[Wahnsinniger]

I have no real experience in MP games yet, so I can't comment on the Van-rush problem.

However, maybe the issue with Elephants (and Argathian Trogs) is the trample ability. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Trample doesn't take into account the enemies' weapons at all, does it? This doesn't seem right, as a normal attack always has to check if the enemy has a longer weapon that can repel you. Trampling is attacking with your body like a weapon with zero length!

I've never actually heard/read/seen in Real Life about the effectiveness of say, a wall of spears, in stopping an elephants charge, but in many games they assume that long weapons can often stop a large charging enemy. Perhaps Trample should take into account the weapon length and the number of enemies that try to "stop it" before successfully charging into the square. (Trampler Size and Strength would also probably be taken into account)

Yeah, one lone militia with a spear isnt' gonna stop a charging elephant, but a wall of pikemen several ranks deep would probably be able to convince an elephant not to run amok through their ranks.

So maybe the issue isn't morale, it isn't gold cost, perhaps its the Trample istelf. I doubt this is mod-able, thus in the meantime, for this and other rush problems, just Don't Allow Rushes in your MP games!