Quote Originally Posted by Tellos Athenaios
@mighty_rome:

Yes: the Hellenes & Carthaginians get some really powerful units. At a cost. Litteraly: the use of Thorakitai Agematos Basilikou is prohibitively expensive. And do they beat Romani Legions? No, not really. Unit by unit yes, but not mina for mina. Why? Well, they're not even half the size!

Again and again: the Romani get some of the largest units of such strength compared to any other faction. The only ones close to that are Argyraspidai; and a couple of Carthiginian units.
The Romani certainly have powerful units, but in my opinion the late units just aren't quite powerful enough. And like you said, some phalangite units do get larger unit sizes compared to a Romani cohort (Aanatim Aloopim, some Argyraspides, etc)

I don't have a problem with Romani losing against an elite unit of equal or almost equal size. I'm not say they were the best but they certainly were good. The problem I am seeing is that there are units which cost the same (or less), and can still massacre a Praetorian cohort, even when the other unit is outnumbered.

In my tests a unit of 103 Cohors Praetoriana did indeed lose to 61 Thorakitai Agematos Basilikou in Medium battle difficulty.. and they didn't just lose, they were absolutely massacred. Yes, the Thorakitai is certainly the elite of the elite, and I don't mind losing to them, but I wish it wasn't such a massacre; it was 12 Thorakitai killed vs 92 Praetorians killed. The Praetorians also were cut to pieces by Pheraspides, which cost noticeably less and again is only a unit with 62 men vs 103. (95 praetorians killed vs 31 Pheraspides killed)

All I am saying is that most factions get several elite units, as well as some form of "super-elite", which just blows the late Romani units away, and I just wish the Romani had a little bit better defense to represent their superb training and discipline, along with their use of the well-designed Imperial Italic helmet and large 2" thick scutum shield. So, even more specifically, I am looking for a +1/2 increase in their armor and shield values for Post-Marian/Imperial cohorts.

Quote Originally Posted by Tellos Athenaios
Now let us get back on topic: spear units have been given better melee abilities; because we felt (and that has been an old, very old, very often told) complaint about previous version of EB... the spear units performed decently against cavalry; but were just horrible in melee compared to swordsmen. ..(clipped)
I understand all your points and I actually have no problem with the elite pike units being as powerful as they are; they're elite, they should be powerful. I just think that the Romani should receive a higher armor/shield rating. That's my opinion. My problem isn't with their sword attack strength at all.