[jaif]

Thanks all for the replies. So many things. :-)

I'm mostly concerned with the first 10-20 turns of the game or so. I find these set the tone for the rest of the game. I'm trying to find stuff I can do after reasearching xxx=2.

So far I like Tien Chi for having a more practical army than Ulm. Ulm's army maybe nice and elie, but Tien Chi gains a lot of flexibility and speed while giving up very little strength. I can easily build Tien Chi armies to take out most independants (str 5 is the default, I think).

But I'm kinda at a loss when I use the mages early only. That ice pebble staff may be something for me to look at - I just ignored it in my game.

-Jeff