Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

Too lazy to make a poll, but what is your favorite nation/theme and why?

I haven't played a whole lot, really only 4. Yet, I still don't have a favorite.

Discuss.

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">C'tis : Miasma.

Why?

-I love to play defensively and spread dominion as my main goal. Seems to be what sets Dominions apart.
-Cheap priests to spread dominion.
-Always enjoyed poison/disease stuff.
-Lizards are cute.
-Cool to have an Empoisoner Prophet to preach while stealthed.
-The City Guards are nice units for defensive play.
-It is challenging to play and unusual.
-It has great flavor with other similar poison spells/creatures.

[ January 26, 2004, 18:48: Message edited by: diamondspider ]

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

Favorite 'Power' Nation: Arcosephale

Favorite Theme Nation: T'ien Ch'i

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

Man, Pangaea, Ulm (with Black Forest)
Hmm something psychological in that list. All underdogs with heavy capability toward sneaking armies.
I guess I just like being a surprise. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

--
If you cant beat 'em, then join 'em.
If you cant beat em or join em, then at least try to surprise them.

[ January 26, 2004, 19:44: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

Jotunheim: Niefelheim. Niefel Jarls are the main reason why I like it. With this theme and nation I generally go for a green dragon with nature bless effects, though a Arch Druid, green Naga or other nature-oriented pretender would also work fine for this, the dragon is a very good early game supercombatant (you can take whole provinces with just one dragon!).

In fact, after playing Niefelheim, normal Jotunheim seems weak, comparatively.

[ January 26, 2004, 20:00: Message edited by: EternalSpearman ]

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

It's hard to say, though Vanhiem I find to be a nice balance of fun and powerful. Another fun (if not as powerfull) one is Man's Last of the Tuantha theme. Mictlan can also be interesting, but it is usaully considered the weakest nation.

On a related note I find Machaka the hardest nation to 'get into'. It also has some of the weakest national heroes.

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

I like all the ones I've played, perhaps with personal favor in this order:

Ulm (standard or Iron Faith)
Mictlan (having a really fun game right now - 'tis more tricky than weak, I think)
Ermor (Ashen)
Man (only tried with my first Doms I demo game)
Vanheim
Pangaea
Ulm (Black Forest)
Arcoscephale

Very much looking forward to trying Ry'leh...

PvK

[ January 26, 2004, 19:56: Message edited by: PvK ]

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

I have a necro fetish myself http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif I have a thing for undead, so I'm pretty much held to having Ermor (Ashen) as my fav.. heh heh, but Ulm is a close second. Those plate armoured infantry are just cool http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif (I hate those arbalests though).

What I'm curious about though is if anyone has tried Ermor much in multiplayer? I'm really curious how they fare.

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Though I would seriously question describing Pangaea as an underdog.

My favourite race/theme to play so far is Pangaea. Centaur Warriors rock - fast, quick to build, sneaky, powerful, enough HP's to survive zap bangs, and berserk!! You have all the commanders you need to make things work (fast ones, stealthy ones, troop producing ones , Mass Protection casting ones) and the ability to easily produce lots of supply items and cast Mass Protection to turn your army into a nightmare. As the game goes on use your increased resource base to produce Centaur Cataphracts for extra crunch to deploy in the middle of the battle.

I know alot of people rate Minatours and Satyrs but I think they just slow down your expansion and make life complicated - go for lotsa fast troops and forget the slow ones. Speed and power - hard to beat.

I also think that the Pan are widely misunderstood as there seems a commenly held view they arn't much worth playing in an order race (what you need to use Centaur Warriors - must have gold). In practice you go for a weak dominion with Pangaea, its easy to boost with cheap temples, and your Pani spend most of their time in others dominion. They produce a steady flow of Maenads to deploy in the center on hold and attack to take archery while your Centaur Warriors ride in from the flanks. Add to this the Pani are stealthy, give a healthy suppply bonus, can cast Mass Protection later and Panic earlier.

So for me it has to be Pangaea. While the magic may be a bit weak as the game goes on its very useable early and the combination of power, stealth, and speed has the ability to challenge the best and suits my style even better than Vanheim.

Cheers

Keir

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

I generally play AE Ermor and R'lyeh. I do want to give Dark Forest Ulm a try sometime, though.

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

Thematically, I like the idea of sturdy human troops backed up by undead and demons.

So I tend towards
Ermor (I sorta prefer standard, but having the human troops & population makes a lot of death spells hurt as much as they help)
Ulm (Black Forest)
Marignon (Diabolical Faith)

I'd like Abysia but find their recruitable troops lacking in versatility a bit too much.

I also like the idea of Tien Chi but find them so difficult to play compared to the others.

And I like Vanheim (usually taking Helheim, but any of the themes are considered), but I suspect my playstyle doesn't really draw on their strengths so well. I'm not using their mobility or stealth much, besides occasionally their sailing.

(I've only been playing against the AI thus far)

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

At the moment, my top 3 is:

1 - Vanheim/Midgard
2 - Machaka/-
3 - R'lyeh/-

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

I like Soul Gate Ermor myself. Probably not as effective as AE Ermor for general usage, but I like the concept.

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

My top 3:

T'ien Ch'i/Spring and Autumn.
Jotunheim/Niefelheim.
Pangaea/New Era.

cant handle blood nation well, so doesnt like those blood race.

[ January 27, 2004, 02:55: Message edited by: void ]

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

Strictly for thematic and "roleplay"/ambiance reasons (I am waayy to much of a newbie to have grasp at the intricate balance of power between nations http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif ) :
- Jotunheim / Utgard
- Vanheim / Midgard
- Marignon / Base

... thus far http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

Black Forest / Ulm
I just love vampires wolfs and all those other nasty and sturdy units

Marignon / Vanilla
Something hidden in marignon attracts me , can´t say what thou

C´tis / Vanilla
Lizards are cute , and Sauromancers are awesome(+9)

Well I dont want to wright the "exact" wy I like the nations , but that is only because I´m too lazy

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

Ulm / Iron Faith

I just like the idea of banishing all mages from the game http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

I'm having fun with my Mictlan AAR, but frankly the only reason I chose Mictlan is their awesome (strategically speaking) starting position in the World War scenario (whereas Ulm's suck big time).

As for second place, I'd say Pythium / Serpent Cult. I love gladiators, and I love hydras, especially blessed ones http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

Hmm...I have a quite a few Favorites

Abysia/standard Tough troops and flame to coat the land with. Just don't forget the eyes of aiming. And I can't resist Demonbred.

Man/Last of the Tuatha It's like discount Vanheim and you still get longbows. Standard is fun too.

Ermor/Broken Empire (standard) All my favorite pythium troops, wonderful sacred shadow vestals, and armed souless after every battle. And the Apostacy spell is fun too.

Pangea/standard Free troops and strong forest creatures supplimented by some of the best magic for support.

Jotunheim/Iron Woods (default) Hags to research, giants to smash, and vaetti to sneak. Also pretty good at making lots of frost demons/ice devils.

For power Arcoscephale wins...I can't seem to do as well with even Pythium as I can with the longspears and ridiculously good mages of Arco.

And least favorite is C'tis. I do better with Mictlan's troops than those of C'tis. I don't see anything C'tis does that some other nation doesn't do better.

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

Pythium/Serpent Cult.

I mean, I'm /Salsa Doom/ right? I mean, right?

I *have* to play the Serpent Cult. And the fact it pWNs is purely a side bonus, really.


(Salsa Doom is a play on Thulsa Doom from Conan the Barbarian for those who don't get it http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

C'tis Default

I have what people call a "disintegration" strategy. I will soon be using the same strategy with Miasma as soon as I do more experimenting.

Re: Your Favorite Nation/Theme
 

I am trying an Ulm/rainbow magic Alchemist god combo. My plan is to use my god to find as many gem sites and then pump out gold with alchemy, then of course pump out mass troops and mercenaries to try to overwhelm my opponents. Has anyone tried this strategy? Was it succesful?