[OmikronWarrior]

I've considered writing a 3,000 word article (meaning big, the exact number is unimportant) just on how to fight battles before mages are factored in. But I tend not to have the time and ultimately I doubt people would get a lot out of it as mages and SC's are so ubiquitous.

I might as well give out some of the pointers.

When choosing which troops to recruit:

1) Margins matter. The difference of +2 defense might not matter for a thug, but it can make a noticeable difference when the guys upfront are exchanging blows. Now, if there exists an across the board advantage (attack, strength, hp, etc.), then you are cooking with gas.

2) Zero Protection units die way to easily to be useful, no matter what the hp and defense stats. A protection of at least 10 is highly recommended unless the unit has correspondingly better HP. E.G. 20 HP for a protection of 7 and rising exponentially from there.

3) Attack values less than 10 are trouble, as a successful defense check completely nullifies damage. Be sure to actually click the attack skill as the figure shown does not take into account weapon modifiers or dual weilding penalties.

4) Units with two attacks are twice as nice, provided the attacks do not violate point 3.

5) Strategic movement of 2 is very important, except on some custom maps with a lot of forests and mountains where the extra movement is lost anyways.

6) Paying extra for the better unit is usually worth the investment as Dom3 combat tends to favor quality over quantity. The obvious exception is if the unit is expected to die quickly to enemy evocations. Then, by all means place some cheap decoys.

7) Size, for meelee smaller is better. When up against AoE spells or other types of attacks, bigger is better.

Other Advice:

1) The engine has trouble handling archer/melee combo units such as LA Man's troops or javelin throwers. Set the unit to attack, and none will use their range weapon even if they are not in a position to meelee attack. Hold and Attack is similar, only they might use range weapons while holding if the enemy is in range. If you want a squad to do both, you really need to give it no orders. Alternatively, set them to just shoot closest. When a squad moves close enough, those on the front will move forward to engage in meelee.

2) Typical archers are near useless against high parry and high protection troops.

PS, these aren't corrections Raiel, just my own observations piggy backing on your thread.