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Total Members Voted: 7

[Il Palazzo]

Yeah, I had a bunch of stealthy bishop fish following armies. I generally used Shademail a lot (e.g. on astral mages hoping to catch some mind hunters) as well as Elven cauldrons to conceal whole armies.


Those sniping archers - I'm not sure which battle you're talking about, but in at least two cases I had three commanders with bows of war+shroud of the battle saint (for flaming weapons) set to fire rear. Those were most likely the snipers.

But oh well, Well Played I suppose, Hinnom never anticipated you just taking his throne huh?

Yeah, Hinnom was left oddly undefended.
Although if taking their throne had failed, I'd be claiming another 3 points this turn, 2 from you and 1 from Lanka.

As for EQ protection - a ring of levitation on your major casters should be a must. If fighting in caves, a Robe of Shadows helps a lot. I was surprised how unprotected the mages I fought were.


All in all, while I had heard some horror stories about Therodos being underpowered, I've found it to be a strong nation. Highly mobile - 3 mp floating amphibians mean you can shift your armies around extremely quickly. Furthermore, you get an early sailing hero, amplifying your mobility - especially on a map like this one. Just invest in as many forts as you can for hordes of freespawn, and rush research for EQ and some construction.

[Jilladilla]

The problem is, Ermor doesn't really have air mages, yes 1 in 4 Auger Elders, but I'd rather spam normal Augers yeah? (Fun fact: I recruited exactly two Auger Elders this entire match. Both rolled Death. I recruited enough normal Augers to be the research leader for most of the game, Hinnom and Marverni only just caught up, and only because I was fielding my entire mage force for the past 5 turns or so...)

That, and by the time I did my two army split I emptied my gem coffers on... I actually don't remember... Empowering that one random Auger in that western army with air I think?..... Lots of gear too, that got lost in the fiasco at the battle for the Throne of the Elements...



I'm FAIRLY sure Fire Rear isn't a thing, now I've heard of tricks using Hold and Attack Rear... But I'm certain Fire Rear is not a thing.....

Also, you claiming my Throne of Life wouldn't guarantee a victory, you'd still have to hold it until the end of turn, and I was in position to do something about that... Although you would just defensive quake spam cheese your way to victory... Can't wait for Dominions 5 where stuff like that isn't more or less an automatic 'win' button unless you're up against certain compositions...

I mean, Il Palazzo, consider this honestly: I somehow coughed up the gems to shield my masters and a good chunk of slaves. You inflict massive damage to my standing army. Heck, you could've gone back to a multi-quake alpha strike to attempt to cause most of my troops to route, and punch through more of the not-absolute anti-quake countermeasures I would've been able to field. Either way, your ghosts are still better than my now battered legionnaires, and yes I actually have mage support now, but so do you, and you were taking countermeasures like rain and what not... Shocked I didn't see a Warriors of Niefelheim or Fire Fend out of you though... Then again, Pillar of Fire kinda doesn't care...

[AlStar]

Yeah, Hinnom was left oddly undefended.

My two armies were caught badly out of position - one was finishing taking the last provinces of Tir, the other was in the process of sieging Marveni's capital.

I started putting together a new army, but giants really are ruinously expensive.

Edit: I'd say that the misstep I made was underestimating just how big of a threat Therodos posed. There was a couple turns right after I'd taken out Sauromatia where I was deciding who my next target should be. Unfortunately, I decided to go after Tir na N'Og; then Marveni decided that I was the bigger threat (easier target?) than Therodos, and suddenly I was in a two-front war (which I was well in the process of winning, I'll note!) and had no attention/troops to spare in opening up yet another front (one which bordered me on 3 sides, I'll note.) So I just kind of crossed my fingers and hoped that someone else would rise to the occasion.

[Il Palazzo]

I'm FAIRLY sure Fire Rear isn't a thing, now I've heard of tricks using Hold and Attack Rear... But I'm certain Fire Rear is not a thing.....

I'm not lying to you, love. Give a commander a bow and see for yourself.

Also, you claiming my Throne of Life wouldn't guarantee a victory, you'd still have to hold it until the end of turn, and I was in position to do something about that... Although you would just defensive quake spam cheese your way to victory... Can't wait for Dominions 5 where stuff like that isn't more or less an automatic 'win' button unless you're up against certain compositions...

I don't think you could take the throne of life back. I finally got one of the Telkhine heroes, so I'd be spamming Shimmering Fields in addition to the regular stuff. Two earthquakes guaranteed on the first turn.
Besides, I've also just conquered Lanka's throne, which would also give me victory (although I'd have to send somebody to claim it).

The problem is, Ermor doesn't really have air mages, yes 1 in 4 Auger Elders, but I'd rather spam normal Augers yeah? (Fun fact: I recruited exactly two Auger Elders this entire match. Both rolled Death. I recruited enough normal Augers to be the research leader for most of the game, Hinnom and Marverni only just caught up, and only because I was fielding my entire mage force for the past 5 turns or so...)

That, and by the time I did my two army split I emptied my gem coffers on... I actually don't remember... Empowering that one random Auger in that western army with air I think?..... Lots of gear too, that got lost in the fiasco at the battle for the Throne of the Elements...

I mean, Il Palazzo, consider this honestly: I somehow coughed up the gems to shield my masters and a good chunk of slaves. You inflict massive damage to my standing army. Heck, you could've gone back to a multi-quake alpha strike to attempt to cause most of my troops to route, and punch through more of the not-absolute anti-quake countermeasures I would've been able to field. Either way, your ghosts are still better than my now battered legionnaires, and yes I actually have mage support now, but so do you, and you were taking countermeasures like rain and what not... Shocked I didn't see a Warriors of Niefelheim or Fire Fend out of you though... Then again, Pillar of Fire kinda doesn't care...

Yup, these are the kind of things one needs to start planning for longterm. As soon as the game starts, preferably.
If it were me fighting Therodos as Ermor, I'd probably use human troops only on the defensive (providing I could give them mass flight, for warriors, or army of lead/gold on the first turn), and use summons/thugs to hold the line when attacking.
I'd also try to take down as many mages as I can remotely, rather than in battle. I'd push for Flames from the sky and use it copiously, which is one of the better reasons for Ermor to get as many Augur Elders as possible. Another thing they could be casting is Vengeance of the Dead - a great way of taking down EQ-spamming mass murderers.
As it was, I don't think I lost more than 2, maybe 3 daktyls the entire game.

Oh, and I did not cast anything like Warriors of... because my best research was lvl 7 in Evo, and lvl 6 in everything else (sans blood).

Yeah, Hinnom was left oddly undefended.

My two armies were caught badly out of position - one was finishing taking the last provinces of Tir, the other was in the process of sieging Marveni's capital.

I started putting together a new army, but giants really are ruinously expensive.

Edit: I'd say that the misstep I made was underestimating just how big of a threat Therodos posed. There was a couple turns right after I'd taken out Sauromatia where I was deciding who my next target should be. Unfortunately, I decided to go after Tir na N'Og; then Marveni decided that I was the bigger threat (easier target?) than Therodos, and suddenly I was in a two-front war (which I was well in the process of winning, I'll note!) and had no attention/troops to spare in opening up yet another front (one which bordered me on 3 sides, I'll note.) So I just kind of crossed my fingers and hoped that someone else would rise to the occasion.

You really should have dropped everything and send those armies to the nearest throne as soon as shit started coming down (i.e., as soon as Marverni failed at taking both of our thrones they were aiming for). Conquering throne-less nations when people are at a brink of winning seems rather suboptimal.

[ThtblovesDF]

I blame everyone that ganged up on me early game while I tried to form a anti-under-water-undead group.

From watching battles, the defensive qualities of eternal, with some armor and floating really no-sells most things, add to that that you had as many troops as I had...


How many longdead would it take to beat one eternal dude, if they only attack 1 at a time?

_______

Edit: I wonder if you could've won the war by pure conquest - we all would've had to suck up loses until we learn to play better/around your strenghts. Split up armys and all that.

[Il Palazzo]

Edit: I wonder if you could've won the war by pure conquest

Ugh, possibly. But it'd be a dreary slog.
That's why I liked this game's victory conditions - it was so nice to have an alternative to just slowly conquering everything. It kept us all on our toes, engaged till the end, and gave quite a few of us a go at winning.

[E. Albright]

Fire rear for troops is no longer a thing. Commanders, being more cleverer, still can manage it.

At least they forgot how to Fire Casters along with everyone else (well, everyone who's not at least somewhat bogus) between Dom1 and Dom2. That was ugly.

[Il Palazzo]

Fire rear for troops is no longer a thing.

When was it ever a thing, though? Before Dom3?

[E. Albright]

I can't remember when it vanished, but yes. Again Fire Casters used to be a thing...

Re-checking: it was ofc gone by Dom3 (and since I checked, my eyes hurt), but I don't seem to have Dom1/Dom2 demos still on any computer in reach right now. If I'm super ambitious I might see if I can't still scare them up on Wayback to check.

[E. Albright]

Hmm, so I was wrong. Fire Rear for commanders came into being between Dom1 and Dom2, and never existed for troops. Previously it had only been Fire Commanders and Fire Magic Users (both of those were for both commanders and troops).

Also: having looked at Dom2 graphics again, I went from my eyes hurting to wanting to bleach them. Fortunately, I looked at Dom1 graphics afterwards so the impulse was lessened. It still is a bit unsettling how much of a visual downgrade D1->D2 was, even if it was ultimately for the best.

[ThtblovesDF]

Fire rear on Commanders won me that one game, since centaurs have sick aim and a construction sites gave me 2-gem bows.