MA Marignon Advice Wanted

OoohSnap · #1 February 26th, 2008, 08:29 AM

Hello Forums,

I am going to start a MA Game with Marignon. I have searched the forums for some advice and tried a few tests on SP games. I decided in the end that I would go with a SC with good scales. My main problems seem to be the lack of magic diversity.

At first I was going to head for a dual bless but then I cancelled the idea since I am not a great fan of flaggies and the Chalice Knights are capital-only,
I then tried a rush for Fire arrows but the research might be quite a long way...
Lately I tried a communion, wasn't too bad...

I was thinking of expanding first then heading for Angels for end-game, but I don't know how am going to get myself Astral 7+ as I went for a Cyclops with Earth 5.

Any advice will be greatly accepted,
OoohSnap

Cor2 · #2 February 26th, 2008, 02:41 PM

No advice for you!

but seriously, I dont have much for you. Marignon is Not bless material.

Communions and lots of direct damage spells early on. Mid game fire arrows. Late game go for the Ark and the angels. If you can clam spam its a good idea, cuz you'll l need all the astral you can get.

To get that astral 7 your gonna have to empower. Sux.

OoohSnap · #3 February 26th, 2008, 04:07 PM

Thanks for the Advice Cor2, yea Marignon is definitely not a bless nation. I guess Ill have to manage through communions and massing crossbowmen.

chrispedersen · #4 February 27th, 2008, 04:13 PM

I disagree - I might be wrong due to the vagaries of MP play. But I find a bless strategy with Marignon to be so effective its boring.

Try a F9W9, a F9W9Sx, or a F9W9Ax bless. Res -3, Magic -3
Misfortune -x as a start. Start with a high 7-9 Dominion works for me. With quickness, and numbers, I prefer NOT to have the air bless.

Flagellants are about the cheapest bless platform there is. The usual advice in Dominions is - take no casualties -and thats great advice.

But there are several mechanisms to that path - and one you rarely see: Crushing odds.

All sacreds have half maintenance cost - and with flagellants its essentially *nothing*. With flagellents the % boost you receive from your bless can easily make your unit 2-2.5 times as effective.

The ramp up with flagellants is so fast, that you can very very rapidly build a force that will sweep all indies before it.

Flagellants can get you a commanding early game position- which will then allow you to determine your mid and late game course

CUnknown · #5 February 27th, 2008, 05:02 PM

Fire-blessed flagellants will do decent damage, it's true.. and if you combine that with a water-bless for quickness, they will do excellent damage and also close on the enemy quickly.

However, they will die like flies to area affect spells or even just indy archers. Blade Wind would just be sick. They are a nice unit when blessed like that, but not something to rely on as the meat of your strategy. In fact, I wouldn't invest in a strong bless, it is probably not worth your points on a unit that is so easy to counter.

Knights of the Chalice are great units, but not the best bless chassis in the game, either. They are capital only, so on a small map a bless strategy could work very well, but on a large map you might want to reconsider.

Endoperez · #6 February 27th, 2008, 05:14 PM

The flagellants are strongest in early game, and as chrispedersen said, if your early game is good enough you can make your middle/late game better - even if the flagellants will be rather easy to counter by then.

OoohSnap · #7 February 28th, 2008, 08:18 AM

Yea thanks for the advice, its true that Flaggies are nice when they get the chance to attack, but I don't really like basing strategies on them because they die so fast.

I went for a light earth bless for Reinvigoration as it helps during communions and I can expand easily with a Cyclops.

One thing I wonder though is if I should get Flaming Arrows after researching Communion + Falling Fires or head directly to Angels for some Thug/SC possibilities?

Endoperez · #8 February 28th, 2008, 08:35 AM

Massed crossbows can be devastating, and if you used lots of crossbows against independents it wouldn't hurt to make all of them more powerful. Enchantment also has Wards, which help a little aganist friendly fire.

I don't know if they'd be better than Angels, though. With a Cyclops, you could summon Troll Kings, but on the other hand, Mechanical Men would also be good, especially with their elemental immunity. Enchantment probably plays into your current strength (fire battlemagic, lots and lots of crossbowmen you probably used for expansion early on, etc), while Conjuration will give you new guns to counter your enemies' eventual counters with.

Torin · #9 February 28th, 2008, 11:36 AM

You don�t need a SC god to expand. Maybe you can manage only with crossbows.
Maybe a god that can clam, or a blessing baphomet with F9S9 and flagellants.
Fire arrows or evoc spells + conj 3 for phoenix power. Const 6 is good to forge lightless lanterns.

OoohSnap · #10 February 28th, 2008, 12:56 PM

Hmm, I think I'll definitely go after Fire Arrows after I am done with some Evocation + Communion. I am sorry but I don't really like relying on Flaggies for a bless, however it is too late to change I already uploaded my cyclops for my MP game.