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Scaling down to battalion-level unit structure means that tank units of this mod will indeed be "pure" tank units. This means that their stats such as Softness and especially terrain penalties should be adjusted accordingly.
When considering the tech tree in general, I am a bit unsure what to think about the HoI 1-style approach that vanilla HoI 3 uses for upgrading units. While it works well for infantry I find it somewhat flawed for portraying complex weapon systems such as tanks and combat aircraft. I think the principle of researching component techs and then combining them freely into models is a great new asset of the game, but I also think that it should be tweaked somewhat, if possible.
For Armour tech tree this would mean the following: Research would still be divided into four subcategories just like in vanilla, since the division between gun, armor, engine and reliability equals well with the real-world difficulties of finding balance between firepower, protection, mobility and operational sustainability. The key difference I would like to implement to the mod is the way individual units stats can be updated. Currently research on better light tank gun, for example, immediately starts the upgrade process of all light tank units in the field. Here I would like to see return towards HoI2-styled model upgrading to better reflect the historical way new models were brought to service. I wonder if it could be possible to link the upgrade process to the research of one "lock tech", in this occasion the battalion tech?
Here's an example of the tech setup and the way I thought it might work in-game:
French player has researched the following techs from Medium Tank-part of the Tech Tree (that is divided in very vanilla-like fashion roughly like the text below:
47 mm SA 35 Tank Gun (Firepower 1938) V-8 Petrol 190 hp Mobility 1938)
Sloped Cast Armor 47mm (Protection 1940) 510L Fuel Tanks, 130km Off-road Range (Operational Sustainability 1936)
Somua S-35 (Medium Tank Battalion 1938)
Now, in order to be able to benefit from the potential stat upgrades these techs will provide to his units, he has to research a "lock tech", Somua S-35 (Medium Tank Battalion 1938) - once researched, it will allow the upgrade system to upgrade the existing medium tank battalions to the new model that will gain the new stat bonuses accumulated from the research conducted in Firepower, Mobility, Protection and Operational Sustainability. The trick in this approach is the fact that researching of the new actual model would be time-consuming and the upgrading process would also be costly and slow affair. Meanwhile the research of new sub-techs would not be tied to the actual model research. So while the production model and stats would remain the same, the research on new weapon systems, armor, engines and so forth could continue, adding potential stats to future models once they are researched. This would create quite different situation compared to the current vanilla system where new technological advantages are soon affecting the performance of the frontline troops. This way the mod would force the player to do strategic decisions when to stop testing prototypes and design a new production model AFV. With right first_offset and additional_offset values this system could additionally simulate the hectic pace of war year AFV development - with the ability to research new model almost yearly, the warring nations could either quickly update their existing designs or research more advanced models while producing their trusted warhorse designs. Later on the year delay between new models would grow substantially, reflecting the new Cold War situation and the fact that new tank designs were becoming more and more technically complex.
As for the four tech groups themselves, I've been thinking the following stat-effects:
Firepower: Weaponry between the Great War-era hull-mounted machine guns to gyrostabilized +120mm tank guns and specialized ammunition. Increases Soft and Heavy attack and later on supply consumption as well (reflecting the rising costs of specialized weaponry)
Protection From first Great War-era 90%-angle riveted armor plates to latest composite and reactive armor systems. Increases Defensiveness and Toughness, fuel consumption (the heavier the AFV, the more fuel it consumes) and decreases Softness and maximum speed.
Mobility Engine, tracks, power transmission system, wading or swimming equipment. Increases maximum speed, fuel consumption and moving rate in difficult terrain and weather conditions.
Operational Sustainability Maintenance demand, operational on- and off-road range and general reliability of the design. Decreases supply and fuel consumption, increases the IC cost of the design.
The actual armor tech tree layout can IMO be kept quite like it is, but I would implement Super-Heavy models to the last techs of Heavy category and instead replace them with MBT chassis. Each of the four armour unit types would have their own four subcategory techs, as mentioned above.
Light - Armoured Cars
Medium - Self-Propelled Arty, Tank Destroyers
Heavy
MBT
The rest of the techs of Armour section could be kept in quite vanilla-like layout. This is what I had in mind for them:
Antitank Guns: From the first at-guns to equivalents of Rapira-3. Certain levels of this tech could (and actually should as well) be linked to Medium and Heavy Firepower techs so that infantry version of AT-guns has to be researched first before same gun can be used on tank design. Gives Hard Attack to Antitank and Tank Destroyer units, later on HA bonus for infantry as well. Later models will increase fuel consumption of AT and infantry (heavier late-war AT-guns must be drawn by specialized vehicles)
Recoilless Rifles and Antitank Missiles: From the first 75mm recoilless rifles and first-generation wire guided antitank systems to 105 mm M40s and SACLOS AT missiles. Increases Hard Attack of AT and TD, but primarily boosts the stats of infantry units. Also increases supply demand to reflect the rising costs of more advanced systems.
Anti-Aircraft Weapons: From early AA-MGs to latest radar-controlled gun SAM systems. Increased Air Attack and Defense of AA and other unit types.
Artillery: What the name implies, from Great War howitzers to modern long-range artillery guns. Linked to Self-Propelled Arty research so that new gun type has to be researched first before it can be adapted to SP chassis. Increases the stats of Arty and other unit types.
SP-Artillery: Self-propelled artillery systems from WWII-designs like Wespe and Bishop to NBC-protected Cold War types from 1970s.
Rocket Artillery: From early Nebelwerfers to spin-and-fin-stabilized HMRL systems. Increases the stats of R-Art - since we have plenty of unit types to spare, I suggest we should implement Sp-Rocket Artillery as well?
When considering the tech tree in general, I am a bit unsure what to think about the HoI 1-style approach that vanilla HoI 3 uses for upgrading units. While it works well for infantry I find it somewhat flawed for portraying complex weapon systems such as tanks and combat aircraft. I think the principle of researching component techs and then combining them freely into models is a great new asset of the game, but I also think that it should be tweaked somewhat, if possible.
For Armour tech tree this would mean the following: Research would still be divided into four subcategories just like in vanilla, since the division between gun, armor, engine and reliability equals well with the real-world difficulties of finding balance between firepower, protection, mobility and operational sustainability. The key difference I would like to implement to the mod is the way individual units stats can be updated. Currently research on better light tank gun, for example, immediately starts the upgrade process of all light tank units in the field. Here I would like to see return towards HoI2-styled model upgrading to better reflect the historical way new models were brought to service. I wonder if it could be possible to link the upgrade process to the research of one "lock tech", in this occasion the battalion tech?
Here's an example of the tech setup and the way I thought it might work in-game:
French player has researched the following techs from Medium Tank-part of the Tech Tree (that is divided in very vanilla-like fashion roughly like the text below:
47 mm SA 35 Tank Gun (Firepower 1938) V-8 Petrol 190 hp Mobility 1938)
Sloped Cast Armor 47mm (Protection 1940) 510L Fuel Tanks, 130km Off-road Range (Operational Sustainability 1936)
Somua S-35 (Medium Tank Battalion 1938)
Now, in order to be able to benefit from the potential stat upgrades these techs will provide to his units, he has to research a "lock tech", Somua S-35 (Medium Tank Battalion 1938) - once researched, it will allow the upgrade system to upgrade the existing medium tank battalions to the new model that will gain the new stat bonuses accumulated from the research conducted in Firepower, Mobility, Protection and Operational Sustainability. The trick in this approach is the fact that researching of the new actual model would be time-consuming and the upgrading process would also be costly and slow affair. Meanwhile the research of new sub-techs would not be tied to the actual model research. So while the production model and stats would remain the same, the research on new weapon systems, armor, engines and so forth could continue, adding potential stats to future models once they are researched. This would create quite different situation compared to the current vanilla system where new technological advantages are soon affecting the performance of the frontline troops. This way the mod would force the player to do strategic decisions when to stop testing prototypes and design a new production model AFV. With right first_offset and additional_offset values this system could additionally simulate the hectic pace of war year AFV development - with the ability to research new model almost yearly, the warring nations could either quickly update their existing designs or research more advanced models while producing their trusted warhorse designs. Later on the year delay between new models would grow substantially, reflecting the new Cold War situation and the fact that new tank designs were becoming more and more technically complex.
As for the four tech groups themselves, I've been thinking the following stat-effects:
Firepower: Weaponry between the Great War-era hull-mounted machine guns to gyrostabilized +120mm tank guns and specialized ammunition. Increases Soft and Heavy attack and later on supply consumption as well (reflecting the rising costs of specialized weaponry)
Protection From first Great War-era 90%-angle riveted armor plates to latest composite and reactive armor systems. Increases Defensiveness and Toughness, fuel consumption (the heavier the AFV, the more fuel it consumes) and decreases Softness and maximum speed.
Mobility Engine, tracks, power transmission system, wading or swimming equipment. Increases maximum speed, fuel consumption and moving rate in difficult terrain and weather conditions.
Operational Sustainability Maintenance demand, operational on- and off-road range and general reliability of the design. Decreases supply and fuel consumption, increases the IC cost of the design.
The actual armor tech tree layout can IMO be kept quite like it is, but I would implement Super-Heavy models to the last techs of Heavy category and instead replace them with MBT chassis. Each of the four armour unit types would have their own four subcategory techs, as mentioned above.
Light - Armoured Cars
Medium - Self-Propelled Arty, Tank Destroyers
Heavy
MBT
The rest of the techs of Armour section could be kept in quite vanilla-like layout. This is what I had in mind for them:
Antitank Guns: From the first at-guns to equivalents of Rapira-3. Certain levels of this tech could (and actually should as well) be linked to Medium and Heavy Firepower techs so that infantry version of AT-guns has to be researched first before same gun can be used on tank design. Gives Hard Attack to Antitank and Tank Destroyer units, later on HA bonus for infantry as well. Later models will increase fuel consumption of AT and infantry (heavier late-war AT-guns must be drawn by specialized vehicles)
Recoilless Rifles and Antitank Missiles: From the first 75mm recoilless rifles and first-generation wire guided antitank systems to 105 mm M40s and SACLOS AT missiles. Increases Hard Attack of AT and TD, but primarily boosts the stats of infantry units. Also increases supply demand to reflect the rising costs of more advanced systems.
Anti-Aircraft Weapons: From early AA-MGs to latest radar-controlled gun SAM systems. Increased Air Attack and Defense of AA and other unit types.
Artillery: What the name implies, from Great War howitzers to modern long-range artillery guns. Linked to Self-Propelled Arty research so that new gun type has to be researched first before it can be adapted to SP chassis. Increases the stats of Arty and other unit types.
SP-Artillery: Self-propelled artillery systems from WWII-designs like Wespe and Bishop to NBC-protected Cold War types from 1970s.
Rocket Artillery: From early Nebelwerfers to spin-and-fin-stabilized HMRL systems. Increases the stats of R-Art - since we have plenty of unit types to spare, I suggest we should implement Sp-Rocket Artillery as well?
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