Didn't see this suggested before and I realize we are on feature lock-down but I thought this would be a cool idea.

Right now Champions are fairly useless and blah and even with good armor are outclassed by large squads of soldiers later on.  How about the ability to link your champion with soldier companies (more then 1) and add their stats to the company, plus some sort of bonus.  The bonus skills could add flavor to the champions and could be things like unlimited counter attacks, half damage from magic, extra moves, or even things like making the entire company mounted even if they weren't build that way.  In battle this would show up as basically the company with the champion leading it, maybe in front, middle, or back depending on the type it is.  This could also be a useful way to protect casters from enemy archery fire.   You could unattach and reattach in cities as needed and as companies continue to upgrade with the tech race.