Training Armies

[Otay]

Just looking for tips on how to train armies quickly, including armored and special forces. Thanks.

 

[walt526]

There are really no shortcuts that I'm aware of other than you can save yourself some tanks in your armored divisions if you have high reliability (either through designers, upgrades, and/or maintenance companies) since that will reduce their attrition (not just training, but in all instances).

If you deploy the troops before they're fully trained (i.e., "green" rather than "trained"), then you're going to spend more time (and equipment) training them in the field. Likewise, if you change the template after deploying it, then you'll have to expend time (and equipment) retraining the division with the new equipment.

Be sure to stop exercising them when they reach "regular" experience level because they won't stop automatically once they reach "regular" experience level. Another thing is (assuming you're pre-war) that if you stagger the training of your divisions (and air and navy), then you might reduce the need to import oil for their fuel for their training.

It's definitely worth it whenever possible for the combat bonuses.

 

[kimidf]

I think it should be done when you ask to do division and you should gain some experience without having to display the division on the map and also when hiring a design company from a military branch you should also gain some experience even if that gain was symbolic

 

[BeauNiddle]

Just looking for tips on how to train armies quickly, including armored and special forces. Thanks.

About the only trick is to create a pure infantry training division (NO supports at all!). Pure infantry can recruit in 90 days vs 120+ days for everything else (hence no supports).

When you convert divisions from one type to another the amount of xp lost is dependent on personnel requirements - so pure infantry switching to tank force doesn't actually lose that much xp.

Thus you quick train pure infantry off map. Train the infantry to max on map at the cost of infantry weapons (old ones if you can). Then you swap division template and train back to max (at full cost in equipment but much less xp required)


If you setup a training army you can have a constant stream of pure infantry being recruited and trained to max and then they are available to convert to your desired forces when you need them. Any surplus training you do only costs you cheap infantry equipment and will net you army xp so it doesn't matter if you don't pay close attention.

Also be careful when you advance your recruitment laws - the one that increases training time by 10% might not sound like a lot but will actually save you a load of time if you put it off as long as possible.

 

[Harin]

About the only trick is to create a pure infantry training division (NO supports at all!). Pure infantry can recruit in 90 days vs 120+ days for everything else (hence no supports).

I believe this is still true, but when making your pure infantry training division template, make sure it's manpower is about the same, or larger, than the template you will swap into to, later. It is the men you are training, so if your training division has 10,000 men, but you are going to swap it into a division with 11,000 men, then those 1,000 extra are going to be green and take away some of the benefits you are trying to achieve with the training division. Ignore combat width on the training division, as it will not fight with that template, anyhow. It just needs to have enough manpower to make the swap without bringing in green soldiers.

 

[desphorin]

Agree with Harin.

If you want to use a 40w division, build a 40w pure infantry (90 days training) division (or 42w just to be even safer) then change those division to the desired template. If you train the pure infantry to regular (lvl 3), any changed template should remain at least trained (lvl 2).

If you are rich with army xp, however, you can consider editing the infantry template directly to your desired one (ie not changing template). As long as manpower is less or equal, you will loose not training level. This is great if you have some kind of veteran infantry from say SCW and you can swap them to veteran tank divisions. Basically trading army xp for division xp.

 

[FindFloppies]

Be sure to stop exercising them when they reach "regular" experience level because they won't stop automatically once they reach "regular" experience level. Another thing is (assuming you're pre-war) that if you stagger the training of your divisions (and air and navy), then you might reduce the need to import oil for their fuel for their training.

Hold shift when you click the exercise button, and they'll stop automatically.

 

[walt526]

Hold shift when you click the exercise button, and they'll stop automatically.

Awesome, did not know that. Thanks--you just saved me a ton of equipment!

 

[dasaard200]

So to re-cap, use SCW and China for XP by sending volenteers, Led Lease, and attaches ;
train up bigger pure INF XXs on low priority weapons, 40-50W {NO SUPPORTS !!} , then exercise to L3 using Shift + Exercise (for automatic stop at L3) ;
using those new 40-50W XXs to downshift into usable templates, to save manpower for later use (again using Shift + Exercise) .

Later templates (Artillery, Armor, INF, etc) are Player's choice .

 

[Harin]

So to re-cap, use SCW and China for XP by sending volenteers, Led Lease, and attaches ;
train up bigger pure INF XXs on low priority weapons, 40-50W {NO SUPPORTS !!} , then exercise to L3 using Shift + Exercise (for automatic stop at L3) ;
using those new 40-50W XXs to downshift into usable templates, to save manpower for later use (again using Shift + Exercise) .

Later templates (Artillery, Armor, INF, etc) are Player's choice .

The width of the training division is not the thing to watch, it is the number of soldiers in the division you are training.

For example, lets say you have an infantry division you want to build. With support and all its parts, it requires 17,000 men. Just make sure your training division has 17,000 men, which should be 17 infantry battalions, iirc. When the training division deploys, train it with Shift + Exercise so it will stop when fully trained. Now change the template on your fully trained division into the template you prefer. The division will lose some experience so now train it with Shift + Exercise so it will train again to fully trained.

 

[dasaard200]

Aye, in sooth, a TRUTH .
I'm not very computer 'literate', and the only console command I use is the " ` " function .
For @mavfin87, thou hast improved my game play !! ; it goes to show that you'll find a LOT of great stuff here that's USEFUL to know !

Now if I could only get 'battle planner' to BEHAVE ... I might get a full game done before the next 'patch', 'fix', or Husky v1.9.3+ comes down the pike !

 

[Silentgarb]

Depends on the nation, but if I delete all my army except 1 to get XP for the army, about 6 months before the war starts I start training units, you can only train 10 division, so I wait until those are 20% and dump them out and start training them in the field. Each time I deploy early I can usally start to train more units. Depending on how large your army has to be this can eat a lot of equipment, but it gets men out fast. Or you can use them untrained, 25% debuff hurts, but isn't the end of the world. Rather have -25% over not enough troops.

For larger nations once the war starts going I leave a bunch of infantry training. For tanks and special forces and pretty much any template that isn't infanry I check my army and grab infantry divisions that have XP and change their templates to tanks for example. Sure you'll lose some XP, but in the end you'll have a brand new tank division in the field in days as opposed to months. I never train tanks or special forces or anything like that. If I have the equipment, I change guys already in the field and train them if I have to. Then grab infantry thats deploying and refill my infantry armies. Its so much faster to the point it almost feels like an exploit, maybe they should lose more XP if they are going from inf to tank or something?

 

[Secret Master]

I see my method for training an army has diffused to the community. But for those who want a slightly more detailed account of using pure INF divisions to create well trained divisions for template swapping, I point you to this thread here.

It also has tests that show the efficacy of the method and its limitations. The only change I would make for LaR is that you don't have on-map units suppress partisans, so everything I say about suppressing partisans is irrelevant.

 

[dasaard200]

I happen to like @Secret Master's ideas on his "C" XXs ; as you can 'dial' an overstuffed L3 XX into something useful in 20W or 40W, and add or subtract (+supports) at need .
This makes 'stair stepping' of templates easier during early game eras ['36-'39], while your economy spools up .