ulm help
 

i just got the game did very well on the walkthru (very helpfull). I tried several times to play the Ulm as i like the description. I tried twice with a combat pretender then tried a rainbow pretender(which i did a little better with). I play against 5 easy AI. When my path crosses with any AI i seem to go downhill and its only a matter of time before its all over.

Any pretender suggestions? and why, in my 3 tries i like the great sage the best let me know the error of my ways.

Are xbows knights and infantry enough to get the job done or am i lacking something?

i know i should probally be making my commanders things and would welcome suggestions.

Spell reasearch any tips on things to aim for?

Re: ulm help
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Well, without trying to give a long analysis of how to expand and play well, I can give you one tip that helped me a lot.

I assume you mean that you are playing vs. 5 AIs on the Aran map. I tried the same thing at first and, depending on how the enemies were placed, even on easy AI it can be very tough.

What I did is reduce the it to 3 AI opponents and was selective about my starting position (e.g. I started over if I was placed very near an enemy, in the center, or locked square into a corner). This actually ended-up making the game too easy but I learned a lot.

Then I started raising the number of enemies as I got better.

Suffice it to say that there are a lot of approaches to winning but understanding the complex underlying dynamics of the game is needed eventually to be able to win consistantly in a situation where you start with many enemies close.

So, reading the FAQ at the top of the page and checking out Sunray's site and reading that stuff, along with practice will do a lot more for you than a few Ulm tips I think http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[ January 31, 2004, 23:56: Message edited by: diamondspider ]

Re: ulm help
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I like the sage also. Cheap (only 35 points), and new magic paths are only 10 points. That's not what's causing you problems.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Be sure to make a wizard/mage/spellcaster of some kind and send him along with your army. My basic starting army is the commander that you get for free, then I recruit the unit with the highest 'holy' value and make him my prophet. I send the army out with the commander, prophet, pretender, and the grunts...making sure to order my leaders to 'stay behind troops'. After I capture a few provinces, my pretender is usually searching for magic sites, but by this time I've recruited a spellcaster to replace him.

Follow Diamondspider's advice about lowering the number of opponents. I started with 2 easy AI on Aran map.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">This is one of the most confusing areas for a beginner. What spells to go for? There are many choices. A safe bet is to research Evocation up to 4 (assuming your sage/pretender has Earth 3, you can have him cast blade wind in battle). Evocation gives a decent number of battlefield spells right from the start.

Re: ulm help
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Don't bother with making a holy 2 commander your prophet, unless you also want the boost to stats to help him in combat, as any commander is brought up to holy-3 or has one added to their priest ability, whichever is higher.

Re: ulm help
 

Ulm....vs some easy AI? here is my suggestion.

5 AI is too much on the ARAN for newbie. reduce it.

All pretender is acceptable. If you want a easy start, choose a dragon. Dragons can razed almost everything on a indy.3 map. But, if your dragon get some serious wound, back to your provinces.

Make the start-commander your prophet, Ulm havnt priestly 3+ commander.

Clear indys near your capital to increase resource income.
Choose the 80point Admin.50 Castle if you want rebuild Black Order(they are faster and do well against easy ai), and choose admin.40 if you prefer to use a general army--mixed shield/pikeman.

Re: ulm help
 

Some simple magic advice. Research Construction so you can make Earth Boots, Conjuration for Summon Earth Power, then equip these boots on a Master Smiths, and have them cast Summon Earth Power and then Blade Wind as much as they can.

If you use the Sage, don't bring him into combat since he dies easily and will lose lots of magic if that happens.

Re: ulm help
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Don't bother with making a holy 2 commander your prophet, unless you also want the boost to stats to help him in combat, as any commander is brought up to holy-3 or has one added to their priest ability, whichever is higher. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Prophets also get a significant boost in fighting ability as well as permanent blessing (the effect of blessing depend's on your God's starting magic).

That is why I like a Black Lord prophet with default Ulm. Black Lords have unsurpassed protection (among normal units), good defense skill (because they are mounted and don't take penalties for armor) and some strong attacks. As a prophet they get even more attack and defense skill, extra hp in friendly dominion and permanent blessing (gods of Ulm usually have earth, which provides reinvigoration if you have 4+, very nice on a Black Lord).

It's good to forge him some cheap items, too. Sword of Sharpness is a nice improvement over his basic sword (go with the 1-handed Version so he doesn't have to give up his shield), and requires no research. Later on with more Construction research there are lots of things you can forge.

Then give him five or so Black Knights with orders set to "Guard Commander", and put them all on a flank giving the prophet orders to "Attack rear" or "Attack archers". Unless you're fighting undead, then you may want to have him banish instead. Combine this with infantry in the middle.

In my opinion Ulm benefits more from archers than from crossbows. Crossbows have too much of a friendly fire risk. So find an independent province that has archers, preferably with good population (at least 8000) and at least 2 provinces away from your capitol, and build a fort there. Any commander can build a fort if you have enough gold, but it takes several turns depending on the fort type you chose for your God.

Re: ulm help
 

All Ulmish magic item forgers should be given a Dwarven Hammer item, which halves the gem cost.

As Ulm, I tend to go easy on the crossbows, and heavy on the heavy infantry, mixing in some cheap independent cannon fodder infantry and short bows (which do less friendly fire damage to armored men than arbalests do!).

PvK

Re: ulm help
 

Iron Faith goes along well with playing Ulm for me. You get considerably better priests and a new powerful knight unit. You suffer more in magic, but . . . you're playing Ulm, which means magic can't be that high on the list. When I had the demo, I played Ulm Iron Faith and mopped up. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif Good stuff, that.

Re: ulm help
 

A few more tips with Ulm :

- if AIs are giving you trouble, you might try finding some cheap indy troops to buy in bulk and parade along your borders, just so the AI don't all declare war on you, thinking you'll be easy to beat. They just don't seem to understand that your infantry is worth 3 of theirs any day, and they end up ganging up on you almost by accident...

- A rainbow pretender is my favorite choice for Ulm, as you don't really need a SC for early expansion, and you can really use an extra boost in research/site searching and item forging.

- Knights are very expensive and easy to lose. They can be very useful if you use them right, but you might want to save them until you get a little better at the game. You don't really need them as Ulm.

- Ulm's crossbows (arbalest really) have a very slow rate of fire, and can easily kill your own troops. Unless I know I'm going against heavily armored opponents, or ones with lots of hp, I don't build them. Cheap indy archers will serve you much better (The 3 resource shortbows are my favorite, or longbows if I find them). If you can, build a fort in a province where you can recruit them.

- Heavy infantry is what will win your battles. I favor the 24 resources morningstar+shield one against AI, and the 18 resources one against indies at the start. You need enough numbers not to get mobbed, which is why I don't go for the more expensive ones.

- You can do without mages, although the right mage casting the right spell will certainly help.