Vampire Queen + Underrated Pretenders?

[MaxWilson]

Having gotten the demo three weeks ago and the full game in the mail last week, I'm still learning the nations in single-player. This time I selected a random EA nation and got Ulm. "Hmmm," thought I, "supposedly Ulm has strong Master Smiths that aren't affected by Drain and pretty well-armored warriors. I think I'll try Drain-3, Turmoil-3, Luck-2, and a sleeping Dominion-10 Vampire Queen with Death-6 and Earth-4 for protection spells." As it turned out, my Ulm didn't have Master Smiths (I guess that's MA) and were affected by Drain (although only at half-strength, it seems)... but my Vampire Queen was a blast! By the time she woke up I had Alteration-2 and thus Barkskin, and she went around whomping on all the Independents with Protection-15 and Life Drain. After a couple of turns I got the bright idea of forging her some Black Steel Plate, a shield, and a helmet, thus boosting her to near-invulnerablility together with her 70+ hit points from drain. Right now I'm occupying a small portion of the map against Lanka, building temples like mad and hoping for a dominion kill, while my Vampire Queen holds the border against huge armies. I suppose I could use some of the gold I have stored up in the bank to buy myself a nice big Ulmish army (Mountain Warriors seem nice) but I'm having too much fun with my invulnerable Vampire Queen. From the Pretender selection screen I initially hesitated to choose Vampire Queen because although immortality is nice, the Prot-0 was kind of offputting. I'm glad it turns out not to be a fun-killer.

I have no idea if she's "worth" 175 points, but this is a lot of fun so far.

Anything else I should know about Vampire Queen? Or other underrated pretenders?

-Max Wilson