Understanding manpower

[jmknpk]

Can someone please help me understand manpower better.

When I use the tool tip, it will say something like "Our soldiers are providing an increase of 0.05". Does this represent something like growth of the soldier population in the country? What exactly does that represent? Currently in my game the value is 0.00. I have the defense slider as far down as I can set it, so I understand why it's 0, but does that mean the soldier population is not growing?

Also in the tool tip it says something like "Current amount of divisions....4/4". How do I make sense out of that. I think the first number means I have 4 divisions. Does the second number mean that I only have 4 soldier pops of that culture? That can't be right because I can see about 10 soldier pops in the ledger. How does the game arrive at that second number?

The tool tip says something like "We can only have a maximum of ...9 manpower". How does the game calculate this number? Does this represent the difference between the number of soldiers I have in units and the soldiers in the population? It seems strange, because after I get so many increases in manpower, it turns to 0. Does that mean I've used up all of my soldier pops as actual soldier units?

I know that if I convert a pop to soldiers, then I have about 1/10,000th of that pop size available in additional manpower. But if I don't use them right away, the number keeps getting reduced. How is the number of soldier populations related to the "maximum" number shown in the tool tip?

In my current game, I have the defence spending set as low as possible. So I now have a -19 for my manpower. How do I interpret this number? I realize that I can't increase any unit's strength or recruit new units until the manpower becomes positive again. But if I increase defense spending, I can quickly shift it to 0. Therefore this does not seem to be an indication of the availability of soldier pops in my population. What exactly does a -19 manpower number mean? Does that mean that I'm losing 19,000 soldier pops every year or something?

Any help here would be much appreciated.

 

[Orm]

Can someone please help me understand manpower better.

When I use the tool tip, it will say something like "Our soldiers are providing an increase of 0.05". Does this represent something like growth of the soldier population in the country? What exactly does that represent? Currently in my game the value is 0.00. I have the defense slider as far down as I can set it, so I understand why it's 0, but does that mean the soldier population is not growing?

The soldier POPs still grow through the same mechanism as other POPs. The manpower growth represents soldiers that return to active service, and the manpower pool represents the soldiers that are ready to be assigned to a new unit or replacements for a depleted one.
The size of manpower growth is determined by your maximum manpower and your military spending.

Also in the tool tip it says something like "Current amount of divisions....4/4". How do I make sense out of that. I think the first number means I have 4 divisions. Does the second number mean that I only have 4 soldier pops of that culture? That can't be right because I can see about 10 soldier pops in the ledger. How does the game arrive at that second number?

The second number is the sum of sizes of the solder POPs divided by 10000. Each standing division requires 10000 soldiers in your population. If you have soldier POPs of several cultures you will also get a breakdown of how many divisions of each culture you have/can have.

The tool tip says something like "We can only have a maximum of ...9 manpower". How does the game calculate this number? Does this represent the difference between the number of soldiers I have in units and the soldiers in the population? It seems strange, because after I get so many increases in manpower, it turns to 0. Does that mean I've used up all of my soldier pops as actual soldier units?
I know that if I convert a pop to soldiers, then I have about 1/10,000th of that pop size available in additional manpower. But if I don't use them right away, the number keeps getting reduced. How is the number of soldier populations related to the "maximum" number shown in the tool tip?

At maximum defense spending, the maximum manpower is the difference between manpower supplied by your soldier POPs and the manpower that is already in your standing divisions. When you cut down on spending, the maximum manpower decreases.

In my current game, I have the defence spending set as low as possible. So I now have a -19 for my manpower. How do I interpret this number? I realize that I can't increase any unit's strength or recruit new units until the manpower becomes positive again. But if I increase defense spending, I can quickly shift it to 0. Therefore this does not seem to be an indication of the availability of soldier pops in my population. What exactly does a -19 manpower number mean? Does that mean that I'm losing 19,000 soldier pops every year or something?

Any help here would be much appreciated.

The negative number just indicates that you're spending too little on the military or that you have too few soldier POPs to build a new division. It will not cause you to lose soldiers or units, it only means you can't build new units or reinforce depleted ones.

 

[jmknpk]

thank-you beowulf!

 

[henryjai]

The exact relationships are not known to me. I only know that

1. To get manpower you need soldier pops, the more soldiers(population) you have, you'll have more maximum manpower.

2. When you build a division, the maximum manpower would be subtracted by about 10. It could go negative with this subtraction.

3. Building ships don't subtract maximum manpower.

4. Manpower increase rate is related to your maximum manpower, the higher maximum manpower you have, the faster your manpower growth.

5. Your maximum manpower is related to your defence spendings AND military spendings(land).


so, you may arrive some conclusions:

i. Maximizing defence spending is best as it gives you maximum manpower and leadership.

ii. Defence spending is proportional to how many soldier pops and officier pops you have, so it might be wise to demobilize some unnecessary soldier pops to cut your expense (if you are tight on money)

iii. There are no reason not to fund your military fully as it not only gives higher morale, higher strength cap, it also give you best manpower income.

iv. Spamming ships is a good way to increase your military rating as they don't lower your maximum manpower.

v. Disbanding useless divisions is a good way to save your maximum manpower as well as expenses. For example, you would like to disband the irregulars you have once you are civilized(as an unciv). Another example would be to disband cavalries in your main strike force by 1900. (they are 2-3 times more expensive to maintain yet many many times weaker than a 'vanilla' infantry division)

vi. brigaded divisions subtract the same maximum manpower, so when your population is not high(yet a strong economy), you would like to have more brigaded divisions.


tip

When you wage a war you'd like to consider attrition as one thing that would drain your manpower heavily. So if you don't have good leaders, you should expect combat should be about 60% of your manpower that you'll about to expend, 40% would be lost in attritions. So if economically possible, Regulars should always be used in offensives if you're tight on manpower. Natives are still good for killing rebels, however, or they're something great if you have good leaders/hell lots of manpower.

 

[Orm]

i. Maximizing defence spending is best as it gives you maximum manpower and leadership. It also affects your maximum mobilization pool (when you cut expense, your reserves could be GONE!)

That is not correct. The maximum allowed mob pool size is:
1) Based on number of standing divisions according to what military policy the ruling party has. (The ratio is 1/1 for Pacifist, and goes up to 4/1 for Jingoist. This is why you may occasionally lose mob divisions due to elections.)
2) Limited by your total population. (Don't know the exact relation.)

 

[henryjai]

That is not correct. The maximum allowed mob pool size is:
1) Based on number of standing divisions according to what military policy the ruling party has. (The ratio is 1/1 for Pacifist, and goes up to 4/1 for Jingoist. This is why you may occasionally lose mob divisions due to elections.)
2) Limited by your total population. (Don't know the exact relation.)

I know about 1 and 2, I was wrong on the spending.


factor two would overlap with factor one, so... not exactly one of your division would allow 4 divisions in reserve.

 

[Orm]

I know about 1 and 2, I was wrong on the spending.


factor two would overlap with factor one, so... not exactly one of your division would allow 4 divisions in reserve.

As long as you don't go over the maximum possible mob pool size which is determined by your total population, the relation determined by military policy holds exactly AFAIK.

 

[henryjai]

As long as you don't go over the maximum possible mob pool size which is determined by your total population, the relation determined by military policy holds exactly AFAIK.

(I messed this up with VIP, which is NOT the case...)

 

[unmerged(174602)]

As long as you don't go over the maximum possible mob pool size which is determined by your total population, the relation determined by military policy holds exactly AFAIK.

HA!!!
I finally tracked down the guy that took my name!!!

Sir, i say, SIR, i challenge you to a duel!
...
...
...
...
:rofl:

 

[Orm]

HA!!!
I finally tracked down the guy that took my name!!!

Sir, i say, SIR, i challenge you to a duel!
...
...
...
...
:rofl:

Since you challenge me, I get to pick the method of duel, right?

Well, I choose on-topic posting in the Victoria forum. Oops, I win.

 

[unmerged(174602)]

Since you challenge me, I get to pick the method of duel, right?

Well, I choose on-topic posting in the Victoria forum. Oops, I win.

You get to choose the weapon actually .

May i suggest Frigates at dawn?