By that logic, you shouldn't ever need to switch templates -- if you have a tank template, it just populates your tank brigades with the "best" (whatever that means) tank that's available. Early game, that means lights, so your tank divisions are filled with light tanks. Once they are full of lights, and you start producing mediums, your lights should be auto-replaced with mediums as the come off the line. Of course, if you happen to want only lights in those divisions, you would be out of luck.
You would probably respond with "No, no, not at all. If my template says lights, it should only get lights. But if I revise a tank template to switch from lights to mediums, the game should recognize that I'm about to do something foolish, since I have no stockpiled medium tanks, and essentially overrule my instructions, keeping lights in my division (even though I've removed my light brigades from that template) until mediums are actually produced because, well, the game knows what I really intended to have happen."
In essence, you're asking for "oops" protection, where the game will overrule a player's clear instructions? Um, no thanks.
No, that is not at all what I'm asking for. In WW2, panzer divions meant to be made up of primarily Panzer III's, but in reality, there weren't enough of them to go around, so most of them had to make do with Panzer I/II's. Now, Panzer III's are medium tanks, and when you don't have enough medium tanks, your divisions should still use light tanks. As more tanks rolled off the production line they would be inserted into these divisions and replaced those Panzer I/II LT's. This is especially frustrating as in the game, essentially what happens is they send all their light tanks home, then wait for the medium tanks to arrive
while on the front. I feel the behavior should instead be, 'well even though we are now a medium tank brigade, we'll still keep whatever light tanks we have until the medium tanks roll off the production line and get here. That way we don't get ROFL stomped by the enemy'. Even if they don't get reinforced with LT's or whatever, they shouldn't lose all of them immediately. Also I feel this behavior should apply to all other 'classes' of battalions such as AT/AA/ART, MOT/MECH. If anything, I feel that if you
REALLY want your light tanks elsewhere, then there should be a toggle or a button that says 'remove all equipment of ______ type from division' or something.
This mechanic of equipment being 'replaced' is seen already in the game in the form of LT3 replacing LT2's, they don't get all sent home at once. And since medium tanks aren't that much different to light tanks, I don't see why the same cannot be done. This should of course also apply when replacing MT with HT, or the reverse, in fact, I feel that the battalions should take all the equipment of the 'correct' type, then start to take other equipment which is of the same class etc.
Finally, when thinking about this more, on division reinforcement. When a tank rolls off the production line, I feel the tank should first go to the first division which has a shortage of the exact equipment type that is needed, then it goes to the divion which needs the equipment of the same class, only AFTER that does it go to the stockpile. That would make more sense to me.
And no, an oops button which overrules a player is not what I'm asking for. This suggestion does not overrule the player in any way, and does not affect you if you do stockpile equipment before changing division type, as you're doing currently. This suggestion simply removes the absurd conditions of all of one type of equipment being sent home at once and also reduces the need to micro manage this 'equipment changing' as it does not add to the game.
I would like to hear your further opinions on this matter.
