The importance of commanders

[DavidDailey]

I'm sure this question has been asked before, but bear with me. Can someone give me an empirical value to having units under a commander. As an example, let us say I am the Russian commander. Would it be smarter to spend my MPPs building commanders so that more units are under command when the Germans invade? Or would it be better to build more units or spend it on research? All the other major powers have the luxury of building commanders and doing other things. The Russians, not so much.

[Platoonist]

Would it be smarter to spend my MPPs building commanders so that more units are under command when the Germans invade? Or would it be better to build more units or spend it on research?

The problem for the Soviets is that HQs at 420 MPP are darn expensive compared to most other things. That start with the one (Timoshenko) and he's at half-strength. I always find myself at least waiting until the Soviet mobilization (and MPP) numbers rise prior to war before I buy one. I like to build some semblance of an army and get a few research projects going first. I'm always worried that if I build too many ahead my little Zhukovs will be running for their lives from the panzers without an army in front of them.

[Umeu]

They make a difference if you get the higher level commanders, but you need units for them to command. I think USSR should make at least 1, you preferably want 2 but it's hard to afford that. Russia is defending though, so they can get away with less HQs than the Axis. But still, having your units in good supply is more important than the command bonus, although that is important too.

whether you spend MPP on tech or units depends on your strategy, but techs take longer to pay off and kick in, so generally most countries should focus on tech before units, but this can't always be done. However, since Russia won't be at war for another 2 years considering a 1939 start, it's always best to invest in tech first. HQs only take 3 months to build, so you could build them in spring 41 (safer) or early after barbarossa invasion starts (riskier)

[El_Condoro]

Another thing is that HQs can be upgraded, so Timoshenko can be upgraded to Zhukov. It still costs but not as much for a good HQ.