Merging units after battle

[Peasant Phill]

In the other TWgames (MTW and ETW) I’ve played, merging units after battles was in most cases the better option.
Say you have 2 half depleted units of 2 valour, retraining (MTW) or paying for replenishments (ETW) will result in 2 units of 1 valour for the cost of 1 new unit. Merging those same units and recruiting a new unit will result in 1 unit of 2 valour and a rookie unit at the same cost. It’s mostly accepted that the second option is better.

I’ve just started my first campaign in Shogun2 and I’ve noticed that units replenish of their own without costs (at least not that I’ve noticed).
Using the same example as above, this would mean that letting both units be replenished to 2 units of 1 valour would cost nothing while merging and recruiting a second unit would result in the recruitment cost of 1 unit.
In other words the decision whether to merge units or not isn’t as clear cut anymore as you now have factor in your finances.

Is my conclusion correct?
Do you have other thoughts about merging units?

[Vladimir]

I noticed that last night. I don't know the replenishment rate but I presume that you'd want to merge units if you couldn't afford to wait.

This looks like a nice way to eliminate the depleted unit problem TW has seen, well, forever.

[TinCow]

We can merge units in Shogun 2?

I guess that question demonstrates which option I've been using...

[econ21]

I don't know if this is new to STW2 or passed me by on earlier games, but I think you pay full upkeep for a unit regardless of how many men are in it. I guess you are paying for a full unit, but the replacements have not arrived on the frontline yet. If that is right, then having lots of depleted units would be quite a drain on your finances.

What I've tended to do is to merge depleted ashigaru, as it is quick and easy to replace them. With Samurai, I tend to let them recover to full strength, as they take longer to replace - often they are recruited only from one dedicated province - and I value experience more on them than on throwaway ashigaru.

[frogbeastegg]

Letting units replenish automatically is a nice, hands off option and I use it most of the time. The overall XP level of a unit can be reduced if it's heavily depleted and allowed to replenish by this method. That strongly implies XP is tracked on a per-man basis, same as the older games. In turn, that means each man has his own personal stats, and the displayed XP level is an average. Thus a 5XP unit will not have all men fighting at 5Xp's stats. Some will be lower, most will be at that level some may be higher.

I rarely merge units. It's a pain if your units have upgrades derived from recruitment location; it's easier and quicker to let reinforcements trickle in to a unit than it is to recruit a new unit from a province which gives upgrades and then walk it over to join the army.

[Major Robert Dump]

TinCow is right, a depleted unit costs the same as a full unit, which sort of encourages you NOT to merge experinced unit.

Furthermore, for repression purposes, a unit is a unit, whether it has 35 men or 120. Early game I like to keep depleted, experienced units as garrison while I move the full units forward to fight. Don't forget that unit replenishment are one of the biggest reasons to take road upgrades early (in addition to helping town growth)

I only merged in times of emergency when I was either broke, or a partial unit was not viable (like defending a castle)

[Major Robert Dump]

Also, (and this could be considered a game mechanic failure) you still get a replenishment turn after a fight you do defensively on the AIs turn. So if you get attacked, at the start of your next turn you will have replenished.

The reason I say it may be bad mechanics is because I think you may get a replensihment turn after your end turn but before you get attacked, so you effectively replenish twice.

On the other hand, though, I noticed that you suffer seige attrition every time you come under siege, and on legendary it is a higher rate. When I am the one sieging, they suffer no atttition if they sally out on their first urn. And when they do get attrition on their second turn, its like 3-5 dudes. I, on the other hand, suffer attrition even if I do sally out my first turn after coming under seige, and its like 8-10 I lose.

I might also point out that unlike previous TWs, purchasing a unit will give you that unit at the end of your turn, so if you get attacked after your end turn, that unit will be trained and join the fight. The AI gets the same perk.