How to train élite melee units

[Sygrod]

I have developed a way to train élite units to get the kinds of chevrons the AI quite often have on their units. I had noticed over quite a few battles that my missile units were getting chevrons as though they were going out of style, while élite units like for example my Epirote Chaonion Agema and Thorakitai were felling quite a few enemies, suffering some losses and rarely got another chevron. So what I did was train 6-8 élite units, add some good cavalry and went hunting. Small enemy armies and rebel armies were attacked ferociously by this army. ALWAYS auto-resolve. Units were rearranged by dropping a complete unit on a unit with some losses. Often a unit will gain a chevron that way. Then back to the nearest city capable of filling the ranks.

This way I have managed to get 4 Thorakitai units to 3 silver chevrons and 6 Chaonion Agema to the same level, with some units having fewer chevrons. Once a unit gets a gold chevron, it will be shipped off to the Eastern Front to fight AS and Hayasdan. Other, similar units that were used in early battles will be exchanged and sent back for "training".

AS an aside, my most lethal units are Sphendonetai. These guys are fantastic: Cheap and deadly. In defending cities from enemies that attack from the corner, but deploy in the middle and have to run to their intended deployment spot they whittle the enemy down to the point where they just leave. Many AS generals have been killed that way.

[overweightninja]

I have developed a way to train élite units to get the kinds of chevrons the AI quite often have on their units. I had noticed over quite a few battles that my missile units were getting chevrons as though they were going out of style, while élite units like for example my Epirote Chaonion Agema and Thorakitai were felling quite a few enemies, suffering some losses and rarely got another chevron. So what I did was train 6-8 élite units, add some good cavalry and went hunting. Small enemy armies and rebel armies were attacked ferociously by this army. ALWAYS auto-resolve. Units were rearranged by dropping a complete unit on a unit with some losses. Often a unit will gain a chevron that way. Then back to the nearest city capable of filling the ranks.

This way I have managed to get 4 Thorakitai units to 3 silver chevrons and 6 Chaonion Agema to the same level, with some units having fewer chevrons. Once a unit gets a gold chevron, it will be shipped off to the Eastern Front to fight AS and Hayasdan. Other, similar units that were used in early battles will be exchanged and sent back for "training".

AS an aside, my most lethal units are Sphendonetai. These guys are fantastic: Cheap and deadly. In defending cities from enemies that attack from the corner, but deploy in the middle and have to run to their intended deployment spot they whittle the enemy down to the point where they just leave. Many AS generals have been killed that way.

Battles are easy enough as it is providing you're not vastly outnumbered, its hard enough getting the AI to fight properly when you've got an army of levies, let alone micromanaging a half stack of silver chevron elites :|

And to reply to the aside, yup, sphendos on walls = death from above

[QuintusSertorius]

I've ended up deliberately disbanding veteran units because they make the already easy battles even easier. I really don't need to encourage the creation of even stronger units in my games. That's one of the reasons I don't retrain as it is.

Course with type II governments and gymnasiums, I can't get properly green troops, but I did just raise a fresh army for a deep raid on the Seleukids. There the two chevrons they start with will simply guarantee they can survive to the end of the goal.

[Baktrion Agema]

What are sphendos?

[QuintusSertorius]

What are sphendos?

Sphendenotai - Hellenic slingers.

[johnhughthom]

I've ended up deliberately disbanding veteran units because they make the already easy battles even easier. I really don't need to encourage the creation of even stronger units in my games. That's one of the reasons I don't retrain as it is.

Course with type II governments and gymnasiums, I can't get properly green troops, but I did just raise a fresh army for a deep raid on the Seleukids. There the two chevrons they start with will simply guarantee they can survive to the end of the goal.

I raise legions for 16 years then disband so I rarely get even silver chevron units.

[Dutchhoplite]

How do you keep track of your different legions??

[johnhughthom]

How do you keep track of your different legions??

Old fashioned pen and paper.

[Reno Melitensis]

I raise legions for 16 years then disband so I rarely get even silver chevron units.

Thats was my initial idea too. But after seeing the units of the Hellenes and Macedonians, I changed my mind. I dont know if the AI is training his units or simply merging depleted units, my guess is that he is retraining them, because having gold and silver chevron units at full strenght is very unusual. So I decided to train units that more than a 100 legionaries and to merge those under 100, and when you merge veteran legions chevrons appear, slowly but they will appear.

Cheers.