Thanks to both O’ETAIPOS and QwertyMIDX for the very quick reply. The part about the mercenary entry now makes perfect sense.

For the Levantine Saggitarius Auxilia I have changed the prize to 1021 and upkeep to 255. I hope that is about right to keep the balance in unit cost.

Have you discussed the possibility of removing all officers and standard-bearers from units with the ability to form a phalanx? I have found that it improves on the effectiveness when there isn’t “holes” in the line that the enemy can move through. And if I am facing phalanx units the ai has enough trouble maintaining an unbroken line without the addition of holes coursed by officers!

About the increase in numbers in the roman infantry, I can’t say that I agree. I know that the roman army went from a manipular system to one based on cohorts. The problem is that the basic manipel was two centuries strong and the cohort numbered 6. This doesn’t change the fact that the standard centurie had the same number of soldiers - around 80. The overall number of soldiers in the legion also didn’t change (until later) and the cohort system was more a tactically change to make the legion more uniform and flexible on the battlefield and capable of better operating in smaller units. Therefore, I don’t think that an increase in numbers from 80 to 100 is a good way of reflecting these changes. The result of the change in system is already illustrated through the chances from principes/hastate/triarii to cohorts reformata as the main battle soldier and the rest must be up to player tactics on the battlefield. In regard to gameplay, I find that the increase in numbers gives the Romans an unfair advantage - since most other heavy infantry with similar fighting styles only number 80. Instead the stats for roman post-Marian infantry could get a slight increase to reflect their status as some of the best heavy infantry in the ancient world at this time and to maintain the overall balance with the fever men per unit.

This is not a big problem since it can rather easily be modded by the player (even I have figured out who to do it!) but I still think it might be worth considering again if the 80 soldiers per unit isn’t a better solution with the appropriate changes to cost and stats. I realize that it is all a part of a bigger and complex picture to keep all units stats and prize in balance - but as a big fan of both the Romans and a lot of the changes EB has made to the original game I just wanted voice my opinion. I guess we all have an opinion on making the perfect game so I appreciate EB members and others taking time to read all this.