I didn't mention flying mammoths because there are several other Caelum guides and all of them mention it. Besides, this guide is thematically focused on what you can use with fliers. Mammoths don't fly on the map without a lot of construction.
8.15.2.2
8.15.3 LA Caelum
8.15.3.1 RoRlum (Late Caelum)
-> I don't usually play Caelum.
But usually, sending in anything but Mamoths of their standard troops in melee is trouble. Since their infantry is quite fragile compared to their cost.
So use archers, and a _lot_ of Caelian seraphs. With evocation level 2 you should be able to spamm lightning all over the enemy turf.
Later on, add one or two Harab elders with Thunderstrike (lvl 4 evo) to this.
I haven't tried this yet, but placing a storm general a bit ahead of your serapths with a couple of earthbounds set on guard commander should give you 2-3 more combat turns for your archers and mages to take down any even sized enemy. Their protection is high enough, 19, that they should be able to withstand enemy archer fire.
-> an idea I had with ranged heavy armies ... you can make them hold/attack for up to 5 turns instead of 2, if you assign the army to guard a commander and have the commander attack after 5 turns... this lets you fight the battle much closer to your archers. anyway this is also complimentary with just loosing up to 5 rounds of arrows and retreating. I cant say it would solve all your problems, but it does give you a much finer control over the units.
-> you have also a bonus with Corpse Man Construction with a lightning rode, a staff of storm, and another with an unique book (5A 5D I think)
Corpse Man are a good cannon fodder, immune to poison lightning and good morale : they are pretty useful mixed with mammouths
8.15.3.2 LA Caelum vs. Ermor
-> If/when you're not under pressure from Pangaea, I would recommend multiple Strike Forces with Elders + bodyguards. Strike behind his lines and pump up taxes, jump out again. In the mean time let him throw whatever he has at your chokepoint (pump up your PD and make sure you keep some Elders there). When you have amassed enough troops attack in strength, while simultaneously casting multiple Seeking Arrow attacks.
In short, the way to win is by attacking with overwhelming force; you are in a great position to defend yourself easily while harrassing him, which should help you build up that overwhelming force.
-> I am playing LA Caelum and ending up fighting LA Ermor. Massed blade wind works real good. Get one of your forgers with dwarven hammer/dwarven boots, mass produce dwarven boots for 5E gems. Then put them on a cheap forger (they are only 75gps or so to recruit), you can then script summon earthpower, blade wind, hold, hold, blade wind, spells. I ended up with 20 or so such blade winders very, very quickly. They took undead armies out very effectively behind a infantry shield. Equipping them with eye of aiming helps as well.
Also dust to dust is very effective. You can also spam undead yourself and most of your mages have 1 or 2 priest levels, so good old fashioned massed banishment works well. Use all this in comination.
8.15.4 Assortment of tips
-> Well for hold and attack more than 2 turns, get a cheap flying commander, set all your melee troops to guard him and let him hold, hold, hold, hold attack rearmost for example. Fire and flee generally isnt a good idea, just raid enemy provinces with reasonably sized forces(including thunder striking mages if possible) and then fly away next turn(since movement to friendly provinces happens before movement to enemy provinces)
-> A screen of archers and infantry. In the back mammoths and seraphs(2 mammoths per seraph). The seraphs get scripted to flight, flight, then cast what you want(lightning bolt ect). The mammoths get hold and attack rear/archers. Flying mammoths in the back of the enemies army are fun
-> Caelum is my favorite nation. An effective early expansion strategy is to only buy archers (production scale helps) and use your initial infantry for guard duty. Then spread 4 archers across the front to act as decoys for arrow fire and infantry. This will almost ensure that enemy archers are not a problem and will give you another 2 rounds of shooting (and smiting) on most ground troops.
This will usually allow you to take barbarians, tribes, archer cavalry and light troops (basically anything with low protection). If you combine your profit you can even take on a little heaver stuff (in small numbers) with smiting. 40+ archers are very effective and lets your mages stay in the lab early on. With your mobility and some scouting you can pick out the missile vulnerable provinces.
This works good with getting an awake sage pretender and researching to evo4 (thunder strike) . You can reach this fairly easily on turn 8 or 9. Then with a few eagle kings and archer cover any indy province is yours for the taking. And with your mobility you will rapidly be able to take advantage of this.
So imagine spreading out sucking up weaker province and rapidly ¿claiming¿ territory. Then once you have thunder strike you rapidly consume all of the tougher provinces sprinkled in your territory (or leave a couple for defense if the income is not high).
-> and what's about pretendant design ?
What do you think of a master Lich 3 slots = 2 wing of wizardry (+1 in all) and 1 ring of sorcery (+1 NDBS)
F3 (astral fire, bane fire and fire arrow)
E2 (Hammer & earth boots)
S5 (He is immortal, so no real pb with magic duel)
D5 (good evocation, conjuration, etc.)
N4 (gift of health, Relief, supply, vine ogre)
Dom 8 (frost !)
Order 3 (max money),
Solth 3 (not need, unless in the first turn for the firsts mammouths),
Cold 3 (no comment),
Growth 3 (supply, money and old mages),
misfortune 2 (to get some points),
Magic 1 (for research and more thunder strike / falling frost)
8.16 Ctis
8.16.1 EA Ctis
8.16.1.1 Original guide
A Guide to EA C¿tis
C¿tis is a nation of lizardmen based on Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Feel free to read up on these fascinating cultures, but I am not here to discuss them. C¿tis¿s advantages and disadvantages are pretty obvious. While C¿tis might not have the stealthy troops of Pangaea or the broad magic skills of T¿ien Ch¿i, they have many talents at their disposal.
C¿tissian Troops
While national troops by and large become obsolete by the late game, having a solid understanding of a nation¿s forces is necessary for a strong early game. A powerful early game position will often translate into a powerful late game position.
The C¿tissian lizardmen are different in stats from humans in several areas. These are the basic changes that C¿tissians have: slightly more hit points, some natural protection, lower morale, greater magic resistance, slightly higher encumbrance, and slower battlefield movement. Most C¿tissians also have several special abilities to take note of: 50% resistance to poison, swamp survival, and cold-bloodedness.
Units
Militia: Like all Militia, the C¿tissian version is cheap, weak, and very vulnerable. Their use is as fodder.
Light Infantry: The C¿tissian Light Infantry, like all javelin throwers, can be tricky to use. Javelins cannot be thrown far and are quite inaccurate. On the upside, javelins can be quite powerful when they connect with something. It is important to set them up correctly on the battlefield. With only a shield and their scales for protection, don¿t place them at the very front of your forces. Put them slightly behind and at the sides of your frontline troops. Make sure that their formations are not too deep. Give them the orders to Fire Closest (if set near the center) or Fire Archers (if set on the far flanks) to have them get within range of their targets and release two volleys. Some people also feel that giving them no orders is best. Javelins can also be a good counter to troops with high defense skill, because, as with all missile weapons, defense skill doesn¿t come into play.
City Guard: A very useful unit, the City Guard fills roles both on and off the battlefield. On the battlefield, they can be used as a light version of your Heavy Infantry. Their biggest drawback though is the lack of a helmet. With only their natural protection of 5 protecting their head, they are vulnerable to the occasional head strike, thus reducing their efficiency as heavy infantry as they will take many hits on the frontlines. City Guards can also be used in a defense role for your forts. Each one will act as two soldiers defending a fortification when you are under siege. Remember that an enemy army that takes another turn to break down the gate of a fort, is an army that is doing nothing else. At 10 gold and 10 resources, a number a City Guards can be recruited each month even from low resource areas for little expense.
Heavy Infantry: Pretty self-explanatory, Heavy Infantry should be placed of the front of the battlefield. Their job is simple, absorb hits, and the C¿tissian Heavy Infantry are very good at this. At a time when 10 is a protection value few units have, their head protection of 18 and body protection of 16 make them very resilient. What is particularly important is that their map movement speed is one. This will slow down any army they are a part of.
Falchioneer: The Falchioneer is the first of several offense oriented units at C¿tis¿s disposal. They are armed with two falchions. While these swords do not increase defense skill like their cousin the broad sword, they do have a rather high damage of 7 each. Unfortunately, using two weapons reduces the attack skill of the wielder. This can be negated by ambidexterity, but Falchioneers only have an ambidexterity value of 2. What all this means is that their attack skill for each falchion is 8! Luckily, with two falchions, they dish out two swings each round, which helps to increase their chances of scoring a hit. Falchioneers are slightly faster than the other green C¿tissians and braver to boot. Their head and body protection values are identical to the City Guards, which gives them some staying power, but they have no shield, which makes them more vulnerable to archers. In the end, Falchioneers are not the wisest of investments. With a low attack skill and short weapons, many of their attacks will miss or be repelled. Against large enemies who are bad at dodging attacks, Falchioneers are a good choice, but against the majority of forces that you will go against, there are better troops C¿tis has.
Slave Warrior: The second offensive unit for C¿tis, the Slave Warrior is the first of the tan lizardmen that have been enslaved by the other C¿tissians. The Slave Warrior is good on the attack, very good. Like the Falchioneer, the Slave Warrior has two weapons (a trident and a bite), but unlike the Falchioneer, the Slave Warrior is actually capable of hitting things, quite reliably too. They have everything an offensive unit needs: high strength, good attack skill, multiple weapons, good morale, and good speed. These things all combine into a formidable unit. Slave Warriors are have poor defense skill and little protection, a bad combination. Finally, while their resource cost is low at 3, Slave Warriors cost 12 gold, which isn¿t cheap when you take into account how fragile they are. Great care must be taken when placing them on the battlefield.
Elite Warrior: Possibly my most favorite C¿tissian unit, Elite Warriors may be expensive at 14 gold and 9 resources, but you get what you pay for. Elite Warriors are even braver than their lesser cousins and have better attack skill. The biggest upgrade though is the addition of a scale mail cuirass. This makes them more survivable in melee and reduces their vulnerability to archers.
Runner: The Runner should probably be renamed the Flanker as that is it¿s primary use. The Runner¿s stats are almost identical to the Slave Warrior¿s, making them good on the attack but bad on the defense. The two most notable differences between the Runner and the Slave Warrior are that Runners are armed with spears instead of tridents and Runners are faster, obviously. They are not as fast as cavalry, but as C¿tis, you don¿t have access to cavalry. They are useful for flanking the enemy and attacking undefended archers. Since archers are rarely good in melee, the Runner¿s poor defense skill and low protection matter less, and they can reach archers quickly as well. On a special note, their map movement is three, allowing them to be brought along with light cavalry and Lizard Chariot armies.
Sacred Serpent: (Sacred Unit)
The first of two sacred units that EA C¿tis has, the Sacred Serpent is very important for the armies of C¿tis. As you know by now, many C¿tissians have low morale. One of the ways of solving this problem is by using Sacred Serpents. They have a powerful Standard +10 ability that will greatly help with morale. Only a few Sacred Serpents can turn a group of cowards into very brave fighters. There are two basic ways to use the Sacred Serpent¿s standard effect. The first way is too simply place them in the desired squad. The second way is to place them in their own squad to have them avoid direct combat, since they are poor at absorbing hits, and design them to be near the squad whose morale they are supposed to boost when fighting starts. An example is this: Sacred Serpents are slightly faster than Heavy Infantry, so placing them in the same squad could result in the Serpents getting ahead of the Heavy Infantry and taking the initial round of hits. Instead, place the Sacred Serpents in their own squad slightly behind the Heavy Infantry. Not only will this keep the Serpents from being of the frontlines, but also protects them from enemy archers set to fire closest. Sacred Serpents are capable of being recruited from any fort with a temple, but they are NOT useful for an uber bless strategy. They are simply too expensive at 30 gold and not good enough in battle for a bless strategy. Good blesses for a Sacred Serpent are fire (to make it¿s great attack skill even better), water (to help it¿s terrible defense skill), and air (to protect against archers).
Lizard Chariot: While Lizard Chariots are expensive, they can be well worth it. Of course their high cost makes it difficult to recruit large numbers of them quickly, but they are available in every fort so you have some flexibility with them. Lizard Chariots match the Runner¿s map movement and battlefield movement. That speed allows them to be good flankers, but with a defense skill of 14, protection values of 16 body and 20 head, and good morale (as far as C¿tissians are concerned) they can also be used as frontal attackers as well. There are two things to be aware of. Since Lizard Chariots are so expensive and tramplers usually accumulate fatigue faster than most units, it is inadvisable to use them in cold provinces. Usually, as C¿tis, you try to avoid the cold already, but in a province with a cold scale of two, a Lizard Chariot will have a total fatigue value of 48 after attacking four times, which will typically take only two rounds of attacking! Avoid cold provinces with Lizard Chariots at all costs. Second, and much less important, unlike most C¿tissians, Lizard Chariots do not have swamp survival. This means that they won¿t be able to move through swamps at full speed. It also means that if they stop in a swamp and start starving, which could easily happen since they consume a lot of supplies, they have no chance of finding food on their own. As far as what Lizard Chariots are useful against, lightly armored troops are their specialty, but they are willing to run over anything smaller than themselves. With a severe lack of archers and cloud spells, they can help EA C¿tis deal with glamoured units. If you are using Lizard Chariots in conjunction with smaller troops, it is important to leave their rear open, so if they retreat, no friendly units will get squished.
Serpent Dancer: (Sacred Unit, Capital Only)
The Serpent Dancer is the second recruitable sacred unit of EA C¿tis, and it¿s single capital-only unit. The majority of the Serpent Dancer¿s stats are nothing special with the exception of it¿s defense skill, which is 16. This makes them quite difficult to hit in combat. They are armed with snake staves, which are magical weapons. If you happen to get hit early in the game with ethereal units, Serpent Dancers should be an effective counter against them. The snake staff will also poison those it strikes, allowing Serpent Dancers to wear down enemies that can¿t hit them. On the downside, with their complete reliance on only their scales for protection, they are very vulnerable to archer fire, and anything that can hit them will usually do a reasonable amount of damage if not outright kill them. Serpent Dancers may be fragile, but they are also cheap at 20 gold and 2 resources. There are primarily two blesses that the Serpent Dancers benefit from. One is a water bless, which would make them nearly untouchable in combat. Second is an air bless, which would greatly reduce their vulnerability to archers. Another thing worth mentioning is that Serpent Dancers are 100% immune to poisons. This makes them useful in situations when you plan on employing poison strategies on the battlefield. Despite their cheapness, it is dangerous to use a bless strategy with Serpent Dancers. Nations with access to water magic and nations with cold dominions can quickly wear down Serpent Dancers. Of course, it is best to experiment and come to your own conclusion.
Commanders
Taskmaster: (Leads 40 Troops)
The most basic of army leaders that C¿tis has, Taskmasters can lead up to 40 units. They are cheap in both gold and resources, making them a good choice when you are on a budget.
Commander of C¿tis: (Leads 40 Troops)
The name pretty much says it all. Just like the Taskmaster, a Commander of C¿tis can lead up to 40 units. The difference is in cost and quality. Commanders cost a little more in gold and a decent amount in resources. They are equipped exactly the same as C¿tissian Heavy Infantry. This makes them substantially more difficult to kill than Taskmasters.
Lizard Lord: (Leads 80 Troops)
If a durable army commander is what you are looking for, then the Lizard Lord is what you want. Costing twice as much as a Taskmaster and more resources than a Commander of C¿tis, a Lizard Lord is not cheap. They are tough enough to take on most unequipped assassins (it is nice to be 50% resistant to poison), and arrows and a stray enemy unit or two will have a difficult time taking a Lizard Lord down. They are also capable of leading 80 units, twice as much as a Taskmaster or Commander.
Hierodule: (Leads 0 Troops, Level 1 Priest)
Hierodules are weak, level one priests (or priestesses, to be more specific). Bringing them along with armies for bless purposes is not a bad idea when you have your sacred troops spread out on the battlefield, and don¿t have a Lizard King to cast Divine Blessing. It is not too hard to have one Hierodule for each sacred squad. Their availability also makes them useful to spam Banishment spells when an opponent throws undead or demons at you. The other main use for Hierodules is to have them go around your empire and build temples. Hierodules are incapable of leading troops.
High Priest of C¿tis: (Leads 40 Troops, Level 2 Priest)
A High Priest of C¿tis is a level two priest, which allows him to cast Sermon of Courage. Remember that I said that there are a couple of ways to help some of the C¿tisssians¿ poor morale? The Sacred Serpents is the first. The second way is using Sermon of Courage. It is a good idea to have at least one High Priest of C¿tis or Lizard King with each army to cast Sermon of Courage on your forces. Fortunately it is not that hard of a thing to do. You are capable of recruiting a High Priest from any fort with a temple, just like the Hierodule. One of the nice things about them is that they can lead up to 40 units and, thus, can substitute for a Taskmaster or Commander of C¿tis. Finally, if there is one commander that you have to deal with old age with, it is the High Priest. Still, they are only occasionally old, and the loss of a single High Priest is rarely something to complain about.
Shaman: (Leads 10 Troops, Level 1 Astral Level 1 Nature Mage)
Shamans are anything but power-casters. First off, they are cheap, as far as mages go, and they are recruitable everywhere. Interestingly, Shamans are sacred and yet are not priests. This is both good and bad. The good part is that their upkeep is halved, and they will benefit from any bless that you have (since they are spell casters, an earth bless is best for them). The bad part is that a fort will need a temple before you can recruit them. They have a number of uses off the battlefield. The fact that their initial cost is good and upkeep is low makes Shamans useful in the research department. Though they are not as powerful of researches compared to Sauromancers, their low cost allows you to recruit more of them. Shamans are also capable of casting several ritual spells. One is Arcane Probing. C¿tis has a noticeable lack of astral pearls, despite having mages who have skill in astral magic, so get some astral pearls through trading or alchemization to start Probing. Haruspex is another site searching spell Shamans can cast, though not without a little help. Have a Sauromancer forge a Thistle Mace for a Shaman and viola, you can cast Haruspex. Since C¿tis actually has a nature gem income to begin with (two gems to be specific), it is easier to cast Haruspex turn after turn than it is to cast Arcane Probing. The Shaman is also capable of summoning up two of C¿tis¿s national summons, Sirrushes and Couatls, and with a little help, three. With a Thistle Mace, a Shaman is capable of summoning Monster Toads. Shamans¿ use on the battlefield is much more focused. Luck and Body Ethereal are both great spells to cast on Lizard Chariots or Behemoths. Magic Duel is a great way to eliminate enemy astral mages, though the spell requires an astral pearl. Protection is a nice buff spell for your troops. Where Shamans really shine is in Communion. While one or two Shamans can be the Communion Masters and the other Shamans are Communion Slaves, much more powerful spells can be accessed if a Couatl is used as the Master.
Reborn: (Leads 10 Troops, Level 2 Death Mage)
Reborn cost 100 gold and 1 resource, which makes them cheaper than Shamans but more expensive in the long run, because Reborn are not sacred. They are recruitable everywhere, so that¿s always a plus. Off the battlefield, Reborn are excellent for forging Skull Staves. Try to get a hold of a Dwarven Hammer as soon as you can, so you can forge Skull Staves, and other items, for a reduced gem cost. Skull Mentors can also be forged for Reborn to use. This is especially a good idea if you decide to go with a drain scale. Skull Mentors free up your Sauromancers to do more important things too. Reborn are good for summoning up Black Servants, which are important because C¿tis suffers from a complete lack of scouts. Until you can find a province where scouts are recruitable, you will have to rely on Black Servants, and in the Early Age, I either have rotten luck or scouts are hard to come by. The Reborn can give himself a Skull Staff to summon Spectres, to help diversify your magic, and Mound Fiends, who are used primarily used to reanimate hordes of skeletons. A Reborn with a Skull Staff can also summon up Behemoths, which are powerful on the battlefield if you have a Shaman to cast Luck and Body Ethereal on it. They can cast Dark Knowledge, or you can just summon a Revenant to do it. Revenants and Reborn both can forge Black Bows of Botulf, which will put a damper on any SC. On the battlefield, Reborn have only a few uses. They can be skelly spammers by casting Raise Skeletons repeatedly in battle. Even only a few Reborn doing this can result in a swarm of Longdead on the battlefield. They are also great for throwing out Disintegrate constantly when taking on a SC late in the game. By and large though, with the exception of research efficiency, which Shamans are the best at anyways, there is nothing a Reborn can do that a Sauromancer can¿t do better. Normally money limits your high-end mage recruitment, but Sauromancers are fairly cheap. Use Reborn if you are pinching every penny.
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