Spring '42 P-38E squadron plane switch question

[Rusty1961]

Obviously, I used to, in the previous patch, be able to switch out P-38Es to get them in the pool and replace said squadrons with crappy planes, but has the latest patch rendered that moot?

I'm in May of '42 and it appears the designers have put a kabosh on this?

Could anyone elaborate on this?
Thank you!!!!

[dr.hal]

Do you have PDU (Player Defined Upgrades) on or off? It makes a difference. If you have it on, there is a LOT more flexibility as to what you can do concerning plane upgrades...

[JocMeister]

If the squadrons are PERM restricted you need to be able to replace the entire squadron. So 25 planes to upgrade to.

[btd64]

I've done it with 6 P-26's. And you do need pdu on....GP

[dr.hal]

Joc is correct UNLESS you official "divide" the squadron, then any one of its thee elements can upgrade if so selected. This can be bad news IF you want to reunite the squadron into the whole unit as it will not do so until all three elements have the same aircraft...ugh...

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: dr.hal

Joc is correct UNLESS you official "divide" the squadron, then any one of its thee elements can upgrade if so selected. This can be bad news IF you want to reunite the squadron into the whole unit as it will not do so until all three elements have the same aircraft...ugh...

Joc is not correct.

Whether a unit is restricted (permanent or otherwise) or is not restricted, has no bearing on how many airframes must be in the pools to upgrade/downgrade.

The conditions needed for upgrading/downgrading an air unit are:

1. The air unit is located at

(a) an airfield size 7 or

(b) the HQ to which the air unit is attached to is at a size 7 airfield and the two units are within the transfer range of the aircraft model (existing or prospective)

(c) if on a ship, the ship is at a base with an airfield size 7

2. The base with the level 7 airfield has 20k supply

3. If PDU OFF, only the next scheduled upgrade model can be chosen. There is no downgrading in PDU OFF

4. If PDU ON, the selection is only possible from the displayed models. Downgrading to a displayed model is possible in PDU ON

5. If upgrading is set to "automatic" there must be sufficient airframes in the pools of the scheduled upgrade model to fully reequip the air unit

6 If upgrading is done "manually"

(a) there must be sufficient airframes in the pools to fully reequip the air unit if the unit is scheduled to be withdrawn, or

(b) there must be at least 1 airframe in the pools if the unit is not scheduled to be withdrawn

7. Automatic upgrades do not occur if the aviation support present is less than the aviation support required. Manual upgrades do not check the aviation support.

8. Airfields with more than 59% service or runway damage will not permit an upgrade

9. The minimum airfield size is decreased by the presence of HQs


These conditions have been present since the release date.

Alfred

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ORIGINAL: Alfred

ORIGINAL: dr.hal

Joc is correct UNLESS you official "divide" the squadron, then any one of its thee elements can upgrade if so selected. This can be bad news IF you want to reunite the squadron into the whole unit as it will not do so until all three elements have the same aircraft...ugh...

Joc is not correct.

Whether a unit is restricted (permanent or otherwise) or is not restricted, has no bearing on how many airframes must be in the pools to upgrade/downgrade.

Alfred

With some West Coast units I've noticed that the number needed to upgrade is actually important (I've not tried this elsewhere that I can remember, but can't imagine why it would be different in India or Japan or anywhere else). The message given in rollover actually indicates that "pool numbers insufficient."

As you can see Portland meets all criteria and is in range of HQ at San Fran. Also, another unit at the same base, also attached to the same HQ, is fully capable of upgrading to an airframe that has sufficient numbers (over group max) in the pools.

So numbers in the pools do matter to be able to upgrade.

EDIT: I think this is applied to units that will be withdrawing (which may USAAF and other US units do at points in the campaign). It may be to make sure the number of airframes that are supposed to move to another theatre actually are released there.

In this game, PDU-off, I'm not sure I have a unit that is not withdrawing but is restricted and also has insufficient numbers for it's next upgrade, so I couldn't show whether it's only the withdrawing units that have this problem. I could add this to a test though and be able to show an example.

[Alfred]

What exactly are you going to test.  I have already provided all the conditions which are needed for an upgrade.  Or are you saying I am wrong and not to be believed in which case it makes me revising the manual a pointless exercise.  Perhaps you would care to introduce yourself to the devs and offer them your tests as being a much more reliable guide than my commentary on how the game operates.
 
Alfred

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ORIGINAL: Alfred

What exactly are you going to test.  I have already provided all the conditions which are needed for an upgrade.  Or are you saying I am wrong and not to be believed in which case it makes me revising the manual a pointless exercise.  Perhaps you would care to introduce yourself to the devs and offer them your tests as being a much more reliable guide than my commentary on how the game operates.

Alfred

Re-reading what you've added, you do have a line about groups withdrawing. I missed this earlier, but even if I hadn't I would like to clarify the situation with an example.

The OP is interested in finding out why what he thinks should work is not working. Other payers have offered their thoughts and I think instead of calling them wrong, to clarify why they might have had that experience (using specific in game examples) would be very helpful to all.

You're responses are often cryptic, or simply ask someone does their own research based on your direction. Great, but I'd like to offer more sometimes. That approach, IMHO doesn't always give the best opportunity for a new player to fully understand the situation. I also respond more to visuals than text, so that is something I like to provide. (It's called differentiated instruction in the teaching world).

This is not calling you out. I think you're incredibly knowledgeable about the game.

When you say it's not about whether a unit is restricted in the above passage it would only take a few more words to offer what you know, that "there must be sufficient airframes in the pools to fully reequip the air unit if the unit is scheduled to be withdrawn."

You didn't say that where you could have, but instead were more interested in saying someone was not correct.

[Lowpe]

I have many examples of Alfred's 6A & 6B rule in my current PDU off game. Works exactly as Alfred typed.

This is a question, that gets asked so frequently, I wonder if we can't take Alfred's post, and sticky it in the War Room?