Greetings roverdog. As far as the training missions go, personally, I only found them helpful when I was first learning the game. They, at least, gave me an idea of what to expect under the various condition. I then played the stock version of SHIV for about a year w/o ever going back to the training missions. Crew management was quite a mystery to me at first so, I pretty much let the game handle most of it for me. I then slowly learned that the various abilities actually had a place in the overall crew assignments. As you may or may not know, members with high Mechanical and Gunnery ratings make ideal torpedomen. Members with high Electrical, Leadership and Visual ratings work well in the Control Room and those with high Electrical/Leadership ratings work well in the Conning Tower. I don't remember exactly where the radio room is but I know you can locate it by going to, and clicking on the Crew Management icon followed by clicking the Gear tab, or, i.e., where you'd check for hull damage. Then you just locate the radio on the left, click on it, and the room it's in will be high-lighted on the right (hope that makes sense).
I played RFB, it's a great MOD. You just gotta remember to move (all) your Deck Watch crews to Hogan's Alley during a DC attack or you might find some casualties. The Riposte, I think as the word applies, is a counter-measure and only used for short durations. Passive abilities are always on the job, automatically. As far as Lieutenants go, once they get past J.G., they've reached their full rank and no more experience need apply for promotion purposes.
Anyway, I haven't had a chance to fully read all of the replies so, I hope this isn't all moot and serves some purpose for you. Right now, I'm playing TMOwtw and lovin' it. All the Mods have their own strengths and weaknesses (depending on how you look at it) but, it's all a matter of (fun) preference.
