Slitherine

I'm new to the forums and havn't had the game that long. However every time I play as the Axis the Italians always have yellow units instead of regular white ones like the Germans. Is there anyway to get the Italians up to the best level instead of staying at yellow?

It's all to do with effectiveness. If you are below 60 it is yellow. To raise it you need to have commanders nearby or raise your organisation tech. You also need to rest your units.

And just so you know, the Italian generals are s**t, which is very good historical modeling. Still, "plus four" to effectiveness is better than nothing. Also watch your placement of units in the desert---that is, DON'T put them in the desert hexes! There is a supply penalty which also hurts effectiveness as well as reinforcement.

All in all, Slitherine has done a good job with balancing the efficacy of different national armies. Which means that your Italian units make great garrisons, cannon fodder and second line units (ironically, they will PREVENT retreat of front line units )

Leadership means 2 effectiveness per step, so leadership 4 means 4x2=8% higher max effectiveness. Since max eff and current eff is not the same thing, even when you deploy the leader it will take some turns before current eff gets near max.

Thank you everyone, that helps me out a lot.

A couple more words here.

Repairing a unit reduces effectiveness.

Upgrading a unit reduces effectiveness

Moving a unit reduces effectiveness

In all cases, the only thing you can do to bring effectiveness back up again is let them sit there doing nothing for a few turns, hopefully within the radius of a leader.