Training

[Slapaho]

An important part of raising an army is training. I have not seen much about this aspect on the forums so I was wondering if consideration had been given to allowing an increase in experience based upon training. When purchasing a Corps/Army, its entry into the game is delayed by a few months to simulate it in training.

This would mainly benefit the UK and USA troops who can gain experience whilst awaiting to invade. This could be linked to a tech (to allow a higher experience to be reached through training), something like military doctrine / tactics.

I forgot to add, the choice would be the players whether they wanted to train the army or just get it in the normal time frame.

[Retributar]

Training was a normal regular part of raising an army...and it was kept to a minimum...except for when extra or specialized training was required such as training for Paratroops, Commando's...The First Special Service Force (Devil's Brigade)...Ranger's etc.

As far as extra-training while waiting in Britain...well, they were doing that historically anyway...it comes to a point of diminishing returns...as you train more and more...you really don't get more out of it...only real combat will finish your training properly.

In the U.S...they had only so much capacity for training new recruits...they had to train a batch of recruits and then get them the hell on their way as the room-facilities & trainers were needed for the new intake. It wouldn't have been practical to keep them there longer to try to upgrade their training...it wasn't practical under the circumstances.

http://members1.chello.nl/~w.jansen7/greenhistory21.htm

The 'First Special Service Force' got its nickname , "The Devil's Brigade," during the Italian Campaign from the words printed in the Captured Diary of a dead German Officer who had written: "The BLACK DEVILS are all around us every time we come into line and we never hear them."

http://members.tripod.com/fssflhg/

http://www.armyhistoryfnd.org/armyhist/research/detail2.cfm?webpage_id=392&page_type_id=3

The Devil's Brigade

http://www.soc.mil/swcs/museum/images/1ssfcopy.jpg

Lord Louis Mountbatten’s Combined Operations Command, called for a force able to fight on land, on the sea, in the air, and in winter conditions. Planners intended to use the force to attack hydroelectric plants in occupied Norway, oil fields in Romania, and even targets in Russia. Because neither Britian nor Norway could supply the troops, this new unit would be comprised of American and Canadian soldiers. MG Dwight D. Eisenhower, head of the War Plans Division, gave one of his staff officers, LTC Robert T. Frederick, the assignment of studying the idea, codenamed Project Plough. On 16 June 1942 Eisenhower gave Frederick the task of organizing and commanding the unit that would become known as the First Special Service Force.

After receiving his orders, Frederick began to organize a staff, obtain American and Canadian volunteers, and locate a place to train the new unit. To fill the Force’s ranks, Frederick and his staff recruited men with experience in working outdoors--lumberjacks, forest rangers, hunters, game wardens, prospectors, and others suitable for the Force’s mission. The Force was organized into three regiments, each made up of two battalions. It also had a small Air Force Detachment and a Service Battalion. In all, the Force would have approximately 2,300 officers and men.

The First Special Service Force was activated on 9 July 1942 at Fort William Henry Harrison near Helena, Montana. The rugged, mountainous terrain and extreme winter conditions made Montana the ideal place for training. The Forcemen underwent rigorous training in a variety of weapons, hand-to-hand combat, demolition techniques, airborne assault, and attack maneuvers. In the fall, a group of Norwegian Army ski troops arrived to teach the Forcemen cross country skiing.

[ July 08, 2004, 08:23 AM: Message edited by: Retributar ]

[Shaka of Carthage]

Slapaho SC already has a mechanism to represent training... experience bars.

I do agree with you however, that it would be nice in SC2, to be able to specify that the unit we produce is "trained" vs "untrained". This way, when you purchase a "trained" unit (ie one experience bar), it would be available in a month. While a "untrained" unit would be available immediatly.

Something like this would go along way to being able to differentiate national differences.

And since its somewhat related, having the ability to stipulate a "production" time for a unit would finally end the ability to create instant battleship groups.

[pzgndr]

I thought fighting partisans enroute to the front WAS training ...

Research tech advances can be considered to include training and doctrine advances, TO&E reorganizations, and other "soft" stuff besides the hardware advances. All of these things are abstractly factored into a unit's combat strength.

Two significant changes in SC2 will help give players some more flexibility with their units. Not only will unit upgrades be customizable, but so will new unit builds. You will have a CHOICE to build with the latest and greatest tech OR build something based on older tech and upgrade later. The one new unit would have better equipment and training, while the other would not. Also, unit experience will translate into being able to get elite reinforcements. But you will have to pull an experienced unit off the line for a while for rest and refit and training to do so. This is another player CHOICE. And some of these choices may be tough to make.