[Dogfish40]

Originally Posted by razark

I'd like to see this issue addressed. I'd like to be able to have 1/4 or 1/3 of my crew replaced each patrol, and a new crew when I take a new boat.

I would even be happy if I could do it manually, but there's not enough crew in reserve for me to do it. Is there a way to increase the number of crew in the replacement pool?

Yeah, Even though you can dismiss members, the pool is often very shallow (that is to say there's not many replacements in the pool). One reason I didn't mind them coming along was the experience they accumulated. In fact, not too long after I set sail, two of my engine room crew got clovers. This is a first for me as I'd been playing 1.4 for so long ('cause of my computer at the time) so I like the fact that the experience came along with the men. However, I wanted to check out some new guys and the pool was "real shallow". I located a mod which will increase the number of officers to historical levels so I'm going to try it as soon as I hit port.
As for the Boats, as long as something is offered for a good patrol. The thing is, do you want to be more historically accurate, for instance; if they offer you a new boat in '42, historically it's gonna' be a Gato 'cause that was the boat they were building...mostly. So as far as getting some kind of choice, most Skippers were given their new commands and there was no choice.
I think it prolongs the interest of the game (for me) if it works the Navy way. They give me a command, I take it and say "thank you sir, Yes sir" and it's a Gato or whatever. Sometimes I like to turn down the new command just to see where that path might lead. This is a good topic, thanks Ducimus!
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D40