How to maximize converting crews in Crew 2.0

With Crew 2.0, old crews will have to be converted to a single commander who will have XP equal to the average XP of all the crew members being converted. However, by splitting up your old 4-to-6 crews into a tank that only has a small crew count of two, you can end up with 2 or 3 Crew 2.0 Commanders that have the same level.

Example:

I have an unconverted WZ-132-1 crew (4 crew members). Each crew member has ~4.3 m XP each:

https://preview.redd.it/ppmthubmfsj61.png?width=760&format=png&auto=webp&s=e99d10651248c9414c3a23a2a33f51c3f8727ba0

If I convert the crew as is, I will get 1 Commander with the average XP of that crew, 4.3 m XP, which is equivalent to 65 skill points in Crew 2.0:

https://preview.redd.it/gle2qmexosj61.png?width=1066&format=png&auto=webp&s=c87a2037cacf8d95f94707c95a2047eac68736b2

However, I can split the crew up into 2 crews of 2 members each by retraining them into a tank with only 2 crew slots; the Tier I NC-31 tank. Now, I can get 2 Commanders who each have 4.3 m XP (65 skill points each):

https://preview.redd.it/ncu5dsvzpsj61.png?width=1612&format=png&auto=webp&s=4ba261a03974ad0a49810b1ac1d0e9ad609ae7dd

What's the downside? You have to spend 200 gold for each crew member, to retrain or to change qualification without any XP penalty, before they can be converted to a Commander. You will also have to spend an additional 750 gold to retrain one of those commanders back to the original tank you wanted them in.

In this case:

• 2 x 200 gold to retrain the old WZ-132-1 commander and driver crew members to the NC-31.
• 2 x 200 gold to change qualification (which also retrains them in the process) of the WZ-132-1 gunner and loader to the NC-31.
• 750 gold to train one of the resulting Crew 2.0 Commanders to be able to use the WZ-132-1.

Final result? For a mere, 1150 gold, I end up effectively duplicating my WZ-132-1 crew. Now I can train that 2nd Crew 2.0 Commander to use medium tanks or heavy tanks or something with a 65-skill point head start. A bargain and a very infinitesimally small price to pay compared to the time and silver investment required to grind a new Commander from nothing to 4.3 m XP.

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Crew retraining cost is 200 gold per member in Crew 2.0.

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Changing Crew Qualification is only 200 gold per member in Crew 2.0 (as opposed to 500 gold on live server) and also retrains them in the process.

What can players do NOW, in the current crew system, to maximize returns for Crew 2.0, if it goes ahead as currently implemented?

• Take advantage of any upcoming discounts for Crew Retraining and train your crew members for the 2-crew tanks now to save yourself some gold.
  It's recommended to only do this for crews you're fine with not being able to play until Crew 2.0 release.
• Do not Change Crew Qualifications for 2-crew tanks before Crew 2.0 as this costs 500 gold per crew member as opposed to only 200 gold per crew member (at the time of writing) in Crew 2.0.
• Maximize crew XP grinding by using premium tanks that have the highest crew count available and make sure the commander is running Mentor skill for +10% exp to all other crew members.
• Make the most of Crew Books by dumping them on tanks with 6-skill crews (again, these will yield 3 commanders once you split them into 2-crew tanks and convert them in Crew 2.0).

List of the cheapest 2-crew tech-tree tanks available for each nation:

• China – Tier I: Renault NC-31
• France – Tier I: Renault FT
• Germany – Tier II: Pz. Kpfw. I
• Japan – Tier I: Renault Otsu
• Sweden – Tier I: Strv fm/21
• UK – Tier X: Manticore (yes it sucks that UK's only tank with 2 crew members is a Tier X)
• USA – Tier I: T1 Cunningham
• USSR – Tier I: MS-1
• Czech – Tier I: Kolohousenka
• Italy – Tier I: Fiat 3000
• Poland – Tier I: 4TP

List of premium tanks with highest crew count available for each nation:

• China:

1. Tier VI: Type 64 – 5 crew

• France:

1. Tier V: M10 RBFM – 5 crew
2. Tier VI: Bretagne Panther – 5 crew
3. Tier VIII: AMX M4 mle. 49/Liberte – 5 crew
4. Tier VIII: FCM 50 t – 5 crew

• Germany:

1. Tier III: Grosstraktor – 6 crew
2. Tier VIII: VK 168.01 Mauerbrecher – 6 crew
3. Tier VIII: 8.8 cm Pak 43 Jagdtiger – 6 crew

• Japan:

1. Tier V: Type 3 Chi-Nu Kai – 5 crew
2. Tier VI: Heavy Tank No. VI – 5 crew
3. Tier VIII: Edelweiss – 5 crew
4. Tier VIII: Nameless – 5 crew

• Sweden:

1. Tier VIII: Primo Victoria – 5 crew
2. Tier VIII: Strv K – 5 crew

• UK:

1. Tier III: Sexton I – 6 crew
2. Tier VI: TOG II* – 6 crew
3. Tier VII: AT 15A – 6 crew
4. Tier VIII: Turtle MK. I – 6 crew

• USA:

1. Tier VIII: T34 – 6 crew

• USSR:

1. Tier IV: T-28E with F-30 – 6 crew
2. Tier VI: KV-2 (R) – 6 crew
3. Tier VI: SU-100Y – 6 crew
4. Tier VIII: KV-5 – 6 crew
5. Tier VIII: KV-4 Kreslavskiy – 6 crew
6. Tier VIII: KV-4 KTTS – 6 crew

• Czech:

1. Tier VI: Skoda T 40 – 5 crew

• Italy:

1. Tier VIII: Progetto M35 mod. 46 – 4 crew
2. Tier VIII: Bisonte C45 – 4 crew

• Poland:

1. Tier VI: Pudel – 5 crew