[HoneyBadger]

A good strategy for specifically beating EA Helheim with EA Atlantis...well, it wasn't easy for me to come up with one, quite frankly.

If I have to fight Helheim, I'll play Tien'Chi almost every time, and chances are I'll win, but with Atlantis, it takes an enormous amount of patience and focus to grind Helheim down.

In the right circumstances, I believe EA Atlantis can beat Helheim on a level playing field, but in most cases-and these cases will involve short games-Helheim is going to win.

The problem is this: 1 on 1 a heavily blessed Living Pillar makes mincemeat out of any Helheim basic unit, providing the Living Pillar goes berserk (so definitely high Nature bless, and I was using atleast 2 more high blesses).

Unfortunately, Living Pillars simply recruit far too slowly, and it's really difficult for Atlantis to grab enough land provinces and hold them against Helheim,

Controling the water is a given, but by the time I conquered the water, Helheim always had the upper hand on land.

What you really want and lack with Atlantis vs Helheim is speed. I'd suggest arming your Basalt Kings with those magical wings, boots of the behemoth, shield of awe, and horror helmet. Adding a good wand-weapon, like a rune-smasher or a rod of the phoenix wouldn't hurt, and then maybe an amulet of anti-magic and an amulet of luck.

Since you control the water, on a really small map you should be able to hold Helheim off long enough to be able to produce and equip those Basalt Kings and enough Living Pillars that you'll overwhelm Helheim with brute force rather than number, providing it's SP not MP.

In MP games, Helheim is balanced heavily against Atlantis-Helheim simply moves too fast. But, in MP, Helheim has the disadvantage of people percieving it as a much greater threat than it really is, which means you've got a good shot of Helheim getting wiped out early in the game.

The best method of destroying Helheim 1-1 in MP with Atlantis may be by using a small map with a decent amount of water provinces-the smallest "wraparound" map (if you want the game to end this year, anyway), conquering the water, and then advancing slowly on land. Build fortresses on each land-province you want to keep, make sure your fortress-chain can't become isolated, and have atleast 10-20 Living Pillars guarding each fortress, along with lots and lots of PD.

Living Pillars are great at defending castles, and with a heavy bless, Helheim should bounce off of them like insults off a rubber elementary student.

Eventually, you should be able to snuff them out.