Aklyon: Ayup. It gets pretty ridiculous when you look at the units deployed at the end of the battle since the level 0 would have deployed 5000 men or so whereas the level 10 would only have about 200. I don't care how elite they are, outnumbered 25 to 1 is guaranteed loss.
Jackrabbit: Good to hear! There's nothing to fear when you always have some sort of advantage you can field against anyone!
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As for my strategy well. I don't know how in depth you want me to go but I'll cliff notes it. It's how I play, there's no need to feel obligated to follow it since everyone has their own playstyle.
1. Majority of army is melee. Priority is speed, morale, and killing power. The objective is to reach the enemy and not rout.
2. 1 - 3 units of cavalry. Important for taking points far away and flanking. Flanking is super important since if you can pull it off, you basically win. Yari cavalry are good against enemy flankers too. General rule of thumb is 1 cavalry for every 3 melee I have.
3. A few units of skirmishers. Just a handful. Doesn't even matter how good they are as long as they're cheap. Used to lull the enemy into a sense of superiority (since the skirmishers are just bait) and be an initial target for enemy ranged to focus on. Once the enemy locks into combat with them, I charge the melee.
That's about it. I tend to be super aggressive. Timing is very important. I feel you should never let the enemy have time to think clearly after the initial salvo of rounds is fired, so every attack must come at the best time to confuse the crap out of him.
P.s: Every single one of my losses has been to an enemy with superior mobility. So there ya go.