When you research your 9 techs and advance to the next era, new units will be recruited at a higher level, depending on the era.

What occurs is that your existing units which have been in the field for much longer, depending on the amount of action they've seen, can often get left behind.



For example, if at Turn 29 you recruit a unit in Era I, it will be level 1, and then in Turn 30 you advance to Era II, and at Turn 31 you recruit a unit and it is level 2. A difference of two turns yields a difference of effectively 38 exp (considering two turns of 1 exp per turn).



Now, one way you could solve this is to simply remove the level/experience bonus on fresh units from more advanced Eras (all units are always recruited at level 1). While that method has its attraction, if we are to keep things the way they currently are, then my suggestion is simple, you give them enough experience that they don't get left behind.



If the amount of experience between a fresh Level X unit and a fresh Level X+1 unit is E, then upon advancement to Era X+1, at the start of the turn, all of your existing units gain E exp.



For example, let's assume that just before you advance to Era 2, you have three units: Unit A, Unit B, and Unit C.



Unit A is level 1, and has 20 additional exp. (Total exp = 20)

Unit B is level 2, and has 30 additional exp. (Total exp = 70)

Unit C is level 2, and has 50 additional exp. (Total exp = 90)

Fresh units will be recruited at level 1, with no additional exp. (Total exp = 0)



To reach level 2 from level 1, a unit needs an additional 40 exp. To reach level 3 from level 2, a unit needs an additional 80 exp.



Upon advancement to Era 2, Unit A gains 40 exp, and so it becomes a level 2 unit with 20 additional exp. (Total exp = 60 = 20+40)

Upon advancement to Era 2, Unit B gains 40 exp, so it remains at level 2 but now has 70 additional exp. (Total exp = 110 = 70+40)

Upon advancement to Era 2, Unit C gains 40 exp, and so it becomes a level 3 unit with 10 additional exp. (Total exp = 130 = 90+40)

In Era 2, all fresh recruits start at level 2, with no additional exp. (Total exp = 40 = 0+40)

I actual like it the way it is, since it gives additional mikromanaging (which isnt essential either but good if you do it). It isnt that much xp considering that cou can get +5 or something per turn with a heroe skills and additional buildings. The way it is, it gives that building and that skill additional meaning, or to make it simple, you would nerf those buildings and that skill.

Also if you arent at war you could just sell the old and rebuild the new.



It give players who are focusing on research a bit of military strenght too, making it a bit more viable to focus mainly on it (or spare the ressources you need on research buildings and give the units weaker ressources)

When you advance to a new era, new units start at a higher level and are more expensive. You're paying industry for that extra XP. Units trained in an earlier era didn't have to pay that cost, so they shouldn't get the benefit.

Antistone wrote:
When you advance to a new era, new units start at a higher level and are more expensive. You're paying industry for that extra XP. Units trained in an earlier era didn't have to pay that cost, so they shouldn't get the benefit.

You beat me to it!

I thought about that. You can't compare it. You can't pay industry to gain extra XP otherwise, and the XP gain and cost increase are purely incidental, so it's not really a meaningful choice. Era is a reflection of the stage of someone's game. The increased industry cost reflects the stage of the game where your industry income is higher. Similarly, the increased XP (better units) also reflect the stage of the game. Your existing units do not, but they should.



It isn't really the industry cost which matters, but the turn cost. The turn cost at an earlier era where your industry production is lower is practically the same as the turn cost at a later stage where your industry production is higher. Costs for units which are built later are equivalent to costs for units which are built earlier, but units which are built later start off better. Depending on how much action your existing units get to see, they could end up as little better than cannon fodder when you and your opponents advance to the next era.

Tigregalis wrote:
You can't pay industry to gain extra XP otherwise

You totally can: there are several buildings you can build that give extra XP to newly trained units or extra XP per turn to units garrisoned in the city. Your heroes also have a choice between investing in skills that increase your city's output versus skills that cause units to gain XP faster. You can also send your units into battle, typically causing some of them to gain XP and others to die, requiring you to spend industry to replace them. You can also reassign your workers from industry to dust, use the dust to buy quicksilver, and activate the quicksilver luxury booster effect to cause your units to gain XP faster. There's tons of ways to trade off between industry and XP, both directly and indirectly.



But even if you couldn't, how is that relevant? There's no rule that says they need to have a mechanic where you can optionally trade industry for XP before they can have a mechanic where you're required to do it. In fact, most 4X games do this (unlock new units that are both more powerful and more expensive as you advance technologically, with no free upgrades for your existing units).



Do you have any argument in favor of your proposal other than a personal aesthetic preference that the march of technology should not render old armies obsolete?

Why should we be able to retrofit units then? The same concept applies. Why should existing units be able to be upgraded to "the latest spec" if the march of technology should render old armies obsolete?

Retrofitting costs money. You can also always sell your old units and buy better ones, but that also costs money. I wouldn't particularly object to having the option to give XP to your old units at a cost (though I don't see it as particularly necessary, either).

I agree.



Now here's an alternative proposal. Units always start at level 1 regardless of era, but as you advance in era, their base XP gain from actions and per turn increases. For example, Era 1, their base XP gain per turn is 1, but Era 2, their base XP gain per turn is 2, and so on. So a level 1 unit will reach level 2 much faster, but not be built directly as a level 2 (unless of course you have the relevant city improvement). This makes keeping your units alive more important for the late game.

Tigregalis wrote:
I agree.

Now here's an alternative proposal. Units always start at level 1 regardless of era, but as you advance in era, their base XP gain from actions and per turn increases. For example, Era 1, their base XP gain per turn is 1, but Era 2, their base XP gain per turn is 2, and so on. So a level 1 unit will reach level 2 much faster, but not be built directly as a level 2 (unless of course you have the relevant city improvement). This makes keeping your units alive more important for the late game.

I kinda agree with you about the "illogical" part of higher XP units for technology era. Personally, I'd rather not have that as part of the era system.



I don't really agree with your first or second suggestions, though. I'd keep it even simpler : Just remove the system. The "Conscription Center", "Army Manual" and "Inoculation Station" all grant bonus XP to new units as well as the "Tome - Dust" accessory for the governor. On top of that, "Stronghold Architecture", "Imperial Kennels" and the "No Idle Hands" hero skill provide bonus XP/turn. It seems to me that THOSE are a better system to specialize in military production. The way that it currently is, concentrating on science will earn you a military advantage FOR FREE. If you want to build straight to elite units, invest in that. If you want to research science, you can't have both advantages.