A Poisoner's Guide to LA Pythium

[Ironhawk]

The Serpent Cult - a bizarre mish mash of mages, snakes, heretics, and all manner of magic paths. Who would think that a nation this scattered and with such internal oppositions could be a powerhouse? But yet it is!! Throw off your preconceptions and jump in like a Reveler as I detail how to turn LA Pythium into a monster as tough as the Hydras that symbolize it...

[img]/threads/images/Graemlins/Dagger.gif[/img] UNITS:
First, a couple of notes about the units I passed over: It bears saying that all the "elite" versions of each of the Pythium troops are overpriced for the improvements they supposedly give. Dont bother producing them. The Limitane is an ok troop to produce when you are at peace and have resources to spare. Otherwise the Militie masses faster and fights about as well. The Limitane Solaris is useful if you are fighting a fire nation but too expensive for general use. Gladiators are a trick unit - dont try and use them vs any experienced player. They can occassionally be handy against indys and for repairing walls during a defensive seige. The Serpent Cataphract is an ok cav unit but performs poorly for its cost compared to other sacreds and especially poorly when compared to the Hydra (the other way to spend your holy points). Lastly the Hydra Hatchling unit is quite cute, but basically worthless on the battlefield. You might use some as bodyguards for key Serpent Priests, but thats it. Now, onto the core units of LA Pythium...

Milite: Believe it or not, these little guys are the workhorse of your army! At first glance you might balk at thier low morale, but thier cheap gold and resource costs allows you to produce them en masse right where you need them - which you should do extensively. The trusty pyhtium Tower Shields and Javelins are really what make this unit great. Thier prot is low but thier defense and resistance to missle attacks is quite high due to the shield. In addition, they fire off one or two Javelin attacks before closing with the enemy allowing them to inflict damage without having to worry about thier morale in close combat. In order to counter thier low morale, just mix in a couple of Standards (say 2-3) into each block of Milite. The slower speed of the Standards even ensures that they will always end up protected at the rear of the squad.

Comitatense: Here we have the backbone of the LA Pythium army, the Comitatense - the Principe of this Pythium era. While somewhat expensive at 15gp, the Comitatense makes up for it with good stats, good survivability, and perhaps most importantly: map move 2! With all other Pythium troops of this era being hobbled with map move 1, you will find that the Comitatense are the only troops you are able to move at will from one crisis to another. As they are cap-only, you must build these troops religiously at your capital every turn. The only reason to not produce them is to make your other cap-only unit, Hydras.

Hydra: The signature unit of La Pythium - and what a unit it is, I mean... look at all those heads!! Weighing in with a grand total of 64 hit points (40 base + 6 per head) and great regeneration the Hydra is truly a force to be reckoned with. On top of its good stats, the strong attacks from its 5 heads will tear enemy troops to pieces. And if that wasnt enough, the damage from thier poison clouds compounds the ability of thier Fear aura to make any troops numerous or tough enough to survive initial contact with them to turn and run in short order. When given a good bless, the Hydra becomes a dominating force on the battlefield, well worth its very steep price tag. The only weakness of the Hydra is thier low protection and large size which makes them vulnerable to missle fire.