[ywl]

Originally posted by Aetius:
I will admit it is a hefty request, probably too big. However, having played many games, losing the majority to the AI, it seems that I must be doing something wrong. Primarily I play as Marignon and it seems to be extremely difficult to win as this nation, which is part of the fun .

However, it seems to me that the more humanistic races, i.e. Pythium, Marignon, Man, have a serious disadvantage, unless like Ulm they can tolerate having a negative dominion scale. It seems that Abyssia, Emor, Jotunheim, et al. have big advantages by being able to take large negative scales, especially Emor, without having to suffer any of the consequences.

So if anyone out there wants to advice me on how to set up a winning Pythium, Marignon, or Man I am ready to listen.

Jotun is strong. But Ermor and Abysia have their own problems. Pythium, Man and Marignon are all strong nations - somebody might disagree on the Marignon bit.

The key is to keep it simple. You can go for the lot of varieties when you're more comfortable with the game. Keir Maxwell gave some good examples. Though personally, I never like unluck.

To beat AIs, you can use the simplest pretender, a Wyrm or a low magic dragon. Use the other points on good scales and a decent castle. Spend all you income on simple Heavy Infantries. Go out and conqueror. You would be the largest nations before turn 20. Then just crush the AI one by one when they declare war on you. It works even for Marignon. The only trick you need to know is which indie to attack first.

Actually, I think the same strategy work equally well with human players. There are troop killing spells and super-combatants to handle. But still, gold and resource matter the most in many cases.

P.S. Marignon's crossbow is wonderful. But because of their slow firing rate, you need a larger number to be effective. Your expansion won't be as fast.