Qm said

[MaxWilson]

It's easier to find a counter to chariots/minotaurs, because more nations have access to size 4 creatures than size 6, and chariots can't trample anything of size 4 or bigger. That way, you can at least put up a front line with archers behind it, whereas elephants just trample all over your whole army. (And of course they do more damage, since trample damage is (8 + 2*size difference) AP.)

That said, I'm not entirely convinced that you can't delay an elephant horde for a few rounds with the right tactical placement. Tramplers do great against large masses of troops, but tend to spend a lot of movement chasing down stragglers. Break your 300-man army up into 20 15-man squads and see how much time that buys you. I doubt it would win the battle vs. a large horde, but it might let you inflict a few more casualties.

-Max