Upgrading militia

[unmerged(31117)]

If a militia unit is a poorly trained and equipped militery unit it should be able to become an infantry unit after enough battles due to capturing equipment and gaining combat experiance. Also the player should be able to upgrade them too at a considerably lower cost than building a new infantry division from scratch.

 

[unmerged(29126)]

If a militia unit is a poorly trained and equipped militery unit it should be able to become an infantry unit after enough battles due to capturing equipment and gaining combat experiance. Also the player should be able to upgrade them too at a considerably lower cost than building a new infantry division from scratch.

I don't really agree. Depending on your definition of militia (Volkssturm, Soviet Class C Infantry, light colonial troops (I don't want THAT discussion to start again )) there is some merit to your suggestion. But capturing equipment, although being historical to some extend, could not "upgrade" poorly trained not-quite-combat-fit troops to Front-Line Infantry status, same with experience. Militia are quick to build, have little training, little equipment and so suffer higher losses, which are then replaced by other militia-trained militiamen. So experience shouldn't really accumulate significantly ... If you stick to the Volkssturm definition (which I usually tend to do, Home Guard etc.) then combat-fit men 18-40 (?) should go to A-rung units, militia is not meant as a Front-Line fighting force, only as stop-gaps. As you said they lack the heavy equipment, capturing it would not necessarily allow them to use it (artillery-craft is not that easy to learn, especially in coordinated doctrine form etc.).

So I'm strictly against Militia turning into infantry automatically, maybe they should gain experience and veteran status, but that's summin different ...

As with the reduced cost for upgrades ... fighting militia style (mostly defensive) and infantry-style (coordinated combined forces attack) is not the same thing ... time and equipment has to be put in to gain the extra skill ... anything else would just reek of exploit ...

Keep in mind: The above is just my own analysis of the situation and I might be wrong of course (I was in that funny little cavalry thread, so it happens)

 

[unmerged(15998)]

The idea is good, depending of what do you consider when thinking about a Militia. If you think in milita as poorly equiped troops that are build by small countries that can't afford anything else, then yes.

Historical example of militia turning into regular infantry divisions: Spanish Civil War. Republican Army, in later 1936-early 1937, converted much militia into infantry divisions, by mixting the regular troops with militia troops (50%-50%).

Militia should be upgradeable to regular infantry, but at a cost in manpower (to represent the unfit members that should leave) in training time (to teach them to use new weapons and act like normal infantry) and IC (to build the equipment they usually lack). However the price should be considerably cheaper than building new infantry and the troops should be allowed to keep experience.

 

[M@drox]

I thought one of those vertical bars (green) on the units represented experience? Unless I am off base, an experience characterstic should suffice for this militia idea.

 

[Sir Humphrey]

Not automatically, but perhaps a prompt through experience level or something, anyway, even if they captured enemy equipment, would they know how to use it?

 

[wwater]

Historical example of militia turning into regular infantry divisions: Spanish Civil War. Republican Army, in later 1936-early 1937, converted much militia into infantry divisions, by mixting the regular troops with militia troops (50%-50%).

Wouldn't mixing militia with regular army men actually make the regular army men milita instead? Think of the consequenses of having poorly trained front-line comerades, depending your life on people who should be guarding bridges and roads in secure areas back home instead.

The Republican Army in the Spanish "facist-revolution" was special, they were indoctrinated with an ideology, fighting for a cause and maybe they would compare more to the fanatical S.S without proper weapons.

 

[unmerged(30686)]

The consensus seems to be that where it is possible to upgrade Militia to Infantry that there is no significant advantage in manpower or ICs.

I don't believe the captured equipment idea holds for a division level game. That captured equipment needs to be operated by your relataively lowly trained 2nd line troops. It also needs to be maintained. If you have any armourers they need to be able to repair and adjust those newly captured MG42s. But above all you also need to get hold of sufficient quantities of the right ammo, to keep your division effective.

 

[unmerged(16682)]

Keep in mind: The above is just my own analysis of the situation and I might be wrong of course (I was in that funny little cavalry thread, so it happens)

*hehe* so was I, so I might be as wrong :rofl:
I seem to recal reading somewhere that the Soviet Class C Infantry had sort of a rule that said that soldiers in these outfits, that survived and proved they where true comrades, were eventually moved into regular units as reinforcements - and were refitted on the way.

If thats true, then I guess the militia unit would still stay a militia unit, as all good soldiers are on regular basis moved to other regular units

 

[unmerged(15998)]

Wouldn't mixing militia with regular army men actually make the regular army men milita instead? Think of the consequenses of having poorly trained front-line comerades, depending your life on people who should be guarding bridges and roads in secure areas back home instead.

The Republican Army in the Spanish "facist-revolution" was special, they were indoctrinated with an ideology, fighting for a cause and maybe they would compare more to the fanatical S.S without proper weapons.

Eh... no, absolutely not.

The Republican Army was not really indocrinated with an ideology, at least not more than any other army of the world. Almost every elder I've talked with has told me that very little peolple really beilve the propaganda of neither side, and that they just fought in the side they where told to.

The example I described is a strategy of a government used to build-up his army. Kind similar to how the Third Reich build up his forces from the small Reichswher: Trained units where split, and merged with the greens, and when those greens where experienced, the unit was split again, etc...