Matrix Games Forums

Ok, if I understand this correctly if I am playing the Japanese I get 10 navy and 20 army pilots per month that come in trained at the level on the chart in the rulebook depending on what year it is.
As soon as I exceed that (i.e. use up the replacement pool) I get untrained pilots that come into the game at 1/2 the trained level (i.e. around the mid 30's), correct?

Bob

That is my understanding. Search "Mogami" and "replacement pilots" for the way Mogami manages to train these low quality pilots a bit before using them. It takes time and forethought but can get them up to maybe 50 exp (from 20) over the course of months

To save everybody else from doing a search, I'll recap the 'Mogami Method' as I understand it.
Frontline air units are never set to 'accept replacements'. A significant portion of air units are designated by the player to be training units and are kept back out of combat and assigned training missions. When the experience of the training unit it deemed sufficient by the player, the unit is split using the 'divide unit' command. One of these sub-unit is then moved to the base containing the frontline unit needing replacements. The sub-unit is then disbanded, with its planes and pilots being absorbed by the frontline unit. The training unit returns in 90 days. The player gives up a sizable portion of his airpower to gain control of pilot training. Rationale and arguments can be found in the original post.

Whats the best mission for training pilots quickly in rear areas? Set them to training or have them fly CAP, Naval search etc?

Bombers are pretty easy - if they are quite able to fly without operating losses (around 50 exp) just find the spot of undefended enemy land and fly bombing missions. I usually leave some enemy base close to my airfield and use it for these purpose. It worked in UV and works in WiTP. In a month you can make 20 exp points - much faster than on training. Yes when you think about that you realise the training system is f..... up.

As for fighters I never knew how to train them - in UV and WITP. If I assign them to CAP it seems to me that they hardly improve and even worse, from time to time I lose pilot due to accidents. 50 exp pilots are as dead as 20 exp ones and I never found the way of improving their skills to say 70.

I also combine few units in one - i will get disbanded units earlier, have more time for training and front line units don't build up fatigue so fast.

I have one question though - we have pilot pools. At the begining of war IJA exp level is 60 or so and IJN 70. I know there are hardcoded dates when the exp level is lovered. What does happen with the pilots already in the pool? Are they really stored in the array or are they randomly generated when they are retrieved from the pool? Can I expect that at some point of time my 400 60 exp level pilots will magically change to 400 50 exp level pilots?