Paratroopers not moving despite requirements being met?

[jgalt87]

My 8 paratrooper divisions should be good to go, and by all indications in game, everything is set. However, they won't move. So as to avoid some not relevant questions, here is the situation:
- Order is given, but units are not moving
- Order launch button to go was gree with no warning
- Order arrow is moving, not stopped as it would be if there were an error
- All divisions are in the launch area
- Air superiority in all areas along the path and in the destination area is over 70%.
- Plenty of transports (157) are on standby in the launch airfield
- I am at war with the target country
- The paratrooper divisions do not have any units but paratroopers (and support companies)
- The divisions do not have any yellow exclamation points indicating trouble
- Prior to launch, when hovering the cursor over the order launch button there were no flags (e.g. insufficient air superiority)

I've attached pictures as proof of each of the preceding statements.

Any thoughts? I'm sure I'm just overlooking something simple. Many thanks in advance!

Edit: The puppet, who owns the province from which I am attempting to launch the attack, is at war with the target country.

Edit 2: For those searching for an answer to a similar intractable answer, first ensure the conditions outlined above and in other posts below are met. If they are, like they were in this situation, go to bitmode's answers on how the game code uses different measures for the selectable range and potential range on page 2. A huge shout out to him for examining the save game and solving the issue, and also thanks to all those who also took the time to offer help!

 

[elektrizikekswerk]

Range?

 

[Ringwraith_JP]

Is the controller of the area the mission is being launched from at war with the controller of the territory you're launching it to?

 

[jgalt87]

Range?

Yes it is. Just as an FYI, I don't think the game allows you to set airdrop orders outside of the transports' range.

Is the controller of the area the mission is being launched from at war with the controller of the territory you're launching it to?

That must be it! It's a puppet, and I'm not confident I called it. I've closed out of the game, but I am guessing you have figured it out! I had kept a province in Australia for myself to fully control and had launched naval invasions from the ports there without a hitch. I knew I must have been overlooking something. Thank you so much!

 

[billcorr]

That must be it! It's a puppet, and I'm not confident I called it. I've closed out of the game, but I am guessing you have figured it out! I had kept a province in Australia for myself to fully control and had launched naval invasions from the ports there without a hitch. I knew I must have been overlooking something. Thank you so much!

I bet this isn't the first time this confusion about airborne attacks has come up.

Perhaps future editions of HoI4 will recognize a player's intent and offer solutions.

 

[elektrizikekswerk]

Yes it is. Just as an FYI, I don't think the game allows you to set airdrop orders outside of the transports' range.

It was just a guess. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A post of mine from one year ago - it's still valid:

I _never_ performed a paradrop because of exactly this reason.

Planning, units, range, planes, air superiority. All seemed in fine order and still the plan would not execute. I never figured out why and simply stopped building para troops / transport planes at some point entirely and ignored that paradropping was part of the game.

 

[Emren]

Paradrops are fun, though, when you can get them to work...

 

[Ringwraith_JP]

That must be it! It's a puppet, and I'm not confident I called it. I've closed out of the game, but I am guessing you have figured it out! I had kept a province in Australia for myself to fully control and had launched naval invasions from the ports there without a hitch. I knew I must have been overlooking something. Thank you so much!

Yeah, it is confusing. I had the same issue with plain land combat and naval invasions, I figured it would also apply to airdrops. Glad I could help.

 

[jgalt87]

Paradrops are fun, though, when you can get them to work...

I have yet to figure out how best to employ them, but for island hopping while playing as Germany in my final battle again the East Asian Alliance led by Japan with a number of strong puppets, I figured they would help. I only have one Marine army. Key to beating them in a cost-efficient manner will be starving them of the oil and rubber in the East Indies. I can't settle for a dragged out advance across the middle of Siberia and western China, where the lack of infrastructure will cause massive attrition and stall the attack. I figure pushing through Pakistan and India, and up through the islands, will be more effective.

Hence... paratroopers!

 

[jgalt87]

It was just a guess. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A post of mine from one year ago - it's still valid:

I had come to the same conclusion for similar reasons, plus I just didn't get how they could be particularly effective--they either got stranded or my tanks would reach them before they did anything useful. Unfortunately, I think for my current campaign they could be an integral piece of moving quickly from island to island. It will probably end in disaster... oh well!

 

[jgalt87]

Yeah, it is confusing. I had the same issue with plain land combat and naval invasions, I figured it would also apply to airdrops. Glad I could help.

So, unfortunately, this was not the answer. The puppet, whose airfield I am trying to launch the attack from, is in fact at war with the target country. Ugh, frustrating.

Any other thoughts?

 

[Bunnytob]

A) What does the tooltip say now?
B) How long has the plan been on "go" mode for?

 

[Zarine]

My bet is that you have air control over the sea but not over the land

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Air supply on vs off doesn't matter, they don't go regardless of whether that is selected (showing test above).

You can't paradrop because:

So long as the game gives you no indication for why you can't paradrop per above and shows arrows as if the plan is being executed when it's not, it's bugged.

 

[Mister Analyst]

From the last screenshot, I count 10+10+10 = 30 Transports required and you only have 16 Transports in your wing standing by.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

From the last screenshot, I count 10+10+10 = 30 Transports required and you only have 16 Transports in your wing standing by.

You're saying that if I had told one paratrooper to drop it would have sent them? Is it too much to ask for the game to say "you need more transport planes" if you need more transport planes?

According to the wiki, each plane can carry two weight. One paratrooper battalion is .5 weight each, another .1 for support.

Even if each division were full 20w with 5 support (not the case), that's 10 battalions or 5.5 weight total. Therefore 2 divisions is 11 weight, and would in principle fly with 6 transport planes.

Sending two such paratrooper divisions would therefore require 12 planes allegedly, not 30. Regardless, I have 10 transport planes.

In reality there's no way my paradrop divisions are so large given the special forces restriction. Unless the wiki information is wrong this shouldn't be a transport plane issue.

Direct quote from the wiki:

The amount of transport planes required depends on the weight of the divisions to be transported. Paratroopers battalions weigh 0.5 and paratroop support companies 0.1. One transport plane has a carrying capacity of 2.0, and so could carry a division of 4 para battalions, or 3 para battalions with several support companies. If the air drop order planes total too little carrying capacity for the paratroops assigned, the transports will make several trips to ferry the paratroops, exposing them to more enemy attacks and causing the troops to arrive in separate waves.

According to this, it should take a few trips but the units should in fact have paradropped, as I do actually have 10 transport planes and that's what the game is saying I need for each trip.

Edit: according to the wiki I might have had this issue:

If experiencing problems with paradrops even when you have air superiority in the target zone, there may be another problem. If your target province lies within an air zone whose central node is outside the range of your transport planes, then it can cause an infinite delay and prevent paradrops. What this means is that, in a number of airfields, provinces might technically be in range of your transport planes, but your planes will never arrive at those provinces, because the target air zone's coverage node is outside of their range (or something like that). The Germany-to-Southern-England thing is a particularly obnoxious example, but it happens in a lot of other places too (the Pacific and South America, for example).

So this is actually a broken mechanic. Apparently it has a weird forcing workaround:

Fortunately, you can get around this broken game mechanic by, well, breaking it further. When your para drop order appears on the Air map screen (same place where you assign Air Superiority and Ground Support missions), left-click the order's circular icon (probably looks blank), then right-click reassign your order to an air zone whose central node is closer to your airfield (this will usually, but not always, be the air zone your airfield is located in).

 

[jgalt87]

Air supply on vs off doesn't matter, they don't go regardless of whether that is selected (showing test above).

You can't paradrop because:

So long as the game gives you no indication for why you can't paradrop per above and shows arrows as if the plan is being executed when it's not, it's bugged.

I'm guessing that you're right--it's just bugged.

My bet is that you have air control over the sea but not over the land

Please see the screenshots in the original post. They show 100% air superiority in each of the provinces along the path.

A) What does the tooltip say now?
B) How long has the plan been on "go" mode for?

A) So I've tried just setting an entirely new order from a different spot. Now I have the same situation--air superiority in each region along the path, etc. except that I am launching it from an airfield I control. (Please see attached screenshots as evidence. Not that I have over 70% in New Guinea, but not a full 100%. When I first tried this airdrop, I had 100%, this is try number 4 or 5).

Interestingly, I now seem to face hopefully a more solvable issue. When I hover the cursor over the "go" button, there are no problems indicated. However, the divisions do have a yellow exclamation point indicating the (in)famous "unit cannot move to province along path." I'm sure you will trust me that otherwise, the situation is identical without more screenshots. If necessary, I will add them. (I'm hoping this might not just be a bug because it actually showing an exclamation point this time.

B) I tried starting and stopping it, and deletingthe order and giving it again. Each time, after executing the order, I let it run for several days.


I really appreciate all the kind help folks have offered with this seemingly intractable issue. As Bunnytob suggested, I'm concluding that in the first instance, it was just bugged. In the second, which I just outlined, I'm hoping I'm missing something.

 

[jgalt87]

From the last screenshot, I count 10+10+10 = 30 Transports required and you only have 16 Transports in your wing standing by.

Actually, I had 159.

Edit: Whoops. I see you were replying to TheMeInTeam. Just to be clear, his game and attempted airdrop is separate from the one I described in the original post as well as my most recent post.

 

[Ringwraith_JP]

So, unfortunately, this was not the answer. The puppet, whose airfield I am trying to launch the attack from, is in fact at war with the target country. Ugh, frustrating.

Any other thoughts?

Sorry to hear that. Time for a bug report, I guess :/

 

[Bunnytob]

Can you attach a save?