Thanks Sombre - yeah, I'll be doing heroes as unique summons, then.
Meanwhile, I have figured out how to deal with ships and navies. The only problem now is finding graphics for them (any help would be appreciated.
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Every nation will get seaman units, who will be poor amphibians that can be produced in their respective fortresses. They will also have seacaptain commanders for them, who will likewise be poor amphibians. These units will have wooden hulls for armor (either protection 15, or if possible automatically casts Friendly Currents), and will have very high resource costs relative to their gold costs. Some nations will obviously have better seamen units than others, and some particularly capable seacaptains will be able to bypass water provinces entirely by sailing. Naturally, underwater races in Dominions will be better combatants in the water than these seamen!
Nations will also have ships, which can also be produced in fortresses but will be fully aquatic; thus, a land-nation will have to capture a sea-province first (with seamen), and then build or capture an undersea fortress, before it can build ships. Ships will have even larger resource costs, and will genuinely have good protection values, and a lot of attacks. They also have extreme vulnerability to lightning and fire, so amulets of the fish and similar items will be difficult to use. There will also be an earth spell in the Enchantment school that will create an amphibious ship, a la ships with All Terrain Movement in AoW. A few unique (heroic) flagships will also have magical capabilities.
A handful of nations will have access to airships, which will be amphibious, have flying, sailing, and command capabilities. Most of these will only be available through Construction, but the Dwarven Balloon, the Syron Forceship, and the Shadow Demons' and Element of the Secret's ship will be buildable (although almost prohibitively expensive, except also insanely powerful).
So here's the breakdown for what I am thinking for the current mod:
Humans - Swashbuckler is one of the better seamen, especially on land as they have pistols. Humans also have a wide variety of warships once they get established on the sea. Humans also have a racial summon of the Air Galley, which will be a powerful flying ship.
Azracs - The Azracs make pretty good pirate seamen, and as a result are able to get into the water more quickly than other land-dwelling nations. When they get underwater fortresses, they have fairly cheap small warships, but will need to rely on quantity over quality once other nations start facing them with ships.
Frostlings - Although the Frostlings will have seamen like everybody else, it will be their amphibious racial summons starting with Dire Penguins and then later Frost Queens that will provide them with their advantage on the sea. Frost Queens will be able to lead land-dwelling troops into the sea as well, making seamen essentially obsolete. Frostlings will have war rafts, but will not equal other races' ships.
Lizardmen - Equipped with numerous amphibious units, including summonable amphibious monster turtles, the Lizardmen will neither use nor need ships.
Elves - Elves will have good but expensive seamen, although they will be both capable at and especially vulnerable to ranged attacks on land. Elven ships will be small and fast for the most part, except for their flagships, which will be huge and powerful, but very costly to produce. The Elves will also have unique summonable hero ship, one of the few ships that can use magic. Lastly, the Elves will also be able to summon very small, weak airships, more useful for scouting than for anything else.
Halflings - Halfling seamen will be fully amphibious instead of poor amphibians, but will otherwise be weak, requiring great numbers to defeat any aquatic troops. They will have water-capable commanders, though. When the Halflings gain access to ships, they will have almost no gold cost (signifying their mercantilism), so while weak, they will be able to amass them in colossal numbers with very little upkeep. Halflings will also be able to create an airship via Construction and Fire, but it will be mostly a transport unit and not for war.
Dwarves - Dwarven seamen are lousy, but they do have them. When the Dwarves finally get underwater forts, they will not be able to produce small cheap warships, but will have a full complement of powerful more expensive ships. The Dwarves will have the same airship the Halflings do, but they will be able to build it instead of have to "summon" it.
High Men - The High Men will be generally average as far as navies go. They will have the same basic units as Humans, but won't have the Swashbuckler.
Dark Elves - Like their light bretheren, Dark Elven seamen are expensive but good, and share the same strengths and weakness. However, unlike the light Elves, they will not have powerful flagship warships at underwater forts.
Orcs - Orc seamen will be strong but not good fighters, even without being poor amphibians. They will have fairly powerful weapons for seamen, however. Orc ships have the weak cheap warships and powerful battleships, but nothing of intermediate size. They will have access to Construction and Fire balloons, though.
Goblins - The usual tactic of goblins is vast quantities of chaff that simply overwhelm the enemy, even their supercombatants. Goblins will not be any different at sea than on land in this regard. They will have access to Construction and Fire balloons, though.
Undead - The Undead have no seamen, but are poor amphibians already. They do have ghost ships, which will probably be superior to everybody else's ships except maybe the Elves since the ghost ships will be ethereal, but they will not otherwise be particularly powerful. A magically-equipped underwater army will defeat undead navies easily.
Tigrans - Tigrans at sea are like the Azracs, only moreso. Their seamen are strong, able pirates, but they have only the cheapest, weakest, of ships.
Draconians - The Draconians will not have seamen, although there may be amphibious varieties of Draconians that can enter the sea. The Draconians will not have ocean-going warships either. They will have airships accessible through Construction, but these will not be as powerful as those of the Humans. The fact that core Draconian units are themselves able to fly, however, makes up for this deficiency.
Syrons - Because they are derived from late Atlantis, the Syrons will have a wide access to amphibious units and will have no need of seamen. They will have Astral-constructable airships, however.
Shadow Demons - Because they are derived from early R'lyeh, the Shadow Demons will have plenty of amphibious (and aquatic) units, but will have numerous summonables. They will also have a flying amphibious warship that is so expensive to build that it is almost prohibitive, but if they actually should build one, it will be powerful enough to function as a supercombatant with few or no additional modifications.
Re: Age of Wonders Mod
Linear Mode
