First a disclaimer; this is only my third game of dominions 5 so don't expect superb gameplay and I don't regularly post on the forums so bare with me as I figure out a good format for this.
Opponents and Pretender designOur group is playing a single nation throughout the ages, or a nation and one of it's successors. For this game we'll be in the Middle Age as Abysia with our opponents as Vanheim, Agartha, and Man. Since not everyone here plays this game I'll give the game's description of them here as well inside the spoilers.
Man
The realm of Man is a feudal kingdom. Their kingdom was established by conquering a race of tall and magically powerful beings known as the Tuatha. When the Tuatha were destroyed, their greatest treasure was found: the magical Forest of Avalon. Hidden deep within was great magic. The Witches of Man entered the forest, learned the old lore, and helped Man to grow in power and influence. The infantry of Man is limited and lacks heavy troops. Their regular armies most often consist of powerful knights and skilled longbowmen. The Witches train their own special troops, the Wardens and Knights of Avalon. These troops are very skilled and are also magically enchanted by the witches. The monks who serve the God of Man are divinely inspires scholars who gather and record knowledge in the monasteries scattered throughout the land. Descendants of the Logrian people displaced by the Witches and their servants dwell outside the fortified castles of the nobility.
Alrighty, so Man is listed as relying on infantry, longbowman, and knights along with their special troops. They are skilled in Nature and Air magic with some access to Water and Earth and have weak priests. They seem like a generic military nation to me. The biggest troop threats likely to be their calvary. They have lances and high defense and their Knights of Avalon are even more skilled. It looks like their only sacred unit
Sacred units can be blessed by priests for buffs that the player designs before the game begins
are the greatsword wielding Wardens of Avalon which are also stealthy. They DO have a stealthy commander as well that could lead armies of these guys behind my main lines so that's something to watch out for. To note that both the Wardens and Knights of Avalon can only be recruited in his capital so the will be limited in the rate he can replentish them. He's also got some skirmish looking units that he can recruit from any forest. May be worthwhile to prioritize taking forests from him just to keep them from recruiting too quickly mid war.
For commanders I note that he has a stealthy preacher. That could be a problem if he tries to push my dominion out.
Dominion represents what god has the worship of the people in a province. Fighting within your god's dominion gives some boosts and if you every lose ALL of your dominion in the world then you are out of the game.
He also has bards which have the 'spy' trait. I'm not sure what exactly that does but it says they get 'additional scouting information'. His cheap mages in the Daughter and Mother of Avalon are strong in air and nature and are also sacred. The mothers are level 1 priests as well. His expensive capital only recruited mage is just a stronger version of the same. He also has a weak earth mage that he can recruit ANYWHERE that doesn't have a fort in it.
Overall I think dealing with his knights and archers are the big sticking points, Abysia has strong melee troops and I'm willing to bet they can easily take on any infantry he throws at me. The knights mean I'll want a second line of units so they can't use attack rear orders to bypass the fighting and murder my commanders and mages. The archers.. I do have access to shielded heavy infantry so placing some of them forward to draw archer fire should be a reasonable plan.
Agartha
In dark caverns under the Roots of the Earth a strange kind of one-eyed humanoids has evolved. Untouched by the sun, they have become known to humans as the Pale Ones. When humans first met these pale giants, it was in war. With the destruction of the false god of the Pale Ones, an ancient Seal was broken and vast powers of destruction were released. The Pale Ones were almost wiped out of existence and humans could move down into the caverns of Agartha. Here they found fabulous riches and ancient secrets. The humans replaced the Pale Ones and now most of Agartha's inhabitants are pale-skinned humans with large eyes. Everything left by the Ancient Ones has become subject to worship by the humans. Ancient statues are enchanted and given life by Golem Crafters, priest-mages of the Agarthan Golem Cult. A few surviving Oracles lead the Cult and keep the memories of past ages alive.
Agartha has strong Earth magic and some Fire, Water, and Death as well with very powerful priests. Any constructs within his dominion get additional hit points.
Agartha is a mix of humans and pale ones. They all have darkvision and can move through water (but are bad at it). Caves give them bonus gold and resources. They can recruit giant Ancient Ones in their capital that are sacred. Troglodyte slaves will also prove a problem as they're even larger and have the ability to trample units smaller than them to death. At his non-capital forts he can recruit various types of human infantry. Overall he seems weak on ranged options.
For commanders all of his mages look like they're sacred. He has a cheap priest and a priest/earth mage at the lower end. Earth/Fire/Water on his mid tier and a level 3 priest with very strong earth and some death magic at his capital. It's slow to recruit though so maybe he won't be spamming them.
My infantry's heavy armor should help a lot against any earth evocations he casts in combat, but he'll likely be using several strong defensive spells that I think earth gives access to. 1-1 I think my infantry can still match him but I'm not sure how much his giants and troglodytes will come into play. I don't like my soldiers' chances against a size 4 trampling troglodyte and I don't have access to ranged weapons to keep him from reaching me. With all the talk of constructs and crafting I think they are maybe a late game power? I almost missed the fact that one of his soldier's (capital only recruitment) carries a weapon that can curse on hit. I will need to take care to keep my pretender
all player gods are pretenders. The winner ascends to true godhood
out of combat if I see masses of them around.
Vanheim
Vanheim is a land of misty moors and bitter forests. Humans compose most of the population, but the rulers of the land belong to a tall and inately magical race known as the Vanir. The Vanir once fought the giants of Jotunheim, but with the coming of Man, they have turned their attention elsewhere. Now only a precious few of the Vanir remain and humans are no longer slaves. Humans compose the basic infantry units of the Vanheim. The Vanir have blessed some loyal humans with superior fighting skills and the ability to enter a mental state of wild rage or wolven shape. The Vanir are masters of illusion who fight while mounted on exceptionally fast horses. Female Vanir are called Valkyries and have the ability to fly. This ability was a gift from a dead god who used them as messenges of death. During those days, blood was sacrificed. The old ways have not been used in ages, but the oldest of the Vanir remember how to sate nature with blood. The Vanir are very skills sailors and can sail the oceans.
Ah Vanheim. My bane from the Early Age game we just completed. Vanheim is strong in Air, Earth, and Blood magic with weak access to Fire and Death. They have illusions and glamours to help sneak armies through enemy territory and make themselves hard to hit in combat and they have shapeshifters and beserkers to make their troops that much more deadly. They also like their lands to be cold, which of course in unacceptable to those of is in Abysia!
Their sacred Van cavalry is likely the biggest threat. He definitely used it to great effect in the previous game. He also has access to Valkyries which are sacred and can fly to strike my rear lines immediately. His skinshifters will regenerate and his beserkers will become stronger in combat and never retreat. If he plays it like the previous game he will create his bless so they are nearly impervious to fire - which sucks for me.
His Vanjarls and Vanadrott are good air and blood mages and all of his vanhir commanders are sacred as well as being priests of some level. He also has dwarven smiths with earth magic that can forge items more cheaply but I would guess he only has a few of them since they compete for recruitment spots in his capital.
I think my best bet against them is to get deeper into blood magic before war breaks out. The glamours make him hard to hit so the wide aoe's there and the mass summons of chaff will help to pop the glamours and start causing some damage. I'm planning my pretender largely around fighting off year two-ish attacks from them as well. I'm not sure my plan will work but it sure as hell should work better than my previous attempts with fire magic! Since they also have blood magic access I'll need to make sure they don't outpace me in it.
That took a lot longer than I anticipated so I'll do Abysia's intro and pretender design tomorrow.
Edit: I just noticed the child board. Should this be moved there? If so can a mod move it or should I repost it there later?
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Topic: Let's Play Dominions 5 MA Abysia - Burning Sun (Read 19214 times)