Quote Originally Posted by panten View Post
Actually, I would never disband any elephants - sure they were expensive and contributed to my lack of treasury, but they also kept me going as they won me countless victories as Epeiros and made my exhausted and decimated army still a force to be reckoned with (eliminating Makedon and the KH within 5 years of game time). Ships, sure - there's no need to keep them around. But elite units (as well as cavalry) are worth so much more than levies and if you use them well they win you wars, not just battles.
"Use them well" is the important part. Expensive units should be in an army which is regularly fighting battles in which the elite units' superiority makes a difference. Anywhere else anything above average has no place (in the beginning).