Units

General Unit Questions

[ ]{#My_aircraft/ships_never_get_repaired!_What_can_I_do?} My aircraft/ships never get repaired! What can I do?

You may prioritize units for upgrade/repair by clicking the "Prioritize" checkbox in the bottom left-hand corner of the unit's information window. Units with this option checked will be repaired and upgraded before units without this option checked. It is important to note that ships cannot be upgraded. Also bear in mind that if you prioritize most of your units, you'll still have to wait for the CPU to work through that repair/upgrade queue. Only prioritize the ones you need most. Of course you will need to allocate some IC to your "reinforcements" slider to repair all unit types, even ships.

[ ]{#How_to_target_a_specific_province_with_air_units?} How to target a specific province with air units?

It is not possible. You can only target an area. However, ground attack and interdiction missions will tend to target provinces where combat is occurring. This can be further encouraged by setting the air units' mission to begin an hour after land combat starts.

[ ]{#How_to_move_garrison_to_another_island?} How to move garrison to another island?

Move transports (with enough capacity) to the province's port, select the garrison and press the load button. Send the transport to the island you wish to deploy the garrison unit.

[ ]{#Why_I_can_not_rebase_my_aircraft_and_naval_units_to_my_ally’s_province?} Why I can not rebase my aircraft and naval units to my ally's province?

To rebase them, you need to make sure that the province has naval or air base. Moreover, it is not possible to do that during peace time. You must be at war to use an ally's bases.

[ ]{#How_do_I_strategically_redeploy_units?} How do I strategically redeploy units?

The following requirements must be satisfied for Strategic Redeployment (SR):

• Rear Area Supply Dumps (an Infantry tech) is researched.
• There is a land connection between the current location of division and the target.

Select the unit(s). Hold ctrl + right click in the destination province. For garrisons, a simple right click will do.

• NOTE: you can not SR thru an ally's territory unless you are at war.

[ ]{#How_to_perform_airborne_assault?} How to perform airborne assault?

Airborne assault is a mission that must be completed using paratrooper division and transport plane. Each transport plane can carry one airborne division. To be able to perform the mission, the following conditions must be satisfied:

• Battlefield Interdiction Doctrine (air doctrine tech) has been researched.
• Target province is within the transport's range.
• The transport plane has to be at full organization. To make sure that the air transport is at full organization, click on the air transport formation and pause over the organization bar; if it's says daily regain is greater than zero, then the air transport is not yet back to full organization.
• The paratrooper and transport must be in the same province. Load the paratrooper just before the mission begins. Use offensive supply for the para if you can afford it.
• Weather must not be stormy (stormy weather grounds all air operations).
• Also note that flying divisions around with air transports is not allowed in the game. Historically divisions in WW2 moved around by land or sea. Gliders also were a component of every air transport fleet. Smaller units that are not represented in the game were sometimes flown in as reinforcements, but entire divisions were not air transported in WW2.
• Air supply can be done in small quantities by air transports after you have researched the 2nd 1940 air transport model.
• See also this Paratrooper FAQ

[ ]{#I’m_unable_to_rebase_planes_onto_my_carriers!_What’s_wrong?} I'm unable to rebase planes onto my carriers! What's wrong?

Unlike in original HoI, in Hearts of Iron 2 you cannot place aircraft squadrons on carrier vessels (CV). There is special brigade attachment called "Carrier Air Group" (CAG) that represents planes carried by carrier ships. You must build and deploy CAG's (like other brigades) to take full advantage of carriers. Note that only in Doomsday, there is a new light carrier unit which is built with it's own small air component and to which a CAG can not be attached.

[ ]{#Why_doesn’t_my_HQ_double_the_command_limit_for_my_leaders?} Why doesn't my HQ double the command limit for my leaders?

HQ must be commanded by a General or Field Marshall in an adjacent province to have any effect. HQ allow you to have more div attacking, but they do not allow you to exceed the rank formation capacities of 1, 3, 9, and 12 div. For more information on HQ range, please refer to this guide . For a comprehensive review of land combat and HQ, review Land Combat Efficiency FAQ .

[ ]{#How_to_select_more_than_one_air_groups?} How to select more than one air groups?

Select one air group and hold the shift key while drawing a box (hold left mouse button and drag it) around the air base icon.

[ ]{#Why_can’t_I_merge_certain_air_groups_together?} Why can't I merge certain air groups together?

In 1.2 there is a limit of 4 divisions in an air group. This parameter can be changed in the \db\ misc.txt file.

NOTE: Currently, in 1.3a, the above limitation applies only to the human player and not the AI. If you undo "fog of war" you will see stacks ranging from five to ten, sometimes higher. To test this, try saving the game and reloading as another nation. If the nation you've selected has a large air force, then in the game log you will immediately see a list of squadrons being "reassigned" as this rule is implemented due to you taking control. It remains unclear whether this is a bug or a design decision.

[ ]{#What_is_the_purpose_of_higher_ranked_air_leaders_when_there_is_a_limitation_of_4_air_units_to_a_formation?} What is the purpose of higher ranked air leaders when there is a limitation of 4 air units to a formation?

If more than 4 air units engage in one combat, you get an over command max penalty of -25 for each unit above the leader's rank command capacity. Two air groups of four fighting in the same air space would need either an Air General or an Air Marshall leading one of the two groups. With Lt Gen in charge of each group, four of the eight air units would get this penalty.

[ ]{#Is_it_better_to_create_homogenous_or_mixed_stacks?} Is it better to create homogenous or mixed stacks?

This question can be applied to stacks of troops or their brigades, and it has everything to do with speed. Homogenous troop stacks should always be better, so they maintain the speed of the movement. Once you have a homogenous troop stack, it helps to have specialized roles sometimes, especially when it comes to engineering squads (which raise the speed of movement again), and allow the entire stack to storm across rivers, or artillery (which lowers speed of all by 1, but adds great attack bonuses). When it comes to defence, you can mix AA, and AT and even police. "Just remember the movement speed" is the best answer here.

[ ]{#Why_can’t_my_troops_dig_in?} Why can't my troops dig in?

You need the 1936 basic construction engineering tech. Your troops can not dig in while you are at peace. They automatically start digging in when you are at war. If they move or attack or support attack, they lose their dug in status and then have to start digging in again.

Upgrades

[ ]{#Can_I_upgrade_ships?} Can I upgrade ships?

No, you can not. You may only upgrade land and air units as well as brigade attachments. Carrier Air Groups (CAG) attached to carriers (or in your TC pool) can be upgraded. The Armageddon expansion introduced naval brigades which can enhance the stats of the ships they're attached to. Those - like all other brigades - can be upgraded normally.

[ ]{#Why_is_my_light_armor_upgraded_to_medium_armor?} Why is my light armor upgraded to medium armor?

After you researched basic medium armor, they will be upgraded automatically since medium armor has superior statistics compared to light armor. Even speed for medium armor divisions is better than light armor.

Reinforcements

[ ]{#Why_do_I_suffer_so_much_Manpower-Drain_during_the_winter?} Why do I suffer so much Manpower-Drain during the winter?

This is a bug, which was fixed in patch 1.2.

If you ever attacked the Soviet Union during the winter, you will notice this. The MP drains very fast. According to this thread , it is a bug that can by circumvented by stopping reinforcements during winter. The attrition damage will be much lower and the troops can survive the winter.