Starvation

Starvation is the penalty felt being short of Supplies. Those who do not eat are not very happy.

When Supply Usage exceeds local Supplies, random units in the province who need to eat go hungry:

• The amount that go hungry scales with the deficit in supply.
• Animals are generally lowest in the priority for being fed, and Commanders are generally highest.
• The "Starving" trait lasts for the turn it's given, but can very well be reapplied next turn if the Supply issue isn't addressed.

Starving fellows suffer a Morale penalty. On top of that, they may become Diseased while starved, sometimes immediately.

In short, Starvation is a soft limiter for how effective your large armies of foodies will be, by making the excess troop count less effective and gradually killing them off. It also offers an incentive to relieve or sortie against Sieges, instead of waiting for the foe to attack; fresh Supplies will not be provided to a fort under Siege. For insight on how many Supplies you need, see Supply Size.

If they Need not Eat, they won't starve.

However, there are some who still like eating very much; for examples of this conundrum, see Hinnom's Rephaim, Lanka's Rakshasas, Yomi's Oni, and T'ien Ch'i's Celestial Servant. These guys will inflate Supply Usage, but they won't actually starve if they cause a deficit.

As a general rule of thumb, if a unit is Undead, Inanimate, or a Demon, it won't starve.