upgrading & fielding experienced units

[tallstark]

Hi all, I KNOW I should know this one but I don't have access to the game right now pending a graphics card update so I thought I would just ask:
Say I have a militia spear unit that has seen a lot of action and casualties and they have level 3 experience but only 2 people left. I know if I merge them with a group of 20 that have 1 experience that it blends the average down and I will end up with 22 in a group with 1 or 2.

Am I understanding some posts that if I send them back to a city and retrain them I get a full unit at level 3 experience? I guess I am just trying to figure out how to field an army with the most experience possible. Any and all suggestions welcome!

[Captain Spanky]

Yep thats right, retraining lets them keep all of their experience.

[tallstark]

Wow OK, thats easier but kind of counter intuitive. So those two guys from the original Bravo Company can get a whole group of newbies up to speed but can't do squat with a group that only fought one battle less than them LOL. I guess it really puts a premium on taking care of your groups once they get good experience, boy was I doing that wrong. Thanks for feedback.

[HANDsolo]

It doesn't make sense, does it? :-) Remember, logic and Total War don't go together. Do the opposite of what makes sense and you will be a TW Ace in no time.

[TwoScoopsOfViking]

Actually it makes perfect sense. In the modern army you see the samething, where guys who were in two different units that did two different things suddenly get orders to do X mission, which some of them did the first deployment. However the majority in the unit did Y mission, and since they are the majority they think they know everything about X mission. WHen in reality, they don't have a clue.

[loquar]

Actually it makes perfect sense. In the modern army you see the samething, where guys who were in two different units that did two different things suddenly get orders to do X mission, which some of them did the first deployment. However the majority in the unit did Y mission, and since they are the majority they think they know everything about X mission. WHen in reality, they don't have a clue.

Hmm this doenst quite work as 2 units of spearmen used to being in the front line and drilled to take a cav charge are not remotely the same as 2 modern units used to different things. They are used to the same things following the same instructions to do the same manoevers

[N3rull]

Kinda twisted your explanation is, sire. I'd explain it this way:
- merging two units means you give 2 vets to a unit of fools, and what you get is 2 vets and a number of fools.
- retraining a 2-man veteran unit means that these guys overlook the retraining of the rest of the unit, thus making sure some piece of their experience is passed to the rookies. They shouldn't keep all the experience, but lose 20-30%, which they apparently don't... maybe the 2 vets are simply good teachers, who knows...

[TwoScoopsOfViking]

I think the intention was to assume that the veterans would have been given enough rank after they returned to make sure the new soldiers recieved the training and supplies they needed. This is also the case in modern armies.

[TwoScoopsOfViking]

You obviously have no grasp of what being in the military is like. Modern or not it doesnt matter, in regards to two units doing different missions, I was refering to what happens in game when you combine one unit with 2 chevrons, with another that has one chevron and the end result is a unit with more men but less experience. One unit IS NOT as experienced as the next regardless of what anyone tells you.

[loquar]

Having been in the royal engineers for 6 years I have a fairly good idea of what being in the military is like so please get some facts before flaming someone.

Let me assure you that 2 units in the mediaeval period and 2 modern units are totally dissimilar both in disparity of training methods and mission type. I trust that you are not a military man otherwise I fear that our current military will end up relieveing itself of technological advances and rational thought.....

2 modern units will likely have more difficulty assimilating initially than 2 mediaeval ones. For example archers of the period simply shot at different ranges over and over and got used to it and nothing else so joining 2 partly damaged units of archers together of the same experience would not dilute their experience pool but maintain it at the same level as the same command to "shoot at 200 paces" would mean EXACTLY the same to elements of both units.

Joining 2 units with mixed levels of experience should produce one with a level of experience between the 2 so this is WAD

Being in the modern military has no similarity with mediaeval military whatsoever.

Similarly having 1 or 2 vets train a unit of noobs will end up with a unit of trained noobs with no battle experience. Only a small part of the vets experience should be passed on to the raw recruits not all of it! training cannot turn raw recruits into battle hardened experienced war veterans of the highest calibre. It can make them much better than other recruits with poorer training but training a unit of feudal knights from 1 guy with 3 gold chevrons and getting a unit of 40 with 3 gold chevrons is just insane. Maybe 1-3 silver chevrons but 3 gold? lol

N3rull is much closer to the mark on this point.

If the vets were footsloggers and not officers then no experience should be passed on at all as officers were not appointed on skill or ability to lead at that time, simply by their social status at birth (and you say that modern and mediaeval military are the same how?). A new officer with some new footsloggers appointed to a damaged elite unit could seriously mess up that units fighting ability.

Assuming that veterans of the period would be given rank is fancifull at best. Mr onion the archer who has seen combat all over europe would NOT end up commanding a reformed unit if mr fauntleroy-smythe III had recently been shipped over by daddy with a shiny new sword. He would simply be mr onion the archer with a few nice tales to tell the new footsloggers over bread cheese and water. I dont think anyone honestly believes that mr onion would be invited for tea and cakes at the officers mess, knowing how to fight well didnt suddenly transform him into someone with upper class airs and graces. Knowing how to ballroom dance was more important than battle experience in those days if you wanted to be an officer.

Yes people are promoted by ability in modern armies but to assume that it was the same back then is quite naive.

Seriously, get real, I think too many people believe sharpe was real....simmerson was more the norm

[Captain Spanky]

Hold on a minute... or are trying to tell me that Sharpe wasnt real? :'(

SEAN BEAN!!! I TRUSTED YOU!!!!!!