Any Chance of the Dev's giving us back a do not upgrade button?

[Micah Goodman 2]

I've asked this before and it's weird that they never added this feature to the game. If I have a secondary theater and limited resources I don't want my most modern equipment going to secondary theaters of operation. Why was this feature removed? It can't be that difficult to add it back into the game. And just for clarity this feature was in earlier versions of HoI not HoI IV.

 

[batui9]

It is sorta already in there, as you can set priority for reinforcements to different battle groups, so you could set it so your secondary theater is at the lowest priority and your primary on highest, and it should send the new equipment to the primary one first.

 

[MobiusTwo]

It is sorta already in there, as you can set priority for reinforcements to different battle groups, so you could set it so your secondary theater is at the lowest priority and your primary on highest, and it should send the new equipment to the primary one first.

Wait, you can do this? Huh, that's a new one. Where is this option in the UI?

 

[blue_yonder]

Wait, you can do this? Huh, that's a new one. Where is this option in the UI?

You press the cog thing to the left of the theatre header, and the options pop out as per the screenshot.

 

[Orbs]

You can also set upgrade priority (or no priority at all) for individual air wings (the up/down chevrons in my attached picture). Helpful for when you got planes all over the globe and you want your newest good planes to go directly to the latest active hot zone.

 

[elektrizikekswerk]

And you can do the same for division templates.
Create two identical templates (Copy), set one to low priority, change desired divisions.
This should result in no changes in XP/equipment for the affected division - they only receive updates/reinforcements with lower priority. If this does change current XP/equipment I'd file a bug report.

 

[Mousetick]

It is sorta already in there, as you can set priority for reinforcements to different battle groups, so you could set it so your secondary theater is at the lowest priority and your primary on highest, and it should send the new equipment to the primary one first.

This doesn't fully address the OP's question/issue. Setting a lower priority of reinforcement is not the same as completely disabling upgrades for a specific theater or army or army group. What if I want to prioritize the new equipement for a specific theater/army/army group, and keep the surplus in the stockpile, while leaving all the other units not-upgraded? Unless I'm missing something, it's not possible with the current interface. The only way to produce the desired effect is to create non-upgrading template variants and swapping them on specific units. Which is far too complicated and too much micro-management when the upgrade/do-not-upgrade criteria are 'in which theater are the units involved' instead of simply 'which kind of units are they'.

And you can do the same for division templates.
Create two identical templates (Copy), set one to low priority, change desired divisions.
This should result in no changes in XP/equipment for the affected division - they only receive updates/reinforcements with lower priority. If this does change current XP/equipment I'd file a bug report.

Again this doesn't really address the OP's question/issue. To replicate the desired effect the OP is asking about, the two templates should not be differentiated based on reinforcement priority, but on the type of equipment each gets: one being set to "Use new equipment" and the other being set to receive only certain types of (obsolete) equipment. It's way too much hassle compared to a simple 'Do not upgrade' button that can be toggled on/off depending on which theater the units are located.

 

[elektrizikekswerk]

Again this doesn't really address the OP's question/issue. To replicate the desired effect the OP is asking about, the two templates should not be differentiated based on reinforcement priority, but on the type of equipment each gets: one being set to "Use new equipment" and the other being set to receive only certain types of (obsolete) equipment. It's way too much hassle compared to a simple 'Do not upgrade' button that can be toggled on/off depending on which theater the units are located.

Fair point. I didn't mention it but you can control which type of equipment a division template receives...

However, the desired effect OP (most likely) wants is that the important divisions receive their upgrades/reinforcements first which can be controlled with update priority settings.

 

[Mousetick]

However, the desired effect OP (most likely) wants is that the important divisions receive their upgrades/reinforcements first which can be controlled with update priority settings.

Yes that wil work to some degree, but it's not the same.

Consider this scenario if you have limited production capacity:
- You have high-prio theater A and low-prio theater B
- Theater A is fully upgraded and is temporarily not fighting, so excess production of new equipment is not stockpiled but starts going to theater B
- Some time later, theater A is involved in heavy fighting, and in needs of lots of reinforcements
- Since there is no stockpile of new equipment, theater A receives whatever is available, mostly obsolete equipment and however much new equipment can be produced daily, instead of the new equipment it should have received immediately from the stockpile *if* theater B had upgrades completely disabled

 

[elektrizikekswerk]

Yes that wil work to some degree, but it's not the same.

Consider this scenario if you have limited production capacity:
- You have high-prio theater A and low-prio theater B
- Theater A is fully upgraded and is temporarily not fighting, so excess production of new equipment is not stockpiled but starts going to theater B
- Some time later, theater A is involved in heavy fighting, and in needs of lots of reinforcements
- Since there is no stockpile of new equipment, theater A receives whatever is available, mostly obsolete equipment and however much new equipment can be produced daily, instead of the new equipment it should have received immediately from the stockpile *if* theater B had upgrades completely disabled

I agree. And I agree that it would be nice to have a "do not upgrade" button on any level of hierarchy (ie theater, army group, army and division).
However since with the smallest unit (division) already having this option (by selecting which equipment to use) it is possible to do so - albeit rather clumsy.

In other words: We agree that it would be nice if that option was available at different levels of organizational hierarchy.
I disagree however on the notion that it's generally not possible to do so already. If the situation occured like you described you could prepare accordingly with the desired result. It's just not very user friendly to do so (and I wouldn't bother with it, either).

 

[pkunk]

Do I miss something?

 

[Anaraxes]

Do I miss something?

The OP wants to control upgrades by theater rather than by division, and also isn't content with the existing equipment priorities; rather, the unimportant theaters should never get the new equipment, but production beyond the important theater(s) should be stockpiled in preference to equipped unimportant areas.

(One hack would be to give the stockpile a theater priority. It can't be filled, so if it outranked some theaters, those would never receive equipment. But then someone will want to distinguish between aircraft and land units, or tanks and infantry equipment.

The only way to make all possible scenarios work is to replicate the priority scheme at every level of granularity from division upwards through armies, army groups, theaters, and branches of service, with a weighted priority slider that slides all the way to absolute priority / exclusion on the end. Then you make the "too complicated / too much micromanagement" people unhappy instead.)

 

[blue_yonder]

I once tried having 'heat-sink' divisions, which sat untrained in my capital and were set to best equipment. The idea was they would hog the new stuff and stop it going to the unworthy, and simply be disbanded when their stored equipment was needed. Someone more organized than me could no doubt make this work, but it was fiddly and I never tried again.

Although the OP can't have what he wants unfortunately, the situation would at least be greatly improved if only they would fix the bug which allows the off-map garrisons to take whatever they like, regardless of whether you have told them to use junk or not.

 

[kettyo]

Consider this scenario if you have limited production capacity:
- You have high-prio theater A and low-prio theater B
- Theater A is fully upgraded and is temporarily not fighting, so excess production of new equipment is not stockpiled but starts going to theater B
- Some time later, theater A is involved in heavy fighting, and in needs of lots of reinforcements
- Since there is no stockpile of new equipment, theater A receives whatever is available, mostly obsolete equipment and however much new equipment can be produced daily, instead of the new equipment it should have received immediately from the stockpile *if* theater B had upgrades completely disabled

Can't divisions auto-downgrade when the priorities suggest them so?

I mean theater A is fully upgraded so new stuff goes to theater B, old stuff from there goes to stockpile.

Fighting starts at theater A, reinforcement needed. Won't the new stuff will be sent from theater B to theater A, downgrading them back to the old stuff they had?

I never actually have observed if it works so or not. I think if it worked so there is practically no problem as equipment transfer take no effort and take practically no time either.

 

[xtfoster]

Can't divisions auto-downgrade when the priorities suggest them so?

I mean theater A is fully upgraded so new stuff goes to theater B, old stuff from there goes to stockpile.

Fighting starts at theater A, reinforcement needed. Won't the new stuff will be sent from theater B to theater A, downgrading them back to the old stuff they had?

I never actually have observed if it works so or not. I think if it worked so there is practically no problem as equipment transfer take no effort and take practically no time either.

Simple answer: No
Once the equipment is in the field it won't go back into the stockpile unless it is being upgraded.

EDIT: However, in addition to creating an identical template with a lower priority for reinforcement, you can also go into the equipment tab for that lower priority template and uncheck your newest equipment to say it will NEVER be sent to divisions with this template. I tend to do that (but leave the auto-update with new equipment (or whatever it is called) button) for my Militia/Garrison/Coastal templates so they can use everything EXCEPT the most current equipment. Particularly useful for making sure they are using the captured/inherited Austrian/Czech/Polish/French/etc. Basic Infantry Equipment and Infantry Equipment I instead of my limited Infantry Equipment II.

 

[kettyo]

However, in addition to creating an identical template with a lower priority for reinforcement, you can also go into the equipment tab for that lower priority template and uncheck your newest equipment to say it will NEVER be sent to divisions with this template. I tend to do that (but leave the auto-update with new equipment (or whatever it is called) button) for my Militia/Garrison/Coastal templates so they can use everything EXCEPT the most current equipment. Particularly useful for making sure they are using the captured/inherited Austrian/Czech/Polish/French/etc. Basic Infantry Equipment and Infantry Equipment I instead of my limited Infantry Equipment II.

Super. A bit tiresome but should work well. I guess it isn't really useful for no-pause games though.

 

[blahmaster6k]

My favorite solution to this problem is having a massive equipment surplus so all my units have modern equipment! I would advise trying that.

 

[Mousetick]

My favorite solution to this problem is having a massive equipment surplus so all my units have modern equipment! I would advise trying that.

Which 'problem' are you talking about? The problem being discussed here is: If I have a secondary theater and limited resources I don't want my most modern equipment going to secondary theaters of operation.

Having a massive equipment surplus doesn't seem compatible with having limited resources. So I don't see how your suggestion fits in, or how stating the obvious helps with this discussion.

 

[Dalos]

I would like the possibility to optionally specify which level of equipment for each batallion type could be used for each template. There are not so many levels of equipment if we do not count variants, mostly three or four.

So I could have a low prio infantry template that would use just lvl 1 or 2 infantry guns. If these runs out i would be noticed and could change the template accordingly. Or don't.

 

[blahmaster6k]

Which 'problem' are you talking about? The problem being discussed here is: If I have a secondary theater and limited resources I don't want my most modern equipment going to secondary theaters of operation.

Having a massive equipment surplus doesn't seem compatible with having limited resources. So I don't see how your suggestion fits in, or how stating the obvious helps with this discussion.

It was more a tongue-in-cheek joke than a serious reply, don't take it too seriously man. But to be honest, in almost every scenario in which I'm fighting a multi-theater war in HoI, I want all my units everywhere to be top-of-the-line, and I build my country such that I have enough resources to do that. I rarely have scarcity of anything if i'm in a position to be fighting in multiple theaters.