But for a little while, you're not sure what to do. There is, of course, a counter to these units too a new set of rules to add to the list. Up until the point at which you stand against an elephant charge and the whole thing falls apart.
The better units can defy these rules, sure, but it's almost always a good place to start. Total War, in my experience, has always played out a bit like a game of rock, paper, scissors. And then you run into Carthage, and they've got war elephants. Here you'd been, building proper Roman armies, with swords and shields and bows and arrows, designed to defeat nations with fewer resources and aging technology. If you've played Rome: Total War, you have to remember the first time you encountered the Carthaginians.