Unit Chevrons

[chemchok]

Here's one of my usual wild guesses, but it seems like killing routers gives a smaller contribution to a unit's experience than regular combat does.

[Lord Ovaat]

It's not surprising to observe that discrepancy when you have a general with the army. As other have said, he may have some traits that reduce experience/valor. But I have seen this same decrease occur in a field army with NO general. I usually keep a couple small stacks around to deal with rebels, and I rarely have a character with them, but I've seen them drop from campaign to battle map. I can think of no reason for this to happen without a character, but it does. Can any of you folks think of a plausible reason?