Best LA Nation
 

Three of us are starting a LA game using the Geometry map This will be a 3 player game with no AI nations.

So, what is the best LA nation? Which pretender/tiles goes with that nation, and what is the recommended strategy? (No Ermor please, it's just to labor intensive.)

Re: Best LA Nation
 

Well my top 4 votes for LA powerhouses are Ermor, Rlyeh, miclan and Marignon.

Rlyeh might not be a good choice seeing how few you are that will play this map, and marignons blood hunting might become as labor intense as Ermor I am afraid.

Miclan surely deserves to be mentioned, but once again, blood requires much labor/micromanagement.

After those four I would probably put Tien chi, but not completly sure to be honest.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

with 3 players you could probably rush the 2 of them with midgard and a SC pretender.. the skinshifters worked very well for me last game (and I mean worked very well in a rush at the start of the game... I'm trashed now that more experienced players have gotten nice research and mages and are communioning or skelly-spamming me out of the game

Re: Best LA Nation
 

I vote Bogarus because they are new and shiny and the polar opposite of Ermor in terms of micromanagement.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

Tell us what map is being played... for a more accurate response.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

I think that might be world of Geometry - about 100 provinces per player if that's the case.

I think late game strength might be the thing to aim for if so.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

World of Geometry with 3 players?! Wow. I am a game on that map, with 14 players, and on turn 45, there most people have not been at war but with AIs.

At least 7 nations are completely possible winners.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

World of Geometry with 3 players?! Don't do it, you'll die of boredom/old age before you get anywhere.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

Boredom, yes well, there is that. Okay so maybe a smaller map, something around 150-230 provinces.

We want to experiment with higher end spells and globals and such. We don't want a rush game.

The other two are training me a bit on MP, in a less intense environment than MP with large numbers of players.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

What percentage of water provinces?
What percentage of rough terrain? mountains?

Re: Best LA Nation
 

You must be trained against the best MP opponents. Only then will you learn Fedslayer. Yes, you must die time and time again to learn the intracies of Dominions.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

Good! That means I'm well on my way. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Best LA Nation
 

Me too !

Re: Best LA Nation
 

In no particular order...

Bone-crushing:
Marignon, Mictlan, R'lyeh (if lots of sea)

Mighty:
Ermor, Arcoscephale, T'ien Ch'i, Caelum, Utgard, Bogarus(?)

Adequate:
Man, Jomon, Agartha, C'tis, Pangaea, Atlantis, Patala, Midgard, Pythium(?)

Mediocre:
Ulm, Abysia

Re: Best LA Nation
 

TNDP forgets that patala CAN NEVAR WIN!!!1!!1 because of their pd.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

Yeah Dr.P, that was pretty dumb of you.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

Superpowers : Ermor, R'lyeh.

Major Powers : Marignon, Mictlan, Ctis, Caelum, Tien Chi.

Average : The rest.

Not Enough Info : Bogarus, Pythium.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

People seem unsure of LA Pyth's abilities so I thought I would chime in. I'm playing LA Pyth in an MP game at the moment and I am finding them to be a solid nation. Thier indy expansion via Hydras is astonishing - just astonishing! I might even go so far as to say that you could use LA Pyth as a rushing nation.

After the early game tho they do flounder a bit with lackluster non-cap troops and scatter magic paths. But I've thought of some strats that could build a good early game and a very strong middle. Overall I would say that LA Pythium is a tricky nation to operate but strong if played well.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

I can't find if there is a guide of Marignon LA

Re: Best LA Nation
 

I think the strongest are R'lyeh, Ermor, Mictlan, and C'tis. I also personally like LA Jotunheim (Utgard)

But I cannot really think of a really weak nation apart from maybe Abysia, and on the last forum I frequented, LA Vanheim (Midgard) was considered completely crippled, because of its lack of recruit anywhere priests, and limited magic in general.

It seems that you guys do not think so about Vanheim, so I wonder what we are missing.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

Rush with lots and lots of Shapeshifters? I remember reading about it a few times, but I haven't seen it in action myself.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

Doesn't LA Vanheim have Vans too? Have they been nerfed?

I can see it having low late-game viability, but it should still be an ugly rush nation.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

Late Era T'ien Ch'i gets 2s in Air, Water, Earth, Astral, Death and Nature. No-one complains about LA T'ien Ch'i magic.

Midgard gets a 3 in air, and 2s in Earth, Astral, Death and Blood. Not bad. Now, the galderman is slightly overpriced, but he's highly resistant to stray arrows; and you do get Van. You can also back up your blood magic with sacrificedom, which nicely counteracts your priest shortage.

So while I don't think Midgard is as good as T'ien Ch'i, I don't think it's weak, either.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

If Midgard gets 2s in Earth, Death, and Blood, then Tien Chi gets 3s in Air, Water, and Astral.

Chance is same, and it is: "Not Bloody Likely" - 1 in 160 mages bought. It happens, and it will happen more for Midgard, because of build anywhere... but it is slim chance.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

I've got quite a bit of experience with Midgard. I wouldn't call them crippled in the slightest. Skinshifters are fantastic units and make it easy to expand to start. Then the galderman provide good magic diversity, not great but good. Most importantly, they're guarenteed A2, which with a storm (since you have no archers this won't be a problem) gets you A3, which is thunderstrike spamming territory. Other than that, Galdermemn get you up to 3A, 2E, 2D, 2B, and 1N. Volga, your other mages, always have 2S, which is great for communes.

You can't recruit NATIONAL priests anywhere, but on the otherhand, you can only recruit priests where you have temples, and theres always a good chance any randon province will let you recruit the generic priest, so its not a huge handicap.

Yes, you do have capital only Vans. However, blessing them usually means sacrificing scales which means less skinshifters and mages in the long run. I never take those odds.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

The Galdermen have a better chance of 2E, 2D & 2B.
It's (AEDB)100%, (EDBN)100% right?
That's 1 in 16 for each of the paths.

Tien Chi requires a 10% random to get 3s. You're right. Those are lousy odds.

On another note, don't forget the random Blood Galdermen can join communions, giving access to Fog Warriors and the like.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

Your odds look correct, 1/16 for 2E, 2D, and 2B. However, keep in mind they are recruitable anywhere, and you should play with strong scales. Plus, Galdermen can ALWAYS be used for their battlefield air magic.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

Wow. I must be blind. I had not seen their second pick was at 100%. Not my day today, definitely not.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

I have to agree with Marignon.

1) Excellent mages, heck probably the most cost effective mage in the game: Goetic Master.
2) Best commonly recruitable troop in the game: the crossbowman (hmmm.. ok longbowman is the best troop in the game, but crossbowman is a solid 2nd).
3) The best PD in the game, it can actually resist most rituals, amazing!

However the lack of worthwhile sacred troops puts you at a disadvantage at the start. You can, and will, offset this with an awake SC pretender (Wyrm seems to be the regular choice).

Re: Best LA Nation
 

"2) Best commonly recruitable troop in the game: the crossbowman (hmmm.. ok longbowman is the best troop in the game, but crossbowman is a solid 2nd). "

Isn't the Ulm Ranger better? cost 2 extra gold, but came with stealth and precision 12...

Re: Best LA Nation
 

Best nation for a medium/long game is LA R'lyeh IMHO.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

LA Man defender is much better.

Re: Best LA Nation
 

LA Man defender moves 1 http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif