Praetorian Cohorts

[I-am-so-lame]

:grin Hello!

I've seen a lot of discusses about the use and availability of the Praetorian Cohorts in RTW, many people seem to be somewhat annoyed, that the roman factions are able to train praetorian cohorts before the marian reforms....

My opinion is, that the pre-marian availability of praetorian cohorts disrupts the in-game-balance a little, surely, they are quite expensive in both recruitment and upkeep against the other pre-marian units, but they are also 2tally unmatched on the battlefield, due to their super-high defense and armour, as well as the missile damage and the charge bonus, wich you only can find on the post-marian units......

Now, the thing is, that I have somewhat "fixed" the game a little, so every faction starts with at least one city, with all available buildings and upgrades done...(exept the temples, of course, as this is left for the individual player to decide, wich one he/ she wants to build)

Plus, I have decreased the building time a little, so that all buildings only need 1 turn to build, to the level of a minor city, 2 turns for all buildings at the level of a large city and 3 turns at the level of a huge city......

Last time I played the greeks, I build up a quite good force in the city of Syracuse on Sicily(1 unit of archers, 4 militia hoplites, 2 hoplites, 2 light lancers, 2 peltasts, then the Scipii arrived, I thought nothing of it, as their banner wasn't that filled with colour, so I waited for them to attack, then as they did, I saw what units they had> 2 units of praetorian cohorts, I placed 2 militia hoplites, 1 hoplites and the archers on the walls, the other hoplites and the light lancers and the general on the plaza, the other two militia hoplites somewhere close to the plaza, and the peltast at strategic positions to secure the streets around the plaza....

Now the battle begins, they had one siege tower and attacked the city from the north and as some of you have noticed, there is a weak spot in the walls, where the towers can't reach the siege tower, so they attacked there(I played on med/vh), but embarassingly, I was so stupid to place the archers too far away to hit the siege tower, so they came up the walls (one unit) and attacked my miltia hoplites, as they were closest by. then my hoplites came...what to say, it was a massacre....they destroyed my two militia hoplites an the hoplites only losing about 5 or 6 men or so( I can't remember the exactly count)....

However, I pulled mu archers back to the plaza, then the preatorians moved to the plaza, I used my two militia hoplites to hold them at some distance, the peltasts behind them and the archers behind the peltast, but they threw their pila at one of the militia hoplites and they routed, but they lost so many men due to the rain of pilae and arrows, so they routed too, the I sent one of my light lancers to chase them and destroy the remaining men and it worked...

What I didn't see, was that the other unit of praetorians also were on their way to the plaza, and made my other militia hoplites rout and then were attacking my peltasts, but at this time I had managed to move my two light lancers around the city, to take the last unit of the praetorians from behind, as my other unit of hoplites was holding them back(or tried to, HAHAHAHA)....

This way I succesfully defended the city, but lost about a 1000 men, while the romans only lost about 330(I didn't chase the last remaining enemies, as losses already were too high).....

That was my story from the battle, now back to the point...when you play as romans, and have the praetorians available and use the wisely, and id addition to a few equites and archers, it takes the ******* out of the in-game-balance...

So I've changed the export_descr_unit.txt file, and made the praetorians a litlle "weaker", decreasing their armour and attack a lot, but also the recruitment costs and the upkeep costs....

I also changed the game, so that the praetorian cohorts disappear with the marian reforms(like the hastati, or the principes)

So, whats your opinion?? do you also think that the praetorian cohorts are too strong??? Or am I 2tally "of the road", with my opinion???

I'd be too glad for any comments....

I'm sorry for any spelling mistakes, but english isn't my first language.... :grin

[SpiderGoat]

In the Republic, praetorians were a bodyguard for the general, existing out of clientes, friends, or old soldiers of the general. The first to have such a guard was Scipio Aemulianus. So the troops could be considered better than other troops, during the republic.

Augustus had some praetorian bodyguard (and with some, I mean some thousands) while he was a general and a triumvir. Later he created the praetorian cohorts, which were the only troops in Italy, divided over a couple of cities and Rome (Sejanus brought all troops to one camp near Rome). In his time, the troops were no more experienced than any other legionairs (except for the officers, which were often ex-primipilares), but they did enjoy better 'conditions' (less service, more money) and consisted only out of Italians.

Septimus Severus changed this, because the guard had supported his opponent: he disbanded the old troops, and replaced them by veterans. From now on, the troops that guarded Rome were veterans from all over the empire, a reserve force for the emperor.

But since the game goes from 270 BC to 14 AD, I'd say praetorians should be better than normal legionairs. Though not always, the praetorians were picked troops, and would do anything to protect their general. If I were to choose, I'd give the normal legionairs a bit more attack/defence, and the praetorians a bit less, with an extra moral bonus for the last. But maybe that's just me...

[I-am-so-lame]

thx for the post...

yes, but that's also, what I've done, I made the princips a little harder, and the praetorians a little weaker....because, they're just too strong, against the other factions infantry.....just my opinion... :grin

[Sardaukar One]

Praetorian cohorts were used in the republic.
As far as I am aware, their most prevalent use was during the second triumvirate.
Anthony and Octavian had a number of Praetorian cohorts as well as Lepidus.
In fact, at Mutina, Anthony and Lepidus' praetorians teed off against Octavians.
Mutina is probaly as ferocious a fight as there was between the opposing legions.
The carnage is supposed to have been terrible.
Octavians praetorian cohort got annhilated.

[dawgish]

You know that the difficulty settings don't actually make the AI think better, they give them experience bonuses. So that might be why those praetorians were so powerful.

[SpiderGoat]

Originally posted by I-am-so-lame@Apr 6 2005, 10:37 AM
thx for the post...

yes, but that's also, what I've done, I made the princips a little harder, and the praetorians a little weaker....because, they're just too strong, against the other factions infantry.....just my opinion... :grin

In that case... What did you do to the urban cohorts? :p

[I-am-so-lame]

@Spidergoat:

of course I also made them a little weaker(decreased their armour and missile damage, but they are still better than the legionary cohorts(they have to, due to the historical input from you guys - thx for that)), but not too much, as they are first available after the reforms(thus I made them slightly more expensive in recruiting), and I have modded the buildings.txt-file so, that new recruited units have a more experience,due to the "level" of the required building. An example:

muster_field requires factions { barbarian, ct_carthage, eastern, parthia, egyptian, greek, roman, }
{
capability
{
recruit "carthaginian city militia" 0 requires factions { spain, }
recruit "barb infantry briton" 0 requires factions { britons, }
recruit "barb infantry dacian" 0 requires factions { dacia, }
recruit "barb infantry gaul" 0 requires factions { gauls, }
recruit "warband spear german" 0 requires factions { germans, }
recruit "barb horse archers scythian" 0 requires factions { scythia, }
recruit "carthaginian city militia" 0 requires factions { carthage, }
recruit "numidian javelinmen" 0 requires factions { numidia, }
recruit "east infantry" 0 requires factions { eastern, }
recruit "egyptian nubian spearmen" 0 requires factions { egyptian, }
recruit "greek hoplite militia" 0 requires factions { greek, }
recruit "roman city militia" 0 requires factions { roman, }

militia_barracks requires factions { barbarian, ct_carthage, eastern, parthia, egyptian, greek, roman, }
{
capability
{
recruit "carthaginian city militia" 1 requires factions { spain, }
recruit "carthaginian infantry" 0 requires factions { spain, }
recruit "barb infantry briton" 1 requires factions { britons, }
recruit "barb infantry dacian" 1 requires factions { dacia, }
recruit "barb infantry gaul" 1 requires factions { gauls, }
recruit "warband spear german" 1 requires factions { germans, }
recruit "barb horse archers scythian" 1 requires factions { scythia, }
recruit "warband sword briton" 0 requires factions { britons, }
recruit "warband sword gaul" 0 requires factions { gauls, }
recruit "warband axe german" 0 requires factions { germans, }
recruit "warband axe scythian" 0 requires factions { scythia, }
recruit "warband falx dacian" 0 requires factions { dacia, }
recruit "carthaginian city militia" 1 requires factions { carthage, }
recruit "numidian javelinmen" 1 requires factions { numidia, }
recruit "carthaginian infantry" 0 requires factions { carthage, }
recruit "numidian desert warriors" 0 requires factions { numidia, }
recruit "east hillmen" 0 requires factions { eastern, }
recruit "east infantry" 1 requires factions { eastern, }
recruit "egyptian nubian spearmen" 1 requires factions { egyptian, }
recruit "egyptian nile infantry" 0 requires factions { egyptian, }
recruit "greek hoplite militia" 1 requires factions { greek, }
recruit "greek levy pikemen" 0 requires factions { seleucid, macedon, }
recruit "warband falx thracian" 0 requires factions { thrace, }
recruit "greek hoplite" 0 requires factions { greek_cities, }
recruit "roman city militia" 1 requires factions { roman, }
recruit "roman hastati" 0 requires factions { roman, } and not marian_reforms
recruit "roman infantry auxillia" 0 requires factions { roman, } and marian_reforms

city_barracks requires factions { barbarian, ct_carthage, armenia, pontus,, egyptian, greek, roman, }
{
capability
{
recruit "carthaginian city militia" 2 requires factions { spain, }
recruit "carthaginian infantry" 1 requires factions { spain, }
recruit "spanish scutarii" 0 requires factions { spain, }
recruit "barb infantry briton" 2 requires factions { britons, }
recruit "barb infantry dacian" 2 requires factions { dacia, }
recruit "barb infantry gaul" 2 requires factions { gauls, }
recruit "warband spear german" 2 requires factions { germans, }
recruit "barb horse archers scythian" 2 requires factions { scythia, }
recruit "warband sword briton" 1 requires factions { britons, }
recruit "warband sword gaul" 1 requires factions { gauls, }
recruit "warband axe german" 1 requires factions { germans, }
recruit "warband falx dacian" 1 requires factions { dacia, }
recruit "barb warguard gaul" 0 requires factions { gauls, }
recruit "barb warguard briton" 0 requires factions { britons, }
recruit "barb warguard dacian" 0 requires factions { dacia, }
recruit "warband dhaxe german" 0 requires factions { germans, }
recruit "warband axe scythian" 1 requires factions { scythia, }
recruit "carthaginian city militia" 2 requires factions { carthage, }
recruit "numidian javelinmen" 2 requires factions { numidia, }
recruit "carthaginian infantry" 1 requires factions { carthage, }
recruit "numidian desert warriors" 1 requires factions { numidia, }
recruit "carthaginian medium infantry" 0 requires factions { carthage, }
recruit "east hillmen" 1 requires factions { eastern, }
recruit "east infantry" 2 requires factions { eastern, }
recruit "east heavy infantry" 0 requires factions { armenia, }
recruit "east hoplite" 0 requires factions { pontus, }
recruit "egyptian nubian spearmen" 2 requires factions { egyptian, }
recruit "egyptian nile infantry" 1 requires factions { egyptian, }
recruit "egyptian infantry" 0 requires factions { egyptian, }
recruit "greek hoplite militia" 2 requires factions { greek, }
recruit "greek levy pikemen" 1 requires factions { seleucid, macedon, }
recruit "warband falx thracian" 1 requires factions { thrace, }
recruit "greek hoplite" 1 requires factions { greek_cities, }
recruit "greek pikemen" 0 requires factions { thrace, seleucid, macedon, }
recruit "greek hoplite elite" 0 requires factions { greek_cities, }
recruit "roman city militia" 2 requires factions { roman, }
recruit "roman hastati" 1 requires factions { roman, } and not marian_reforms
recruit "roman infantry auxillia" 1 requires factions { roman, } and marian_reforms
recruit "roman princeps" 0 requires factions { roman, } and not marian_reforms
recruit "roman legionary cohort i" 0 requires factions { roman, } and marian_reforms
recruit "roman triarii" 0 requires factions { roman, } and not marian_reforms

army_barracks requires factions { ct_carthage, armenia, pontus,, egyptian, greek, roman, }
{
capability
{
recruit "carthaginian city militia" 3 requires factions { spain, }
recruit "carthaginian infantry" 2 requires factions { spain, }
recruit "spanish scutarii" 1 requires factions { spain, }
recruit "barb infantry briton" 3 requires factions { britons, }
recruit "barb infantry dacian" 3 requires factions { dacia, }
recruit "barb infantry gaul" 3 requires factions { gauls, }
recruit "warband spear german" 3 requires factions { germans, }
recruit "barb horse archers scythian" 3 requires factions { scythia, }
recruit "warband sword briton" 2 requires factions { britons, }
recruit "warband sword gaul" 2 requires factions { gauls, }
recruit "warband axe german" 2 requires factions { germans, }
recruit "warband falx dacian" 2 requires factions { dacia, }
recruit "barb warguard gaul" 1 requires factions { gauls, }
recruit "barb warguard briton" 1 requires factions { britons, }
recruit "barb warguard dacian" 1 requires factions { dacia, }
recruit "warband dhaxe german" 1 requires factions { germans, }
recruit "warband axe scythian" 2 requires factions { scythia, }
recruit "carthaginian city militia" 3 requires factions { carthage, }
recruit "numidian javelinmen" 3 requires factions { numidia, }
recruit "carthaginian infantry" 2 requires factions { carthage, }
recruit "numidian desert warriors" 2 requires factions { numidia, }
recruit "carthaginian medium infantry" 1 requires factions { carthage, }
recruit "carthaginian heavy infantry" 0 requires factions { carthage, }
recruit "numidian legionaries" 0 requires factions { numidia, }
recruit "east hillmen" 2 requires factions { eastern, }
recruit "east infantry" 3 requires factions { eastern, }
recruit "east heavy infantry" 1 requires factions { armenia, }
recruit "east hoplite" 1 requires factions { pontus, }
recruit "east hoplite brazen shield" 0 requires factions { pontus, }
recruit "east legionary" 0 requires factions { armenia, }
recruit "egyptian nubian spearmen" 3 requires factions { egyptian, }
recruit "egyptian nile infantry" 2 requires factions { egyptian, }
recruit "egyptian infantry" 1 requires factions { egyptian, }
recruit "egyptian elite guards" 0 requires factions { egyptian, }
recruit "greek hoplite militia" 3 requires factions { greek, }
recruit "greek levy pikemen" 2 requires factions { seleucid, macedon, }
recruit "warband falx thracian" 2 requires factions { thrace, }
recruit "greek hoplite" 2 requires factions { greek_cities, }
recruit "greek pikemen" 1 requires factions { seleucid, macedon, }
recruit "greek hoplite elite" 1 requires factions { greek_cities, }
recruit "greek royal pikemen" 0 requires factions { macedon, }
recruit "greek silver shield pikemen" 0 requires factions { seleucid, }
recruit "greek hoplite spartan" 0 requires factions { greek_cities, } and hidden_resource sparta
recruit "greek bastarnae" 0 requires factions { thrace, }
recruit "roman city militia" 3 requires factions { roman, }
recruit "roman hastati" 2 requires factions { roman, } and not marian_reforms
recruit "roman infantry auxillia" 2 requires factions { roman, } and marian_reforms
recruit "roman princeps" 1 requires factions { roman, } and not marian_reforms
recruit "roman legionary cohort i" 1 requires factions { roman, } and marian_reforms
recruit "roman legionary first cohort i" 0 requires factions { roman, } and hidden_resource rome and marian_reforms
recruit "roman triarii" 1 requires factions { roman, } and not marian_reforms
recruit "roman legionary cohort ii" 0 requires factions { roman, } and marian_reforms

royal_barracks requires factions { seleucid, roman, }
{
capability
{
recruit "carthaginian city militia" 4 requires factions { spain, }
recruit "carthaginian infantry" 3 requires factions { spain, }
recruit "spanish scutarii" 1 requires factions { spain, }
recruit "barb infantry briton" 4 requires factions { britons, }
recruit "barb infantry dacian" 4 requires factions { dacia, }
recruit "barb infantry gaul" 4 requires factions { gauls, }
recruit "warband spear german" 4 requires factions { germans, }
recruit "barb horse archers scythian" 4 requires factions { scythia, }
recruit "warband sword briton" 3 requires factions { britons, }
recruit "warband sword gaul" 3 requires factions { gauls, }
recruit "warband axe german" 3 requires factions { germans, }
recruit "warband falx dacian" 3 requires factions { dacia, }
recruit "barb warguard gaul" 2 requires factions { gauls, }
recruit "barb warguard briton" 2 requires factions { britons, }
recruit "barb warguard dacian" 2 requires factions { dacia, }
recruit "warband dhaxe german" 2 requires factions { germans, }
recruit "warband axe scythian" 3 requires factions { scythia, }
recruit "carthaginian city militia" 4 requires factions { carthage, }
recruit "numidian javelinmen" 4 requires factions { numidia, }
recruit "carthaginian infantry" 3 requires factions { carthage, }
recruit "numidian desert warriors" 3 requires factions { numidia, }
recruit "carthaginian medium infantry" 2 requires factions { carthage, }
recruit "carthaginian heavy infantry" 1 requires factions { carthage, }
recruit "numidian legionaries" 1 requires factions { numidia, }
recruit "east hillmen" 3 requires factions { eastern, }
recruit "east infantry" 4 requires factions { eastern, }
recruit "east heavy infantry" 2 requires factions { armenia, }
recruit "east hoplite" 2 requires factions { pontus, }
recruit "east hoplite brazen shield" 1 requires factions { pontus, }
recruit "east legionary" 1 requires factions { armenia, }
recruit "egyptian nubian spearmen" 4 requires factions { egyptian, }
recruit "egyptian nile infantry" 3 requires factions { egyptian, }
recruit "egyptian infantry" 2 requires factions { egyptian, }
recruit "egyptian elite guards" 1 requires factions { egyptian, }
recruit "greek hoplite militia" 4 requires factions { greek, }
recruit "greek levy pikemen" 3 requires factions { seleucid, macedon, }
recruit "warband falx thracian" 3 requires factions { thrace, }
recruit "greek hoplite" 3 requires factions { greek_cities, }
recruit "greek pikemen" 2 requires factions { seleucid, macedon, }
recruit "greek hoplite elite" 2 requires factions { greek_cities, }
recruit "greek royal pikemen" 1 requires factions { macedon, }
recruit "greek silver shield pikemen" 1 requires factions { seleucid, }
recruit "greek hoplite spartan" 1 requires factions { greek_cities, } and hidden_resource sparta
recruit "greek bastarnae" 1 requires factions { thrace, }
recruit "greek argyraspid" 0 requires factions { seleucid, }
recruit "roman city militia" 4 requires factions { roman, }
recruit "roman hastati" 3 requires factions { roman, } and not marian_reforms
recruit "roman infantry auxillia" 3 requires factions { roman, } and marian_reforms
recruit "roman princeps" 2 requires factions { roman, } and not marian_reforms
recruit "roman legionary cohort i" 2 requires factions { roman, } and marian_reforms
recruit "roman legionary first cohort i" 1 requires factions { roman, } and hidden_resource rome and marian_reforms
recruit "roman triarii" 2 requires factions { roman, } and not marian_reforms
recruit "roman legionary cohort ii" 1 requires factions { roman, } and marian_reforms
recruit "roman legionary first cohort ii" 1 requires factions { roman, } and hidden_resource rome and marian_reforms
recruit "roman praetorian cohort urban i" 0 requires factions { roman, } and marian_reforms

And @dawgish: ok thx, I'll keep that in mind...

[Chris the Haggis]

You could actually make the praetorians a bit weaker, make them an exclusively pre marius unit, and use Urban cohorts as praetorians after the reforms. I would rename them to "Late Praetorian Cohort" though.

[SpiderGoat]

Well, in the end, it's all your choice 'I-am-so-lame'.
Btw, an interesting piece from the 'Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt':

“The other newly-created post which was to be reserved for primipilares was that of tribune of the praetorian guard. It is probable that the other tribunes of military or para-military units in Rome, the urban cohorts and the vigiles, were also recruited from the primipilares [...] not only were the primipilares the most experienced soldiers; they owed everything to the emperor.” (Significance of the centurion and primipilaris, 397)

So the tribunes and leaders of the praetorians (and urban cohorts) were primipilares. I don't know if you know what a primus pilus is? He is the 'first spear' of a legion, the first centurion of the very first cohort. They were very experienced men, highly respected, and - under the empire - highly loyal to the man to whom they owed everything. The only disadvantage they had, was that they were old :p. Still, I wouldn't want to face a legion composed of these men .

[I-am-so-lame]

yes, but it's still just a game *tongue* and it is(or shoud be)about playability, not historical correctness... and in the game the praetorian and urban cohorts are too strong(have too much armour).....just my opinion...


and I'm quite skilled at the latin language, but thx for the input.... :grin

[Celtiberian]

Originally posted by I-am-so-lame@Apr 8 2005, 02:31 PM
yes, but it's still just a game *tongue* and it is(or shoud be)about playability, not historical correctness... and in the game the praetorian and urban cohorts are too strong(have too much armour).....just my opinion...


and I'm quite skilled at the latin language, but thx for the input.... :grin

Probably, but not in the case when you make a product to show up as a historical education stuff
You might have noticed the latin errors in the quotes and many other inaccurate stuff.

With Shogun: TW it wasn`t happened, the short historical insight seemed to be correct for me. Unlike RTW.

[Troubleshooter]

All these darn different Cohorts! :blink

Ok, tossing in my opinion about Praetorians.

In my game i did away with the Urban Cohorts all together, made the Praetorians look like Urban cohorts (model / skin that is) and made them recruitable after the reforms and if you have a Imperial Palace. I boosted their cost but left the stats the same.

Historicly accurate or not my Praetorian Cohorts are the finest soldiers in the empire and each of my legions has 2 of them (beside 9 normal and 1 First Cohort) that act like a "post-marian Triarii", meaning i only commit them if my normal Cohorts cant handle the enemy alone.
("Going to the Praetorians?")

Not using Praetorians at all (like some mods have) is a shame in my opinion as i have always thought of them as elite soldiers dedicated to the defence of the Roman Empire and its leadership......owh and as a bunch of backstabbing sonsofgauls......


To quote a anonymous Praetorian: "ROME'S FINEST!!!"

[I-am-so-lame]

@ Celtiberian:

well, if you think about it as some educational stuff, you shoudn't play the game at all!(no offense)

what about the Three-family-system??? you can't get more histarically inaccurate!!!(citate from the descritption of the RTR-mod)

what about the building times and costs??? do you really think they were able to build an imperial palace in three years???

what about the size of the population??? as far as I know, there were living about 1,4-1,5 million people in rome irl.....

sorry, but just my opinion.... :mellow

[Lucius Caecina]

If you want to get completely accurate - the praetorians would never actually leave Rome, they were more like Military Police than soldiers. The Urban Cohorts spread around a little more - but you would never see them in large numbers - the essence of an elite force. Thinking about it, would it be possible to force a legionary cohort to reach silver before returning them to a large city for retraining before they could become Praetorians? This means you truly have elite praetorians - but not very many of them.

[SpiderGoat]

:blink The praetorians left Rome on several occasions. First of all, when considering the situation under Augustus, it wouldn't make any sense for the cohorts not to leave Rome, since they were spread out all over Italy. Secondly, they acted as a bodyguard for the emperors, when they travelled. I've got one example here:

ut praetorianae cohortes contra morem signa iumentis imponere et ita subsequi cogerentur, interdum adeo segniter delicateque, ut octaphoro ueheretur atque a propinquarum urbium plebe uerri sibi uias et conspergi propter puluerem exigeret.

[Collecting supplies of all kinds, such as never had been assembled upon the like occasion, he set forward on his march, and pursued it sometimes with so much haste and precipitation,] that the pretorian cohorts were obliged, contrary to custom, to pack their standards on horses or mules, and so follow him. At other times, he would march so slow and luxuriously, that he was carried in a litter by eight men; ordering the roads to be swept by the people of the neighbouring towns, and sprinkled with water to lay the dust.

(Suetonius, De Vita Caesarum Cal. 43.1)

The Urban Cohorts acted a a police force for the city, and would seldom leave it (hence cohortes urbanae...).

[player1]

Well personally, I think it is a bug to have praetorians before marius (they have testudo too).
They could really unbalance pre-marius gameplay after becoming available.

Now, considering that pre-patch marius reforems arrive after getting imperial palace, it was not big deal, but now with them moved after 220BC, it is a bigger problem.

So, I just moded them to appear after marius instead (like praet cavalry).

[Mvs072593]

I stoped recuiting them because in reality the where never in the army the where the people who protected the generals. . Same with urban but they defened cities. . I now only use cohorts, and if i can with the leginary eagles.

[NobleNick]

To be more historically accurate -AND- have more balanced and interesting game play; I think it would be good to only allow recruiting Praetorian Cohorts (PC) from Legionary (LC) or Urban Cohorts (UC).

The upkeep of the PC would be the same as LC (to reflect the fact that the PC were compensated mostly by "unofficial" income), but recruitment of PC would only be allowed if at least two full units of LC or UC, each with at least 1 silver chevron, were present in the city. The soldiers recruited would deplete the LC and UC units of their most experienced soldiers. The LC and UC could then be brought back to full strength (by the addition of inexperienced men) through retraining.

This would make the PC truly an elite and valuable resource, not something of which that you could quickly churn out 12 copies and then rampage across the map.