for a minor. Six “Infantry” battalions, one “Artillery” battalion, “Engineer Company” and “Support Artillery” in the companies. Combat Width 15. Soft Attack here is already clearly higher than on 14 CW without line artillery: an “Artillery” battalion is not a support company, it is a full piece of the division.

You can defend with this too, but the idea is different. You do not flood the front with dozens of cheap fives. You gather a wedge of several such divisions and hit one tile, more often another minor or a thin stretch. Supply already needs watching: artillery eats supplies hungrier than naked infantry.

No regiments. You can add “Cavalry Recon Detachment” if Organization after doctrines allows: terrain penalties a bit softer, attack in forest and hills hurts less. If Organization will not fit or there is no Support Equipment — do not put recon.

A strong defensive infantry division template for a weak or medium major. Nine “Infantry” battalions, “Engineer Company” and “Support Artillery” in the companies, three “Heavy Weapons Company” in the regiments. Combat Width 18. Lots of men, trenches from engineers, heavy companies add fire support at regiment level. This is a line you are no longer ashamed to put against a regular AI, if you do not leave tiles empty.

Do not confuse it with an attack. Soft Attack is less than on the fifteen with an artillery battalion. You hold. A counterattack is if the enemy himself is spent, not because the division is a “tank in camouflage”. Supply is medium: not an elephant, but not free soup either.

Three “Heavy Weapons Company” is a fat chunk. They eat Organization and Support Equipment. If Organization after doctrines is still low or military factories cannot close the queue — drop one or all three.

A strong defensive infantry division template for a medium major. Ten “Infantry” battalions, the same companies: “Engineer Company” and “Support Artillery”, again three “Heavy Weapons Company” in the regiments. Combat Width 20. Fewer of these fit on a tile than tens of width 10. But one division is already a “brick”: lots of men, holds longer.

Important: this is not a template for the whole army. If you cover every hex from sea to sea with it, Infantry Equipment and Support Equipment factories will start crying, and Supply may not cope. Put it on direction capitals, on narrow bottlenecks, on tiles the AI likes to hit. The rest of the line is cheaper to cover with 10 or 18.

Drop the three “Heavy Weapons Company” with the same logic as on 18: if Organization is low or the equipment queue does not close — take the regiments off. Ten infantry with two support companies is still width 20 and still holds better than the naked ten.

A very strong defensive armored infantry division template for a major. Nine “Infantry” battalions, one “Medium SP Anti-Air”, “Engineer Company” and “Support Artillery” in the companies, two “Heavy Weapons Company” in the regiments. Combat Width 20. The division again lives off SP Anti-Air armor, not off a medium tank from the Tank Designer. If the AI has no proper anti-tank and tanks, armor cuts part of the damage. Plus SP Anti-Air works against the air.

Build the SP Anti-Air cheap, put the weight on armor. A 1938 or 1940 chassis already fits: you are a major, interwar is not enough if the war drags. Do not hang an expensive gun on SP Anti-Air “because the attack number looks pretty” — you want armor on an infantry division, not a duel with someone else’s tank wedge. Factories for SP Anti-Air must be separate, not the last three after air and tanks.

Drop the two “Heavy Weapons Company” if Organization after doctrines is still thin or equipment is not being stamped. Keep the SP Anti-Air: without it this is just infantry 20 with a hole in width and no armor. If SP Anti-Air cannot be fed at all — do not take this template, sit on naked 18–20.

An infantry division template for when special forces are not happening. Eleven “Infantry” battalions, one “Artillery”, and in the companies “Engineer Company”, “Support Artillery” and “Field Hospital”. Combat Width 25 — exactly the size the game often uses for mountaineers and marines. There are no mountaineer battalions here, and no marines either. Engineers still cut terrain penalties, the hospital returns men, artillery gives Soft Attack. On mountains and marshes regular infantry is still penalized, but you can live if special forces are not unlocked, the cap is gone, or you simply do not want a second research branch.

The flexibility here is honest: stand, and sometimes hit. This does not replace a mountaineer division in the Alps and does not replace marines on a landing. This is “I have no special forces, and the front is already in mountains / marsh”. On dry plains a cheaper 18–20 is better: here you have extra men, trucks for the hospital, an artillery battalion.

No regiments. The hospital eats Trucks and Support Equipment. If industry cannot feed “Field Hospital” — drop it. Organization after the hospital is usually even easier. Do not drop artillery if you can stamp it: without Soft Attack this is just fat infantry 22 CW that counterattacks poorly.

A strong offensive infantry division template for a major. Fifteen “Infantry” battalions, two “Artillery” battalions, and in the companies “Engineer Company”, “Support Artillery”, “Cavalry Recon Detachment” and “Field Hospital”. Combat Width 36. This is already a fist: lots of Soft Attack, lots of men, recon eases terrain a bit, the hospital returns losses after the meat grinder. Few of these fit on a tile — usually two. You hit a chosen stretch, you do not smear 36 across the whole front.

I left the last company slot empty on purpose. “Support Anti-Air” goes there if the sky is red, or “Support Anti-Tank” if the enemy has tanks. Do not hang both at once “just in case”: Organization may not be enough, equipment will smear — and in that case you would have to sacrifice another company, because you cannot put more than five. Watch the front, put one.

No regiments — it is fat enough. If Organization after doctrines is still thin, drop hospital or recon first, not line artillery: without two “Artillery” battalions the template stops being offensive. If industry cannot feed 68 towed guns per division — do not take 36, sit on 15 or on defense 20.

A very strong offensive armored infantry division template. For a mega-major like the USSR. Fifteen “Infantry” battalions, three “Medium SP Artillery” battalions, and in the companies “Engineer Company”, “Support Artillery”, “Cavalry Recon Detachment” and “Field Hospital”. Combat Width 36. This is still an infantry division in the Division Designer: the SP Artillery sits in the regiments as fire-support battalions, not as a separate “SP Artillery template” from the Tank Designer. Three “Medium SP Artillery” pour Soft Attack, the infantry holds Organization and men, and the SP Artillery armor helps you not crumble under return fire as fast as naked artillery.

A subdoctrine like “Self-propelled Support” feeds such divisions better. Without it SP Artillery still works, but worse. You need separate factories: 120 medium SP Artillery per division is not “leftovers after tanks”. Always watch Supply. The empty company slot is again for “Support Anti-Air” or “Support Anti-Tank”: red sky or enemy tanks, not both slots at once.

No regiments. If Organization or industry cannot feed it, drop the hospital and recon. Do not drop the three SP Artillery “to get cheaper” — then it is just infantry 36 without the point of this template. If SP Artillery as a class cannot be fed — take naked infantry 36 with two artillery battalions. This template is early for a minor: wrong factories, wrong doctrines.

If you want, you can swap SP Artillery for medium tanks. Then the weight is on Breakthrough, not Soft Attack, which can even be better for infantry.