Assigning Veteran Pilots

[Xargun]

I am at the stage in my PBeM where I am now slowly using pilots from the reserve pools but am noticing it is very hard to find the pilot with the right skills. Is there any way to filter on more than one skill area ? Such as filter by Exp and Air skill ? I don't know if this is possible, but would greatly simplify my task if anyone knows of a way.

Thanks

Xargun

[tiemanjw]

You can't filter based on two, but in my experience you have some options for filling out your airgroups without complete randomness.
If you select the "Request Veteran" button, you can filter on any field. You can than "Release Pilots" to the squadron in question. By releasing the "Most skilled (air)" (for example), the game will release the highest skilled air. It will use experience as a "tie breaker", so if you have a bunch of skill 70 pilots with experience rated between 50 and 60, it will start by filling out with the 60 guys and working its way down.

You can also use the manual / automatic button at the top to bring in a more select group. Switch to automatic, and you get another spinner activated that allows you to select an experience level (50+, 60+, etc).

I know it isn't the best answer, but it works rather well on a macro scale.

[Lokasenna]

The automatic pilot selection works well if you select an experience level and then pull from Reserve - fighter pilots will prioritize air skill, so if you select 60+ Exp and pull from reserve, you will only get 60+ Exp pilots and starting with the highest Air skill.

Unsure how that works for bombing units, as I always select those myself as my units have many discrete jobs. So I don't know which skill it prioritizes. Torpedo bombers presumably like the NavT skill when on automatic selection.

I have used it for Patrol and Recon pilots, however - I believe it prioritizes NavS and Recon skills.

[Ormbane]

I've been experimenting with this. I read in some archived posts that it is a good idea to train various types of pilots in two or more skills, so I have been trying to work out a way to minimize manual micromanagement. If you have enough air groups to devote to training there are some things you can do to reduce manual effort: assume you want to train fighter pilots for air skill and staf skill, here is an example: set up a number of fighter air groups to pull replacements from the replacement pool (level 30 for USAAF) and train them for escort at normal level for their planes. Then when pilots in that group reach lvl 50 experience and sufficient air skill release them to general reserve. Have other fighter groups devoted to training pilots of level 50 (use selection filter for this - trained 50+ but pull from reserve), but train them for sweep at low altitude. When they reach level 60 and sufficient staf skill release them to general reserve. Have your normal fighter groups (not training groups) select pilots of level 60 or above. This is the basic idea. If you can afford to wait that long you can set up 3 tiers of training - such as for bombers. Getting to experience and skill level 50 goes pretty quickly but beyond that it slows down. Fighters seem to train faster than other types of pilots as well, so a lot depends on how many groups you can devote to training and how quickly you need new pilots.

[bigred]

ORIGINAL: Ormbane

I've been experimenting with this. I read in some archived posts that it is a good idea to train various types of pilots in two or more skills, so I have been trying to work out a way to minimize manual micromanagement. If you have enough air groups to devote to training there are some things you can do to reduce manual effort: assume you want to train fighter pilots for air skill and staf skill, here is an example: set up a number of fighter air groups to pull replacements from the replacement pool (level 30 for USAAF) and train them for escort at normal level for their planes. Then when pilots in that group reach lvl 50 experience and sufficient air skill release them to general reserve. Have other fighter groups devoted to training pilots of level 50 (use selection filter for this - trained 50+ but pull from reserve), but train them for sweep at low altitude. When they reach level 60 and sufficient staf skill release them to general reserve. Have your normal fighter groups (not training groups) select pilots of level 60 or above. This is the basic idea. If you can afford to wait that long you can set up 3 tiers of training - such as for bombers. Getting to experience and skill level 50 goes pretty quickly but beyond that it slows down. Fighters seem to train faster than other types of pilots as well, so a lot depends on how many groups you can devote to training and how quickly you need new pilots.

From play I have noticed if you set a bomb carrying fighter to 1000ft ground attack against an enemy base then you will increase, missions, exp, low ground and strafe all at the same time. This method is a way to train up less experienced pilots against isolated enemy bases.

[tiemanjw]

ORIGINAL: Ormbane

I've been experimenting with this. I read in some archived posts that it is a good idea to train various types of pilots in two or more skills, so I have been trying to work out a way to minimize manual micromanagement. If you have enough air groups to devote to training there are some things you can do to reduce manual effort: assume you want to train fighter pilots for air skill and staf skill, here is an example: set up a number of fighter air groups to pull replacements from the replacement pool (level 30 for USAAF) and train them for escort at normal level for their planes. Then when pilots in that group reach lvl 50 experience and sufficient air skill release them to general reserve. Have other fighter groups devoted to training pilots of level 50 (use selection filter for this - trained 50+ but pull from reserve), but train them for sweep at low altitude. When they reach level 60 and sufficient staf skill release them to general reserve. Have your normal fighter groups (not training groups) select pilots of level 60 or above. This is the basic idea. If you can afford to wait that long you can set up 3 tiers of training - such as for bombers. Getting to experience and skill level 50 goes pretty quickly but beyond that it slows down. Fighters seem to train faster than other types of pilots as well, so a lot depends on how many groups you can devote to training and how quickly you need new pilots.

Problem with this method is it is very slow. AIR skill maxes out (from a training perspective - 70 skill) when the experience is in the low 40s (for USA pilots). So the time you spend waiting for them to get to 50 is wasted from a skills perspective. Further, gain in anything (skills or experience) is very slow once you get over 50 experience. So your second tier training would go very slow. What I do is I keep training classes together. A training group brings in a class of replacements and trains them for AIR skill. When air skill for the group averages in the high 60s, switch the entire class to train for skill 2. Once the class gets to 50 experience, release them into general reserve. If you have any stragglers in the steps above, you can go through and release them first, than pull them into another training group that is on their level.

[Ormbane]

ORIGINAL: tiemanj

ORIGINAL: Ormbane

I've been experimenting with this. I read in some archived posts that it is a good idea to train various types of pilots in two or more skills, so I have been trying to work out a way to minimize manual micromanagement. If you have enough air groups to devote to training there are some things you can do to reduce manual effort: assume you want to train fighter pilots for air skill and staf skill, here is an example: set up a number of fighter air groups to pull replacements from the replacement pool (level 30 for USAAF) and train them for escort at normal level for their planes. Then when pilots in that group reach lvl 50 experience and sufficient air skill release them to general reserve. Have other fighter groups devoted to training pilots of level 50 (use selection filter for this - trained 50+ but pull from reserve), but train them for sweep at low altitude. When they reach level 60 and sufficient staf skill release them to general reserve. Have your normal fighter groups (not training groups) select pilots of level 60 or above. This is the basic idea. If you can afford to wait that long you can set up 3 tiers of training - such as for bombers. Getting to experience and skill level 50 goes pretty quickly but beyond that it slows down. Fighters seem to train faster than other types of pilots as well, so a lot depends on how many groups you can devote to training and how quickly you need new pilots.

Problem with this method is it is very slow. AIR skill maxes out (from a training perspective - 70 skill) when the experience is in the low 40s (for USA pilots). So the time you spend waiting for them to get to 50 is wasted from a skills perspective. Further, gain in anything (skills or experience) is very slow once you get over 50 experience. So your second tier training would go very slow. What I do is I keep training classes together. A training group brings in a class of replacements and trains them for AIR skill. When air skill for the group averages in the high 60s, switch the entire class to train for skill 2. Once the class gets to 50 experience, release them into general reserve. If you have any stragglers in the steps above, you can go through and release them first, than pull them into another training group that is on their level.

I've done something like this but with air groups that are new arrivals and which I want to keep together. I train them in one skill to a sufficient level and then in the next one, but keep them all together. I've noticed that at least some of the skills reach level 70 in 2-3 months starting with replacement pilots, so that is acceptable to me so far. The experience level goes slower while in training mode, but I have been influenced by posts I've read that say it is best to try and get pilots to level 70 before sending them against enemy opposition, so if I can afford the extra time for my tiered approach I like it best (so far). However, I do set my front line groups to accept pilots of level 60 or above in case my training doesn't keep up with the producing enough level 70 pilots. But, I am still pretty new to the game and have restarted several times as I learn new things, so I may have to make further adjustments.

[Xargun]

For fighters its easy for me.. I train them to Air skill 60+ (usually around 50 xp) then I put them into the reserve. Then I pull them into rear bases and have them fly cap for a month or two. These simple missions usually raises their exp up quickly and tops off their Air skill a little bit. Actual missions seems to be the best way to train exp / skills above 50 / 60.

I have a lot of trained pilots in my reserve, but when I'm looking for fighter pilots it will throw Recon pilots into the mix and I need to manually sort through the loads of pilots to make sure I don't pull ones I don't want. I have a bunch of 60+ skill pilots with less than 60 exp that I want to pull into rear units to increase their exp before committing them to front lines and its becoming to be a pain to find them through all the 'other' pilot types the game throws into the generic pools of Fighter / Bomber / etc...

[Ormbane]

ORIGINAL: Xargun

For fighters its easy for me.. I train them to Air skill 60+ (usually around 50 xp) then I put them into the reserve. Then I pull them into rear bases and have them fly cap for a month or two. These simple missions usually raises their exp up quickly and tops off their Air skill a little bit. Actual missions seems to be the best way to train exp / skills above 50 / 60.

I have a lot of trained pilots in my reserve, but when I'm looking for fighter pilots it will throw Recon pilots into the mix and I need to manually sort through the loads of pilots to make sure I don't pull ones I don't want. I have a bunch of 60+ skill pilots with less than 60 exp that I want to pull into rear units to increase their exp before committing them to front lines and its becoming to be a pain to find them through all the 'other' pilot types the game throws into the generic pools of Fighter / Bomber / etc...

Yes, the manual part is annoying which is why I wrote my Dear Santa post. With some filters on the airgroups that would allows us to specify which skills we want for the group a lot of the manual effort could be eliminated. I don't know if that will ever make it into the game, but I can wish [:)]

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: tiemanj

ORIGINAL: Ormbane

I've been experimenting with this. I read in some archived posts that it is a good idea to train various types of pilots in two or more skills, so I have been trying to work out a way to minimize manual micromanagement. If you have enough air groups to devote to training there are some things you can do to reduce manual effort: assume you want to train fighter pilots for air skill and staf skill, here is an example: set up a number of fighter air groups to pull replacements from the replacement pool (level 30 for USAAF) and train them for escort at normal level for their planes. Then when pilots in that group reach lvl 50 experience and sufficient air skill release them to general reserve. Have other fighter groups devoted to training pilots of level 50 (use selection filter for this - trained 50+ but pull from reserve), but train them for sweep at low altitude. When they reach level 60 and sufficient staf skill release them to general reserve. Have your normal fighter groups (not training groups) select pilots of level 60 or above. This is the basic idea. If you can afford to wait that long you can set up 3 tiers of training - such as for bombers. Getting to experience and skill level 50 goes pretty quickly but beyond that it slows down. Fighters seem to train faster than other types of pilots as well, so a lot depends on how many groups you can devote to training and how quickly you need new pilots.

Problem with this method is it is very slow. AIR skill maxes out (from a training perspective - 70 skill) when the experience is in the low 40s (for USA pilots). So the time you spend waiting for them to get to 50 is wasted from a skills perspective. Further, gain in anything (skills or experience) is very slow once you get over 50 experience. So your second tier training would go very slow. What I do is I keep training classes together. A training group brings in a class of replacements and trains them for AIR skill. When air skill for the group averages in the high 60s, switch the entire class to train for skill 2. Once the class gets to 50 experience, release them into general reserve. If you have any stragglers in the steps above, you can go through and release them first, than pull them into another training group that is on their level.

This is because experience gains happen more slowly in training than they do in "live" operations.

You should train your fighter pilots until their Air skill is how you want it - most players pick 70+. Then, you should either train them in Strafing (Ground Attack, 100 feet altitude) to continue training up their other skills (late war you'll get a lot of fast fighters that can carry bombs - you might want to strafe sometime, right?).

After that, if their Exp level is still not where you want it to be, you should set them to perform CAP - I do 80% and 20% rest, range 0. While flying CAP, their Experience will increase more frequently. It's why, as Japan, I use China for bomber training. I probably have 300-400 bomber pilots sitting in reserve now with 70+ Exp and 75+ GrdB skills.

[Ormbane]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: tiemanj

ORIGINAL: Ormbane

I've been experimenting with this. I read in some archived posts that it is a good idea to train various types of pilots in two or more skills, so I have been trying to work out a way to minimize manual micromanagement. If you have enough air groups to devote to training there are some things you can do to reduce manual effort: assume you want to train fighter pilots for air skill and staf skill, here is an example: set up a number of fighter air groups to pull replacements from the replacement pool (level 30 for USAAF) and train them for escort at normal level for their planes. Then when pilots in that group reach lvl 50 experience and sufficient air skill release them to general reserve. Have other fighter groups devoted to training pilots of level 50 (use selection filter for this - trained 50+ but pull from reserve), but train them for sweep at low altitude. When they reach level 60 and sufficient staf skill release them to general reserve. Have your normal fighter groups (not training groups) select pilots of level 60 or above. This is the basic idea. If you can afford to wait that long you can set up 3 tiers of training - such as for bombers. Getting to experience and skill level 50 goes pretty quickly but beyond that it slows down. Fighters seem to train faster than other types of pilots as well, so a lot depends on how many groups you can devote to training and how quickly you need new pilots.

Problem with this method is it is very slow. AIR skill maxes out (from a training perspective - 70 skill) when the experience is in the low 40s (for USA pilots). So the time you spend waiting for them to get to 50 is wasted from a skills perspective. Further, gain in anything (skills or experience) is very slow once you get over 50 experience. So your second tier training would go very slow. What I do is I keep training classes together. A training group brings in a class of replacements and trains them for AIR skill. When air skill for the group averages in the high 60s, switch the entire class to train for skill 2. Once the class gets to 50 experience, release them into general reserve. If you have any stragglers in the steps above, you can go through and release them first, than pull them into another training group that is on their level.

This is because experience gains happen more slowly in training than they do in "live" operations.

You should train your fighter pilots until their Air skill is how you want it - most players pick 70+. Then, you should either train them in Strafing (Ground Attack, 100 feet altitude) to continue training up their other skills (late war you'll get a lot of fast fighters that can carry bombs - you might want to strafe sometime, right?).

After that, if their Exp level is still not where you want it to be, you should set them to perform CAP - I do 80% and 20% rest, range 0. While flying CAP, their Experience will increase more frequently. It's why, as Japan, I use China for bomber training. I probably have 300-400 bomber pilots sitting in reserve now with 70+ Exp and 75+ GrdB skills.

I've seen various people recommend setting the distance to 0 for training as a way to reduce fatigue. So far I've resisted that as it seems a little "gamey" to me, but I think I'll give it a try with a squadron or two and find some way to assuage my conscience [;)]

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Ormbane

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: tiemanj




Problem with this method is it is very slow. AIR skill maxes out (from a training perspective - 70 skill) when the experience is in the low 40s (for USA pilots). So the time you spend waiting for them to get to 50 is wasted from a skills perspective. Further, gain in anything (skills or experience) is very slow once you get over 50 experience. So your second tier training would go very slow. What I do is I keep training classes together. A training group brings in a class of replacements and trains them for AIR skill. When air skill for the group averages in the high 60s, switch the entire class to train for skill 2. Once the class gets to 50 experience, release them into general reserve. If you have any stragglers in the steps above, you can go through and release them first, than pull them into another training group that is on their level.

This is because experience gains happen more slowly in training than they do in "live" operations.

You should train your fighter pilots until their Air skill is how you want it - most players pick 70+. Then, you should either train them in Strafing (Ground Attack, 100 feet altitude) to continue training up their other skills (late war you'll get a lot of fast fighters that can carry bombs - you might want to strafe sometime, right?).

After that, if their Exp level is still not where you want it to be, you should set them to perform CAP - I do 80% and 20% rest, range 0. While flying CAP, their Experience will increase more frequently. It's why, as Japan, I use China for bomber training. I probably have 300-400 bomber pilots sitting in reserve now with 70+ Exp and 75+ GrdB skills.

I've seen various people recommend setting the distance to 0 for training as a way to reduce fatigue. So far I've resisted that as it seems a little "gamey" to me, but I think I'll give it a try with a squadron or two and find some way to assuage my conscience [;)]

No, it definitely works. You can train at 100% if you set range to 0. How could that possibly be gamey? Pilots accumulate less fatigue when they fly less distance. You can still train at 100% without range to 0, but you'll see average pilot fatigue for a unit in the double digits. That leads to more ops losses, and some dead pilots. Set it to 0 and you're fine.

Same with CAP at range 0. 80% CAP and range higher than 1, and you'll see fatigue climb. With range 4-5 I've seen it hit high 20s. Not good for your planes.