Hello,
me still thinks i ´d be cooler to have stats and level upgrade for Army-troops seperately ; instead of using the Heroes stats everywhere and every-ticket.
Heroes could appear with their very skills AND EQUIP only if they are realy arround on map position to participate on encounters who shall be in a limited map reach.
Troops upgrade might lean on scripted or customized upgrade -tree perhaps with a obligatory culture decision to evaluate class advantages and disadvantages.
cheers Reverend_Gorice