I've been doing a few custom battle tests. I've noticed two things.

Firstly, if you take a weak unit (urban militia or militia sergeants) and give them 4 valor and 1 weapon it costs slightly less than 1 unupgrade lancer yet they absolutely demolish the lancers This would seem to suggest that valour is of crucial importance. Do people use this in MP games? It seems it would merely become a question of optimizing the most bang for your buck, so to speak. There's no need for advanced units since they're not cost effective. This also suggests that raising valor is a key strategy in SP games.

Secondly, there is a LOT of randomness involved. In identical scenarios I will sometimes win very convincingly and lose convincingly. And this is not morale related and not related to the general's death. The only explanation I can find is that if you get lucky on the charge and kill a few more men than expected you can then fight basically 2 men against 1 in many places which furthers the demise of the enemy. It's somewhat disheartening tho, as it appears a lot of the outcome is based on luck.

Any thoughts?