Matrix Games Forums

I note that the scenario editor allows an airplane group to be designated as "trainer". Is there value in creating trainer groups? IF so, what are the pros and cons?

I was not aware there is a special trainer designation in the editor for a unit rather than an aircraft type. Any air unit can be a training unit simply by keeping it back from the action and assigning training missions. Usually this is done with restricted units (which cannot be moved outside the area their HQ belongs to) and using older aircraft to leave the more modern ones available for combat air units.
I am speculating that perhaps the initial design for the game included marking some air units as 'trainers' so they could not be used for anything else. But it would be ridiculous to restrict them from participating in combat if the enemy was invading their territory - like the invasion of Japan by the Allies, for example - so the trainer designation was never built into the game code.

An air unit that has the trainer box checked trains faster and you can put pilots equal to 3 times the size of the unit.
As to how they work look in the manuals sub folder and look at the "Pilot Management Addendum. pdf" file.
They are very useful, but none of the current stock scenarios have any as far as I know. Some of the mods have them, BTS for one.

Actually, I forgot that there are a large number of Japanese air units that arrive late in the war that are set as trainers.

I have my first few IJA/IJN training groups now in Scenario 1.
I think the first one arrived in about Oct 44.
I was going to post about what they can/can't do at the time but got busy.
They can do some things before being set to kamikaze status, and different things after.
I remember you can only post "replacement" pilots to them, so that limits some of the training I was hoping to use them for.

All these years on this forum and that is the first time I have seen any reference to the trainer designation! Looks like it might have been a way of keeping kamikaze squadrons from ahistorically being filled with highly skilled pilots.
Thanks for the info guys!