[Lazy_Perfectionist]

Forrest... I'm missing the context of you post somewhat.

Anyways, I won my first game on easy. I've finally managed to avoid defeating myself, so the next task is to up the difficulty level. Give myself an opponent who may defeat me.

So fear (0) isn't much, but it does have a range of six squares, I believe. I may adjust my earliest exp. strat, but currently, it consists of 10 city guards, and two squads of 15 light infantry on the flank. Given three to a square, the fear effect can reach to the other side of the squad even before it squashes itself in melee. If a hole opens in the line, my scorpion king is there to plug it, possibly breaking the attackers.

I haven't tried it yet, since I just won that game, but it may be worth giving him two thorny spears. With his high attack, ambidextrous, and low defense, he strikes me as the perfect opportunity to try repelling opponents.

I will try it soon though, since my next game is a couple of hours away, and I can easily afford a thorny spear from the start.

Skelies were handy in taking the four water provinces. They aren't great, mind you, but by choosing your target carefully after letting your dominion scout for you for several turns, you can gain entry even without a coastal province and amphibious units. I made entry with fifty skeletons and a Revenant leader(25+9=34 death gems, ench 3). I had about 30 left afterwards. The next raid, they all died. However, while I can't build forts or temples underwater, I can build labs w/ my Revenant. Is there any way I can access undead priests as EA C'tis?

Because C'tis starts with four or five death gems a turn, they can easily afford a skeleton army, and while puny, the undead skeletons are still useful in underwater combat. Specifically, it helps you get around the huge recruitment issues you'll have in your underwater provinces, and give you underwater death mages to help in battle.

Certainly, there are other routes to the sea, but you're likely to have trouble digging up the water gems for most of them.

And, while I wasn't able to threaten Ulm from the water, the mermen were a help, even with the only one province that could produce amphibious units. It gave me a place to raid from, originally, and prevent Ulm from concentrating their forces at the two crucial chokepoints. And, once I began my main assault up north, it also allowed me to mount more aggressive and successful assaults against their rear provinces. If the AI had ever gotten around to building another fortress, I could have used them to cut off some additional reinforcements.

Even if indie mermen don't bring much to land-based combat, even two sea-based provinces near an enemy coast can give you a lot of targets to threaten. If there's also a way to make sure its your dominion so they can't see the disposition of your forces, that would be great.

Any ideas on how C'tis can boost dominion underwater? Is the mound fiend an undead preist who can preach? Are there any earlier options available to me?

Also, slave warriors are an excellent option for ending a prolonged siege. Certainly, they aren't particularly durable in a melee. But sieging isn't such a situation. Instead, all that counts is strength. And since most C'tis troops are the same strength, body count is more important. If you can't summon undead to help you, you can easily recruit fifty slave warriors in a turn in most provinces. You might be able to get enough to force hiring a Lizard Lord instead of a taskmaster. And, they're not entirely useless in the fight either. Given their strategic map speed, you can bring them there before taking down the PD, during the siege, and when storming the castle. They can help you protect your less replacable soldiers.