Well, for the record, GoNB is NOT enough to overcome Death 1.
I should have paid closer attention before I cast it for comparison, but population is still clearly going down every turn with it up.
Which means back to the drawing board, end of game essentially. I'm playing a rather large map and while I got a nice start, my income is still sinking, and it's already so low that I can barely maintain my army, no chance of expanding it. And my army is not sufficient to hold what I have, really, at this point.
I might well try that n9/e9 pretender if I can pull one off without taking death scales. I've run the earthmama chassis e5/n9 before with another nation and did very well.
This was the, son of the desert sun(?) - the one that summons lions in battle. Thought I'd try something different. Very cool, but if I can't figure out a way to get it without going to death scales it's just not workable on anything but a small map I guess.
You really think that e9 bless would be better on lava warriors than f9? I figured dual-wielded flaming maces would be pretty awesome, and you know what? THEY ARE
They shred anything that gets in their way mighty quick... I don't think I've ever seen knights go down that quick, and ethereal undead don't stand a chance...
Oh yeah, before you think I shouldn't have so much trouble getting this without death scales, keep in mind also that it's a map with a LOT of water, water cult is really a requirement to stand a chance with a land nation as a result, and since lava warriors are home province only I want better admin than the guard tower as well. I'd prefer the fortified city, wound up with the fortress to make it work... had disorder 2 sloth 1 heat 3 death 1... maybe disorder 2 sloth 2 would be bearable though.