A couple questions

[Westworld]

Yesterday I was playing as Makedon and sent my army which was besieging a city (I think it was Pergamon) to assault and take it. During the assault, I sent a full group of Peltastai Makedonikai to go finish off a ~50 man group of Thracian Peltasts.

My Peltastai Makedonikai were completely wiped out by this group in melee and it made me wonder what I'm doing wrong.*

Suffice it to say, I took the city and enslaved the populace for having the gaul to wipe out my precious, precious peltastai.

Here are the questions that came to mind as a result of this debacle:

1) What effect do the number of command stars on a general have on the army he commands?

2a) Are Peltastai Makedonikai strictly a flanking unit, regardless of their high defensive stats?

2b) What does each specific defensive stat entail? I.E. does a unit with a larger shield number, 7 for instance, have a better chance at surviving against projectiles/swords/whatever than one that has a lower shield number?

* Before I assaulted the city, I did not send in a spy to see the army inside. Therefore, it may very well be the case that this group of Thracian Peltasts had several silver (or possibly gold) experience chevrons.

[Maeran]

Command stars do affect morale - how ready your troops are to flee. But in practice, they have much less effect in player controlled battles than they do in auto-calc battles.

Makedonikai do work far better as a flanking unit, but they are well armoured. Generally a good thing, but Thracian peltasts have an armour piercing attribute on their swords. This makes them far more effective against units if that unit has a high armour stat. Armour stats are all-around protection, while the shield value is specifically in the direction of the sheild - making flanking attacks valuable.

Oh, nearly forgot. If the peltasts were defending a wall, this gives them a further advantage. Wall defenders get a defense bonus.

[Westworld]

Well, that pretty much answers that.

Thank you!