Paratrooper fun fact

[mupawa]

I recently was forced to use a GAR with level one experience (4 defence) to upgrade to a Para. I thought that I would end up with a standard level 2 experience Para. Much to my delight, I got back a para at level 3. So I managed to get a GAR up to level two experience and upgraded that one to a level 4 experience Para! Cool.

[mineral]

I had always assumed the same. Late in the game the Germans have all these SS upgrades, which I would use on new Inf (as I usually can't afford armour/mechs late game). Doe this mean I can take a level 1 or 2 exp armour and have them come back as a level 3 or 4 SS unit?

[mupawa]

No, but remember paras come out two levels of experience ahead of where they start; SS do not. I tend to upgrade already experienced inf to make them units capable of strong counterattack rather than new, but maybe a new upgraded SS is a good idea since you can keep upgrading as they die off.

[Metalogic]

Also, bear in mind it's not always convenient to rail an experienced unit from, say, the Russian front back to Germany in order to be able to upgrade it to a para or SS unit, as the axis I'm often using my full rail cap most turns as it is!

[mupawa]

Surely you can spare a garrison and 2 rail? And you get your SS upgrade increase in January so one would think your armor in Russia has little to do, and it is always a bad idea to leave it in the line in winter against the red airforce. So if you decide against it, it will likely be for a different reason than rail capacity.

[Metalogic]

Surely you can spare a garrison and 2 rail? And you get your SS upgrade increase in January so one would think your armor in Russia has little to do, and it is always a bad idea to leave it in the line in winter against the red airforce. So if you decide against it, it will likely be for a different reason than rail capacity.

Armour in Russia always has something to do, even if it's just shoring up the backline and being ready for counter-attacks. Also, the axis rarely has much spare rail capacity! BTW I usually (not always) prefer MECH or even INF units (though prefer the former) for my SS units, as they're more flexible in rough terrain/cities. For Paras I usually (except for the 1st and 2nd one) just build a new GAR, my existing GAR rarely have much experience anyway.

[mupawa]

To each their own as to how to use armor in winter in Russia, but leaving it near the front exposes it to being crippled or destroyed given Russian air superiority in winter. Whether I upgrade armor or not depends on my potential oil situation more than anything. If it looks like I am going to get some oilfields - whether in south Russia or the middle east - I will consider upgrading armor. The main reason I would do this is to make them more survivable (rather than improving their offensive capabilities), since they tend to be quite vulnerable to air power and counterattack. This is also why I tend to put defensive leaders with armor rather than offensive. I like mech units better than armor for the reasons you stated, which is why I rarely build armor, and there are sound reasons to upgrade them as well, so I usually upgrade at least one, but usually one with experience (level 2 if possible) to make it a city killer. Unlike armor, my main reason for doing this is to improve offensive capabilities rather than defensive. For the same reason I usually put my offensive leaders with Mechs. Sometimes, when the oil situation is looking grim, I instead upgrade infantry units anticipating that my mechanized units will soon be partially immobilized. Again I prefer experienced units for this because it gives them counterattack capability as well as great defensive power.

As for paratroopers, these are my favorite land units. They are cheap (only 30 pp!), excellent in defence as long as they are in a city - their lack of AA makes defence anywhere else problematic - and great for invasion. Another great attribute is threatening enemy air unit concentrations. Even though you know it is a suicide mission, the havoc they can cause in this role is immense. This is particularly true where an enemy air unit is stationed in a city. Try this - air attack on some unit that draws up enemy air unit in city to defend (loses 1-2 steps), hit that air unit with an air attack (if possible, another 1-2 steps), para next to it, attack and force a retreat from the city loses 1-4 steps), then a final air attack on it in the new hex (often destroying it). No matter what happens to that para, you just traded a 30pp unit for a 90pp unit! When he dies just build another.

And generally you will not have too many experienced GARs, unless you are cultivating the unit through partisan hunting (an option not open to the allies of course, other than in Iraq) for the purpose of creating super-paras. I think it is worth the effort and rail capacity when the result may be a very superior cheap unit.

We should play a game Metalogic.

[Metalogic]

We should play a game Metalogic.

I'd like that...but not for a while, am embroiled in a couple of games at the moment and they're eating what spare time I have