Re: Vanhiem - Looking for a little more help
 

also if you want to use vans and valks my persolnal suggestion is a 2:1 ratio of vans:valks, set up an arrow catcher or 2 with vans behind and valks set to attack archers

Re: Vanhiem - Looking for a little more help
 

Well wish me luck, I have commited to a strategy. I got pretty good scales I think....

Order 3 Cold 1 Misfortune 2 Magic 2 Dom 6 With a 80 point fortress. Hope that holds out well.

Re: Vanhiem - Looking for a little more help
 

This may seem like a really stupid question, but early game, how do you defend your territory with essentially one army. I have to admit, the sacred blessed troops are pretty sweet, but in my AI game I am pretty stretched thin. I got blitzed on two sides by AI. I penetrated into both zones, beating back their main armies, but had to pull out to go back to the other front.

I have a really small core force of pretty kickarse troops, but by now, all the crap forces that were in the army are gone. Producing 5-6 units per turn has its drawbacks.

Re: Vanhiem - Looking for a little more help
 

If you have to fight in more than one place at once, you've got a few options. Build an army of the cheaper troops. Hire mercenaries. Come up with a cute strategy involving a mage or two (there are quite a few of these). If worst comes to worst, Vanheim PD is decent.

Re: Vanhiem - Looking for a little more help
 

that's also why every MP game is heavily diplomacy based. make deals with people, and bribe people into NAPs (non-aggression pacts)if you have to. that way, you don't have to worry about this.

Re: Vanhiem - Looking for a little more help
 

Eh back to the drawing boards...I just got my arse handed to me...by the AI no less. I can see why these guys are powerful I just have to learn how to handle them. You were right that they were really really tuff blessed, but the armies themselves are extremly vulnerable when faced with a war of attrition. With the majority of your resources going to maintaining your blessed troops, you sacrafice numbers. The fodder troops quickly dissapate while the hardier valks and Vans live on. I was doing really well at first. Oh well, round 2.

Re: Vanhiem - Looking for a little more help
 

get a few mages casting maybe phantasmals, they can defend one front by themselves if theres enough. another useful thing is getting a chokepoint, building a castle there and loading a few dwarves into it, should hold up vrs most enemies. also as well as your main army try maybe 1-2 blessers with flying carpets+a pure valk army. flying around with maybe 10 valks each (what bless do you have) they can cause havoc. also even just 4-5 valks and a cheap commander to bless make great raiders being stealthy (and having a sailing leader) and unless the enemy invests heavily in pd (which is not smart in mp) almost any province you hit should allow you to make your gold back (sneak in, hit the province, if you capture it make the army sneak away and raise taxes to 200%)

Re: Vanhiem - Looking for a little more help
 

Try playing a larger map with fewer AI opponents... playing a small map with lots of AI opponents can give even the best gamer tough times.
Also search for those libraries where sages can be recruited... most summoned creatures don't cost any gold. Example = 200 Enliven Statues have an upkeep of zero gold... unlike the vans or valkries. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: Vanhiem - Looking for a little more help
 

Just a quick question. Troops still get blessed when your dragon changes form right? 9 gets dropped to 7 in dragon form.

I was using the water bless. Its pretty effective and I tend to like water a lot better than fire.

Re: Vanhiem - Looking for a little more help
 

Only the value when you designed your pretender matters - so shape change/death/empowerment/wishes/etc. won't affect your blessing