[Psitticine]

Let's see, here's a very quick and dirty overview, but keep in mind that (as has already been pointed out) there's such variety in playstyles and set-up options that Your Mileage WILL Vary. Also keep in mind that the variant dominion themes greatly change the nature of a nation, and I've only described the bare-boned basics of the default theme for each nation.

Abyssia: A race of demonic, heat-extruding types who practice blood magic and live in a volcano. They have many units who radiate a damaging heat aura on the battlefield and are heat-immune themselves, for the most part. Their turn-ons: heat, hotness, and burning things. Turn-offs: pushy Caelum, slurpees, and Vanilla Ice.

Atlantis: As the name would imply, an aquatic race. Their main rivals are R'lyeh, the other aquatic nation. Their troops are cold resistant and come in a variety of forms, mostly representing the life cycle of their race. They also ride giant War Lobsters, who are pretty darn cool, IMO.

Pythium: Remnants of a once-great nation (Ermor), they use ancient war techniques updated to use the Hydras found in the swamp nearby. Hydras are among the most powerful units in the game, being poisonous, regenerative, and able to unleash an enormous number of attacks. They do not, however, do as well in the cold, being cold-blooded, and their poison cloud makes it trickier to mix them with units not immune to poison.

Man: Dispossessed Celts, with a rather all-encompassing name. They have wicked longbowmen, help from the mystical Sidhe, and the powerful Knights of Avalon who ride upon unicorns. Their most powerful units, like many, are only recruitable in their capital, making it harder to progress farther from home, but their temples are cheaper than any other race save Pangaea. (Any grove’ll do ya!)

Ulm: Smiths of great renown but limited magical ability. The Black Steel of Ulm is fashioned into arms and armor of tremendous durability. Their only native mages are their smiths, who receive a bonus for forging magical items but lack something in terms of raw built-in power next to other national units. Their infantry and their Black Knights are to be feared by any within their reach.

C'tis: Lizardmen whose Sauromancers have learned to harness both nature and death magic as a part of the cycle of life. It was their teachings, misused, that brought Ermor to ruin. Their troops are varied but are uniformly cold-blooded, making a cold battlefield more challenging to them. Their poison slingers, who release pellets that produce lingering puffs of poison on the battlefield, are excellent when used en masse and combined with poison-resistant infantry.

Arcoscephale: An ancient nation of astronomers and prophets. They fight with chariots, elephants, and their excellent hoplites. They also have their special Priestesses, who can heal units who have received otherwise permanent battle afflictions. They can also scry, an automatic feat that gives them better intelligence as to what is going on around them.

Caelum: Winged fey folk with nasty archers and puny infantry. The Caelum love the cold and live on the top of a mountain to prove it. Their flying units are extremely useful for jumping over enemy lines, both strategically and tactically. When combined with their easily-spooked but powerful War Mammoths, they also have some ground power. Combining War Mammoths with other, high-morale troops is a must, however, unless one wants to trampled by retreating Mammoths.

Ermor: Once a great and learned nation led by the powerful Theurgs, Ermor learned death magic from C’tis Sauromancers and misused that knowledge, leading to their downfall. Ulm (originally a subject nation), Pythium, and Marignon are all fragments of the once-omnipotent Ermor nation. Now, however, Ermor is populated more by the dead than the living. If you seek the Army of Darkness (sans Ash), then look no further. The endless undead hordes of Ermor are tricky to fight, but they do have their weaknesses in the form of priestly banishments.

Marignon: Nobody expects the Marignon Inquisition! Amongst their units are the bizarre but inexpensive Flagellants, the impressive but costly Knights of the Chalice, and an array of potent mage-priests. The House of Just Fires serves as the center for an Inquisition against Ermor-type corruption and the Inquisitors and Witch Hunters trained there are nothing to be trifled with.

Pangaea: The people of the forest strike back! Satyrs, centaurs, and the Pan (powerful Satyr chieftains) form the backbone of Pangaea’s forces. They are stealthy, can regenerate from terrible injuries, and attract free (albeit rather weak) troops in the form of Maenads, women drawn from civilization into a life of wildness and abandon by the Pan. Their stealth, wilderness survival skills, and Nature magic (which gives supply bonuses) means they can form large armies that seem to pop up out of nowhere.

Vanheim: The Vans of Vanheim and their human subjects are able to cross the seas in ships, allowing sudden attacks on opposing shores. They also have many units with the Glamour ability, which allows them to travel in enemy lands unnoticed and acts as great protection in battle. They also have the flying Valkyries, who are not to be trifled with by any man.

Jotunheim: The ancestral enemy of Vanheim, Jotunheim is the land of the Jotuns (obviously). Jotuns are giants and are giant-sized in both cost and effectiveness. They also have good magical units and their local defense is the most cost-effective of all. Any Jotun, even when just trained and equipped as a militiaman, is a threat.

R’lyeh: Weirdness From Beyond! The descendents of an alien race brought to the world of Dominions as their star fell from the sky. Now, they dwell beneath the oceans and plot weird tentacled evil. They are aquatic (amphibious, actually) and the natural enemy of Atlantis. Their Void Gate allows for powerful, albeit risky, summoning of bizarre units from beyond. Beware the Vastness!!!

Mictlan: Blood-thirsty and copper-plated, the Mictlan are unique in that they must practice blood sacrifice in order to spread the dominion of their god. This is somewhat tricky in practice, and I find Mictlan to be one of the most challenging nations to start with. After a certain point, however, their inexpensive units combined with powerful blood magic summonings reach a pivotal point and they become very hard to stop.

Tien Ch’i: Ancient and bureaucratic, the empire of Tien Ch’i has the advantage of organization. Even without being paid for, their automatic conscription of the peasantry will give them a gradual build-up in local defense, leading to a great cost-savings and an infinitely reduced likelihood you’ll get caught by surprise by an attack on an undefended province. They have horse-archers, excellent infantry, and several Celestial Beings that will appear and offer their special powers to fight for the empire.

Machaka: Do you want to play “spider”? Machaka is centered around the God Mountain, in which lies the preserved remains of an enormous spider, now worshiped as a god by the people there. The Sorceresses who lead this cult are powerful and able to assume the shape of giant spiders themselves. The forest around the God Mountain is home to several species of (living) giant spider, which are harnessed and ridden in the place of horses. Even when their riders are slain, the spiders will fight on, making them rather impressive. Unfortunately, Machaka’s basic infantry, although very brave, is also very poorly armored and tend to go down quickly.

[ January 03, 2004, 14:33: Message edited by: Psitticine ]