Hi all. I'm new to this forum (and this game) but I think the game looks really nice so far. I've completed the (very) short demo-version and found it interesting as a tactical strategy game even if it seemed a bit easy in the demo (hopefully it gets harder the further you go). I've played a lot of modded TW and M&B so I have some experience with strategic/tactical games like this (even though they both are a bit different).
I'd prefer to wait for the Gold edition but since it sounds like it will take a couple of more months I'd like to buy the current edition and download the beta for Gold and hopefully it won't be too expensive to upgrade...

Back to my title: I'm always focusing on my units' stats in my RTS games and love it when units actually get better when gaining experience though I'm trying to figure out Hegemony's system and if it's any good.
I understand that you can assign skill points on the 4 or 5 skills but they all only seem to apply for morale, movement speed, building stuff and what-not. I've also understood that you "unlock" larger squads which will in turn make it more effecient of course.

Are there any way to increase the units' combat stats (damage, health, defense) when gaining levels or upgrading armor? Or is the starting unit Company cav going to be similar at end-game as it is at the very beginning? (appart from being able to build walls faster and eat less food of course)
Another question: Are there a limit to how much experience and skill points a unit can achieve? (I assume there is, I just want to know the limit...)

What does the difficulty setting does in detail? (yes I get it gets harder ;)

Are there any way to increase the units' combat stats (damage, health, defense) when gaining levels or upgrading armor? Or is the starting unit Company cav going to be similar at end-game as it is at the very beginning? (appart from being able to build walls faster and eat less food of course)
Another question: Are there a limit to how much experience and skill points a unit can achieve? (I assume there is, I just want to know the limit...)

What does the difficulty setting does in detail? (yes I get it gets harder ;)

1) Increasing morale increases the fighting time of your units. As far as i know, they have no increase in dmg, health and defence..but they last longer, so its like increasing defence+attack..... Now they gain defence in Gold, if they are within city radious!!

2) There is a limit...it takes too long for a single unit to be fully uprgaded. Once its fully upgraded, there you have your limit :)
3) Increasing difficulty will make enemies to raid you more often + more size in their forces...thats all i think :)

Thanks, I take it that means there is not any way to upgrade the unit's Kill/death performance.
I thought morale was simply how long before the unit flees and did not affect attack or defense...?
Another question: Do you unlock new unit during the campaign, like more advanced or specialiced units possibly area bound like Spartan hoplites? (he asked hopefully)

The enemy raids more often with more units: does this mean he gets bonuses to food upkeep and population?

Welcome to the forums. ;)

Sadly, there's no way to increase the kill/death performance (through attack/defense values or otherwise) of units as they gain experience. While I love the game, this has been a sore point for me too as the dynamic, engaging feeling of watching my units gaining in strength through their victories can significantly boost my enjoyment of any strategy game.

The only somewhat field combat-relevant stat affected by experience is morale, which is handy, but it won't make your units fight better, just longer (as in, they'll need to suffer greater losses before they retreat - but they'll still die just as easily).

You can unlock stronger units however. There are two ways to do that:

- All factions in the game have a different selection of units they can recruit. Some of the factions have unique versions of certain units, like the Spartans and Thebans having Spartan and Theban hoplites respectively, which are larger (50-man) and have better stats than the average hoplite brigades.
Some factions also have unique units like the Persian cavalry (of the Persians, of course), or Tribal Archers (best ranged troops) from the northern tribal factions etc.
You can recruit these yourself from the cities of said factions as soon as you capture one.
- Some of the objectives in the campaign can also unlock special units which you can't recruit anywhere. There's only a few of these, but some of them are better than anything else in the game. Your Companion Cavalry will also increase in size through such objectives, though its combat stats will remain the same.

In the original Hegemony, the difficulty settings only affect AI aggressiveness as far as I know. They don't get any artificial bonuses (so the AI won't cheat), but (unlike in Gold) in the original game you can't run out of recruitable population, so the AI can pretty much keep you under constant attack if it wants to - and how much it wants to is what the difficulty settings control.

Thanks for a good and thourough answer.
I must admit I'm sorry to hear that there isn't a way to "upgrade" your units.

I've downloaded Gold but I'm not sure if I should start with the Sandbox mode or if I should start with any of the other campaigns.
I've played the starting philip campaign a bit further than the demo and have already noticed some changes but aren't sure if they are significant. Like general recruitment and villa's. The enemy also becomes a lot more active after the intro period which is good.

I started the sandbox mode only barely to check out the starting area of my favorites: the Spartans and must say I'm a bit overwhelmed by the number of settlements you start with.
I guess after playing the macedonian campaign a bit further it won't seem as huge.

I thought there were supposed to be some missions for the sandbox campaign too (like 60 for each faction I think), is that not so?