Need help with Man strategy

[deccan]

Arryn said:
20 archers may do more damage to a target unit than 30 slingers, but the 30 slingers can inflict more morale checks, thereby playing on the odds that sooner or later the unit's morale will break if you force enough morale checks.

I agree that this sounds like the most reasonable answer. As I understand it, the mechanics of morale checks is relatively poorly known. I wonder if the amount of damage dealt makes morale checks more severe, or does all damage generate the same "quality" of morale check.

[Arryn]

deccan said:
I wonder if the amount of damage dealt makes morale checks more severe, or does all damage generate the same "quality" of morale check.

IIRC, this was answered by a dev, or perhaps Zen, a while ago but I'm too busy watching Jeff Foxworthy DVDs at the moment to bother searching for the thread. hehe

[Huntsman]

Gandalf, yes, I do like using stealth tactics and fully intend to do so in the upcoming game so please share your knowledge! In fact, I've decided to use the Tuatha theme to take advantage of the Glamour of those Sidhe infantry units which, I'm told, makes them even stealthier.

My plan thus far (for early game at least) is get Wind Guide and Flaming Arrow ASAP and use a combination of the Sidhe infantry with Longbows as the bulk of my armies, along with a Bard and Sidhe Champion for leadership support. I'll also send some raiding parties deep into enemy territory to disrupt things a bit.

Thanks for the info.

[Gandalf Parker]

Forester cheap sneak --- great patroller
monk cheap sneak --- can preach while hidden in enemy territory and can lead 10
bard cheap sneak --- can instill uprisings in enemy territory and can lead 10

have you chosen a pretender yet? Scales? Man/Sidhe is a good choice for blessings.
sidhe champion sneak mage&priest --- can lead 50
cu sidhe sneak fast sacred
doaine sidhe sneak sacred

Do we see a pattern yet? I cant believe how many people play this race without using the sneaks. This just wasnt created for "my army meets your army" type of play. Its made for "bring your army. my army is already past yours and headed to your inlands"

"Call of the Wild" can be used to take nearby provinces that appear weakly protected. Or bolster your troops in the field by casting it on yop of you. They can be good flankers set to attack archers. The wolves can be assigned to other commanders and the werewolf leader left there set to "summon allies" creating more of them every turn. Or you can use them as yet another sneak army wandering around.

"Call of the Wind" is easier for you to use but they dont sneak. They can fly so they have some range for jumping around the map. The birds can be assigned to a local commander and the leader reused. As a delivery for equip, gems, slaves. Or give them an Amulet of Vengeance with orders to attack rearmost

[Zapmeister]

Gandalf Parker said:
Do we see a pattern yet? I cant believe how many people play this race without using the sneaks.

I can believe it, primarily because I've only played Man in a conventional, non-sneaky way, and been quite successful. Is the sneaking strategy competitive? Do you win with it? I ask, because I've never been in a game where that's been demonstrated (possibly because I've lead a sheltered life, but still...)

[Gandalf Parker]

Zapmeister said:

I can believe it, primarily because I've only played Man in a conventional, non-sneaky way, and been quite successful. Is the sneaking strategy competitive? Do you win with it? I ask, because I've never been in a game where that's been demonstrated (possibly because I've lead a sheltered life, but still...)

To invest in armies doing sneak tactics generally requires a long game on a large map. And truthfully Im not the one to answer the "can it win" question since thats rarely my goal. I rarely play MP and when I do its usually in one of two modes. Either to be the best ally I can be (which man/tuatha can do well) or in rattlesnake mode. Rattlesnake means I sit quietly building up until someone pisses me off, then Im all flood in his direction. I might not win those games but I have been instrumental in making sure that certain others didnt win.

By being spread wide on the map in hidden armies when other major players weakened themselves on each other I have been in position to suddenly move into first position but Im not aggressive enough to have made the best use of such luck

[FarAway Pretender]

Yeah, the Longbowmen rock. I'd also encourage you to use the "Song of Rejuvenation" or whatever it's called frequently--your lower-level spellcasters can restore Fatigue from your higher-level guys. Think of them as the "Energizer bunnies" of spellcasting!!

For myself, I sure do love the "Swarm" spell, but there's no need to grab for it until the early middle-game. Alteration in general isn't bad for Nature mages. I've only played Man a couple times, but I enjoyed them. Bards are also very handy ways to make your enemy concentrate Unrest-reducing armies one province further away from your borders than he might otherwise. Once an army is clustered there to police, it's often easier to move it towards some other enemy, although that depends a lot on the layout of the map...

[Huntsman]

Gandalf Parker said:
have you chosen a pretender yet? Scales? Man/Sidhe is a good choice for blessings.

I've been trying a Golden Naga in my tests. Fire 4, Water 4 give decent bless bonuses for my Daoine Sidhe. The Defense +2 is especially nice since they have a base Def 15 to begin with. With Glamour and high Def they should make nice tanks.

I've been going with Dominion 6, Luck+1 and Magic+2 for Tuatha theme and Heat +1. SHould I go with Luck+2 instead of Magic+2? I like have "good" events but the extra Research seems helpful since I have to rely mostly on Bards w/Research 3 until I find a Library.

Which pretender build do you like?

[Huntsman]

Ok, I've done some more testing and I'm starting to like the standard Man. I'm going with Air9 pretender for the auto Air Shield 70% on my Wardens so I can stick em right in the middle of the bad guys and not worry about my Longbows tearing them up.

[Gandalf Parker]

GuildBoss said:
Ok, I've done some more testing and I'm starting to like the standard Man. I'm going with Air9 pretender for the auto Air Shield 70% on my Wardens so I can stick em right in the middle of the bad guys and not worry about my Longbows tearing them up.

Flanking helps even more. Set the archers far to the sides of the battlefield and slightly back from where the front-line troops are standing (so they dont get targeted by troops set on "attack closest"). Shooting from the sides gets alot of arrows fired without having to try and shoot over your troops. Only when the two Groups are in major melee will friendly fire become a consideration.

Try to find a druid province. Those sneaking archers make a great addition to a warden force. March everything forward until you are too banged up to go further, then let the warden group continue forward (on sneak) watching for opportunity