Re: Hidden in Snow
Zath... What couple of boosters?
Oh... does Claymen scale up with levels in water? I hadn't noticed that before. Still, only a quarter of my Angakoks can do this - sometimes.
Regardless, the reason I cast Hidden in Snow as Atlants is three-fold. First, the chill aura. Second, the fact that it provides its own leadership. Third, curiosity, and the interest in finding a decisive battle for them to fight.
Winter wolves are better, from a pure chill perspective, but are also magical beings, and vulnerable to magical weapons. They have a place in my armies, but a limited one (though I think it would be interesting to mass them).
Not only are the Unfrozen neither magical or mindless, they come with their own commander, all the time. If one of my outposts are under considerable, but not overwhelming threat by my enemy, any Angakok can sail across the seas, summon the Unfrozen, and continue to do whatever I need him to do. Meanwhile, my Tungaliks and lesser armies will be trooping across the ocean floor. If I happen to get an Unfrozen mage, I round out the army with some Winter Wolves to harry the enemy. I also have the local Tungalik summon some dispossessed spirits to hold my flanks- even when you're lucky, there's room for more undead. Especially when every turn a unit is paralyzed is another fatigue penalty they're taking, in addition to being a target.
Unfortunately, the army I just described didn't have a chance to fight, since Ctis came under attack by Ermor, and withdrew from my anticipated clash.
The key factor about Hidden in Snow is that it's enchant six. Sure, there are better summons along the conjuration path - thats what its for, after all.
But look at what I get with the enchantments school.
Enchant 4:
Claymen (I'll have to take another look, but I'm worrying about cold fatigue)
Behemoth (cold resistantant trampler)
Pale Riders (can replace Winter Wolves as light cavalry)
Twiceborn (protect my favorite mages)
Enchant 5:
Winter Ward - You'll see
Undead Horde - Temporary measure, at best, but chaff can be very useful.
Send Tupilak - limited in use, but can be an useful, if overpriced assassin. Fear few mages or priests, thanks to your hitpoints and magic resistance, just be prepared to go down to bodyguards unless they succumb to friendly fire (happens more often than you'd think).
Enchant six:
Hidden in Snow
Frost Dome (nice, but easily circumvented)
Rigor Mortis (Keep away from living armies, but if you've got a nice undead death or twiceborn wight mage...)
Ziz (got fear? attack rear!)
Grip of Winter (the star)
All that list above? Can be ignored. Isn't that important, though does provide strategic variety. IMO, the real reason to cast Hidden in Snow is Grip of Winter.
If you have cold scales already, the chill aura and effect of Grip of Winter is increased, and does a nice job of knocking out enemy mages. If you don't have the cold scales, you'll have to resort to Wolven Winter. Once you get up to 3, you start seeing every normal nation take an encumbrance penalty. If you're facing a coldblooded nation, this is incredibly effective, allowing your Tungaliks and Angakoks to focus solely on undead slaying.
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