Quick Question... My divisions will not fill their planning bar for invasion?

[DaleDVM]

I have 10 Japanese divisions in Hiroshima. Launching 4 separate invasions from that space out of the same army. That army only contains those 10 divisions.

I hover over the activate button all is green and check mark is there. I have naval supremacy in all three sea zones I need. Yet the planning bars on the division will not fill at all. I have a -20% debuff because Division still preparing. The bar does not fill no matter how long I wait.

However, I have a green checkmark that the invasions are ready to go. I can launch them no problem. I just never get the planning bars to fill.

Any ideas what might be holding up the planning bars?

 

[Mousetick]

Any ideas what might be holding up the planning bars?

Short answer: nothing. If the battleplan activation arrow shows a green checkmark, you're good to go.

Long answer:

The planning for naval invasion works differently than other battleplan orders. The invading units can't accumulate a planning bonus over time to be used later in combat. However they still need to prepare, and this preparation time is shown on the commander's portrait by a very thin, very unnoticeable bar, and a microscopic icon. As illustrated in this screenshot:

As you can see at the tip of the big red arrow, and to the right of the commander's portrait, there is a thin vertical bar. In this example it is filled up with green, meaning the units are fully prepared, and the plan can be activated if all other requirements are met (naval supremacy, ...). Normally this bar is empty. After you issue a naval invasion order, it gradually fills up during the preparation time (for however many days required depending on number of divisions and landing ship technology). At the bottom left of this vertical bar, there is a tiny icon representing a stopwatch and an anchor - indicating this is the naval invasion preparation progress bar - if you can squint hard enough to see it, that is.

Don't worry about the -20% malus because 'Division still preparing', just ignore it. This is just one quirk of the game, among others. It's been there ever since naval invasions existed in HOI 4. It serves no purpose other than confuse players, and is a consequence of invading units not accumulating planning bonus.

 

[DaleDVM]

This is what I get for playing 1500 hours on Germany and 50 on Japan. I never even pay attention to the invasion planning bonus when I invade Norway with the Germans. It is a gimme invasion anyway.

Thanks for your response. I just keep on learning in this game.