Romanb,

Just a thought . . .

You might want to consult a couple of the Guild's own guide writers. Check out Quietus's guide on Governors and frogbeategg's game guide. They are done well and good reading to boot. While I'm fairly sure they don't discuss ratios between 'clear' victory and 'close' victory or 'average' victory, they do have a tremendous store of information on the game and its features that you would find most useful. I've also seen a guide on recommended military formations for ancient warfare combat on this site. Just can't remember what the name of it is at the moment. When I first started playing this game, I didn't know very much about ancient warfare - the formations, the units, how to deploy them, etc. We have some serious students of ancient warfare in the Guild. Their counsel and their suggestions are well worth reading. Snoop around this website, you'll find them. I can testify that it's worth it.

As has already been stated - the size of the army has nothing to do with whether your captain gets a promotion to general or not. For the most part it is based on the ratio of faction members to settlements you have at the time of the battle. Adoptions appear for the same reasons - a shortage of faction members compared to the number of controlled settlements - but they are not triggered by a battle, necessarily.

I do believe if you have a huge stack of troops led by a captain and you wipe out a small numbered opponent, you likely won't get a captain promotion even if the ratios are favorable. The game does seem to want your captain to face a respectable challenge so that the promotion is earned. But . . , not being able to see the code that supports this function, I can't testify to this with absolute certainty. I can only speak from experience.

And, no, I've never gotten a promotion for an army when there was a faction member already commanding the army I took into battle, even if he dies subsequently in the battle. That's not how the game works.

Most interesting promotion I think I ever had was with a small army that took on some small German contingent and my captain's unit was wardogs. After that victory and promotion I made sure that my new general always stocked several wardog units in his army. I played him as if he had a prejudice favoring wardogs.

best wishes, and welcome aboard!!