Troops upgrade strategy & raiding?

The real problem is that you never know for sure when these low tier units are really needed. Here is an example. I have long forgotten about War axe cavalry, a unit I completely neglected and haven't ever upgraded. Yet in "Hundred years war" campaign they reappear (!) out of nowhere and I simply have to use them, because our choice of units is rather limited.



I always thought that setting priorities and upgrading only those units that we are planning to use, is the best approach for f2p players. But this approach has its drawbacks since there are things in the game beyond our control.

I would advise you to upgrade at least one unit of every military branch (melee infantry, counter infantry, mounted archers, foot archers, melee cavalry and charge cavalry).

if you are committed to play the long game and dont loose patients whenever you get stuck i would advise to any new player: yes, keep all units bc you will have the gold to upgrade them eventually. the game gives tons more gold and resources in this version than in earlier ones.
therefore keep all units, but many for later. you still have to prioritize what to upgrade bc you would run out of gold too soon and then you have all units but all are weak xD.

it is imo advisiable to invest in varangians and legion brigade (up to lvl 12 for now) idk when modao gets available... maybe those as well.

scottish longspearmen and lombardy halberdiers.
wont give advice on melee cav bc i hate all of them even though many seem great. mine are too low lvl sadly.

noble cav still seems worth it, but you can go straight for tier6 if you like. both tier 3 are often availabe in castles but i never decided on one of them... only if you have the gold.

ravenna crossbowmen to at least lvl 6 in early game. woad raider always to max bc they are still endgame quality lol! and kill me now bc longbowmen are kinda needed for 100years war campaign so keep them but no rush to upgrade until then.

imperial bow cav is a must.

what to raid as f2p? probably basil, timur, li jing! (via treasure raid) or alfred if you havent unlocked these yet.
as p2w... something iap xD

yes. it used to be that rhinoceros was harder to come by so many raided charlemagne normal as well but i dont think you should do that.
also mamluk and ranged gem over hospitallers and reduction gem.
saladin > charly

btw since you have mamluks and pvp territory is a joke that makes imperial bow cav (which i ranked as must for f2p in my earlier post) less of a priority for you since the only reason for you to grind for it is unique unit dmg of timur. but he will run just fine on op level mamluks and woad raiders