Hey there, I noticed some serious issues regarding the balancing of some of the vanilla units compared to mod units and even other vanillas. Prime examples are the Legionary Cohorts (Imperial). As soon as you upgrade from Marian to Imperial units the last unit you want to have in your legions is the ordinary Legionary, paradox as it may sound. They have more upkeep than the Armored Legionaries, way less attack and slightly less defence and morale. The only thing i can get to is that they have less armor. They are even inferior to theri Marian counterparts as they only get a slight boost in armor while attack and defence is reduced and upkeep increased (same as Evocati)

Next are the Armored Legionaries. As mentioned above they are way too powerfull compared to normal Legionary Cohorts. they are practically Evocati with better armor for less money as they have otherwise exactly the same stats minus the charge ability.

Imperial Auxilliary Cavalry: Most expensive land unit in upkeep for rome while being inferior in every aspect to cheaper cavalry. There is absolutely no point in recruiting them other than having no Auxiliary Barracks IV in the province you need cavalry.

Late Roman Imperial Spearmen and Betica Cohort: While they are balanced around each other they are basically they completely outclass the Imperial Auxiliar Infantry which should be comparable to the Imperial Spearmen considering their huge upkeep. And what's with the ridiculous Defence Rating? I get the point that they are a defensive unit meant to take the impact of charging cavalry but they almost have double the defence than even the Praetorian Guard! It takes three elite cavalry units to overwhelm one unit of Imperial Spearmen. And that's only if there is no other unit around that may help them. Normal cavalry doesnt stand a chance. Not even if they completely encircle them. Thanks to their huge defensive value they even stand their ground against comparable sword and axe infantry which shouldn't be the case. Sword > Spear > Cavalry > Sword. I'd draw a circle but.. eh no. You get the point ^^ Right now it looks more like Sword = Spear > Cavalry > Sword = Spear with your pretty circle all over the place. When your Auxilaries do the job of your legions just as well.. What's the point in even having Legionaries? I only have them for the looks and for immersion but it would just be as effevtive if you only used Imperial Spearmen + Heavy Cavalry + Archers.

Second Cohort: Way too much armor. In my game right now it's 83 upgraded compared to the Praetorian Guard's 59 upgraded (Imperial Spearmen 110, which is the best I came across so far. Almost impossible to kill in melee. They are at almost full manpower when my Legionaries already drop below 50%).


Most of the balancing issues seem to be in late game but I noticed one mayor issue regarding Early Legionaries. You are able to get them much earlier than the Marian Legionaries which is just the point I suppose. But once you upgrade your Hastati to Legionaries you come to notice that the fodder from 30+ turns ago outclasses your shiney new fodder in terms of upkeep and survivability. Especially as the other factions are likely to get to their mid-tier units as well and well balanced enemy armies become a lot more common while the huge stacks of your generic Spear Levies get stomped one after another ^^

If only the Legionary Cohort would get a slight boost in attack and defence or at least cease to be adowngrade from Marian Legionaries I could pretty much overlook everything else but this particular issue bothers me a lot as they are basically the backbone of the Roman Legions. If you think of Rome then Legionaries are the very first thing that come to mind, followed by Caesar, Gladiators and a certain gallic village. It's just a little sad that they are not worth your hard earned Denarii right now.


There may be more to find but that were the most obvious I noticed. I hope you have the time to look into it as, aside from a little balancing, this is an absolutely amazing mod.