Quote Originally Posted by Ulstan
Unfortunately this individual never realizes what exactly it means for a unit to be overpowered - which is, it requires effort and resources to defeat the unit far out of proportion to what it takes to field the unit. A 500g chariot unit should not take 3 units of archers and a unit of artillery to defeat. That's pretty clearly imbalanced.
Some people believe one particular unit should be an equal counter to said unit, denarii for denarii or there abouts. In traditional RTS games this makes good gameplay sense but RTW is anything but. They also think all factions should have a unit that counters everything that may come their way. The game uses both history and gameplay measures to make the whole experience enjoyable so at times it does contradict itself. But the end result is what counts.

I enjoy both the challenge when fighting these units and the power they yield when I'm using them. When I face them, it makes me think tactically, and the risk of defeat only adds excitement. My best and most memorable battles have been these situations. If its too hard, maybe I should lower the difficulty level back one notch. Why do have to always play at veryhard? On the other hand when I have access to these units I relish the opportunities they allow to crush my enemy like bugs. Whether its with elephants, chariot archers, heavy cavalry, late legions, onagers, etc, etc, (all uber units that need fixing go here), etc, etc.

Some factions don't have a fleshed out roster. Throw in a little bit of history to make you use better strategy to deal with this weakness and you got gravy gameplay folks. Might not have all the tools you need, but ones you have are great. Parthia and Armenia is a good example of this.

Rock, paper and scissors makes balance, but it's not always history and it's not always fun. It's harder sometimes to play a certain faction, or fight certain units, it's what makes a good game. I honestly believe this is CA's intent and in contrast to MTW, they done great.