"Out of service" date for captured equipment

[Lut]

I would like to have a "run-out" date for captured tanks...

For example:
A Char B tank should not be in service in >1942 because of lack of spare parts/ammunition and too less suicide crews available to fight with the russian bear

For me there should be a "must-upgrade" date in place at which you have to upgrade if you want to use that unit further...

[bebro]

Personally I'd welcome more "Out of service" dates for most units that were not produced late-war anymore - if only to clean up the purchase screens

Otoh, I', not that sure that there should be a forced upgrade - older eqp could still be used if bought previously, so it remains the player's choice when to upgrade. Maybe it makes more sense for captured units.

[El_Condoro]

Most players will either disband units that are past their use-by date or keep them for sentimental reasons in the reserve. The core slots ensure that only good equipment is used on the map.

[VonHob]

I like the idea of restricting the purchases later in the campaign to the equipment that was manufactured for the time period. Most people will not really want to but a Panzer 1A in 1945 yikes.

[Akaoz]

I'd like to see a system were obsolete captured units had their own deployment pool. So they could be used for recon and garrison duty. From an rp standpoint ı think it would be very cool, and I don't think it would unbalance things too much...

[Mark50]

I don`t like the idea one bit. Asking to be forced to do something doesn`t seem logical to me in the first place. If you(I`m talking in general) don`t want to use a certain type of equipment after a certain date just don`t. What you`re basically asking though is that everyone else is forced to give up captured equipment at a fixed date(not of their own choosing) and that doesn`t seem fair to me at all. I`d rather see more options for each person to play to his own style than dictate a single standard for what "should be" "reasonable" and "historical" gameplay. The sort of personal guessing("less suicide crews available to fight with the russian bear") expressed above is what makes the game fun for one individual and as such belongs firmly to the realm of personal game rules. My reasoning being that while you can refrain from using something that`s available and thus fulfill your wish, the people who would want to use something that`s not would have no choice whatsoever.

[El_Condoro]

I like the idea of restricting the purchases later in the campaign to the equipment that was manufactured for the time period. Most people will not really want to but a Panzer 1A in 1945 yikes.

There is an 'Available To' field already - the Pz I is not available after 1 Jan, 1943. Pz II is available throughout, but that might be because they were used in a recon role and as command vehicles sometimes.

[rezaf]

Most equipment already has a date after which you can no longer purchase it - so you can't purchase a Panzer I in 1945, afaik.
However, what's been asked for is a date after which you MUST upgrade a unit.
While not unreasonable/unrealistic, I think in the abstract context of PzC gameplay, it might complicate things too much.
I can probably think of a hundred things I would've like changed first if I tried really hard.
_____
rezaf

[Zhivago]

I just upgrade every captured unit to its German equivalent or better as time goes on. I have units in my core that are fighting in Stalingrad that I picked up in 1939 and 1940.

[Longasc]

I don't think it is needed.

Players in need will want to turn their awesome Uber-Matilda II into Prestige in late 1942 IMO, unless they are collectors of captured units.

Captured equipment gets obsolete sooner or later, no need to give it a mandatory date to be phased out. MG42 variants are still in service nowadays.

[brettz123]

I don't think it is needed.

Players in need will want to turn their awesome Uber-Matilda II into Prestige in late 1942 IMO, unless they are collectors of captured units.

Captured equipment gets obsolete sooner or later, no need to give it a mandatory date to be phased out. MG42 variants are still in service nowadays.

Why turn it into prestige when you can just upgrade it to another tank? My Matilda II has almost 400 experience now. I'm going to keep it until I can turn into a tiger (well I am actually considering turning it and the char b1s into PZ IVGs).

[rezaf]

I don't think it is needed.

Players in need will want to turn their awesome Uber-Matilda II into Prestige in late 1942 IMO, unless they are collectors of captured units.

Captured equipment gets obsolete sooner or later, no need to give it a mandatory date to be phased out. MG42 variants are still in service nowadays.

Why turn it into prestige when you can just upgrade it to another tank? My Matilda II has almost 400 experience now. I'm going to keep it until I can turn into a tiger (well I am actually considering turning it and the char b1s into PZ IVGs).

Because the impact of experience is limited and is quickly gained (there are threads where this is discussed in depth), so it's more cost-efficient to disband a unit and buy a new one than it is to upgrade - except when remaining in the same family (Bf109, PzIV etc.).
_____
rezaf

[deducter]

I would definitely upgrade a 400 exp tank instead of refunding it for 350ish prestige.

I played DLC 39 and DLC 40 with expattack = expdefend = 25. And that was overpowering even though I played with -75% prestige. I lost a total of 1 core unit, a recon car.

If you upgrade that matilda II to a Panther or a Tiger, it will have +4 ini/attack/defend. A ridiculous unit especially if you overstrength it, and I guarantee will crush every Russian tank in DLC 43 without breaking a sweat. Just don't wander it onto a forest without artillery cover.

[deadtorius]

on a non gaming historical note the Germans appeared to have hated to "throw away" captured vehicles or those tanks that were no longer "front line capable". They seemed to have been masters at making use of these "obsolete" vehicles. At Dieppe for example the Canadians were taking fire from a French tank that was cemented into the end of a pier and was able to shoot onto the beach from the channel side. The Canadians never became aware of its presence until after the battle. during the Normandy invasions the US airborne ran into 1940 French tanks that had had German split turret hatches added to them, and were assigned to a security unit for anti partisan duty. I am sure they came as as surprise and were some to the first armoured units encountered. the Lorraine Schlepper was the old French Lorraine APC (for lack of a better description) tractor with an open fixed super structure and mounting the 75mm gun used as a tank hunter. Many older tanks would have their turrets removed and were used as ammunition schleppers to resupply the Panzers in the field. even the Hetzer was using the old PZ 38t chassis with a new superstructure. Many of the French tanks ended up in the Balkans as anti partisan units, it came in handy they had neither tanks nor anti tank guns.

I think it should be a player choice on when to get rid of them and whether to upgrade or just toss them, I prefer to upgrade them myself. My old Chars ended up as successful PZ IV's in my core. I like to keep their old names so I could keep track of where the captured units ended up and how they were holding out. I am kind of sentimental that way.

[Kerensky]

We toyed with this idea a while ago, I can't find the threads now but I sure they can be searched for somehow, but in the end we decided not to impose such limitations.

Forced upgrades would damage a collector's ability to... collect favorite units, just to keep them as trophies.
Making units obsolete just because they are no longer in production is a slippery slope. For example, production on the Tiger I was halted towards the end of 1944 as all remaining resources were poured into Tiger II production. Does that mean we remove the Tiger I from buy menu and force players to remove Tiger Is from their core? That's harsh to say the least.
Many players enjoy using NOT all top of the line equipment, it adds to their sense of historical accuracy and can be used as an interesting way of increasing the difficulty of play.

We did add expiration dates to some units though, as players have mentioned above. We also added them to several SE units (because SE units are awarded randomly from ALL available SE units) but this was to prevent getting a... SE Panzer IIIF as a reward for starting Bagration.

[deducter]

You know what's exciting? PzI vs Somua tanks, or P38(t) vs buffed T-34s. Leningrad41 gave me fits when I choose not to use the siege artillery and when playing with sub optimal units. Really gives you a sense of how outmatched some of the German panzers were.

Of course I wouldn't dare do that on Manstein. But it's fun when the AI doesn't get +5 strength to all units.

[Longasc]

Why turn it into prestige when you can just upgrade it to another tank? My Matilda II has almost 400 experience now. I'm going to keep it until I can turn into a tiger (well I am actually considering turning it and the char b1s into PZ IVGs).

Because I didn't have a Matilda with 4 Stars.
You will first have to tell me how to make 400 XP with a Matilda II in the DLCs before it is already obsolete.

[Naxor]

How to disband an unit? I checked manual but didnt find the answer.

[Kerensky]

How to disband an unit?

D is the default hot key. Remember to do this during the deploy phase, or you will receive no prestige for disbanding units.

These are additional help threads:
viewtopic.php?t=25990

viewtopic.php?t=27283

[Anfield]

Ive cashed in all but 2 of the 8 or so ive gotten in the GC. Kept a Char for a while before upgrading, and just got a nice Russian Armored Artillery unit that im really liking. But yeah I dont want to be forced to change them, part of the fun of the game.