Just a tip-transfer some of your supply production (or all of it) to upgrades. You can then slowly move the slider back as units get upgraded. You have enough supply stockpiled.
In any other HOI version I'd be on board with that.
I've noticed that regardless of actual stockpile, if I maintain a negative input at the source the throughput at the extreme fronts slows, as if the supply system uses a FIFO (first in/first out) method of distribution and there is a delay in drawing from the surplus to make up a FIFO shortfall at the point of shipping.
In a simplified example-
Stockpile @ 100
Production +20
Demand -25
It seems simple enough your running a -5 supply, this is how we know it works and this is how the GUI illustrates the situation up front with the red/green notifications...however what is not represented is the time lag in supply transmission as it pushes throughput. Normally this is offset by the organic supply being sufficient and with no disruptions in the convoy and decent infra.
But the throughput places an additional demand, which appears to occur on a lag since the system appears to not know what your exact amount of expected "supply lag" will be needed at the source along a fluid - moving front, causing it to ship insufficient supplies in the first place before getting the notice that the next transmission needs more, causing your local units to draw from their organic supply at an overall deficit before even taking into account operations, which causes an additional demand in either case to make up the shortfall. Add to this any kind of blockage or slowing occurs (insufficient convoys, truly terrible infra, and organic supply at deficit consumption -- or as happened in India, all of the above) the simple equation changes:
Stockpile @ 100
Production +20
Demand -25
Throughput Demand -25
But wait, your not running a -5 supply, your actually running -30 supply!
The insidious part of this is that these numbers are represented in the mouse over of the supply numbers, the red/green relationship *and* thus the slider demand itself are not accurately represented due to the complex nature of the system (basically "loose" supply is fed back into the source, possibly a feature designed to correct supply sinks) -- since this feedback is represented as a production positive in the GUI you can show "green" supply at the source while in actuality you are running a supply negative at the far flung front where you need it the most. (yup, the GUI and slider requirement are a lie! -- and so is the cake
)
Stockpile @ 100
Production +20
Demand -25
Throughput Demand -25
Returned +35
Surplus is returned from somewhere(?) but it is returned to source for redistribution, skewing the slider demand/gui color. -- what is really silly is that this could (in theory) be surplus from ports which are actually closer to your units then their selected theater node! While I have no hard data on this, it is suggestive of what occurred in this AAR's India campaign, where the supply was reaching Calcutta, but the node was in Rangoon...when units moved off the Calcutta square the local supply would drastically dive because their node supply was not being augmented by whatever the system was allowing to accumulate in Calcutta...basically when a unit moved off the square that squares demand would drop, the convoy going to Calcutta would reduce demand, etc. and any additional supply there would be *shipped back to Japan for redistribution to needy points!*
You notice in the second India campaign I purposefully landed in separate locations to *force* the creation of separate nodes at each port until such time as those units were able to link up, and I might add -- after they linked up I began to notice the supply issue again as they "consolidated" on a single node and operations moved into more hostile infra.
Now another issue does arise with the upgrading at the front, because while a person wants their best stuff on the line if at all possible (and I'm one of those people) - if you are already in a dicey supply situation those upgrades will be an additional lag-draw on the system that the throughput isn't prepared for.
As a general rule this is all less evident in overland supply than convoy supply (likely the delay-draw issue and the node status, which are absent in an all overland from the source supply link), and in "short" convoy supply vs. "world spanning" convoys (definitely a function of the time lag there)
So basically, I only reduce supply pressure during active ops if I can't help it for other reasons. Just keep that hose blasting all the time during active ops so that there is always enough in the pipe, hopefully building up at the regional node(s) so that when you do need to reduce pressure they can make up the slack.
