Cause of manpower drops

[MorningDew]

so, kind of embarrassed to even have to ask this. Noticed in a game that Germany, without me realizing it, is at 0% manpower.

How does this happen to Germany? Overruling units? Something else?

I searched the manual for manpower and read everything found, but it wasn't clear to me.

[AlvaroSousa]

You took too many losses and weren't managing your manpower. This isn't SC3. You can run out of men.

in v72 I changed some things to make manpower losses less catastrophic balancing things a little in favor of the Axis.

In my current game it is 1942 and my Germany is at 80%. We are still in spring and I have repaired all my units. Now I am building a ton of infantry. My manpower pool keeps increasing though.

Just like oil you have to manage it.

[battlevonwar]

Andrew tips of the trade:

Buy Infantry when you're near or at 99%-100% Manpower early game. As excess manpower AFAIK doesn't add up. What eats manpower is excessive attacks too with infantry. There are goals you need and want and or have to have 'hexes'...many just attack/attack/attack and bleed themselves. Don't ever let your units get surrounded unless you have to or locked in with more than 2 units per so you can have a retreat rear hex. Keep your Units in Supply! If you do get blapped you get something back!


Ultimately you never probably go under 80% Manpower with Axis unless up against an elite Allied Player. If you seem to siphon off resources to Italy, Romania and build a few medium corps for coastal defenses early on. If will help keep you up there but isn't really the issue.

I usually see oil the issue(and I assume you aren't using enough armor to do your dirty work! They are beautiful weapons along with air to add in mixed combo attacks and save on manpower. They force retreats costing less men for vital hexes) I can run nearly 90%plus Manpower against a fairly average opponent and get run down to 80%ish if I am having to struggle to hold ground. In Russia in the cold months you will tend to take some dead. Make sure you're upgrading your units as well(so many don't even check)

[MorningDew]

Thanks all. I believe this one was started before 1.072, so perhaps I am not doing anything significantly wrong. There have not been major losses in this one that I know of. It's PBEM and I cannot currently load the turn to see total casualties.

[AlvaroSousa]

There were changes in v7 to lower manpower casualties.

For example air units only require manpower when making the unit. But they take no manpower losses. As someone pointed out air units were losing too many men. So I researched it.

[AlvaroSousa]

So the 1.06 games if you are now late in the war are far more brutal in terms of manpower.

[MorningDew]

Thanks - yes, it was started with 1.06 and now entering 1944.

[AlvaroSousa]

It's one of these little things that you can't accurately figure out till many games are played.

I always have 2 games running vs someone so I can keep up with what players are experiencing. I spot small bugs sometimes and fix them without people know. Occasionally I improve cosmetics too.

[baloo7777]

ORIGINAL: Alvaro Sousa

There were changes in v7 to lower manpower casualties.

For example air units only require manpower when making the unit. But they take no manpower losses. As someone pointed out air units were losing too many men. So I researched it.

How is the attrition of good pilots for lesser ones modeled? Especially in the future Pacific War where the Japanese ran out of good pilots by mid 1943.

[AlvaroSousa]

In this case we assume hindsight. That the Axis weren't idiots.
If given a choice of
(A) properly train pilots to fly planes
or
(B) just toss them in an aircraft and just teach them how to take off

No one would choose B.

The pilot is the single most important factor in air to air combat. So in WarPlan we assume all major powers do the right thing.

In the Pacific the Japs will have an elite trained group of CV pilots. But as the war goes on their replacements will drop the experience of the CV planes if they lose a lot of planes.