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Roughly,
all the pilots can up their xp up to 70 without fighting (training...)
IJN LCUs can up their xp up to 50 without fighting (prep at 100 and then..) (65 for marines, aso..)


What about ships ? Is there a max xp we can't get over just by cruising (shakedown cruise in the manual) ?
If yes, it it the same for all nations ? how much is it ?


ty in advance

It used to be 55/55 (day/night) for DD and up, 45/45 for smaller combatants in WitP, not sure if that has changed in AE.

it seems to confirm my observations ! thanks !

hmm maybe its just me but i think that small craft like AMc, YP, etc. cant get more than 25/25

ORIGINAL: aciddrinker

hmm maybe its just me but i think that small craft like AMc, YP, etc. cant get more than 25/25

I think small ships such as AMc, YP, ML can get 35/35. Civilian ships (xAP, xAK, TK and so on) can get 25/25.

What defines a shake down cruise in AE? EG A new ship arrives at SF and is dispatched to PH. Will this constitue a shake down cruise?

ORIGINAL: cantona2

What defines a shake down cruise in AE? EG A new ship arrives at SF and is dispatched to PH. Will this constitue a shake down cruise?

Any sailing before max exp has been achieved without combat can be said to be "shakedown cruise".

ORIGINAL: cantona2

What defines a shake down cruise in AE? EG A new ship arrives at SF and is dispatched to PH. Will this constitue a shake down cruise?

Shakedown Cruise is simpy gaining experience from being at sea.

WITPAE Manual, page 129

6.3.7 SHAKEDOWN CRUISES
It can be useful to run a week or two long shakedown cruise, when a ship is first commissioned.
Many ships come into the game with very small combat experience.

From the old WITP Manual Project:

Shakedown Cruise

• Ships automatically undergo Shakedown Cruises at the end of each day, when in TF At Sea.
• If Day / Night Experience < 15, deficient value increased by +1.
• If Day / Night Experience > 15, 1/5 chance Day Exp increased +1, 1/7 chance Night Exp increased +1.

Experience keeps increasing until it reaches:

• 25 for civilian ships (TK, AK, AP, etc.),
• 35 for non-combat ships (AV, etc.),
• 45 for semi-combat ships (APD, SC, PC, PG etc.),
• 55 for combat ships (DD, CA, BB, CV etc.).

The concept of a shakedown cruise is to steam around in a rear area gaining experience before going into battle areas. Further experience is gained through participation in action of some type, like getting attacked from the air, finding a sub, bombarding enemy troops, etc. In all cases, the experience gain is modified by the ship captain's leadership rating. So, a ship captain with a high leadership rating is good and will result in the ship gaining experience faster.

I put new warships in transport TF's at their home base if they're escort capable, which appears to qualify as a shakedown cruise for them.&nbsp; New transports just get thrown into the latest available TF, and bigger warships get sent to Pearl as soon as suitable escorts are ready.

Necromancy warning for the faint of heart.

The values I have observed so far.

Max experience levels achievable by shakedown cruises for all Allied nations:

xAKL - 15 day/15 night
xAK - 15 day/15 night
xAP - 15 day/15 night

TK - 25 day/19 night
AO - 25 day/19 night
AP,AKA,AK - 25 day/19 night
AG - 25 day/ 19 night

I cannot confirm whether a 15/15 exp xAK ship converted to an AG ship can now train to 25/19.

ORIGINAL: Yaab

Necromancy warning for the faint of heart.

The values I have observed so far.

Max experience levels achievable by shakedown cruises for all Allied nations:

xAKL - 15 day/15 night
xAK - 15 day/15 night
xAP - 15 day/15 night

TK - 25 day/19 night
AO - 25 day/19 night
AP,AKA,AK - 25 day/19 night
AG - 25 day/ 19 night

I cannot confirm whether a 15/15 exp xAK ship converted to an AG ship can now train to 25/19.

I am in Feb 43 of a stock scenario 1 game (not using the latest AI yet). I scanned through my all ships doing random selection but ensuring I looked at some of the first ships available from the beginning of the game or shortly thereafter. Here are my results and comments:

xAKL and xAK: most are 15/15 (including some early arrivals) but I found an xAK at 25 day/19 night and another xAK at 24/20. I also found an xAKL at 24/20. These higher values could have been the result of involvement in combat or damage from collisions/groundings. All the higher crew experience ships were available early on.

AKs - 25/25 for every ship sampled.

xAP: most are 15/15 (some early arrivals) but I found some higher, including one at 25/20. Again the higher ones were all available early.
Some from each experience grouping were involved in amphib ops.

APs: 25/25 for every ship sampled. Some of these had been involved in amphib ops.

AOs: All 50/50 except very recent arrivals which are working their way to that level.

TKs: All 25/25 except very recent arrivals which are working their way to that level.

LST: Only available since mid-1942. Highest level so far 20/22 - presumed working toward 25/25. I am accumulating these for a big amphib operation so other than their voyage from the USA to the staging bases they have not been used much. They could probably hit 25/25 much faster under constant use.

LCI: Only available recently but after their staging voyage the highest one has 24/20 crew experience.

AKV: 25/25 for the sample.

AKE: highest 25/21. Lots of sitting in port after initial voyage.

AE: highest 23/26. Lots of sitting in port after initial voyage.

AG: highest 24/19. Lots of sitting in port after initial voyage.

I put DD/DMS in PH for ASW patrol (just sitting there undocked) until they have night exp 55, then swap.

BBfanboy, how do you get your AOs to 50exp?

xAK, xAKL, xAP ships with exp higher than 15/15 are really ships created with higher than average experience on the FIRST turn. The code allows this as per Editor manual.

Here are my highest exp xAKLs created by the code on the first turn in my current campaign

British -25/19
Dutch -24/20
Commonwealth -24/19
Pillipines -20/16
US Navy -20/19

Australian highest is just 12/10.

Note that the British, Dutch and Commonwealth xAKLs can almost reach exp levels reserved for military-support ships like AG/AK/AP/TK/AVD etc. shake cruises. Some sailors they are.

BTW, once such ship is created, I cannot, of course, raise its experience further. Since xAKLs lack weapons, how do you raise their experience? Repairing system damage while at sea?

ORIGINAL: Yaab

BBfanboy, how do you get your AOs to 50exp?

xAK, xAKL, xAP ships with exp higher than 15/15 are really ships created with higher than average experience on the FIRST turn. The code allows this as per Editor manual.

Here are my highest exp xAKLs created by the code on the first turn in my current campaign

British -25/19
Dutch -24/20
Commonwealth -24/19
Pillipines -20/16
US Navy -20/19

Australian highest is just 12/10.

Note that the British, Dutch and Commonwealth xAKLs can almost reach exp levels reserved for military-support ships like AG/AK/AP/TK/AVD etc. shake cruises. Some sailors they are.

BTW, once such ship is created, I cannot, of course, raise its experience further. Since xAKLs lack weapons, how do you raise their experience? Repairing system damage while at sea?

Interesting - never thought of some merchant ships arriving with crew experience already over the national average. Warships like Prince of Wales that have already been in combat are a different story.

I used my AOs mostly as tankers and sometimes as replenishment for my short-ranged Dutch and British DDs and CLs. They are hauling mostly from LA to Australia, NZ and New Guinea/Solomons area. I think the long voyage really builds their experience.

As for small ASW and Mine vessels, my anecdotal experience is that they gain night experience faster if they are moving at sea at night rather than sitting still. I had some on a one hex patrol at sea and they did not gain night experience as fast as the ones I had doing multi hex patrols.

I did note the same thing you did about the xAKLs gaining lots of experience. That also applies to the smallest xAPs converted from the 1750 capacity xAKLs. They do accumulate damage at sea fairly quickly so maybe it is dealing with damage that raises experience. Those small ships are not completely without weapons, but they tend to be short-ranged ones that don't often get to shoot at the enemy.

Jeez guys, I don't even look at the numbers of these ships.[8|]

ORIGINAL: rustysi

Jeez guys, I don't even look at the numbers of these ships.[8|]

Good idea [:D]

One would lose his mind to think about exp rate of xAKL...

ORIGINAL: rustysi

Jeez guys, I don't even look at the numbers of these ships.[8|]

If I end up having to put troops/aircraft on one of these lesser ships or have them escorted by minor escorts, I want to pick the best captain and best crew experience combo for the task. A few points here and there could mean the difference between dodging a torp or not, putting out fires or not, etc. Save the ship, save the LCU or Air Unit aboard too. But I don't obsess over them otherwise.

Save the ship, save the LCU or Air Unit aboard too.

Put them across multiple ships and don't worry if one goes down.[8D]

ORIGINAL: rustysi

Save the ship, save the LCU or Air Unit aboard too.

Put them across multiple ships and don't worry if one goes down.[8D]

Doesn’t work for squadrons, sadly. Which is why I prefer not to put those on ships, and fly them across bases. With good pilots and taking a day or two of rest between each leg, it limits the operational losses.

A gamey move would be to downgrade to an older model with good range (and drop tanks), and then upgrade back to a newer model once arrived.[8|]

ORIGINAL: Ambassador
A gamey move would be to downgrade to an older model with good range (and drop tanks), and then upgrade back to a newer model once arrived.[8|]

Well, not gamey at all given how airframe acquisition works with generating any planes out of supply anywhere in the world given sufficiently large airfield. You can imagine pilots hopping on a transport plane