Alojzy said:
It's year 1936, our fighter wing starts with Sopwith Camels, planes from WWI.
After a while, we develop 20mm guns (that are promptly attached to our Great War planes), rockets and attachable fuel tanks. Now we have Super Camel armed to teeth. I might upgrade his cannons to 37mm in the future and maybe add turbo boost to it, even though I'm still using basic WWI construction.
Similarly, tank units are not upgraded part by part. You have certain number of elements that you combine into working model, then you start production. It's not that you start with Pz.I, then add to it 75mm cannon, new suspension, radio and 100mm front armor. Instead, you develop models of equipment that might combine or not certain elements mentioned above, then you arm your divisions with them. Upgrades are limited to minor things like modified engine, extra armor attachements, upgraded comm/targetting equipment and so on.
Well, I'm hoping this:
"we no longer have models, instead we have technologies that increase the maximum values a unit can have and if unit can upgrade to these values it will" means that you don't actually have jet-powered Sopwith Camels. Instead, you get some things that are simple upgrades to the equipment, and give benefits to units across the board (say, better aviation fuel, more reliable ammunition) and other things that are only applied when you switch the equipment of your units (you scrap the Camels and get Meteors instead).
Which means I'm also hoping (well, I was "hoping", now Johan's post earlier in the thread says so) "we no longer have models" means you get the silly "unit models" (infantry '41, Sherman division) but there are still equipment models floating around.
--- Rambling ---
Would tie in with a system in which you didn't even have things like "infantry divisions" preset. Instead, you'd get an interface for designing simplified unit TO&Es, and would get to design some named division templates like "regular division", and would define that those get three infantry brigades (equipped with motorized transport because you want them to be), a fire support brigade, an armoured support brigade and an engineering battalion. While another division template, "light division" would just have the three infantry brigades (foot-sloggers) and a light fire support brigade, which would be able to move better over rough terrain (at the cost of weight of fire). Or... An air wing template, demanding four multirole fighter squadrons. While another would have one multirole fighter squadron and three CAS squadrons.
Then you'd go to the production screen and order the production of X "regular division" units, Y "light division".
Later on, you'd go back to the TO&E interface, choose the "infantry brigade" building block, and switch the rifle from SMLE MkIII* to SMLE Mk4, and all your divisions would then start getting their rifles replaced. Or simply change its size from 3 battalions to 4.
Hmmm, I may have gotten slightly carried away.