Slitherine

Starting from 1942 and so on soviet units, who spent some time standing in frontline and gained some experience (for being adjacent to enemy unit) start to become guards after 1-2 attacks.
So when germans are on the offencive it looks like you hit one unit -> it become guard -> you finish it off -> you start to attack another unit -> it becomes guard aswell and so on.
It means that each soviet unit in the frontline have some hidden health, making it harder to destroy, that unit with same stats from any other nation.

Looks like an obvious major bug to me, strange noone ever noticed it.
Maybe units should convert guards at the start of allied turn, or there should be added maximum converstaions/turn or something like it.

I was playing a game as Axis a while ago and by 1943 it seemed as if half the Russian army had turned to guards. This was because there was a long mutual border where our corps were lined up across each other with a river dividing the two armies. Because the game awards experience to units for merely being next to an enemy unit, if enough time passes they get those little 'medals' for experience--or if they're Russian, they turn elite!

Given how relatively few SS units the Germans get--and they're not free either--it feels pretty intimidating.

This is not a bug. Starting XP level is determined per unit for all scenarios except 1939 (where the XP level is 0 for all units). So quite a bit of units can be just slightly below the threshold to become guards.

German units also start with XP level above 0 for quite a bit of units. Entrenchment level in each hex is also selected randomly.

Which number will be selected is not linear along the min/max line. More will be from the lower pool.

I know what Plaid is talking about. When I attack Leningrad, the defender often becomes a guard unit in between ground attacks. I'll get 1 attack on a normal corps and 3 on a guard corps, or 2 and 2. Then obviously it stays a guard for the next turn.

Is this a bad thing? I don't really have a strong opinion about it. I wouldn't be opposed to a change that makes it impossible for units to be promoted to guards during the Axis turn. Perhaps they should have to wait for a break in the action. On the other hand, becoming a guard is based solely on experience (unlike the SS), so maybe the current system is fine. Thoughts?

It's kind of annoying for the Axis player. On the other hand, it's kind of a nice feature that a battered defender can immediately acheive guard status. It give the Russians an added defense advantage, as noted, and kind of adds a little flavor for the brutal fighting on the Eastern Front. I don't feel strongly about it one way or the other - but don't think it should be adjusted unless (for game balance) it was determined that the Axis player needed help in '42-'45.