matthewmus
Legionary
posted 21 February 2009 22:18 EDT (US)
there's a lot of cases where you can either train 2 weaker units or one stronger unit in 2 turns. this is the case in rtw and bi. two units are usually a bit more expensive, both in recruitment and upkeep. and the strong unit usually only has around 4 or 6 extra points distributed to the various attributes.
what's better, one strong unit or two weak units? is there a rule here, or is it a case by case basis? how much better do those handful of points make the strong units? this comes up a lot, not just with the roman troops, and there are cavalry and archers that also require this consideration.
Octavium
Legionary
posted 22 February 2009 03:35
EDT (US)
1 / 9
I almost always go for 2 units, the time it takes to construct an army of 2 turn units is ridiculous. The weak units are also easier to retrain.
Andalus
Legionary
posted 22 February 2009 07:38
EDT (US)
3 / 9
On the specific example of Praetorians and Legionaries, I worked out some time ago that Legionaries are the better option. Two units of Praetorians take 4 turns to train, and then have a support cost of 640. Three units of Legionaries take 3 turns to train, and then have a support cost of 630.
Three units of Legionaries can beat two units of Praetorians, and are also cheaper and are trained quicker. There is also very little else in the game in terms of heavy infantry that can beat them.
ShieldWall
Legionary
posted 22 February 2009 11:41
EDT (US)
4 / 9
I'd go with legionaries for the same reason. Also Praetorians, if I remember right, are only 1 better on defence and 3 better on missile and attack. The latter is a big enough difference, but they'll still lose if they attack a defending legionary - twice as many points.
Imperator Romano
Legionary
posted 25 February 2009 14:15
EDT (US)
9 / 9
Just to clarify, the legionary first cohort takes two turns to train, but they're worth the wait. If you have a foundry in Rome, they come out with silver weapons and armours, they're practically unstopabble.