College of Surgeons

[caravel]

Regarding Elite and it's representation in the game files, that's why I don't think a Disciplined unit can be "upgraded" to Elite with a Military Academy.

Units can be both Elite and Disciplined (Jannisaries), they can also be Elite and Uncontrolled (Lancers).

Correct, disciplined cannot be upgraded to elite as it's a totally different parameter and for the same reason you can get any combinations of elite/non-elite + uncontrolled/normal/disciplined. i.e:

elite:uncontrolled - (i.e. Chivalric Knights)
elite:normal - (i.e. FMAA)
elite:disciplined - (i.e. Kataphraktoi)

non-elite:uncontrolled - (i.e. Gallowglasse)
non-elite:normal - (i.e. UM)
non-elite:disciplined - (i.e. Trebizond Archers)

According to the official strategy guide though, non-Elite and non-Disciplined units count as half units when routing near a Disciplined unit for morale purposes, so there is some relation.

I'm not sure about this, but it sound entirely plausible to me. Discplined units may take less notice of Normal and Uncontrolled units when they rout. It may also be that Normal units to a degree take less notice of routing Uncontrolled units?

I'm not really sure how the upgrade works wrt Uncontrolled/Normal/Disciplined, I've never really paid too much attention to it. My guess is that Uncontrolled units become Normal, Normal units become Disciplined, and Disciplined units are not changed.

I was thinking along the same lines. Either way when Janissaries which are already Disciplined are trained in a province with a military Academy and do not seem to get any more "disciplined" because of this.

Is it possible to see a unit's discipline state from the battlefield GUI or log files?

I'm not sure of that. I think F1 only shows usual stats and morale. The logs, which I haven't looked at for years, only show per man stats such as kills, armour and individual valour AFAIK.

The battle logfiles generate the units that are dumped back in the province on the campaign map.

[Raz]

Puzz3D had posted a thread on this some time ago in the Samurai Warlords sub-forum.

Negative Morale Effects:
General's death (for first few seconds): -8 to all his units except highly disciplined units
General's death (after first few seconds): -2 to all his units except highly disciplined units
Routing Friends: up to -12 for seeing 2 equal or higher level friendly units routing. #Elite and disciplined units consider lesser types as 1/2 a unit for this calculation.

drone is correct (at least according to the information posted) that disciplined and elite units count other units as 1/2 for calculations about routing units. Also, although discipline doesn't directly affect morale, it does provide staying power for units in the above situations. I've also reason to believe that building upgrades for discipline can go far beyond +2. Try adding +10 or +20 in the build_prod and see what happens. Same goes for morale upgrades.

NB: The effects of discipline may not be limited to these situations, though I couldn't be entirely sure.
There is also some degree of ambiguity here - "highly disciplined units" could be both disciplined units and elite units (as is suggested in the info you get during battle).

Has anyone else noticed we've trailed off-topic just a touch?

[Beirut]

Here's a dummy question: if I construct a building like the College of Surgeons, does it improve only the units built after it is up or all the units in the country?

[drone]

Apart from the +40% province happiness bonus, I think the College of Surgeons only has a global effect. All generals in your empire should get the benefit of longer life. As far as I know, any building that upgrades specific unit capabilities (armour, weapons, morale, discipline) will only affect units recruited or retrained in the province after the building is up.