[moodgiesanta]

Myself, I do poorly with resource-expensive countries. Not Jotun, but other countries that have cheaper alternatives, because I have such a tendency to mass-produce cheapies. That's why Mictlan is so fun for me, since your strength lies in your hordes of wussy troops drawing fire from the people doing the real damage. Ulm, regular flavor, is hard for me, being a defensive, research minded fellow, as is Black Forest Ulm, of those races that I have played more than one game with. I can't stand having all those resource heavy troops. I'd take a bajillion Mictlan warriors being blessed to the nines and having their javelins magically guided and having wicked demons come in after the opponent had been softened by my hordes. I don't like slow dudes that are produced in my castles and are expensive and have weak-o mages.

So for this game, I really think you have to say it is a matter of playstyle. If you like high magic and billions of blood slaves along, Mictlan is good. If you like wicked heavy infantry and a dominion that withers your opponents mages but not your smith dudes, Ulm with a heavy drain scale is good. If you like big giants, go with Jotun, etc.