I don't remember this going back as far as beta... I can never think of a time they were doctrinal. Powerful, 360mp long range units, yes, but not doctrinal.
You are correct. I should have phrased this better: I believe in the drawing board stages they intended to have COH1 style doctrine choices: Shock, Guard and NKVD. They where never iterations and I only assumed that Penal Batt. would be doctrinal units on that stage of development.
What I remember was Penal Battalions being replaced in T1 by Guards or Shocks once you chose a doctrine. In the early days Penals were often meant to be replaced, Guards and Shocks were meant to be built from T1.
Thx for the correction. This was indeed the mechanic.
But quite frankly, I'm not sure what the point of having t0 conscripts would be with this version of T1. Especially if this proposed unit gets all the conscript upgrades and doctrinal abilities.
A valid point. But from first balance scope mandate the intention was always to make T1 a viable option compared to T2. Your reaction confirms that there is value in T1, because it provides you with something you want more then t0 conscripts.
The focus on penal battalions derives from making T1 as attractive as T2. If you choose T2, regular conscript are still your mainline infantry, with a motivation to back-tech. When building T1 you will only use the cheaper fresh conscripts to merge and reinforce the front.
but I do feel that it makes for less unit diversity. and a complete replacement for a unit is boring. (might as wel have an upgrade icon on regular conscripts then as in campaign).
Thank you for the feedback and corrections ZombiFrancis!
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