[odd_enuf]

With the choas mages, I compare them to lore masters, who are 120 gold for fr4 with a research bonus of eithor +4 or +7. Chaos mages have 1 more random path, but they get a research penalty instead of a bonus, plus they have the random afliction, at about the same cost. seems like a fair trade to me. About the good heavy infrantry, there weapon is damage 0 and attack -2, so while they can take a lot of punishment they can't deal it out. With the flame blades, they can dish out a bunch of damage, but with a defense of only 8 and only 10-12 protection, they can't take a lot. With proper troop placement you may be able to make the shiled bearers take all the damage, while the flame blades deal it out, but that is difficult to do. While the archers do have high precision, they can't increase it further with wind guide, like man, caelum, and tien chi, plus there only shortbows, not the more powerful long or composite bows. Plus, like ulm, they don't have level 3 priests, so they can't cast sermine of courage to keep there units from routing. If the units end up being too powerful, you can always increase the costs to a fair amout, though the turmoil scale gives a -28% decrease in income compared to the order 3 scales most players take.

I also forgot to mention heroes.

"name" the arch-theug
"name" idiolized the old theugs, even after the destruction they wrought. Once he gained acceptance inside there ranks he searched for any remaining texts from before the fall of the theugs. His studies were successful, he has relearned many of the lost knowledge, becoming almost as powerful as the arch-theugs of old. This knowledge comes at a price however, he is feared and distrusted by the remaining population.

stats- same as an arch theug
magic 2a 1w 3s h3
leadership 0

"name" the master of choas
"name" showed great magical talents from a young age, he started casting spells while still a child. As he grew older, he knowledge and controle only increased. He achieved mastery over the chaotic magical energies released by the chataclysm, allowing to achieve the dream of the theugs who created it, becomeing the most powerful mage in the world.

stats- same as chaos mage, but no random afliction
magic 10 fr
leadership 25

as for the Last hero, I was thinking of someone who was talanted in all the magic abilites of the warrior societies, thus having the bonuses of each of them. Thus he would have stats higher then the gifted, glamour, reinveration 4, full amphibion, aim cast at the start of battle. As for the fire bonus, if you give him the same fire daggers as the flame blades he loses this bonus if you give him a different weapon, so you could give him permant flame weapons, like the blessing, or cast weapons of sharpness on him at the start of each battle if that is too stong. however, when you start adding up all these bonuses, he might end up too strong, hard to say.


odd_enuf

edit-
hmm, something big, somethign with style, I suppose that troglydites would fit, they were unleased when the cataclism opened great rifts in the earth, have have now been tamed.
Alternetly, you could let them keep the hydras, though I prefer the first.
A third Idea, the mutated, humans who have been so warped by the magical energies they are no longer reginisable as human. I'd have to think about what stats and abilities they would have, though they coudl be similer to the more powerful crossbreeds. Without knowing there abilities, its too early to assign a cost to them, though they would probably be low resourses, high gold.

For a bit more varity, I was thinking of a nature infrantry, give them spears, javalins, furs, and a suply bonus of 1-4, costs 10-13 gold.

for starting sites, you would then have ten thousand things, 5 gem income, e,w,a,f,and n, then the swamps, mod the full hydra into the trogladites, the hydra tamer into the savants, and get rid of the hydra hatchling

For the tweaking, raising the price of choas mages to 130-150, shield bearors to 14, and flame blades to 15-16, might help balance them. Also, give the wave walkers armer so they have prot 10, plus make them full amphibions, raise there price to 12 gold. When you factor in the 28% turmoil penatly, the effective price becomes roughly 180 for the choas masters, 100 for the savants, 140 for the gifted, 20 for the flame blades, 18 for the shield bearors, 13 for the archers, though of course this penatly will be offset somewhat by alchamy and gold/gem mines.