[FrankTrollman]

Here are some basic nation write-ups I'd like to see. I hope this is a reasonable format for potential new teams. I agree with Praetorious that we should have ten times as many teams as we do now. As such, I'm going to give an example of a pile of alternate teams for two different new nations: Halflings and Rat Men. I am assuming that the following will be implemented:

Independents:
Different species of population will be implemented, each with different economic profiles. Including some inherent Heat/Cold preferences.

Empires:
You empire will have a Heat/Cold Preference that will add to the Heat/Cold preference of every province you control.

The net result of this is that Caelumites will now have a +2 Cold Empire preference, and all Caelumites will have a +1 Cold Preference. Thus, their home province will have a +3 Cold Preference, but if they conquer Ctis it will probably only have a Cold Preference of +1.

Battle:
I assume that units will be able to arrive flanking in much the same manner as when you cast Howl. There can just be three boxes that you place your flankers in when you set them in a starting position – these correspond to above, below, or behind the enemy.

Hoburglings!
I rather liked the Hoburg SE army list and would like to see that come back as the default Hoburg army. Hoburgling populated provinces should have extra unrest from Death and have extra increased taxes from Growth. Hoburg provinces should produce extra supplies for their population. However, Hoburg should really get Sacred Eagle Riders. Seriously. It's a

Special Gods:
In addition to the Rainmaker, the god of Hoburg should be allowed to be the Flaming Glyph, an the Golden Eagle (who flies, has Awe, and starts with a little Air and Nature).

Special Hoburg themes follow:
[*] Last Dawn: The greatest Hoburg Heroes have failed and the nation of Hoburg has fallen into darkness. Wraiths stalk the land under the guidance of their new dark god.

Troops: Hoburg Elites are no longer available as the advanced troops are now incorporeal undead. Hoburglings are limited to Your Specters have glamor and a patrol bonus. Undead cost money, which means that they cost upkeep as well. You get Ghoul Hoburg who don't have to eat and still wear the Hoburg Platemail. You can buy ghost guard (incorporeal burgermeister guards), death riders (incorporeal skeleton riders), and living hoburg militia. You get no archers. Your leaders include Dark Prophets (Hoburgs with Unholy 2), Spectral Riders (full size cavalry with Astral 1, Death 1, and 1 Random), and Specter Knights (Size 2, Astral 2, Death 2), and Wraith Kings (size 4, ride a flying beast, Astral 3, Death 1, Random 1).

Starting Sites: Astral 3, Death 3

Starting Spells: Nether Bolt, Astral Window.

Special Rules: You must have Magic and Death.

Province Defense: A Spectral Rider comes out with a small pile of

Commentary: Based loosely on the Ring Wraiths conquering Hoburg. It's a money-based death army, so you can horde your death gems until late in the game when you can turn them into Tartarians. The magic requirement makes it unfortunately vulnerable to enemy priests, but at least you have access to large numbers of soulless hoburgers.
[*] The Scouring: The old order of Hoburg has fallen with the passing of the age. Now the citizens of Hoburg follow a new order. Hoburg children have turned their minds to metal and wheels. They do not care about growing things anymore. Once used experimentally for agriculture, the clockwork creature has been transformed into a weapon of war.

Troops: All of the standard Hoburg troops and spellcasters are gone except the crossbowman. There is also now an Arbalester who costs slightly more and carries an arbalest. Most importantly, you have a variety of Clockwork Monsters that cost no gold and do not eat. They cost only resources, but they cost a lot of resources. There are Clockwork Hounds (Size 1), Clockwork Soldiers (Size 2), Clockwork Beasts (Size 3), Clockwork Wyverns (Size 4), Clockwork Spiders (Size 5), and Clockwork Dragons (Size 6). The Clockwork Dragons can only be built in the home province. You also have some war machines, which again cost only resources and do weird stuff. I'd like to see a scatterpult launcher that is armed with like 10 slings and has a siege defense bonus. I'd like to see a Ballista (technically it has a strength of 30 and a Javelin). The spellcasters are now the Engineer (2 Earth, Forge Bonus, Drain Immune), the Priest (a Hoburgling with Holy 2), and in the Capitol the Master Engineer (3 Earth, 1 Random, Forge Bonus, Drain Immune). Even their priests have magic leadership.

Starting Spells: Clockwork Horrors

Starting Sites: 5 Earth, Can build Master Engineer and Clockwork Dragon.

Special Rules: This theme requires Order, Productivity, and Drain.

Province Defense: Crossbowmen and Clockwork Hounds. 20+ gives Arbalesters and Clockwork Beasts.

Commentary: The Scouring is based loosely on Saruman's Scouring of the Shire and Industrial-Hell Isengard setup. It is also based on the backstory of the Clockwork Horrors already present in Dominions 2. These guys are going to be the Mad Castlers of all Mad Castlers. Every Castle they make generates free troops forever. They have every reason to max out their income because both Order and Productivity give them extra money as a side effect of granting them access to more resources, which are what they are actually after – and let's face it, there's not much they even can spend money on. The late game is going to have a Wizard's Tower every twenty feet in the empire of Scoured Hoburg. Expect all late strategies to include casting the Riches – as this will give them enough resources to actually produce a Clockwork Dragon every turn.
[*] The Blood Works: Gears held insufficient stamina for long battles, as the engineers of Hoburg quickly discovered. But the souls of children had no such problem. The Engineers turned to the wholesale sacrifice of their fellows in order to attempt to make the perfect engine of military might. The populace was outraged and attempted to destroy the Blood Works when they learned of it. But the dark god of Hoburg intervened and turned the people to work themselves to death as lubrication for the bloody gears of Hoburg.

Troops: Similar to the Scouring, you have crossbowmen and units that don't actually cost any money or eat food. These units cost an amount of blood slaves, and are sacred. You've got an Iron Maiden that takes 1 slave, a Blood Golem that takes 5 slaves. Your home province only can make the Blood Engine for 10 slaves. Your leaders include an Engineer's Apprentice (Blood 1/ Earth 1), a Soul Engineer (Blood 2/ Earth 2, Random Elemental 1, Random Sorcery 1), and a priest (Holy 3), the priest has a magic leadership.

Starting Spells: Bleed.

Starting Sites: 2 Earth, 3 Blood. Can make Blood Engines.

Special Rules: You must have Productivity and Magic to play this theme.

Province Defense: You get some Hoburg Militia (despite the fact that you can't build them) and some Iron Maidens.

Commentary: This is a continuation of the Scouring plotline and uses robots which are powered by blood magic. This is a blood/earth power, so you will see it throwing around a lot of Earthblood Stones. Since it is allowed to use Productivity and Magic, it's going to be Golem Cult if nations are allowed to have a special theme and a standard domain effect at the same time.
[*] Speakers for the Dead: After the god of Hoburg helped liberate them from the spectral occupiers, peace was made between the living and the dead in Hoburg. New places were found for the Hoburglings who had been enslaved in death to the shadow. But there is no rest for Hoburg. For even as Hoburg rebuilds itself, god itself has come and proclaimed that their message of peace must be brought across the world with fire and sword.

Troops: You get the Hoburg Milita, the Hoburg Crossbowman, the Hoburg Warrior, the Spectral versions of all three (which cost half again as much gold). You also get foresters (stealthy, forest survival, stick and sling). Your capitol makes Hog Knights. Your spellcasters are the Healer of the Sick (Nature 3, Water 1, Random Elemental 1, Holy 3), the Speaker for the Dead (Death 2, Unholy 4), the Healer of the Waters (Water 2, Unholy 2), and the Healer of the Land (Earth 1, Death 1, Random Elemental 1, Unholy 3). You now get spectral hoburg scouts, and Eagle Knights in your capitol.

Starting Spells: Unholy Magic that grants bonuses to living and undead troops (like the Pangea list, but affects living subjects as well). Healing Cloud, Summon Spirits.

Starting Sites: Nature 3, Death 2, makes Hog Knights and Eagle Knight heroes.

Special Rules: You must have Growth and Misfortune to play this theme. Unholy Priests Call Spirits: Spectral Hoburg Militia, Spectral Hoburg Warriors, Spectral Hoburg Crossbowmen, Spectral Hog Knights, Spectral Eagle Riders (which are otherwise unavailable).

Province Defense: Spectral Hoburg Warriors and Hoburg Militia. At 20+ that turns into Hoburg Warriors and Ghost Crossbowmen.

Commentary: This is set after the Last Dawn and is a rebuilding phase for Hoburg. Living and Undead troops fght side by side, which puts a severe damper on standard “prayer spam” anti-undead tactics used against most undead nations. Because of the mandatory growth, the Speakers posiion will probably be shooting for a long-term economic package which features hoarding those death gems for late game projects. Since they have a cash economy and a bunch of death, they will almost certainly put up the Well of Misery. I'm expecting a line of Tartarians to march out of the Speaker lands in the late game.

Rat Men!
There's a lot of fantasy rat men in a variety of settings. Cycling through the themes should set you to different literary references.

Special Gods: The Verminmen can have the Font of Vermin (a bunch of Rats in a pile) that generates a rat-based howl effect every combat, and it gives you 1-3 crappy little rats every turn, and it has a siege bonus and some Astral magic.
You also get to choose a wererat who is like the ***** queen except that he's an assassin.
[*] Warrens of Memory: The swarms have gained a collective consciousness. Vermin pour in from every corner of the globe to lend their memories to the hive minds.

Troops: Your basic unit is the Giant Rat, which is size 1 and completely terrible. Fortunately, it's free. Your basic spellcaster is the Hive Mind, which is also size 1 and has only 1 pick of Astral Magic. It's free to. You also have a basic leader which is also a Rat, and free. Your Hive Minds begin every battle as a Communion Master, your other Rat Leaders start every battle as Comunion slaves – both rat leaders are stealthy (but most of the freespawn rats are not). At castles you can produce Wererats, who are stealthy (similar to Werewolves except that they do not go berserk or drop their swords when they change). Moon Mages (2 Astral, 1 Death) and Wererat Assassins (who are stealthy, regenerate, have the assasinate ability and use poison weapons). You can produce a Mother Rat that is just as physically incapable as the rest of your army, is not stealthy, starts each battle as a Communion Master, and has 1 Astral, 1 Holy, and 1 Random Magic pick (costs 120 gold and is sacred).

Starting Spells: Mind Burn. Summon Rat Swarm (like the Summon Dragonfly Swarm, only it summons Rats and costs 1 Astral Pearl).

Starting Sites: Home Province makes 3 Astral Pearls, 1 Death, and 1 Nature. Home Province produces Moon Mages and Wererat Assassins.

Special Rules: Unrest increases in areas where your domain is strong. 1 for 1. So every province where you have a dominion of 5 is like having an extra Brigand Lair in it. Rats freespawn all over our empire. Hive Minds Freespawn in places where you have Labs or Temples. Castles increase freespawn rates by their administration value. Most mercenaries cost extra for you. You get a spy report on everywhere you have dominion. This theme requires Magic and Turmoil.

Province Defense: A huge unruly mob of different flavors of rats swarm out from all directions to defend your provinces like they had originated from the casting of howl.

Commentary: The Warrens of Memory are based on Planescape's Cranium Rats and Moon Rats. Actually playing this faction would be similar to being Ermor except that you'd need supplies and could avoid killing your population. Your combat magic is devastating because of all the Communion Slaves, but your preaching and noncombat spellcasting is beyond awful. Areas that are near you become terrible for you and your enemies both, since they accumulate unrest at a ferocious rate.
[*] The Black Book: The Black Book has been recovered! New magic and science have been discovered by the Ratling sages. New Horrors the likes of which had not been yet imagined are unleashed upon the world in the name of regaining the knowledge lost during the fall of the Dark Coven. The discoverer of the great book is surely a god and the vermin lords are mustering their forces...

Troops: You have verminmen of basic militia (really crappy), light infantry, and heavy infantry varieties. Your basic archer is the slinger. Your basic troops are all Morale 9. Your advanced troops are the poison slingers, who are a step over the Ctisian variety because they wear masks and are poison immune, and Rat Monsters (size 3 verminmen with huge claws and are Sacred). Advanced Troops are capitol only. Your leaders include Engineers (who have Air 2, Death 1, Random 1 and a bonus to producing Corpse Men), Breeders (who have Blood 2, Nature 1 and a Random, they freespawn a rat every turn), Packmasters (who freespawn a rat every turn and have a Dousing Bonus despite not actually having any magic – armed with a Whip and a Mancatcher), and Heralds (who have 1 Blood and 3 Holy). The Home Province can produce Master Engineers (air 3, Death 2, Random 1, Corpseman Bonus, Forge Bonus).

Staring Spells: Crossbreeding, Lightning Bolt.

Starting Sites: 3 Air Gems, 2 Death Gems, 1 Blood Slave.

Special Rules: Can perform blood sacrifices.

Province Defense: Verminmen Militia and Slingers. At high levels this becomes Light Infantry and Heavy Infantry as well. This is crappy, so it should be numerous.

Commentary: The Black Book is based on the Warhammer Skaven primarily. I see most human players telling their national troops to take a long walk except for the elites, which are capitol only. It's a blood power, and a Forging Power, so expect lots of Supercombatant action late in the game. Most of the army is going to be Corpsemen and Crossbred troops.
[*] The Lost Tribes: The tribes of Nezumi have been lost in the wastes for generations since the great calamity. Now a new god has arisen and the time to regain what is theirs has come. The scattered tribes have joined paw once again and are on the march.

Troops: You have six different flavors of sacred troops, and six different flavors of normal spearmen, each of which represent the input from one of the tribes. The Firewalkers are fire resistant (sacred variety is Fire Immune); the Tattered Ear fight with dagger and spear (the Sacred Variety fight with two swords and have berserking), the longstriders are faster and more lightly armored (the sacred version fly when blessed), the stone clingers have an increased strength (the sacred version become size 3 and fight with claws when blessed), the bloody paw are equipped with quasi-decent armor and shields (the sacred version are martial artists who fight with chi kicks), the serpent hunters are poison resistant (the sacred version become hasted when blessed), and the storm feather tribesmen are cold resistant and use heavier armor (the sacred version are also shock resistant and use bows). There are also generic spearmen in leather that don't do anything cool and generic bowmen who have shortbows and spears. The leaders include several different flavors of scout: a sacred scout who can preach, a scout who can lead troops, and a scout who uses a short bow. Shamans have Astral 1, Earth 1, Holy 2. Keepers of the Story are 2 Random 1s and +3 research – Keepers of the Story can only be recruited at home. Tellers of the Story are Holy 4. The Great Shamans are Astral 2, Earth 2 Holy 2 and are home province only.

Starting Spells: Stoneskin and Summon Earthpower.

Starting Sites: Home Province produces 4 Earth and 1 Astral.

Special Rules: Provinces with Death do not have their population fall while in your dominion.

Province Defense: They get a pile of Spearmen. At high levels, they also get archers.

Commentary: The Lost Tribes is based on the Nezumi of Rokugan. From the standpoint of actually playing them, they are in the uniquely good position to make all that cool Crystal Swag as well as Golems. Unfortunately, they clam very poorly. In general, it is going to be a long time before they get a decent magic army together and a very long time before Scs come online. But in the meantime, good starting researchers and good priests are going to get them to their late game goals quicker than you might think.
[*] The Dark Compact: Stormclouds are brewing over the decadent human cities of the world. The prophesized time has come. The god of the sewers has arisen, and the Verminmen and the Wererats have made an alliance to rise from the sewers and take over the surface world.

Troops: Most of your units are stealthy. You get verminmen, and wererats as warriors (verminmen wear leather, wererats wear ringmail). Your only archer is the poison slinger (which is again immune to poison). You have storm troops of both flavors who wear gas masks and are poison immune. You have three different assassins, the Verminman Assassin has effectively three arms and uses 3 poison daggers. The Wererat Assassin wears ringmail and has a duskdagger. One of your spellcasters is also an assassin, the Nightmaster (Fire 3, Death 1, Glamor, Assassin). All of your leaders are spies. You have a basic researcher in the Patient One (a pale little rat guy who costs 50 gold and has Fire 1). You have a Priest in the Plague Harbinger (Holy 3, Poison Immune, Poison Cloud like a Hydra). You also have a Scrollbearer, who has 1 Fire, 1 Nature, and 2 Random.

Starting Spells: Ash Rats: for 4 Fire Gems you can summon 5 size one magic beings with a flame burst attack. You also get Falling Fires.

Starting Sites: You get 4 Fire, 1 Death, and 1 Nature.

Special Rules: No special rules.

Province Defense: You get a Patient One leading some Verminmen and Ash Rats. At 20+ you get an Assassin, some wererat storm troops and some poison slingers.

Commentary: In general, I think most people are going to decide to fight with Wererats or Verminmen and not both (except as leaders). Players are going to just figure an amount of resources they are willing to spend per unit, and go for the lower-resource verminmen or better armored wererats. Literarily, this team is of course lifted whole cloth from D&D. These guys are going to clam with Fever Fetishes as they have all the necessary pieces of that puzzle and a very deep need for Fire Gems.