elite unit

[Hasdrubal Barca]

When using elite units, in fact there is a high chance that it will die easier then a veteran and sometimes a regular.

Common mistakes:
- Attacking with an elite unit on the first line, taking every bonus of the defensive bonus of the defensive guy on;
- Attacking without rest, units after one battle have less odds of winning on the second battle if on the same turn (even if the HP´s are at maximum)
- Seeing the elite unit as the ultimate fighter and engaging everything on the field with it, while its real purpose is to kill wounded units to fish for MGL

On a fight between an elite warrior attaking a fortified warrior on a grassland the veteran warrior has more chances of winning because of the fortified modification bonus, thus beeing elite proves nothing.

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[anaxagoras]

But it is impossible to deny that Elites hold more prestige over others (of the same or less unit type).

By saying this, you are essentially admitting that you are a victim of cognitive bias. Elite units are not "uber units". The extra hit point makes them only slightly better than veterans, not drastically better. If you are expecting them to win more than slightly more often than veterans, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

The key is understanding this about yourself. When you see an elite, don't think of it as special. Think of it as just "a little more veteran". Even better, just think of it purely as a veteran with a new name. If you lower your expectations, you'll suddenly find that elites do perform better than veterans, albeit only slightly better, just as your intellect tells you they should.

I have taken a handful of Elite horsemen at 2 freakin' veteran and/or regular spearmen and habitually been wiped out.

As someone else has said, I would recommend against this. Elites are not your "shock troops", as I explained above. Use your vets for the heavy fighting (you aren't even building regulars, right?), and save the elites for mopping up. NEVER try to crack a tough defensive position with elites. The one real advantage an elite unit has is its ability to generate a leader. That means your goal should be to hand the easy combats to your elites to give them the most possible chances of getting that game-changing outcome. Remember, the odds of a leader are very low, even on offense, and even with the HE. So you want your elites to survive and have multiple chances each of getting that precious result that lets you get one. Try NOT to allow your elites to be subject to counter-attack. Not only is the chance of getting a leader half as great on defense, but it gives the AI a chance to use its best unit against one of your most valuable assets. Protect offensive elites with defensive units where you can.

Also, maybe it's me as a newbie, but just how many leaders do you people get? Do you get more playing on the harder levels? I've had a couple games where I get them like crazy (Crazy means 5 or 6 for the whole game). I make HE right away and never get them again. To the point where I am beginning to think HE is a load of crap!

It sounds to me like you are achieving expectations. The HE increases your odds of getting a leader from really, really unlikely to still pretty unlikely. If you are at war a lot, and expect to have a lot of opportunities at leaders, you'll notice that it helps. If you aren't getting many chances, it may appear to do nothing. This is normal. I would say that the HE is generally over-rated by newbies. It is certainly not a guarantee that you will get leaders.

 

[capnvonbaron]

^^^
No, if you have two elite spearmen against two regular warriors, you will not win every time. That would be like expecting a coin to land tails-up every single time because the tails design is lighter than the heads design. If you run the numbers, they work out. Remember too that a spearman's attack value is the same as a warrior's defense value, so you are even in that case. If everything were equal, you'd win against three regular warriors with two elite spears. Part of the strategy of the game is that randomness, though. Don't let it get to you. Try this... every time you lose to a weak, inferior unit, think of the countless many you have wiped out over the course of your career. I know it makes me feel better. When I think about the dozen or so tanks I have ever lost to spears, I know I've squashed at least hundreds of the bastards.

Also, if you want to fair things up, bombard more.

And yes, leader spawning is terribly erratic. I've had some units be elite through most the game, through many, many attacks, and spawn nothing, where one unit gets to elite status and spawns a leader in the next two turns. One time I even spawned a leader, turned it into an army, and attacked again in the next turn. The army was killed that very turn. (full health, three elite tank army vs. one infantry fortified on a 4 pop city on a hill ) So I loaded up the turn again, used the same unit that produced the leader in the same order as the turn before, and got nothing.

 

[iambenben]

you can edit the rules to have a unit reach 6 points, and call it super elite lol