Just an idea

[Kadste]

I have done something similar to this with crew Ratings using the ship component. There are 6 levels of crew:
Poor
Green
Regular
Experienced
Crack
Elite

Using the abilities: Combat To Hit Offense Plus, Combat To Hit Defense Plus, Combat To Hit Offense Minus and Combat To Hit Defense Minus I haev tried to simulate the experience and morale of my crews.
Example:
Poor crew
Combat To Hit Offense Minus 10
Combat To Hit Defense Minus 10
Green Crew
Combat To Hit Offense Minus 5
Combat To Hit Defense Minus 5
Regular Crew, no positive or negative
Experienced Crew
Combat To Hit Offense Plus 5
Combat To Hit Defense Plus 5
Crack Crew
Combat To Hit Offense Plus 10
Combat To Hit Defense Plus 10
Elite Crew
Combat To Hit Offense Plus 20
Combat To Hit Defense Plus 20

There is more to this, but you probably get my point.

Make sure that you have to pay for the extra advantages, ie the Elite crew component costs more than the regular crew component.
I am working with the use of tech areas and facilities to tech requirements to create the better crews.

You might also want to experiement with some of the other abilities, like I am trying out the Ship Training ability on a component like a crew. This crew will earn the experience as a crew not as a facility.

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In difficult ground, press-on;
In encircled ground, devise stratagems;
In death ground, fight.
Sun Tzu (circa 400 B.C.)