How to level up armies

Question

In most of my games, I see the AI with high level (8,9,10) troops. How do you go about leveling your troops high? I understand that as you progress in era's troops will naturally start at a higher level, and some buildings can give experience; however, even when I have an army led by a hero for an entire game that is constantly attacking (pacifying villages, taking out roaming armies, attacking troops inside my borders, etc) my highest level troops are typically around 7 by the time the game ends.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

pacifying villages, taking out roaming armies, attacking troops inside my borders.

You need to tackle tougher enemies to rack up the experience.

How do you usually win games? Diplomacy?

I play as the Necrophage and am constantly at war with my neighbours, invading and attacking.

The higher level army you fight, the more XP you get.

Honestly it can be a pain in the arse grinding the larger battles but thats how you get the XP you're looking for.