The 400
 

Taking a sick day from work today. I've been up since 4 am, unable to swallow, very soar throat. But, I'm not here to share my case of the "poor me"s. Rather, since I was up at 4 I've been playing Dominions 3! :sick:

Playing as EA Agartha, I had an army that was 100 strong. 30 or so Trogolodytes, 40 Archers, a handful of cavvy, all led by a mounted commander, 3 Trog chiefs w/ Marble armor, brimstone boots, frost rings, and reflect shields, and 2 Earth Readers. For several turn I had Lanka beating at my gates - waves upon waves of chaff monkeys - but everything was going well. I was able to keep my numbers up, and thanks to a couple of wine bags I was facing no starvation. Eventually the attacks let up and I decided to expand. So, I moved against Tir Na N'og to my east since they had a bunch of border provinces w/ no defense.

It was at this point that the Tir Na N'og army appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, with 400+ units, and consumed me whole.

Holy crap. I don't know how they got to that size - it seems like starvation or upkeep should have been pounding them since they were on the edge of the map! Does anyone have advice for how to get my armies that size....or deal with armies that size....or prevent armies of that size from ransacking me!?! It was nuts! But, I'm sure I'll get better faster if I have some revenge (even though I hear it is best served cold, and I should stick to warm fluids).

Re: The 400
 

It depends on turn. 400 average units would cost around 4000 gold and under 300 upkeep. That's probably feasible by turn 10, and it's easy by turn 20. Also bear in mind mages provide 10 supply per level of nature magic, and Tir Na Nog has plenty of nature magic. Many provinces can provide 300+ supply. Also, you get a supply bonus from nearby friendly castles.

To defeat large armies, you could try:
a) an army about the same size
b) a smaller but still large army with much better troops
c) quite a few thugs/SCs who can kill large numbers of enemies each
d) a decently sized army with much more mage support or thugs/SCs.
e) a few mages casting huge, powerful spells that wreck everything on the battlefield (e.g. rain of stones, earthquake)

Re: The 400
 

A few Ancient Ones with Protection boosted to 20+, some AOE weapon, a decent shield, regeneration and good reinvogoration, and preferably a Horror Helmet as well.

Or just have 3-4 mages with Summon Earthpower - Blade Wind.

Re: The 400
 

Couple the bladewind with ironbane for better results.

Re: The 400
 

Blade Wind + Iron Bane doesn't do much more than just Blade Wind, since it needs melee blows to break armor and your mages won't target anyone in melee with your own troops. I.e. they both work, but they don't synergize.

If you're EA Agartha, don't forget to spam Magma Eruption from your F Oracles. It scales really nicely with your high E. And I also second the call for Earthquake at Evoc-5, given that all your troops are high-HP.

-Max

Re: The 400
 

Really? I would have thought that since the bladewinds do physical damage it would have applied. I guess not. Phooey :(

Re: The 400
 

Just curious but what map and game settings were you using?

Re: The 400
 

By the way, IIRC Tir na Nog's units mostly have Glamour, which makes them impossible to see in friendly lands. That may be why it looked like they had no defenses until their army suddenly "appeared out of nowhere."

-Max

Re: The 400
 

My map settings were the default set, and I can't remember which map now. I've started a smaller game though, and I am incorporating some of the tactics that everyone has posted. First and foremost - more mages. I simply have not been using enough of those. I've been relying way to heavily on melee thugs.

Also, I've been focusing more on what I build and where....now I am the one with the 400-man army. Trogs, Pale Ones, Ancient ones, and archers, gobbling up enemy forces. I do need to throw some more Oracles in there yet, but I'm doing much better thanks to everyone's input.

Thank you all!

Re: The 400
 

Setting independents from the default 5 to 7 makes for a harder game, but also slows the AI down a lot more, especially if the AI took bad scales.