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Chassis: Follow Jazzepi¿s suggestion of a Forge Lord for MA Agartha, but imprison him for E9. Benefits are cheap Robes of Invulnerability, Rings of Wizardry/Bloodstones with appropriate picks. S4 is a better option IMHO. If you dispense with the forge bonus, other options Great Mother (EN bless), Great Olm (WE), Cyclops (for E10). You can have the F4E9N4 bless with a few Rainbow mages, esp. the Druid and the Sorceress this would also help with magic diversity. The Ancient Oracle is a great SC, but too expensive for a Bless strategy.
Order: You can use money, but you can go with a turmoil-Luck strategy. In that case, I¿d prefer T1 or 2 instead of 3. Production: Neutral. S1 might be good for some picked starts, but do not go below, otherwise you could not recruit Seal Guards in any number. You¿d benefit from P1 (after building a few temples), but usually you need points from somewhere. Heat/Cold: H3 as you need the points, and you are cold blooded. Reinvig mitigates the Severe Heat encumbrance. Your troops do not eat, either. Growth/Death: You don¿t need Growth for supplies. You can afford D1, it won¿t affect you much, but I won¿t go below. Take it if you also have Order. If you take Turmoil, you need either Growth or Production to help with your income. Luck/Misfortune: If you took Death, you should pick Luck to balance against bad events. You don¿t have soothsayers, and your PD is, well, crap. Do not go with Misfortune unless with O3. Magic: Drain2 instead of M1 would give you points, but would reduce you research speed by 40%. You want to spend your Death gems on things different from Skull Mentors. Lightless Lanterns are Const 6, and you cannot afford to neglect the other magic schools. Strategy
If you have bad scales, one might alchemize your fire and earth gem income for 55g/turn, to get the second expansion party and first Oracle sooner. I¿d prophetize the first Oracle to get H4, it offers +1 penetration bonus over H3, and larger AoE for Banishment. Death ones are the least affected by old age, the Fire ones are the most. Recruit Seal Guards as your resources allow, do not buy Trogs until you would be ready to send them out (they have 3.3gold maintenance). Recruit only Ancient Ones in your castles. Instead of buying a lot of Trogs, keep some gold (as in 1.5-2K) in reserve, so you could buy 30-40 of them in a turn if anyone attacks you. Castles: Cave Castles (in caves and mountains) are expensive and have low admin, but they autocast Darkness during sieges. Build cheap forts in forest and swamp, Fortified Cities (for the income) in Grassland. You can build castles underwater, but recruit only chaff and no priests/mages. Put them on Amber Clan provinces or in straits to stop other underwater nations and provide troops from nearby land forts. Site search: Send out oracles manually, to get your Earth income flowing in. They¿d also search for Holy sites, giving some Astral income. You will need to diversify your magic with indies Jade/Crystal/Garnet amazons, lizardmen, shamans, summons. Hidden in Sand for 75 E gems.
With M1 and standard research speed, you can get to Evoc-4 and thus Blade Wind in a year. Const-1 for Legions of Steel, Const 2 for Hammer. Then I¿d go for Conj-3(or 4) for the Rhuax/Barathus Pact, site search and Summon Earthpower. Thau-2 for site search spells. Alt-2 for Blindness, Alt-4 for buffs. Your troops with bless are adequate for expansion and early wars. Recruit some indie archers (Flame Arrow, Ench-4 if you have boosters), preferably ones with high precision (Crystal Amazons, Woodsmen, horse archers in CBM) to complement your line troops against lightly armored units. Use Earth buffs to reduce losses. You also benefit from Darkness. Use Earth Readers, GoR-ed Umbrals and Ancient Lord as thugs, with Oracles buffing them and cast evocations. Even Earth Readers with Crystal shield+booster can cast Soul Vortex. 8.12.1.3.2 Comments -> Trumanator: One point about the Rhuax pact is that it can be excellent when fighting either Niefel, because of their fire vulnerability, or the heims since the flame attack whacks the whole square, rendering glamour useless. --> Jazzepi: Combustion is nice as well. It sets them on fire which does some decent damage over time while your statues tank the front lines. -> chrispedersen: Quote: Originally Posted by P3D View Post Research: With M1 and standard research speed, you can get to Evoc-4 and thus Blade Wind in a year. Const-1 for Legions of Steel, Const 2 for Hammer. Then I¿d go for Conj-3(or 4) for the Rhuax/Barathus Pact, site search and Summon Earthpower. Thau-2 for site search spells. Alt-2 for Blindness, Alt-4 for buffs. Your troops with bless are adequate for expansion and early wars. Recruit some indie archers (Flame Arrow, Ench-4 if you have boosters), preferably ones with high precision (Crystal Amazons, Woodsmen, horse archers in CBM) to complement your line troops against lightly armored units. Use Earth buffs to reduce losses. You also benefit from Darkness. Use Earth Readers, GoR-ed Umbrals and Ancient Lord as thugs, with Oracles buffing them and cast evocations. Even Earth Readers with Crystal shield+booster can cast Soul Vortex. You are missing a whole huge part of the EA agartha strategy. Fire oracles make fire boosters for fire readers. Water oracles water boosters for water readers.. etc. Research con4 for the boosters. Use the earth readers for the summon rhuax, or with the boosters, the site searching spells. N4 helps your claymen and your sacreds regen. (huh, interesting thought, F8N10 would give you +6 to hit ... and you could finally hit things... --> P3D: Earth Boots are not needed for Gnome Lore, Skull Staff (ditto), and Water bracelet (which can be made by a WE Reader, but still necessary). For Flaming Skull you need to empower, for Flame Helmet either empower or RoW+Staff or the rare F3 Oracle+booster (those boosters made by the F4S4+ pretender). I could add a paragraph on forging, though. -> chrispedersen: I guess I would make the following points: 1. Try a Magic +3. Your mages then go 120 gp for 4 research, to 120 gp for 6. Plus you are sacred. 2. Your earth readers, with an appropriate forger, become fantastically useful. 3. Your Oracles should be used for SC's, and for booster production when your pretender is not. Early in the game, choose the oracles with death (not the other ones). They have a lower chance of affliction. Use them to get bootstrapped in death and to build your earth boosters. -> Agema: You don't need trogs to expand with your F/E/N bless, basic ancient ones will fight all day and barely die, so will defeat indies comfortably. They just tend to take a little more time doing it than trampling trogs. Your giants will also gain XP quickly, so their weak Att will eventually become respectable (and don't forget the F bless helping out). You don't need to empower to make F boosters: your pretender can do that. You also don't really need magic scales. You have F and D magic, so can build lightless lanterns and skull mentors. --> P3d: Dunno, initially, you don't have resources to buy enough Seal Guards, and Trogs are ideal to fill out the second and third expansion army. Granted, going for Const-1 first would make them immune to almost anything indies have. The pretender might have other things to do besides making fire boosters to cast Augury. My problem with no Magic scales is that Skull Mentors are expensive - they cost Death gems which you don't have much initially, and have dozens of better uses later. Shadow Brand, Horror Helmet, Skullface and Bone Armor besides Umbrals. You might not find enough Death sites either. Conj-6 might be a bit far to wait for Lanterns, of course you can rush it. At least that's my opinion. --> chrispedersen: Agree - don't empower, let your pretender forge them. Agree also that death gems are better put in umbrals Also make sure to mention you should have an earth reader in the site every turn. As for Trogs - Use trogs when you are fightin in cold territories. I probably wouldn't bother in cold 1... but in cold3 hellya. And trogs become quite respectable when you get their protection up. Since your D Oracles are capital only - you *have* to do something to stay up in the magical research. You could try building castles - but I think slow expansion really precludes that. My choice of pretenders (CBM) would either be Phoenix (Awake) F4N4-5A4, F4E4A4, F4S5A4, F4D4A4 Phoenix has a problem with no hands, so no hammers, which means you may wish to boost one higher than normal to make bootstrapping easierr. Exploding phoenixes give you good expansion, good minor blesses, good site searching and fills some gaps you can't otherwise cast A/N/S. FD is good for fireskulls, and are very useful for your Death DOs. Olm: My choice only if you know you will be starting in or near water. Take N/W to get the free castles. Asleep is probably ok if you are only starting *near* ForgeLord F4E4(N4|S4) You can increase the skills if you wish. If you are going to face undead (Ermor) Demons (lanka) the ability to crystal matrix, crystal slave, and crystal shields let your H7 communed DO's do insane banish damage might give you a chance. -> JimMorrison: On Sieges- there is a (Siege) bonus, AND a (Defense) bonus. Having a (Siege) bonus confers no benefit to protecting a castle, only in assaulting it. The Agarthans are great tunnelers, not great builders. --> P3D: My note on their good siege defense is only due to no deed for supplies. I found that 6 Seal Guards can take out most indies with the F4E9N4 bless. But to get them built in two turns early one need Prod-1 and/or take high-resource provinces. Most lost fights come mainly from the death of the commander - they are anything but fast dealing the damage. So have a few bodyguards with the Reader/Oracle. Even indie infantry is OK for the purpose. Oracles are not particularly efficient at research, 7 base RP for 400g, vs. 4 for 120g of the readers. The only available cheap/fast castle is IIRC in Forests (maybe swamps too). Trogs need protection buffs to survive mid/late game, as they have no armor those buffs are high level. It was mentioned in another EA Agartha thread that 30 Trogs Hold/Attack Rear, Army of Lead+Mass Flight+Quickness can be devastating. Would Cold Resistance/Immunity decrease extra fatigue for Cold blood? --> chrispedersen: ..Y
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Agree with almost every point P. OR you can play in a resource 125-150%, and forgo the P-1. Yes, cold immunity helps. Also, if you find the size 1 goblins, or have a chance to buy the mercenary - they are gold. I don't remember if they work with the seal guards.. but I know they work with trogs and maybe your other ancient. Inefficient research is why I believe you cry for a M1 at least or an M3 preferably scale. -> 8.12.1.4
8.12.2 MA Agartha 8.12.2.1 LP's guide Table of Contents 7.12.2.1.0.0 Retractions and Revisions 7.12.2.1.1.0 Introduction 7.12.2.1.2.0 Troops of the Golem Cult 7.12.2.1.2.1 Overview 7.12.2.1.2.2 Units 7.12.2.1.2.3 Military Commanders 7.12.2.1.2.4 Mage-Priests 7.12.2.1.2.5 Military Review
Jun.14.2007 Dwarven Hammer does not boost paths for purposes of forging. Passages removed. Jun.14.2007 Paragraph added on Oracles and Preaching Jun.14.2007 Various formating. Jun.14.2007 Added hard details on old age in MagePriest section.
8.12.2.1.2.1 Overview Quote:
He said it so well, I had to quote him. Its even more true with Agartha, Golem Cult. The strength of the Golem Cult lies in its national summons and mages. None of your mundane troops are outstanding.. Unfortunately, you need 200 research points (standard) before you access your first national summon. If you recruited only golem crafters, you would be pushing up against the end of your first year before they were available. Earth Drakes are available earlier, but they have even worse odds at landing a blow than your Ancient Ones. On top of that, you have little chaff, no archers, and fairly high resource costs. You need to use your available troops well, or your expansion will be stopped dead. Your options are rather limited, and unexceptional, but qutie solid. Your gold costs aren't that high (thanks to low skill), but your resource costs are very high. At least you're thoroughly equipped. No naked warriors or helmless headwounds here. And just about everybody has a shield. Your human infantry are pretty much the definition of average. Attack, defense, morale- everything about them is standard. No advantage to be gained by these troops, but no glaring vulnerabilities, either. All that said, they are pretty durable for their weight class. They don't scale up well, but throw them into the proper situation and they'll do quite well. Your human troops all have 50% darkvision, shields with good parry values (most basic missile fire isn't a concern, tends to boost protection further), and short swords (you're vulnerable to repels, but with a def of 13/14 its not a concern with most independents). Your non-human troops are less skilled than the humans, but they have a little more strength and magic resistance, a lot more hitpoints, and less encumbrance than many medium infantry. On top of that, they have 100% dark vision, are amphibious, have a siege bonus, and did I forget to mention they don't need to eat? And, they don't wield short swords, thank god (You're welcome). Unfortunately, they are coldblooded, and have trouble hitting a barn, use rather pathetic shields, and their large size makes them excellent targets for arrows/outnumbering. 8.12.2.1.2.2 National Units Note on Light, normal, and Heavy Infantry They are all equipped with a short sword. I've mentioned the repel, above, but also worth noting is that the weapon damage is 5. Plus strength, thats a base of 15 + DRN for the damage roll. Given that most heavy infantry has 15 prot or above, your units are somewhat impotent against heavy armor. On the other hand, your mages can resolve that problem very simply, with that +4 strength spell. Light Infantry (10,10) Entirely unexceptional, it will be the foundation of your expansion forces. Unlike most light infantry, they don't come with javelins. If you're facing high prot troops, leave them behind. They aren't cheap enough to be chaff. Due to a a parry value of 4, they only a 18% chance of being hit by arrows at the start of a battle. Not bad. It also helps absorb some blows as shield hits. Throw them up against heavy infantry and cavalary, and you'll hurt bad. But if you bring them up against militia, light infantry, and archers, they can usually fight their fair share with low casualties. The key thing is to keep them in their weight class. Whenever you don't, it'll turn into a bloody slaughter. Infantry (10,22) The immediate differences between these and the light infantry are obvious. However, the real thing you're paying for takes a little investigating to discover. The key component here is the Kite Shield. This is one of, if not the best, basic shields available, with a parry value of six. This helps in melee, sure, but before fatigue kicks in, these guys have only a 6% chance of being hit by missiles. That isn't counting all the other factors such as deviation. You may not have archers, but you have a unit that takes only a third the missile hits that most nations do. So, now you know what you're buying, what will you use these for? Early on, they'll be the core of your expansion force. My first team involves one Captain, 10 Infantry in the center, and a squad of 10 light infantry to each side, slightly behind. Since they don't do any more damage, they function to blunt the enemies fury, and hold the center while your more vulnerable, but plentiful light infantry attacks the flank. They let you take some meaner independents, but no giants or elephants yet. However, their great defense effectively boost their morale, too. Low morale independents might break before you take a single morale roll. It doesn't happen that often, but is rather nice when thirty units takes out 45 without any casualties. Unlike light infantry, regular infantry can fight against heavy infantry. They will likely come out the worst for wear, but it isn't the suicide it is for LI. You've got a variety of spells that can help tilt a battle in your favor, even with a measly Earth Reader and Alt2. Heavy Infantry (10,27) These are an excellent choice for close combat between most human armies. The difference between I and HI is much less significant than between LI and I. Still, without a productivity bonus, you won't be fielding many of these until later on. With, you may consider using these instead of your regular infantry in the core of your force. Heavy Infantry aren't that much better than medium, but than they don't cost much more, either. They don't gain any additional damage, lose a little speed, are a little easier to hit and tire a little earlier. What they do gain is 3 protection. They are an excellent choice for close combat... but with only ten hitpoints, do not bring them to bear against strong units like giants. Light and regular are better choices. But against your typical size two humanoids and skelly spam, they have a lot more staying power. Keep in mind, though, that these units don't have a lot of punch. Don't expect them to kill other high protection troops without a little assistance. They're your best bodyguards. If you can, you should put five on every Golem Crafter who is also leading various golems/statues. And last, they still only have 10 attack and a short sword. Keep that in mind when you're facing very nimble forces. Notes on your underground albino giants- Since they don't need to eat, they aren't a bad choice for defending fortresses. Though that is a bit of a waste. They can do a number while sieging fortresses. And, of course, they go underwater without any penalties. They also have rather puny shields, which combined with their large sizes makes them rather vulnerable targets. Pale One Soldiers (10,20) Size three. Size three. Size three. Big disadvantage. As atul said, "it means they get only 2 attacks against a block full of human-sized opponents who attack thrice. With their poor att and def, I think that equals a world of hurt. " Despite their large size, they only carry a buckler with a parry of two. Instead of 18% or 6%, they'll be hit 46% of the time. On top of all that, they have trouble hitting the broadside of a wounded barn. Only build these when you have a reason to. 1). Going underwater 2). Siege- one of these guys is equal to three infantry. 20 gold, 20 resource versus 30 gold, 30 resources (LI). And without eating, you aren't worrying about your supply lines. If you spend the same amount in LI and POS, you get 50% more reduction strength with POS. With medium and heavy infantry, it starts to look even better. Bring forty or eighty of these when taking down the weaker forts and you'll have it down before reinforcements can come. 3). Darkness. It doesn't come around that often, without planning, but it reverses the equation. Arrows aren't a worry any more, and your defense and attack is much more attractive. It can win you battles. Beware other races with darkvision or bunches of undead and death magic. Ancient Ones (40,19) EDIT: I forgot to mention a strategic move of 2. Important. Now we're getting expensive. But we're also getting sacred, with all its blesses. While these benefit greatly from a variety of blesses, they are too rare to build a bless strat around. And they aren't THAT great, either. Don't go out of your way to get a good bless for them, but with all of your mages being priests, take advantage of it when you have it. Let's take sieging first. One guy has 18 strength. That's 3 siege damage done before you take into account siege bonus (5). Just five of these does 40 points of fortification damage. Five of these? 200 Gold. 40 light infantry? 400 gold. If you've been buying five a turn for eight turns, you can bring 40 to a siege. Bit of an investment? Yes. Scarce? Yes. But 320 points of reduction strength are hard to argue with. Second, they're size four. That makes them more vulnerable again to massed attacks and archery, but it also protects against size four tramplers. Which are unfortunately very rare in the middle age, excepting Arcosephale, Pangaea, R'lyeh, Vanheim, and elemental summons. On the plus side, with forty hitpoints, they have can survive a trample and have a chance of hitting and panicking an elephant. Though it'll hurt like a *bleep*. That said, don't use these as elephant counters unless you're REALLY desperate. Third, if you can actually get them in enough numbers, they can ravage water independents. Fourth, arrows hurt. Bad. If you have to bring them to an arrow heavy environment, put them behind some infantry, please. Certainly, they won't be able to attack from there, but they are hard to replace. Fifth, don't get high dominion to recruit more of these. Being capital only, even with 10 holy resources, you're not likely to able to recruit more than 5 due to the high resource cost. 8.12.2.1.2.3 Military Commanders All but one of your military (no magic) commanders can be built outside of your capital. They also have a strategic move of two, faster than most of your troops, and certainly faster than your mages. They can also be decked out rather easily and early, thanks to earth gem income, but the value of such a move is debatable. Format is name, gold, resources, leadership Scout (20,3,0) Its a scout. Yay! Good to have, but boring. Cave Captain (30,22,80) Basic equipment equal to an infantry, this guy isn't vulnerable to arrows. You'll use him primarily to lead light infantry brigades. He's also an excellent choice for a research nation because at 80 leadership, you can take him further before needing to hire another military leader. Download 5.74 Mb. Share with your friends:
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