Very Confused About Pilot Pools

[vonTirpitz]

I believe that I have seen a modest improvement in training due to my adding some high experience pilots into TRACOM. I wouldn't expect a massive jump but it is enough to convince me that something positive happened because of it. Considering that only a couple of weeks have gone by I am pleased to see it.

All of the pilots added to TRACOM this time were naval pilots in (thus no army pilots in TRACOM) so I might also be able to conclude that that the naval pools are getting a bit more "boost" out of it. [;)]

[ckammp]

ORIGINAL: Icedawg

ORIGINAL: ckammp

Because of this delay, if you want a pilot to go to a specific unit, it is better to transfer the desired pilot straight to the desired unit, rather than transfer the pilot to General Reserve, then to the desired unit.

Thanks for the clarification. I should have read the bit about delays a bit more carefully. I've got a bit of a question though. How do you transfer pilots straight to the desired unit? I thought you had to go through the Reserve Pool.

Sorry, I should have explained that part.

For an example, let's transfer PO1 Bando, D. from the Yokusuka Ku S-1 to the Tainan Ku S-1.
1) From the Pilot Screen of Yokusuka Ku S-1, left-click Bando's name. This puts him into Group Reserve, but still assigned to Yokusuka Ku S-1.
2) From the Air Unit Information Screen of Tainan Ku S-1, select "Request Veteran"; Bando will show up on the list of available pilots, still assigned to Yokusuka Ku S-1.
3) Click Bando's name, then select "Yes" to transfer.
4) Bando is now assigned to Tainan Ku S-1.

If the random transfer delay for Bando is 7 days or less, he will show up immediately on Tainan Ku S-1's Pilot Screen (If he has a delay of 2-7 days, he can't be made active until the delay is 1; clicking his name will result in "Pilot in transit" message). He will also, until made active, show up in Group Reserve, assigned to Tainan Ku S-1.
If the random delay is 8-15 days, Bando will not be listed on the unit's Pilot Screen, he will instead only be listed in Group Reserve, assigned to Tainan Ku S-1.

Hope this helps.

[jeffs]

Thanks ckammp

I will try on my next turn...

I have a whole bunch of fairly good pilots left in the PI (they did rather well against what was thrown at them...Including zeroes)...
I want the survivors back home and no idea how to get them there.....

I think they will like the P-38!

[olperfessor]

I cannot figure out (1) why, when transferring pilots from the general reserves to a unit, they sometimes do not then appear in that unit's pilot listing (some do appear, with a delay specified, others don't); (2) why the air unit screen's pilot total list is sometimes less than the actual number of pilots listed, since delayed pilots seem to be ale to be accounted for by parentheses in some air units); (3) the effect, if any, of transferring a pilot from a unit that has not yet arrived. No big deal, just curious about whether I am missing something.

[jeffs]

Hi..I did try number 4 of this
Pilots in Group Reserve can be transferred to 4 places:


4) Transferred to General Reserve. (left-click their greyed-out name on their unit's Pilots Screen)

I was only give the choice of making the pilot active.....What was I doing wrong?
I guess how do I get the active pilot into group reserve?

Thanks...This is a giant pain....

[Charbroiled]

ORIGINAL: jeffs

Hi..I did try number 4 of this
Pilots in Group Reserve can be transferred to 4 places:


4) Transferred to General Reserve. (left-click their greyed-out name on their unit's Pilots Screen)

I was only give the choice of making the pilot active.....What was I doing wrong?
I guess how do I get the active pilot into group reserve?

Thanks...This is a giant pain....

If the pilot is "inactive" (greyed-out) right-clicking will make them active and left-clicking will send them to the reserve pool.

I think you are right-clicking instead of left-clicking.

[ckammp]

ORIGINAL: jeffs

Hi..I did try number 4 of this
Pilots in Group Reserve can be transferred to 4 places:


4) Transferred to General Reserve. (left-click their greyed-out name on their unit's Pilots Screen)

I was only give the choice of making the pilot active.....What was I doing wrong?
I guess how do I get the active pilot into group reserve?

Thanks...This is a giant pain....

If the pilots are assigned to an unit that has a withdraw date, they can only be transferred to General Reserve if the unit has enough assigned pilots. To determine how many pilots the unit needs, use this formula: more than (max # of planes + 1).
For example-if the unit's max # of planes is 13, the unit must have at least 15 assigned pilots for any to be eligible for transfer to General Reserve.
In addition, the pilot(s) eligible for transfer to General Reserve are randomly determined; to get all the pilots that you want transferred might require adding several pilots to the unit.

I agree the above is, in your words "a giant pain". I would recommend that for those units with a withdraw dates, transfer any pilots you want to save to another unit, rather than to General Reserve. Once in another unit (one without a withdraw date), the pilot can be sent to General Reserve by left-clicking their grey-out name.

While these methods of pilot transfer do add to the already considerable micro-management of AE, I believe they are justified due to the very low Exp of new pilots. Japan, in particular, needs every high Exp they can get.

Hope this helps.

[ckammp]

ORIGINAL: olperfessor

I cannot figure out (1) why, when transferring pilots from the general reserves to a unit, they sometimes do not then appear in that unit's pilot listing (some do appear, with a delay specified, others don't); (2) why the air unit screen's pilot total list is sometimes less than the actual number of pilots listed, since delayed pilots seem to be ale to be accounted for by parentheses in some air units); (3) the effect, if any, of transferring a pilot from a unit that has not yet arrived. No big deal, just curious about whether I am missing something.

(1) There is a random, up to 15-day dely when transferring pilots. If the pilot's delay is 7 days or less, they will be listed in the unit's Pilot Screen. If the delay is 8-15 days, they will only be listed in the General Reserve Screen.

(2) The Air Unit Information Screen only counts active pilots, and in parentheses the number of pilots with a delay of 1.(these pilots can be made active at any time)

(3) Two effects:
a) the unit the pilot is transferred from has 1 less pilot. (no adverse effect, just add a pilot when the unit arrives)
b) the pilot might have a longer than 15-day delay (depends on when the not-yet-arrived unit is scheduled to arrive; if it is 1/42 and the unit doesn't arrive until 6/42, you won't get the pilot early. Also, many pilots have scheduled arrival dates later then their assigned unit's arrival date; you can't get these pilots earlier either)

Hope this helps.

[tacfire]

I think there would be a lot less confusion if the developers would simply just add a screen message to the air unit's pilot screen for any pilots due in transit to the air unit. This means show the delay in the air unit's pilot screen not only for pilots due to arrive in 1-7 days, but also for pilots due in 8-15 days. It would clear a lot of things up, and it would not force us as players to remember how many pilots are due to arrive at the air units that didn't show up immediately when we made the transfers.

[olperfessor]

Thanks, ckammp.

I might be missing a better system, but I find myself having to write copious notes on papers: which units have experienced pilots that I can transfer to the front (Rather than sending them to the general reserve, I keep them active in their rear area units to keep them training). I keep one page for each nationality/type (e.g. USN bomber pilots, USN fighter pilots, etc.). Laborious, but worth while, I think, to avoid the sort of snafus that I associate with real-life military systems.

Maybe I should just send them to the general reserve, accept the added delays, and replace them in the rear area unit with pilots from the Replacement pool. Less efficient, but simpler for me (OMG, I'm thinking like a bureaucrat again).

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: jeffs

Thanks ckammp

I will try on my next turn...

I have a whole bunch of fairly good pilots left in the PI (they did rather well against what was thrown at them...Including zeroes)...
I want the survivors back home and no idea how to get them there.....

I think they will like the P-38!

When I withdrew these units after they were fought out, the surviving pilots eventually showed up in the general reserve. Not a problem.

[Pascal_slith]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Okay...are there really players that want and enjoy this kind of micromanagement?

I don't mind the micromanagement for pilots.

What I do mind is that the same was not done for ship's crews. Not everyone was interchangeable and one of the Navy's big problems was undermanning at the outset. A boon was actually the use of the surviving crewmembers of the sunken battleships. On the other hand, when Lexington was sunk, part of the surviving crew was left to waste its time on an island (forget which).

Also, micromanagement of LCU reinforcements, if you really want to carry the personnel management to its logical conclusion.

Another 'micromanagement' part I also would like to see is differentiated supply. Supply for LCUs, supply for ships and supply for air units. Also fuel for aircraft. Trying running 'supply in the Pacific' as the real war's problem.

All of these features, though, should be the object of an option on/off switch.

[witpqs]

You get to manage pilots but not aircraft crews, and ships' captains but not ships crews. They are consistent.

[Pascal_slith]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

You get to manage pilots but not aircraft crews, and ships' captains but not ships crews. They are consistent.

I can't send ships' captains back for training. The 'pilots', given the breakdown of different skills, really represent the crews. I would like to have the same type of skill breakdown for ships and training possibilities. Same goes for LCU's.

[Steve Sv]

To summarize my very limited understanding of pilot training and the approach I am planning to use as Japan ...

1) Transfer several experience pilots to Tracom early in the war. These pilots will enhance the skills of pilots graduating from the 12-month training program. An additional benefit to this transfer may be that the experienced pilots will be available to transfer back to the combat units later in the war when Japan is in desperate need of high-qulity pilots.

2) When the first class of pilot graduates arrive, I will assign them to training groups based in Japan. These groups will fly training missions until the pilots have reached a level of experience I deem sufficient at which time I will transfer them to the reserve pool to eventually be assigned to combat units. New graduates from the basic-training program will then be assigned to the training groups.

Questions abound:

Is the outlined approach reasonable? Are there step(s) that should be added? Will it help the graduate pilots in the advanced training program to learn more quickly if I include experienced pilots in the training group? What kind of air groups should I use as training groups? For instance, if I wish to train bomber pilots can I do so with obsolete planes and will these pilots still be qualified to fly the more advanced bombers they will fly once they are transferred to combat units? I am considering transferring 10 army and 10 navy pilots to Tracom. Is this a reasonable number?

The manual indicates that some air groups are defined (as the manual puts it) as training groups that can only be used for training - no combat missions possible for these groups. I have the impression that this information is obsolete and that there are no such groups in the game and it is not possible to create them. Is this impression correct?

I am not sure at all how carrier training works. I am guessing that I can use one or both of the carriers that start the game in Japan for training carrier pilots. I have noticed that all or almost all of the carrier-capable aircraft that start the game at a land base are not designated as carrier trained. If I transfer one or more of these groups to a "designated training carrier" and assign the group to training missions will the group eventually be upgraded from carrier capable to carrier trained? If not will at least the pilots become carrier trained? Is there a way to tell which pilots in the reserve pools are carrier trained? If using one of Japanese carriers to train carrier pilots is the way to go should I take it out to sail around a bit as the pilots are trained or is it sufficient to have the training done in Tokyo Harbor, for instance.

Thank you very much for any and all answers that more experienced players can provide.

[Treetop64]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Okay...are there really players that want and enjoy this kind of micromanagement?

That's one of the beautiful things about this game. You don't have to manage the pilot pool, particularly if you're playing against the AI, and things will be fine if you leave it at default settings. The only consequence is that your pilots will be less experienced when they first enter their squads and your initial ops losses, as well as initial combat losses, will be a bit high at first, especially if you don't train your air groups. The tools are there if you want to use them, though. Personally, I think pilot management only enhances the game, as well as all of the other "micromanaging" in the game.

I would assume that the vast majority here like it, too. We wouldn't have it any other way. [:)]

[Banzan]

It takes some time to get the "feeling" for it, but once you got into it, its quite nice to do.
In the recent betas michelm reduced the needed clicks by a lot and make it much more easy. [:)]

[pompack]

ORIGINAL: Steve Sv

To summarize my very limited understanding of pilot training and the approach I am planning to use as Japan ...

1) Transfer several experience pilots to Tracom early in the war. These pilots will enhance the skills of pilots graduating from the 12-month training program. An additional benefit to this transfer may be that the experienced pilots will be available to transfer back to the combat units later in the war when Japan is in desperate need of high-qulity pilots.
No. TRACOM does nothing to enhance the experience of pilots in the 12-month training program other than allowing them to graduate sooner with the same experience level.

2) When the first class of pilot graduates arrive, I will assign them to training groups based in Japan. These groups will fly training missions until the pilots have reached a level of experience I deem sufficient at which time I will transfer them to the reserve pool to eventually be assigned to combat units. New graduates from the basic-training program will then be assigned to the training groups.
Yes as long as you consider that the pilots in the "trained" pool at the first turn are "graduates" who have already arrived.

Questions abound:

Is the outlined approach reasonable? Are there step(s) that should be added? Will it help the graduate pilots in the advanced training program to learn more quickly if I include experienced pilots in the training group? What kind of air groups should I use as training groups? For instance, if I wish to train bomber pilots can I do so with obsolete planes and will these pilots still be qualified to fly the more advanced bombers they will fly once they are transferred to combat units? I am considering transferring 10 army and 10 navy pilots to Tracom. Is this a reasonable number?
yes. Assign a leader with a high leadership (?? anyway the first leader attribute on the list) since that is the only attirbure that matters for training. In classic WitP you could gain a skill by osmosis when a low skill pilot was in the same unit with a high skill pilot; I find that that is still true in AE so I assign a single pilot with a skill level above my training target to remain in the training group and serve as an example for the others.

The manual indicates that some air groups are defined (as the manual puts it) as training groups that can only be used for training - no combat missions possible for these groups. I have the impression that this information is obsolete and that there are no such groups in the game and it is not possible to create them. Is this impression correct?

I am not sure at all how carrier training works. I am guessing that I can use one or both of the carriers that start the game in Japan for training carrier pilots. I have noticed that all or almost all of the carrier-capable aircraft that start the game at a land base are not designated as carrier trained. If I transfer one or more of these groups to a "designated training carrier" and assign the group to training missions will the group eventually be upgraded from carrier capable to carrier trained? If not will at least the pilots become carrier trained? Is there a way to tell which pilots in the reserve pools are carrier trained? If using one of Japanese carriers to train carrier pilots is the way to go should I take it out to sail around a bit as the pilots are trained or is it sufficient to have the training done in Tokyo Harbor, for instance.
Carrier pilots can be trained quite nicely at shore establishments since there is not "carrier trained" flag for the pilot, only for the a/c. Just train them as usual and then assign pilots from the reserve pool to carrier air groups.

Thank you very much for any and all answers that more experienced players can provide.

[obvert]

To summarize my very limited understanding of pilot training and the approach I am planning to use as Japan ...

1) Transfer several experience pilots to Tracom early in the war. These pilots will enhance the skills of pilots graduating from the 12-month training program. An additional benefit to this transfer may be that the experienced pilots will be available to transfer back to the combat units later in the war when Japan is in desperate need of high-qulity pilots.

Steve Sv

Fro all I've heard and seen, they will not have better skills. They will graduate and go to the replacement pool sooner. For Japan this apparently gives an HI savings at the end of the month during the calculation for pilot training costs.

2) When the first class of pilot graduates arrive, I will assign them to training groups based in Japan. These groups will fly training missions until the pilots have reached a level of experience I deem sufficient at which time I will transfer them to the reserve pool to eventually be assigned to combat units. New graduates from the basic-training program will then be assigned to the training groups.

Train them in any restricted group in Japan or Manchuria, or elsewhere if a group is not needed for combat at the moment. It takes from a month to two months depending on what level of skill(s) you want trained. Train at 100% and zero range in desired skill. Move them out to the reserve pool when they reach around 60-70% skill and 50% experience.

Is the outlined approach reasonable? Are there step(s) that should be added? Will it help the graduate pilots in the advanced training program to learn more quickly if I include experienced pilots in the training group? What kind of air groups should I use as training groups? For instance, if I wish to train bomber pilots can I do so with obsolete planes and will these pilots still be qualified to fly the more advanced bombers they will fly once they are transferred to combat units? I am considering transferring 10 army and 10 navy pilots to Tracom. Is this a reasonable number?

If skill is high and experience is low put them into a group that flies CAP (for fighters) or some low risk mission (ASW or bombing in remote uncontested locations) for bombing pilots to build EXP. For fighter pilots you can also train sweep at 100 ft for defense, strafing, and EXP, for a week or so. For bombing yo ucould train a second skill if you can, like Low Naval and Ground Bombing.

Planes don't matter. Leaders do. With good inspiration they fly more often. With high EXP pilots in group they train faster. 80 EXP and above is ideal (and rare). Pilots will lose EXP if they go between group types, not plane types. So if you train Float Plane pilots in sweeps, they will be less EXP when moved to a Fighter group. (At least this is what I remember, but someone else should correct if I've misunderstood this).

I am not sure at all how carrier training works. I am guessing that I can use one or both of the carriers that start the game in Japan for training carrier pilots. I have noticed that all or almost all of the carrier-capable aircraft that start the game at a land base are not designated as carrier trained. If I transfer one or more of these groups to a "designated training carrier" and assign the group to training missions will the group eventually be upgraded from carrier capable to carrier trained? If not will at least the pilots become carrier trained? Is there a way to tell which pilots in the reserve pools are carrier trained? If using one of Japanese carriers to train carrier pilots is the way to go should I take it out to sail around a bit as the pilots are trained or is it sufficient to have the training done in Tokyo Harbor, for instance.

No need to train pilots on CVs. Only groups. Pilots trained on land move without penalty to a CV group and retain skill and EXP. To make a group CV trained it must be on a CV for about two months doing something. You only risk higher op losses and lower flight numbers if it's not CV trained, but it will still work in a pinch.

[House Stark]

ORIGINAL: Miller
One thing I dont understand is the practice of placing high exp pilots into training command. I have thousands of replacement pilots waiting to be assigned, so why do I need to accelerate more???

I've heard that if playing as Japan, pilots in training cost HI, and so if they graduate early then that saves HI. But as Allies, I think TRACOM is mainly useful as an elite reserve. I think Allies might run out of planes before they run out of pilots.