What's your favorite nation and why?

[K]

I like Lanka because demon monkeys are awesome. Longdead monkeys are awesome too.

Sadly, I'll probably never play it again in MP due to people wanting to hit it with the nerf-stick all the time.

[Salamander8]

Foodstamp said:
I voted:

EA R'lyeh
MA R'lyeh
LA Argatha

Footstamp has read my mind! These are my favorites per age as well!

EA R'Lyeh: Is unconventional and I love Mind Lords. Having a large group of them enslaving enemy troops makes some really interesting armies over the longterm. The whole evil mind-controlling fish theme is just a lot of fun for me.

MA R'Lyeh: I'm a Lovecraft buff and the void gate is a lot of fun to use. Having so many amphibious mindblasters, combined with the void gate summons and the hybrid freespawn in coastal forts makes a combo I really enjoy.

LA Agartha: I like all ages of Agartha, but LA really comes together well for me. Well-armored (if underarmed) main infantry, nice national spells, and the whole theme of LA Agartha is just a great fit for me.

Runners-up would include:

EA Yomi: Dai Onis alone make me love this nation. Throw in the other Oni types and you're cooking with gas. Only slightly below EA R'Lyeh for me.

LA R'Lyeh and LA Ermor: I like these nations themes immensely, but the micro-management they require knock them down off the top for me.

EA Abysia: Setting your enemies on fire over and over is a lot of fun, but the lack of being able to build sacreds and many mages in non-capital forts is why I don't rank it higher.

EA Agartha: Agartha in general is one of my favorites, and EA is no exception. Just below EA Yomi in my list of favorites.

MA Agartha: Yeah, I know some people will call me loopy, but I love the sacred statues and the whole theme of the nation in any era.

MA Shinuyama: Goblins and lots of them! The extreme old age of their best mages is a problem though.

EA Lanka: Demon monkeys! Need I say more?

[Amhazair]

My favorite nation has to be LA Atlantis. How can you resist all those silly frogzars trying mighty hard to look evil with all that ice & bones stuff? I actually don't especially like how they play, though I have yet to try them in MP, but, well... as I said, I just can't resist the frogzars.

Cerlin said:
Middle age I picked Abysia because they are the strongest of the abysian nations when it comes to blood.

Excuse me? I also picked Abysia as my favorite MA nation. There is just something magical about the smoking remains of a battlefield where a few hundred abyssian troops with a dozen fire-mages have fried the opposition, the ground and the air, and they were also my first introduction into the power of blood magic. But the strongest Abysian nation when it comes to blood? I do agree that the Warlock guys are awesome blood mages, but you have the choise between a capitol only, 120?g non-sacred bloodhunter, and a 220g, capitol only, sacred one. Both of which compete for the capitol-only slot with your warlocks, who you need to actually use those slaves. There's just no way to build an effici�nt blood economy out of that. Still, it makes for a nice extra, and I do like these guys.

[moderation]

quantum_mechani said:
They do have upkeep in the base game.

Hmm, are R'yleh's freespawn hybrids 0 upkeep in CBM then? Then they would suck slightly less. I guess if you take someone else's coastal fort, they are OK chaff.

[moderation]

oops. please ignore this double post.

[Cheezeninja]

Amhazair said:
But the strongest Abysian nation when it comes to blood?

While it is definitely dependent on map size, I far prefer MA Abysia's blood options. They might be cap only, but they're also sacred and fliers, making it easier to get them out hunting in the far away provinces. More importantly though; they are flying undead leadership, which means if I take a god capable of forging Soul Contracts I only need construction 2 researched to quickly start rolling down the road to large devil armies. An awake Moloch does this, while also helping greatly with early expansion. You can have surprisingly large devil output surprisingly fast this way, and having capable devil leaders is key.

[Xietor]

Pangaea.

I like the gorgon, the nature theme, the high hps, the high mr, and the various MA units.

[Foodstamp]

Xietor said:
Pangaea.

I like the gorgon, the nature theme, the high hps, the high mr, and the various MA units.

EA Pangaea was my first love. I think I played that nation exclusively for about a month after I got my copy of the game. I tried every possible strategy I could think of with them, I loved it.

[Cor2]

I am the odd one:
EA Arco- love the philosophers and they have a good mix of troops and magic
MA Argatha - I love golems and earth magic
LA Ulm -I like them because ummm I am not sure. I like the wolf summoning guys. the fortune tellers are nice, I don't feel bad taking misfortune 3.

[moderation]

Foodstamp said:

EA Pangaea was my first love. I think I played that nation exclusively for about a month after I got my copy of the game. I tried every possible strategy I could think of with them, I loved it.

Wow, I didn't know you could get hooked on a nation like that. I've tried nations here and there, but I haven't found one I'd want to play for a month straight. So of course, this probably demonstrates my inability for commitment.