Division supply use

🧠 What Supply Use Is

Supply use in HoI4 isn't "another combat stat like soft attack." It's the cost of keeping a division on the map: the higher the number, the faster it drains a hub and the sooner every fist in that zone turns red.

In the division designer, you see the sum of the template's parts. Infantry gives little, line artillery a lot, SPGs and heavy tanks even more. Support companies also add to it, just less than a full battalion of the same role.

Then percentages are applied on top. A logistics company, your general's/marshal's logistics skill, doctrines, and national modifiers cut (or inflate) the final total. Look at the division's final number, not just "infantry seems to be 0.06 for everyone."

⚠️ What Happens When Supplies Run Low

A division carries roughly a 3‑day reserve; after that, penalties build up to their ceiling over up to 30 days. In full deficit, speed can drop by up to −80%, organization recovery by −20%, and the org cap down to 35% of normal. Heavy equipment attrition also kicks in.

In combat without supplies, the attacker suffers the most. An attacking division without supply can take roughly −25% attack and up to −65% defense when counter‑attacked. A starving defender is also weaker, but usually handles it better than an offensive spearhead in an empty steppe.

📊 Battalion Supply Use Comparison (base, no logistics company)

🔍 Template Supply Use Benchmarks (combat line only, no support)

• 9 infantry + 3 line artillery ≈ 1.17
• 10 pure infantry ≈ 0.60 – almost twice as cheap logistically for the same "body mass."
• 6 medium tanks + 4 motorized ≈ 1.76
• Same 6 mediums + 4 mechanized ≈ 2.06 – mech fights better, but the hub feels it immediately.

🛠️ Logistics Company and Commander Logistics Skill

A logistics company gives −10% supply use (even stronger when upgraded) and slightly cuts fuel. On a division using 0.6, you save pennies. On a tank division using 2.0+, the same −10% frees up enough supply for another division under the same hub or for bad infrastructure. That's why logistics is almost always added to offensive and artillery‑heavy templates before garrison cavalry.

Commanders cut supply use with their logistics skill. Each general/marshal level gives about −2.5%, up to −25% at level ten. The field marshal trait "Supply Wizard" gives another −15% to armies in his group. On the Eastern Front, in China, Africa, or above the Arctic Circle, a general with logistics is often more useful than a general with "pretty attack stats" if the spearhead is in the red anyway.

💡 Practical Template Rule: Soft Attack per Supply Unit

Don't just ask "how much soft attack." Ask how much soft attack per unit of supply. A third or fourth artillery battalion boosts damage but eats even more hub capacity: in tight supply, two slightly weaker divisions with full supply often beat one "fat" division that's already starving.

Don't confuse supply use with fuel. Supply is the total "hunger" on a hub. Fuel is a separate gauge for motorized/tanks/air. You can sit with a full fuel bar and still die from red crates if the hub is overwhelmed.

⚖️ Pros of Low Supply Use and Cons of Chasing the Minimum

❓ Common Questions

🏁 One‑Liner Summary

Supply use is a division's appetite: those who count not just soft attack but also hub hunger push forward well‑fed instead of standing pretty in the red.