[Mardagg]

Originally posted by Boron:
you are very close to my approach ihmo
my attempt is only a bit more radical but my "modest" suggestion with heat 0 and turmoil 1 is almost like your approach

we have exactly the same key opinions with tien chi s&a
-screw national troops almost 100%
-rely for expansion on sc pretender mainly
-use the sc to summon the first midgame mages
-rely on summons , your sc pretender can summon a lot

your ghostking can as my vq easily summon the whole bunch of death troops . only for wraith lords you need 1 empowerment ( cheap , 10 gems 2 handed death staff ) . only tartarians are a bit hard to achieve but wraith lords + bane lords are absolutely sufficient .

thnx for sharing my viewpoint Mardagg [/QB]

Actually I didnt read your modest suggestion when writing my reply
So,concerning your radical strat,I should be exactly in between yours and Rabe`s.
Still,even with your modest suggestion,there are some more or less important differences between our approaches left :

-Death:3
I go exactly for the opposite here
If I plan to go for summonings and good research ,I dont want to play too agressively in MP.
With Growth 3,I am able to adapt to every game situation and ,if necessary,to not expand for quite a while,just relying on good gem income/research.
After all,my income increases,even when I dont expand.
Also you have to keep in mind,that while certainly being on top in gem income and research with such a strat,you should not be on top in provinces,otherwise there will be quite likely an alliance formed against you....with Death:3 you will need quite a lot provinces to compensate,though.

-VQ:

You pay a lot for your VQ.
Personally,I dont fear a strong VQ that much.
With S&A,Imo,you only need a SC for early expansion and to scare away early opponents.The Ghost King will do this nearly as good as the VQ,even though you have to be more careful concerning battle afflictions,but you get much better scales and dont need that much a high dominion.
Even worse,with VQ,high Dominion AND Death :3 ,you can be sure,that noone will like you,except maybe Ermor and CW-Pangaea.
So,while both of us aim for strong high end summonings ,you most likely will be in wars early on and this will slow down you a lot

Btw,for Tartarian Gate,Death 4 is enough.
I always forge at least 1 Ring of Sorcery,expecially when I have Dwarfen Hammers,and this is enough for Tartarian Gate,together with the other Death enhancing items.