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Crazy_Bonvine said:
"squillions" of pretenders?you are reffering to the rather boring animals/statues/<instert boring random physical form choice here> yes??
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Maybe you missed his point. It was that there are already too many pretenders, spells, and to less extent, nations that are not in par with the other choices. Magnate wants to have more choices, not by adding more units, but by making all the existing ones more interesting.
And even if you left out all the "similar" nations/themes, like Vanheim/Man:Last of the Tuatha (sneaky, sacred, high-def special units and commanders) and Pythium & Ermor: Broken Empire (same units, different magic), you are losing much. All the nations play very differently, especially when you consider what kind of pretender would help them. I'll use Last of the Tuatha and Vanheim as an example:, because I consider them the two nations that share the closest theme/idea in how they work:
shared abilities: high-def sacred units lacking good protection, mage-commanders with awesome defence, Air magic, human allies with few special elites
Tuatha: Nature, better human allies (knights and longbowmen), cheap temples, stealthy priests and spies, spell songs that can be used to boost morale in enemy dominion, forced scales (no Order/Misfortune for them)
Vanir: Dwarves, Earth, minor access to Blood and Blood Sacrifice, sailing, flying Valkyries, prefer cold (bonus points), glamour makes the Vanir undetectable by enemy scouts or spies
Because Vanheim already has Earth, Vanheim player won't probably go for Earth blessing. Rejuvenation does wonders for mages, although it would work better with ones cheaper than theirs, and would help Vanirs' protection. Water helps them very much, boosting the Vanirs' defence into absurd numbers. Vanheim doesn't have easy access to nature, because going for a bless makes new paths costly, and bless makes their special units and mages much better.
Last of the Tuatha, on the other hand, can very well go for Earth blessing. They could take Earth and reserach Enchantments, aiming for Enliven Statues and playing with Cloud Trapeze, Personal Regeneration, Haste, Faery Trod, Relief and even Flaming Arrows if they can access it in the meantime. The Tuatha can go for Water as well, and Fire gives them access to Flaming Arrows which makes their longbowmen even more devastating. Each of Water, Earth and Fire blessings can work very well with the Tuatha, and can double to form interesting combinations: access to anti-undead items, Dwarven Hammers, quickness, protection or rejuvenation in items or blessings; and/or Claymen, Rune Smashers (to use with Charm), unresistable Acid Evocations, access to both cold- and heat-based spells (and damage shields!) to play around enemies' weaknesses, Magma Bolts and later Magma Eruption, Charcoal Shields...
As for items, Dwarve Smiths can do wonders. Have you realized E3A1 Smith can take Bag of Winds and Winged Helmet a Vanadrott forged, and make an Elemental Staff? Those are great items, and enable Smiths to forge even more boosters for other elements.
And if one considers how Vanir and Tuatha differ as warrior-mages, both have good defense and access to Mirror Image and Mistform in Air Alterations. Vanir start with minor Mirror Image, and can get good protection with Smiths' Earth, while Tuatha have access to Regeneration and can use Eagle Eyes to boost their precision to absurd numbers. I wonder if a Bard with Bow of Botulf, ordered to Fire Rear, fires at the enemy mages...
Of course, a Vanherse or even a Jarl with a Black Heart kills enemy commanders with much more deadly accuracy. While they cannot don Flying Boots, Flying Carpets and few extra Vanir might be enough to even take over weakly defended provinces, and quickly move over both seas and land. Unmatched paranoia!