As you advance through the eras upgading your Headquarters unlocking more new troops you will be faced with the dilema of either upgrading your existing units into better troops or keeping the old ones and start to train the new ones.
Although the obvious choice is to train the newly unlocked units as nearly everything is better with the superior level unit it is important that you don't ignore your existing units. Upgrading your existing units is quicker and takes up less resources than the new units. Also, to prevent your older troops becoming obsolete and useless upgrading them will double your nation’s power and increases their stats.
A good strategy then is to start upgrading existing troops first, then work on the new ones. Always work on increasing your troop numbers in order to get to the point where you’ll be able to safely send more than one general into battle. Also, the more troops you have, the easier it will be for you to defend against incoming attacks. Try to get the upgrade process done as fast as possible by remaining active and log in often.
We have questions and answers related to this topic which may also help you: