Chevron distribution after battle

**pjer** · November 20, 2011, 03:54 AM

Another question from a newbie; by which criteria does the game distributes experience points (chevrons, ranks, those pretty little fishes...) after the battle? i have a feeling that "less important" units (slingers, skirmishers) get them, and the true killers (phalanxes, cavalry) don't. thx.

**Yomamashouse** · November 20, 2011, 08:12 PM

I can't say for Rome, but I imagine it is similar to the Medieval 2 system where it is based on the number of kills the unit makes compared with how many casualties it suffers.

**pjer** · November 21, 2011, 05:55 AM

Yes, that would be logical, but i don't think it's true. My most advanced units are slingers, which i use mostly to pick off enemy cavalry and general (meaning that they have very few kills) and my least advanced units are infantry and light cavalry (chasing routers) which gets most kills in the battle. btw i play with macedon vh/n.

**Stingray970** · November 21, 2011, 06:27 AM

Wouldn't it make sense that light cav and infantry get the most causalities?
Also, slingers are more likely to have a crapton of kills, as their bullets are armor piercing.

**Sting the King** · November 21, 2011, 08:05 AM

It counts "real" kills, the ones made in battle, from ppl fighting back. Routing enemies and their kills are less valuable, which explaines why your slingers get more chevrones then the units chasing away routed enemies.

**Diomede** · November 21, 2011, 09:49 AM

If I recall correctly it's not just that, but the relative experience of the unit being fought too. for example if you badly lose a battle against green troops, then your seasoned veterans may lose an experience point or two. I find that units fighting against my general often gain a point because he's so experienced. Right before he kills them that is.

**Sting the King** · November 21, 2011, 01:41 PM

Ah yes, that's also a factor. If you slaughter a new units of low tier with no chevrons and if you win against a hardcore veteran elite unit with many chevrons you get more XP for the elite veteran unit kills ofc

.

**Boriak** · November 22, 2011, 11:33 PM

Basically, missile units get the most experience. Slingers are the only units I had with multiple silver chevrons. My infantry usually doesn't get that good, probably because I don't retrain but merge my units.

**Mihai** · December 04, 2011, 02:57 PM

IIRC killing a routed enemy counts just as 1/5 of killing a fighting enemy from XP points point of view.

**torongill** · December 05, 2011, 03:24 AM

Also you should kill with all men of the unit in order to get chevrons faster. Melee units have it worse because only the first rank(or the first two ranks) get to kill. Envelope the enemy more and attack him in the rear with your rear rankers(i.e. advance beyond the enemy unit, place your unit behind the enemy and facing away; thus your rear rankers are closest to the enemy unit and when you order charge, they will be the ones to start killing. Plus the first kills will be virtually unopposed).

**odyseusz79** · December 09, 2011, 11:02 PM

Here are the basics, as I understand them:

1. Experience is tracked for EACH SOLDIER in a unit (crazy, I know)

2. The experience of a unit is the AVERAGE of the experience of the soldiers in the unit

3. When lining up for battle, the most experienced soldiers are in the front. This could be because the order of soldiers in each unit never changes except by death/reforming, or it could be because the game rearranges them. The precise reason is unimportant - all that matters is that the high XP guys tend to be in the front for most melee units.

Now, imagine a battle taking place. The front ranks meet in melee. These are highly experienced soldiers, more experienced than the rear ranks. Every time one of the highly-experienced men dies, the unit's average XP actually goes down, although you won't necessarily see it. As the experienced men die, they are replaced by the rear ranks, who get some kills, thus get some experience, and overall the XP of the unit stays about the same, or increases only slowly. If you win the battle, sometimes some of your casualties will come back to life - typically that means high XP soldiers returning. That is why you will often see units "jump" in experience right as the battle ends. However, if these high-XP casualties stay dead, it is tough to actually improve a melee unit's experience.

Now consider the slingers - they ALL fire their bullets, so they can all get kills (not just front ranks). The experience is more evenly distributed across ranks, and they also typically die less. Slowly but surely, they will build up XP (and usually quickly and surely). For this reason, slingers are actually overpowered a bit - not because of their stats or AP bullets, but because of the XP mechanic of the game.

**Ferdiad** · December 10, 2011, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by odyseusz79

Here are the basics, as I understand them:

1. Experience is tracked for EACH SOLDIER in a unit (crazy, I know)

2. The experience of a unit is the AVERAGE of the experience of the soldiers in the unit

3. When lining up for battle, the most experienced soldiers are in the front. This could be because the order of soldiers in each unit never changes except by death/reforming, or it could be because the game rearranges them. The precise reason is unimportant - all that matters is that the high XP guys tend to be in the front for most melee units.

Now, imagine a battle taking place. The front ranks meet in melee. These are highly experienced soldiers, more experienced than the rear ranks. Every time one of the highly-experienced men dies, the unit's average XP actually goes down, although you won't necessarily see it. As the experienced men die, they are replaced by the rear ranks, who get some kills, thus get some experience, and overall the XP of the unit stays about the same, or increases only slowly. If you win the battle, sometimes some of your casualties will come back to life - typically that means high XP soldiers returning. That is why you will often see units "jump" in experience right as the battle ends. However, if these high-XP casualties stay dead, it is tough to actually improve a melee unit's experience.

Now consider the slingers - they ALL fire their bullets, so they can all get kills (not just front ranks). The experience is more evenly distributed across ranks, and they also typically die less. Slowly but surely, they will build up XP (and usually quickly and surely). For this reason, slingers are actually overpowered a bit - not because of their stats or AP bullets, but because of the XP mechanic of the game.

Nice explanation, i was gonna link to the thread on the other total war forum but that about covers it

+Rep

**Grimmy** · December 11, 2011, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by odyseusz79

Here are the basics, as I understand them:

1. Experience is tracked for EACH SOLDIER in a unit (crazy, I know)

2. The experience of a unit is the AVERAGE of the experience of the soldiers in the unit

3. When lining up for battle, the most experienced soldiers are in the front. This could be because the order of soldiers in each unit never changes except by death/reforming, or it could be because the game rearranges them. The precise reason is unimportant - all that matters is that the high XP guys tend to be in the front for most melee units.

Now, imagine a battle taking place. The front ranks meet in melee. These are highly experienced soldiers, more experienced than the rear ranks. Every time one of the highly-experienced men dies, the unit's average XP actually goes down, although you won't necessarily see it. As the experienced men die, they are replaced by the rear ranks, who get some kills, thus get some experience, and overall the XP of the unit stays about the same, or increases only slowly. If you win the battle, sometimes some of your casualties will come back to life - typically that means high XP soldiers returning. That is why you will often see units "jump" in experience right as the battle ends. However, if these high-XP casualties stay dead, it is tough to actually improve a melee unit's experience.

Now consider the slingers - they ALL fire their bullets, so they can all get kills (not just front ranks). The experience is more evenly distributed across ranks, and they also typically die less. Slowly but surely, they will build up XP (and usually quickly and surely). For this reason, slingers are actually overpowered a bit - not because of their stats or AP bullets, but because of the XP mechanic of the game.

I knew about the per soldier thing but I thought that the chevrons showing on a unit card was that of the lowest xp soldier in the unit. The average makes much more sense.

**Yomamashouse** · December 13, 2011, 06:35 PM

Originally Posted by odyseusz79

Here are the basics, as I understand them:

1. Experience is tracked for EACH SOLDIER in a unit (crazy, I know)

2. The experience of a unit is the AVERAGE of the experience of the soldiers in the unit

3. When lining up for battle, the most experienced soldiers are in the front. This could be because the order of soldiers in each unit never changes except by death/reforming, or it could be because the game rearranges them. The precise reason is unimportant - all that matters is that the high XP guys tend to be in the front for most melee units.

Now, imagine a battle taking place. The front ranks meet in melee. These are highly experienced soldiers, more experienced than the rear ranks. Every time one of the highly-experienced men dies, the unit's average XP actually goes down, although you won't necessarily see it. As the experienced men die, they are replaced by the rear ranks, who get some kills, thus get some experience, and overall the XP of the unit stays about the same, or increases only slowly. If you win the battle, sometimes some of your casualties will come back to life - typically that means high XP soldiers returning. That is why you will often see units "jump" in experience right as the battle ends. However, if these high-XP casualties stay dead, it is tough to actually improve a melee unit's experience.

Now consider the slingers - they ALL fire their bullets, so they can all get kills (not just front ranks). The experience is more evenly distributed across ranks, and they also typically die less. Slowly but surely, they will build up XP (and usually quickly and surely). For this reason, slingers are actually overpowered a bit - not because of their stats or AP bullets, but because of the XP mechanic of the game.

Looks like I will be lining my armies backwards so the newbies are at the front! They usually turn around when charged.

**torongill** · December 14, 2011, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by Yomamashouse

Looks like I will be lining my armies backwards so the newbies are at the front! They usually turn around when charged.

That's a definite no-no. Seriously, this means you'll be suffering unnecessary casualties. I would advise you to take turns with your units, use some of them for flank attacks and in the next battle use them for keeping the center of the battleline.