[Renojustin]

The very best thing about Tir are the recruit-everywhere Sidhe Lords. They are the best recruit-anywhere thug in EA and I think probably the entire game. E9 N4+ gives spectacular results and should be very high on your list of priorities when creating a pretender.

I was able to make an E10 N6 (it makes a difference) Dom 4 Cyclops sleeping with Order 3, Sloth 3 (you don't even need any troops until well into midgame!), Cold 1, Death 2, Misfortune 2, Magic 3.

This builds on a few of the nation's strengths.

*You have no vulnerable, aged mages, and no Blood magic, so Death is actually an easy pick.

*Sloth - well, you have no need of rank and file troops, basically.

*Misfortune is synergistic with Order and I think Luck is really getting more play lately than it should. Maybe something to do with CBM but I still don't see it.

*Magic 3 is required in my view because your researchers are often also your thugs, and so research efficiency is key. You are also shorted on Death magic which doesn't make research any easier.

Best of all, your Sidhe Lords are going to be completely supercharged fighter jets.

Sidhe Lords and Ri, their uber capital-only brother, can both do all of the following:

Bless (+4 protection, +5 reinvigoration, +10% regeneration)
Holy Avenger
Barkskin
Mistform
Elemental Fortitude
Resist Lightning
Resist Poison
Mirror Image
Flight
Cloud Trapeze

All with Glamour, which means you can not be counterattacked via ritual spells, and Cloud Trapeze, Forest Survival, this gives you virtually unlimited movement, and a mandate to strike anywhere on the map.

With any kind of real defensive item like Vine Shield, and a little weapon like a Snake Bladder Stick (script resist poison) or Frost Brand, this becomes a master thug. Add a Lucky Amulet and Girdle of Strength, and a Sidhe Lord becomes more or less a supercombatant. Consider that with your bless, you can add a Shroud of the Battle Saint to nearly any unit and increase their effectiveness and survivability by a large margin. You can do all this the instant you hit Construction 4, which should be your first research goal after Alteration 3.

Just watch your Sidhe Lords and Ris trash anything in their way just with a blessing and Barkskin. Imagine that later with just a few effective items.

The one thing I should probably stress is that you are very thirsty for Astral magic. Find some sorceresses or shamans early and pump them out like crazy.