Are war elephants worth it?

[[OCe]Kagari]

They have 250 damage and 50 toughness but they only have 25 men per regiment size. Considering the cost are they worth it?

[GorishiDan]

Depends, while yea they have a huge damage output, it decreases by a large margin if they're fighting on unfavorable terrain, plus they cost a fortunate to have it at a decent regiment size, u gotta pay 400 gold for every 25 regiment of war elephants, but in exchange they're OP to the point i only raise them on fights where im at disadvantage - imo? if the terrain you're in is neutral or favors them and u got the gold, then yea, they're worth it

Their maintenance can be unforgiving too so make sure you're good on ur income or enter wars that don't last too long, or if they do, dismiss the elephants once the war is safely in your favor

[Professor Hardknocks]

It depends on where you use them. If you use them in Jungles or terrains where they get their big bonuses, they're elite when paired with Archers and Light Infantry.

If you start running them into terrains where they struggle, there's a few they really struggle hard. So, pay attention to that. They also have siege value, so that gives them some credit - siege weapons always come in small stacks. Only these siege weapons are high damage and high toughness warriors that fight during the main phase.

I would keep one around - but I wouldn't keep 5-10 around and consider it a main force. They would be an add-in for those Jungle battle and favorable terrain situations.

Note: It's more fun if you use the mods that let you use Elephants as West Africans.

[Panthaz89]

They delete everything they come across if you are fighting in the right terrain. They might only be 25 per but you can confidently fight bigger armies. You don't even need to stack them that much.

[Twelvefield]

You can unlock War Elephants right from Day One. The two places you don't want to be with a war elephant is right in front and right in behind. Otherwise, they are glorious.

[CrUsHeR]

Yeah they obviously are brutally effective right out of the box.

However, the relevant building to boost them can only be built in Jungle baronies. This is a massive disadvantage in mid/late game, because you cannot really stack their required heavy cavalry bonus on demand.

So for example in my Pagan / Bengal playthrough i was using the Palace Guards instead, because their Barracks are not restricted in any way.