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5) Get a couple extra castles up, then start cranking out Sidhe Lords and Tuatha if at all possible do this exclusively for awhile and don't recruit any troops. 6) Once you've got the critical research done quickly forge some items and fall like a ton of bricks on your most likely neighbor. Hey, now you've picked up all those sites your neighbor was nice enough to site search for you while you researched other things! 7) Follow that up leveraging the highly mobile Tuatha battle mages to support your Firbolg troops first with lighting evocations, then with powerful alteration and enchantment spells. 8) You've got no astral or death magic, so time is *not* on your side. If the game gets to the wishing/tartarian stage and you're not already in a very strong position you're fairly screwed. Comments: -> 8.36 Mod nations 8.36.1 Arga Dis, Blood and Bronze
A society which venerates war and bloodshed. Their city nation watched over the imprisoned Gilgan blood giants. Following a terrible war it seemed Arga would be razed and forgotten, a terrible fate for a once glorious nation. In their darkest hour the Argans turned to the blood giants and swore an oath in exchange for power that would allow them to save their city and slay their foes. The Gilgan's were freed and not only fought the enemies of Arga but gave a 'gift' to those who swore loyalty to them. This gift was a glimpse of the afterlife, of Dis, a terrible place of brutal conflict where the strong reigned. The newly sworn Argans turned to their foes as changed men and fought like devils, finally defeating them and saving their city. Now Arga is a changed city, more brutal and violent than ever, more focused on slaughter and glory. It is effectively ruled by the Gilgans and with the coming of God they have turned their attentions to the surrounding lands. I¿ve decided to write up this guide for two reasons. One is to encourage people to try out this excellent mod, and to help them get started if they want to give it a shot. Second is that it is now starting to appear in MP games, and people facing it for the first time might find it useful to have an idea what to expect. (My current opponents in the Uakari game should not feel under any kind of obligation to read this, by the way ) I will admit I¿m currently playing my first MP game with them (close to turn 50 by now) so I won¿t claim ultimate knowledge, but then again there¿s only 2 nations in the game I have played more than once, MP and SP combined, so I guess I know Arga Dis about as well as I know any other nation. Anyway, without further ado: 1. Units: The Argan infantry is, in one word, excellent. Arguably the best non-sacred human infantry around, with several solid options to choose from. Their two mounted units are conceived as niche units, and as such aren¿t quite up to the same all-round standard of excellence. Helgrot (8g, 6r) This is your basic chaff unit. However, they do come equipped with a javelin, shield (giving them 13 def) and minimal armour, and are really cheap, so they do fill the chaff role admirably. Argan Hoplite (15g, 11r) Your basic infantry unit, and the cornerstone of Argan glory, they are the proud representatives of Arga¿s warrior tradition. With elite stats, amazing morale, and two attacks they can hold their own against almost any opposition. Rare for units of this quality they actually are quite lightly armoured (prot 8) but their high defence and high-parry shields definitely make up for it. Their only downside is the lack of that little bit of extra punch to smash through really heavy armour. Argan Myrmidon (15g, 24r) The only unit in your arsenal wearing heavy armour, (though not the one with the highest protection) and as such also the one requiring the most resources. They have the same basic stats as the hoplites, but use regular shields instead of the amazing hoplite shield, and thus lack the shield bash attack, but wielding a short sword for a total damage of 17 they do stand a slightly better chance to punch through heavy armour. They also come with mountain survival. Another very solid unit, and if you have enough resources the choice between hoplites and myrmidons depends mostly on the opposition you face. Orphan (13g, 3r) The Argan youths lacking the discipline to become hoplites are turned into these fanatic, berserking killing machines. Wearing no armour and dual-wielding bronze claws and lacking the slightest instinct of self-preservation - their life-expectancy rivals that of beautiful virgin girls insisting on taking naked midnight walks through graveyards. During the full moon. In Transylvania. Still, once they go berserk they deliver two att15, dmg16 attacks a round, making this the most powerful offensive unit at your disposal. And at 3 resources they are easily massed in a hurry. Used on the flanks and with proper decoys they can cause quite some damage before dying. Sworn Brother (26g, 12r) The regular Argan troops rival other nations elites. These are the Argan elites. They use the same equipment as the hoplites, but their stats are universally 1 or 2 points higher. Added to that, they also have a penchant for refusing to die as long as there are enemies left standing. Once killed they revert to their second shape, in which they have higher strength and attack skill, and are unbreakable, though their defence takes a hit, and have to be killed again before they finally accept their time has come. In fact, come to think of it, this second form packs significantly more punch than even berserking orphans. After battle their wounds catch up with them, and they finally lay down and die. Actually they were just expensive enough to prevent me from using them much during my game, but looking at them again now, I think I should give them another shot when facing tough opposition. Red Achillean (30g, 14r) Your second elite unit also springs from the hoplite mould, but they bath in blood from sacred Gilgan wells to make their skin impervious to harm. And if you take your traditional hoplite and then give him 18 protection you have a very frightening unit indeed. Oh, and most of their stats are also 1 higher than those of regular hoplites. This should probably be the unit you recruit in the very first turns, for as long as resources (as opposed to gold) are the bottleneck for your recruitment, and they will continue to be useful throughout early game. They do have an abysmal MR of 7 though, (a side effect from their blood baths) so once you start facing MR negate spells or start buffing the natural protection of your other units - they become obsolete. Having to drag around big kettles to bath in the sacred blood slows them down to mapmove one. Oathsworn (22g, 12r, sacred) Your sacred unit is recruitable everywhere, but that¿s about as far as the good news goes. This is basically a normal hoplite with poor morale. (Read the description to know why, I think it¿s a nice touch) Don¿t get me wrong, this isn¿t a bad unit, (we¿re still talking about the same Argan hoplites I was so enthousiastic about before) and just about everything will kick ass if you use a dual bless. It¿s just that other nations play this game better. Still, they¿re not too expensive (upkeep for the regular hoplites is higher) and they will benefit from any (possibly minor) bless you might have for other reasons. They will definitely be happy with a minor fire/water bless if you can squeeze it into your pretender design. Just don¿t forget to use sermon of courage¿ Sworn Companions (120g, 22r, capital only) A sworn brother mounted on a horse. (and wielding a light lance) The mares of Dis however, are about as elite as the men riding them. They have a bite attack in addition to the traditional hoof and cause fear to boot. Supposedly massed fear causing units will send just about everything running in short order. Unfortunately, at 120g, I¿ve never massed them, and probably never will. Even with their second shape, they¿re just too fragile for 120g units in my opinion, and Arga Dis has easy access to the excellent demon knights, who are better in most ways. However, if I can spare the cash I can imagine myself recruiting a couple of these to mix in with the demon knights, to add a few more fear-causing units to the squad, and at the same time reduce the demon knights¿ exposure to banishment. Blackwing Rider (70g, 24r, capital only) An Argan warrior armed with a glaive and mounted on a black Pegasus. While they do pack quite some punch, and flying is of course incredibly useful, they are horribly, horribly fragile. Like most Argan units they have light armour, and rely on their defence to keep them alive. Unlike most Argan units they are size 4, and thus will suffer from the defence hit of successive attacks. Even plain dagger-armed archers will take them out with relative ease. Never, ever use them in squads of their own. They can possibly be useful mixed into one squad with size 1 imps, to add that bit of punch to flying raiding parties. Harpy of Dis (Blood3, 1B1D, 7 slaves) National summon of Arga Dis, one cast nets you 7 harpies. Harpies have poor stats and no armour, but they do have 2 (low damage) attacks, so they¿re quite good at taking out opposing archers. They¿re well worth the low cost of one slave/harpy to send flocks of them diving down upon archer-heavy enemies. They will also curse anyone they damage with their wing attacks, though with their poor stats they¿re unlikely to curse anything important. 2. Commanders Helgrot scout (20g, 6r) A scout. Nothing special to see here. Move along. Argan captains and sworn captains come in 4 different flavours. Each one is a commander version of their respective unit types. Each one has good leadership abilities and a standard effect. The sworn captains have a second shape like the units do. The mounted sworn captain is somewhat thuggable. Haimgrot (70g, 1r) [1B] The blood hunter that will keep the cogs of your blood economy spinning, and help make Arga Dis one of the most powerful blood nations around. Not quite as efficient as the Mictlan or Lankan blood hunters (not being sacred) they certainly are the next best thing. They come with a built-in dousing bonus, meaning they hunt as B2 hunters. (Or B3 with sanguine dousing rods) Misbred (130g, 1r, sacred) [220% FEDB] Your basic mage, they will not make Arga Dis into a magical powerhouse, but they do have their uses. At 130g (sacred) for 4 research, they¿re perfectly average researchers, but they do have the ability to forge both skull mentors and lightless lanterns, so you have little excuse for lagging behind in your research. They can remote search for FEDB (though all but death requires a 1/16 random pick. In my game I managed to recruit about 40 mages without getting a single 2E one, meaning no site searching, and, maybe worse, no earth boots -> dwarven hammers. I ended up having to empower one mage to 2E. Still with somewhat average luck you should be fine. ) They are able to forge a lot of basic SC/thug gear, and several other nice items. They can access most of the low-level blood summons, although they will need boosters for some of them. Some of them will have access to some powerful evocations and earth buffs, though the reliance on very random picks, and the fact that you¿ll want the first few 2F and 2E ones at home for site searching and forging means that you shouldn¿t count on having too many of them available fast. Remember that the blood ones can join sabbaths as either master or slave, though always with the hassle of using blood slaves. Half of them can also blood hunt if you need those extra slaves now. In the long run the Haimgrots are more efficient, so you¿ll want to use them, but the misbreds can fill in the gaps without trouble. Gilgan (420g, 17r, sacred, capital only) [3B2H 210% FEDB] Real powerhouses of the nation, these demonic giants fulfil a dual role. First off they¿re the most powerful blood mages around, bar none. They have a decent chance at 5B, and minor access to several useful minor paths, to allow relatively easy summoning (in some cases with easily forgeable boosters) of anything from Succubi, over Arch Devils and Heliophagi, to Demon lords, infernal crusades, and imp-built castles. The only thing lacking is astral magic, denying them access to the powerful blood/astral spell line. (horrors, astral corruption) Second, they make for a good SC chassis. Not quite as strong out of the box as Niefel Jarls (what is?) and with lower paths (except blood obviously) and other research priorities and thus not as good at self-buffing as Dai Oni or Basalt Kings, they certainly are the next best thing. (and significantly cheaper) Give them good gear, and their high hp, massive strength, decent attack skill and very high berserk (+6) will allow them to tear through most opponents. Depending on random picks they will be able to buff themselves with stone/ironskin, iron will, flame shield, and if you¿re lucky summon earth power and invulnerability or phoenix pyre, as well as holy avenger and blessing (if you have a useful one) Keep in mind though that with their low paths the F/E buffs will be quite fatiguing, so use discretion in using them, and don¿t forget your reinvigoration items. Though it is something of a micromanagement nightmare, especially for solo raiders, blood also hold some really nice self buffs, from the lowly reinvigoration to the powerful blood vengeance, and the amazing battlefield-wide bloodletting. They do have a lowish MR of 16 for units of this power, and their defence skill will plummet to unseen depths once they go berserk, so keep these weaknesses in mind when equipping them. While blood generally isn¿t considered the strongest battlefield-magic path (and rightly so) it does have a number of useful spells your Gilgans can cast. Their berserk however means that they¿ll go charging towards the enemy at the slightest scratch, so don¿t send them out without minimal protection, and keep in mind the possibility that they won¿t be casting the spells you were counting on, so don¿t rely on them getting cast. Augurs (Blood5, B4, 25 slaves, sacred) [55%S 55%FS 55%FS 55%DN 55%DN 55%FSDN 55%FSDN] As you can see the Augurs have very random paths. Additionally they are old and come with a random affliction, so occasionally you will be cursing your luck and wondering why you threw away those slaves for a 1F1D cripple or even a feebleminded maniac. Additionally they have a gold cost of 120 for upkeep purposes, so you¿ll even have to feed the feebleminded maniac until you manage to find him a nice bit of enemy PD to kill him on. However, even with all the drawbacks these guys are well worth the price, and are the key to your magical diversity. (For more details see the later section) They can start off your nature/astral searches and forge a great many useful items (boosters, regeneration, reinvigoration, luck, MR,¿) They have a 15% chance to negate negative events, and some of those you don¿t need to stay at home for forging and rituals can actually become useful battle mages, depending on their picks. (nature buffs, antimagic!, nether darts, to name but a few.) 3. Research Priorities Construction and blood. That¿s it. Next chapter. Okay, okay. I¿ll expand a bit. (Okay, a lot, actually. My main flaw when writing this kind of thing is that I can¿t seem to stop writing. There¿s always an extra interesting point to add) Construction: A big priority. Lvl 2 will give dwarven hammers and various miscellaneous items. Unfortunately you¿ll probably need lvl 4 and dwarven boots to be able to forge dwarven hammers. Lvl 4 will also give you a sanguine dousing rod, greatly enhancing the effectiveness of your blood hunters, quite some boosters, and skull mentors. Lvls 2 and 4 together will give you quite some effective items with which to equip your Gilgans or possibly a pretender to help deter early rushes. At lvl6 you get more boosters, everything you need to turn Gilgans or blood summons into combat monsters and lightless lanterns. Given the fact that construction up to level 6 is a priority you could try to push on to lvl 8 to snatch some early artefacts, though depending on the immediate threats you might want to get your blood summons going first. Even if you don¿t rush for lvl8 it¿s still well worth going there in some not-too-distant future, as you¿re the MA nation most likely to be able to forge some of the nice blood artefacts. Along the way you will have picked up legions of steel. Somewhat less useful on your generally lightly armoured troops, but any boost still is a boost. (And it¿s really nice on the Myrmidons) And at lvl 7 there is the great spell weapons of sharpness, though it does take a little effort to get a suitable caster. Also take a moment to reflect on blood contracts. (lvl2) At 65 blood slaves, (and 5 fire gems) not reducable by hammer discount, this is not an early game item despite its low level, but your Gilgans can easily forge one with some boosters, and from that point on you¿ll get a free devil every turn. Pays off in about 10 turns, and everything after that is bonus. Blood: Aaah, blood¿ What¿s not to like about blood. Lvl 1 allows you to battle summon imps. Surprisingly useful units with high defence and 2 attacks. At low levels you get several nice demon summons. Devils and Demon knights at lvl3 and 4 are especially good. Lvl 2 gives bowl of blood. While blood sites are very rare, and it might occasionally be frustrating to keep on casting this spell with no result, it¿s still well worth it, because there are quite a few really excellent reduction sites in the game. There are a few damage spells in the lower levels you can use if you are under pressure early, though nothing really extraordinary. (And always requiring the use of blood slaves) Lvl 5 is a benchmark. It allows you to summon Augurs, remote summon a horde of imps (quite expensive in early game at 44 slaves, but otherwise a very good spell throughout the game), and in combat to capture enemy units with hellbind heart, and to deal damage to the entire battlefield with Bloodletting. Lvl 6 gives you a decent and cheap remote assassin, and at lvl 7 you get Arch Devils and leech. (an amazing little spell when spammed. Attacking any position defended by a bunch of B1 mages with enough slaves will hurt. A lot. ) At this moment you should also finish Const 6 if you haven¿t before. At blood7/const6 you have overcome the slight weakness you have in early mid game. You can then return to finish off the last two levels of blood at your leisure when you have the time to do so. Plenty of goodies remain to be had here. (Heliophagi, demon lords, the different mass demon summons, life for a life, infernal prison, rush of strength, blood vengeance,¿) To make things even better, most MA nations are quite weak in blood and have other research priorities, so you¿re quite likely to net yourself many of the uniques. Conjuration: Less of a priority than for most races, since your Gilgans make for a capable SC chassis, and you¿ll (probably) also get most of the various unique blood summons to fill this role. You do want to research to lvl 2 quite early on for Dark knowledge, and lvl 3 (phoenix power/summon earthpower) as soon as you start using your misbreds in combat. After that it¿s more of a luxury than a necessity. If you are in a comfortable and safe position after having done (most of) your construction/blood research you can start researching conjuration to improve your magical diversity (Read more about magic diversity in the next chapter. Troll king court at lvl 6 and faerie court at 8 are some of the most universally useful spells) The elemental battle-summons (lvl 5 and 7 are really nice in the right circumstances too. ) At lvl 9 you obviously can get tartarians, but you¿ll need liches (Ench 8), with rings of sorcery to cast them, as well as gift of reason (Thau 4) to get the most out of them. If you are involved in heavy fighting you probably want to research alteration and/or evocation for their immediate combat uses before delving into conjuration. Thaumaturgy: At some point quite early on you¿ll want to research to lvl 2 for the site searching spells, though you might want to wait until you actually have a mage capable of casting them, given the random nature of your misbred paths. At the same time you pick up bonds of fire which might help a bit against trampler rushes (which you are vulnerable against) Iron will at lvl 3 is nice for your Gilgans to have when facing MR or die spells. After that thaumaturgy is low priority, though wither bones at lvl6 is really nice if you¿re facing masses of undead. After you have reached Blood7/Const6 (and Conj2/Thau2 for site searching) you are faced with a choice. If you are at peace, or things are going well on the battlefield, with your SC¿s, conventional troops, and flying raiding squads up to the task of defeating your opponents, you can choose to to go for long-term development. Const8, Conj9, and any level of Conjuration will enhance your prospects in the long run. If you are hard pressed though, you¿ll probably want to research spells that will help you out immediately. In that case Alteration and Evocation will provide you with some options. If you¿re facing a very early rush you might be forced to research to a certain lvl in these paths even sooner. (Lvl 4 alteration is nice if you have a couple of 2E mages. If you don¿t you can just as well keep going in blood/const) Alteration: My personal inclination is to go for alteration before evocation. First, because due to all the reasons mentioned elsewhere you¿re unlikely to have many mages of a decent level, and a single mage is more likely to make a difference by casting one powerful buff than with the couple of evocations he can cast before passing out. And second, because a few of the early buffs can help out your melee-Gilgans. At lvl 2 you get stoneskin for your Gilgans. Armour of Achilles and earth meld can help you out in a tight spot early on, especially against small numbers of elite opponents. Lvl 3 gives ironskin, and if you have a N mage to spare you could start casting protection on your hoplites. These levels will also give any combat pretender you might have chosen access to several self-buffs, depending on his magic paths. At lvl 4 you¿ll get swarm, destruction, and curse of stones. All of them useful spells depending on the opposition. After that wooden warriors, (lvl5) marble warriors or mass protection (lvl7) and of course army of gold/lead (lvl9) are of great benefit to your hoplites, adding protection to all the qualities they already have. If you get your air magic going fog warriors (at lvl7) is awesome. Invulnerability (lvl5) and phoenix pyre (6) are useful for your SC¿s, (if you can manage the fatigue) And incinerate, drain life and frozen heart are useful SC counters. (Though blood doesn¿t lack for SC counters of it¿s own) If you¿re passing through anyway, and no one beat you to it, mother oak (at lvl 5) is a nice and relatively accessible gem booster. Evocation: After the low lvl stuff you can cast if you¿re in a tight spot, fireball and magma bolts at lvl 3 are the first spells worth mentioning. Magma bolt has the extra bonus that you¿ll have more FE mages available to go to the front than you have 2E or 2F. Lvl 4 gives blade wind, lvl 5 falling fires, shadow blast, and earthquake, though neither your misbreds (too fragile) nor Gilgans (too likely to go berserk) are the ideal casters for this last spell. Both are also quite low lvl in earth. Once you get some trolls earthquake gets more interesting, but then we¿ve moved away from early/mid game defence into the realm of endgame. (In the context of this nation obviously. Others can cast it more easily early on) Lvl 6 gets the awesome magma eruption, castable to good effect even by 1F1E misbreds with earth boots/blood stone/summon earth power. At the same level you get flame eruption, which can be truly devastating if you manage to get all the elements in place correctly. (Gilgan or Arch devil with a bodyguard of fire-immune demons, some fire boosters, and defensive and reinvigoration equipment should do the trick. Is it worth the effort? Maybe. At best it¿s a gamble, and things can go spectacularly wrong. But if everything works out you get a really awesome fireworks display. ) Lvls 7-9 gives you the truly devastating battlefield enchantments and large-area spells of the different elements as well as flames from the sky. A special mention for arch devils who are easily capable of casting fire storm/heat from hell(ench6), (as well as living fire from conjuration if you want) and it isn¿t hard either to get yourself a bodyguard of fire immune demons. Flying ones if you want to. Download 5.74 Mb. Share with your friends:
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