[Schmoe]

Originally posted by Teleolurian:
Seriously tired of victory with all my standard races (Man, Ulm, Jotun(Niefel)) and looking for a challenge. Booted up as Vanheim, but they were also relatively simple to grasp. Since I'm usually very bad at finding spells to research towards, I decided to check out a theme without one strong path in magic (Machaka). Since I don't know too much about this nation, here are my impressions from a quick game where I lost just about everything to Vanheim and indies:

1. Machaka has really good cavalry.
2. Machaka has very interesting priests.
3. The infantry seems more or less average or below-average.

Once again, these are initial impressions. I could really use some help from Machaka players regarding:

1. Pretender design (pretenders that work well with Machaka, scales, and magic holes to fill with my pretender).
2. Early spells to research towards.
3. A quick rundown of units to build.

Generally when testing, I'll set a unit to Order3/Misfortune2. With Machaka's range of magics, I also shifted Magic to +1 for a slight boost on research. I also always set the temperature scales to national defaults.

My general early play style is to research whichever path my nation has a lot of entries in, defaulting to Alteration, and splashing Construction. With Holy-3 Priests, I'll prophetize one of them; otherwise, I'll do it to a spy or a strong commander.

Regardless, my Machakan game didn't go over very well, as a result of two horrible pieces of luck (coastal flooding and hurricane), a nearby aggressive neighbor, and a poor showing versus independents.

Thanks in advance for any help offered.

I'm still learning Machaka, and I'm pretty new to the game as well. Nonetheless, here is what has been successful for me so far.

1. Pretender: A rainbow pretender can be very helpful for site-searching, as you will want to use lots and lots of nature, earth, fire, and death gems. I'm beginning to believe that it's a good idea to have at least Air 3 on the pretender, as Air (especially Wind Guide) meshes well with Machaka. I usually forego Water, Astral, and Blood entirely.

2. Scales: You want some productivity, as Machaka's best troops use a fair amount of resources. Magic is good, too, as it makes sorcereresses and witch doctors much more effective researchers.

3. Troops: The hoplites are very good. About 15 hoplites, with some archer support, can take most indies on strength 6 with very few casualties. The black hunters are extremely durable, but they are also extremely expensive. I also find their offense a little weak, so an offensive blessing like nature or fire will help out quite a bit. The spider knights are also very good. Just a single knight can immobilize three human-sized units with each web spit, for your hoplites to kill. When the knight gets into melee, it's strong there, too.

4. Fighting indies: Build a force of hoplites and archers, backed up by two or three spider knights. Use the cheap infantry you start with as a screen to soak up lances from indy knights and cavalry. With a Voice of the Lord casting Sermon of Courage, the enemies will route long before you.

5. Research: I usually focus on Construction, Summoning, and Enchantment. I use Thaumaturgy to get the site-searching spells, but that's about it. Evocation up to 3 is very good for Magma Bolts. Blade Wind is also easily within reach for black sorcerers. Once you get Evocation 6, Magma Eruption is superb.

I try to supplement my armies with a lot of summons, especially vine men and vine ogres. Summoning also gives you access to Astral through Couatl's. In Enchantment, Fire Arrows is excellent with Machaka's cheap archers. If you get a sorcerer or black sorcerer capable of casting Reanimate Archers, go for it. Banefire archers with Fire Arrows are awesome. Construction 6 is crucial for Skulls of Fire and Lightless Lanterns.

Your SC's will most likely be fully equipped Black Hunter Lords, Bane Lords, or Firbolgs.

One of the drawbacks with Machaka is that some of the most interesting troops (Black Hunter and Hunter Lord, Black Sorcerer, Sorceress, Banespider) are capitol only. Because of this, you will need to decide early on if you want a heavy commitment to any of them, and then consistently recruit them from the start. I usually recruit a Sorceress or Black Sorcerer in 8 out of the first 10 turns, adding in one turn for a Voice of the Lord and one turn for a Sorcerer. So far, I haven't been able to justify recruiting Banespiders in place of a sorceress or black sorcerer.

One strategy is fun is to recruit Ears of the Lord consistently in a secondary fortress. Once you have 6-10 of them, you can pretty much cripple an opponent's economy, and they will have a very hard time dealing with them.

Your primary combat-support mages will probably be Witch Doctors. Between Blindness, Fire Darts, and Protection, they are fairly effective for their cost. They can also cast Swarm with a gem.

Hope this helps. I find Machaka to be incredibly versatile and incredibly fun, even if I'm still not any good.