Training Master vs. Training Officer and Relation of Experience to Unit Upgrades

[planefinder]

Can anyone shed some light on the differences between the training master and the training officer and how unit experience points are translated either into upgrades or combat effectiveness?

Here's what I've figured out so far:

Leaders (McClellan, Rufus King, Halleck, Sigel) can have the "Training Officer" trait. This trait gives commanders a chance at upgrading (training) up to two regiments (elements) of volunteers or conscript models (cavalry as well?) into regular infantry models.

HQ Units can have the "Training Master" trait. This trait gives every unit in the stack 1 XP per turn.

Where I'm lost is whether experience has any relationship to the unit model of a particular unit and/or how that experience is translated into combat effectiveness?

That will also help me understand whether training officers have any relationship to training masters (i.e. training master is a poor man's training officer) or whether the two traits are designed to do completely separate things.

[Jim-NC]

Training Masters add XP. XP lead to "stars". The stars show the approximately level of troops (with 3-4 stars being very high quality). Each increase affects different attributes. For a generalized discussion, may I refer you to this, which although a few years old (and for AACW) is still mostly relevant.

[planefinder]

Thanks Jim. That helps a lot. By that logic then, it is advantageous to both rotate new brigades through "Training Officers" to ensure conversion to regular infantry and then build and use as many HQ units with "Training Master" as possible.

[ArmChairGeneral]

Units with experience (stars) have a higher chance to upgrade (conscript to regular e.g.). Training Master raises experience, and once an element has a star it is then more likely to upgrade in the future (I don't think a conscript without a star attempts an upgrade roll). In this way an HQ or Training Master can (over a period of time) indirectly cause upgrades to your troops.

If you are the Union, you have several Training Officers. The CSA only has one, so can only upgrade two elements per turn, which isn't fast enough to make a big difference.

[GraniteStater]

IOW, the Training Officers train two (2) elements from Conscript -> Regular. And that's all they do. The Union has several leaders with this Ability; not so the CSA. Somewhat semi-historical - the Union can afford to raise raw recruits and train them; McClellan, for instance, did train the AotP very well. The South is, and was, probably not set up quite as well.

HQSpprt, now, and Training Masters, add Experience - which might be more valuable, 'tis harder to accrue.

[FelixZ]

IOW, the Training Officers train two (2) elements from Conscript -> Regular. And that's all they do. The Union has several leaders with this Ability; not so the CSA. Somewhat semi-historical - the Union can afford to raise raw recruits and train them; McClellan, for instance, did train the AotP very well. The South is, and was, probably not set up quite as well.

HQSpprt, now, and Training Masters, add Experience - which might be more valuable, 'tis harder to accrue.

Granitestater, don't they also train militia to regular?

[Ebbingford]

Yes they do.

[Skibear]

I think you will find, for training officer at least but I think both, that they only work if stationary.

[GraniteStater]

Please clarify - am unaware of this condition.

[pgr]

IOW, the Training Officers train two (2) elements from Conscript -> Regular. And that's all they do. The Union has several leaders with this Ability; not so the CSA. Somewhat semi-historical - the Union can afford to raise raw recruits and train them; McClellan, for instance, did train the AotP very well. The South is, and was, probably not set up quite as well.

HQSpprt, now, and Training Masters, add Experience - which might be more valuable, 'tis harder to accrue.

The training Officers also train militia to regulars. If you park all those early vol brigades with training officers, you can wip them into effective regular formations.

[GraniteStater]

Yes, I do do that. Just overlooked the details in my reply.

TrnOffs train up - TrnMasters bestow Experience.

[Gray Fox]

FYI, if you stack a new HQ unit with other units while it is forming, then it will still bestow one XP per turn to those elements even though the HQ unit is not formed yet. If you stack new brigades with the HQ unit, their elements will accrue one XP per turn while they are forming up.

Only one training officer per stack will train conscripts/volunteers into line infantry. So don't put all of them in one big stack.

[Ol' Choctaw]

I think they have to be the ranking officer in the stack as well. No second in command types do the work...

[pgr]

And I'm kind of a "why choose" kind of guy about this. I feel that you should put both of them together and start training those raw recruits. Give both Halleck and McClellan stacks in DC with HQ support and you can transform a division's worth of militia into regulars (12 regs) in three turns while giving them experience at the same time. (Get Sigel in the act too, if you are in a hurry...)

It's not like you loose much having them sit around...I wouldn't want them to lead in battle, so set em to training!

[GraniteStater]

I think they have to be the ranking officer in the stack as well. No second in command types do the work...

The tooltip does, indeed, state that a Training Officer has to be in command.

pgr, that's exactly how I use GBMcC, Halleck and Sigel. Not really top flight combat leaders. Sigel's OK in a pinch, but the 3*s stay put.