[PvK]

Originally posted by PDF:
PvK
Without ANY possible path (if I understood correctly your proposal), the Ulm Avatar isn't going to be really playable unless he has much more fighting power than a Dragon (who incidentally "only" has path cost= 80...)!
IMHO the Avatar could have Ulmish magic path (F+E). So an Ulm player choosing it will have a potential SC but forfeit any magic versatility he could have had with a RB .

Do you mean "really playable" or "balanced against other choices such as the dragon"?

For playable, I think it is, in some situations anyway. Against the AI, human ingenuity (and/or agressiveness) can survive without a magical pretender. Against a human, I think it is a pretty darn powerful starting unit. I think it might be stronger in early-game combat than a starting dragon, because he comes with some black steel equipment which gives him rather high starting stats, and he has lance/sword/hoof attacks, and a banner ability.

For balanced, my "King" Version is a starting commander rather than a unit, balanced hopefully by a 50-gold maintenance cost and reduced starting units. If you want a warrior king and a rainbow (or any other) pretender, use the Warrior King Version of the mod instead of the Avatar Version.

My avatar/pretender Version is probably weaker than a dragon for overall strategy, unless you play it as intended and use its leadership/banner ability and magic slots well - group him with black knights or templars, etc. It's really for players who want to play a no-magic combat pretender, and the focus is thematic rather than competetive. It doesn't make much sense to me for the mortal warrior savior of Ulm to be a magician as well. If he were cheaper with no magic, and a desired Drain scale, you'd end up with max positive scales, which seemed somewhat unthematic and had few interesting choices on creation. I think it can be competetive as is, at least for short/close games, single-player, etc. If you weren't really going to use the magic anyway, then this is a rather butch, but very costly, pretender.

PvK

[ February 24, 2004, 01:44: Message edited by: PvK ]