Experience?

[XeroMan]

I don't recall coming across a discussion of unit experience, so I thought I'd bring it up.
Will units gain experience?
Will there be a maximum level?
How much of an effect would it have?
Will units gather experince only through combat, or will they be able to train?
How will reinforcing a decimated battalion affect the experience levels?

[BattleGoat]

"Will units gain experience?" YES

"Will there be a maximum level?"
Not sure yet, but I don't think so.

"How much of an effect would it have?"
Definitely will give an experienced unit an advantage in battle. Of course it would depend on relative strengths as well, but all else being equal it would be a deciding factor.

"Will units gather experince only through combat, or will they be able to train?"
Training will be an option. Including specialized training such as Alpine, Desert, etc. to increase a unit's effectiveness in different types of terrain.

"How will reinforcing a decimated battalion affect the experience levels?"
Obviously it will lower a unit's experience level. The Panzer General series did this pretty well by averaging out the experience levels. (ex. Weakened to a strength of 5, your reinforcements would take you back to a strength of 10. Your experience level would be exactly half way between what your remaining strength had and that of raw recruits.)

[dust off]

Just wondering if anybody has any thoughts on an idea that training needs to be ongoing, or a regular commitment. Maybe units experience should gradually deminish if they are out of combat and not being trained. Regular training, which is expensive, should give an advantage. But, if troops go into combat years after their last engagement or exercise then I would expect them to not be as sharp. Training should pay dividends, but it should require a regular financial commitment. Even during Total War soldiers and units still needed to train.

[BattleGoat]

We have ten types of "Specialty" training that are available to appropriate units within the game:

Tropical Combat / Desert Combat / Alpine Combat / Urban Combat / Simulators / Leadership / Nuclear Warfare / Biological Warfare / Chemical Warfare / Wargames

Regular combat training is assumed as part of a unit's ongoing maintenance costs. The optional training programs will provide units a combat bonus in different terrain types or have another type of benefit such as increased experience.

[Tecuma]

Sounds great. But is there a time in which the special training expires or the benefit's decrease over time. What I'm getting at is units will have turn over and the replacements coming in probably don't have the same training. So it is reasonable to expect that after a few years a Battalion will not have the same level of performance for lets say Desert Combat as they did when they were first trained.

[BattleGoat]

Point taken... I'm not sure how easily it will be for us to implement it, but I will definitely add it to the unit rules.

[Hellfish6]

Can a unit be trained in more than one specialty? Like an Alpine AND desert trained unit?

I'm also wondering if having them lose their training in the long term won't be something too micromanaging. I mean, if you want a battalion trained in desert warfare, do you as a player really want to retrain it every year or two? Seems a bit tedious to me...

[tkobo]

Why not simply do the special training the same way you do the normal ?

IE consider the special training part of a unit's ongoing maintenance costs also by adding to that cost per training held .So the more special training a unit has, the more it costs to maintain and the cost is considered to include any refresher training needed as the unit ages.

[Tecuma]

I like tkobo suggestion to just add an additional ongoing cost to the maintenance to reflect the specialty training. I also think the terrain training should be a selectable option in that if I no longer want a unit trained in Desert Combat I can deselect the option and then I’m no longer charged for the training but my unit will begin to lose its experience/bonus.

Also how long is the unit in training before it gets its bonus?

[BattleGoat]

Good ideas... We'll definitely keep these in mind and review the training model.

[Juergen]

Im curious,what effect would Chemical Warfare, Biological Warfare and Nuclear Warfare training have?

[Hunter41]

I wouldn't get too hung up on NBC training. For most combat troops, it only takes a day or two to refresh their basic NBC survival skills. However, this does bring up the question of NBC troops. Will there be specialty NBC troops that can decontaminate other units?

[BattleGoat]

The benefit of NBC training is that in the case of Biological or Chemical attacks, it would improve your troops' chances to survive such and attack (and keep fighting). In the case of Nuclear Training, it means that your soldiers could survive fighting in nuclear contaminated areas (wouldn't help them much though if a warhead landed next to their vehicle).

And no, we weren't considering Decontamination units at this time.

[dust off]

Interested to know if for example desert training really will have a noticable effect on troops performance in desert?

Slightly topical, could add peacekeeping/hearts&minds type training to wish list, so we could train garrison troops that wouldn't wind up recently conquered locals as much as regular troops.

[Hellfish6]

I'm wondering how modern US units would be viewed in game terms. I mean, the 3rd Infantry Division is geared toward desert warfare, but as you saw from the last Gulf War, they were totally prepared for NBC warfare, spending weeks at a time wearing their chemical suits.

Would it perhaps be more worthwhile to allow simply giving NBC training to units instead of subdividing it into N, B and C? I mean, every Army troop is ingrained almost from day one about how to use protective gear and react to contaminants. Hell, I've got a pack of M8 Chemical Detection Paper sitting in my desk here and I still remember how to use it.