[Baalz]

....and back onto EA Arco. I fully concede that the white bull is not as versatile late game as some other chasises, but for this build you want three things:

1) An awake expansion pretender
2) Very good scales
3) A minor E/N blessing

Good luck affording all that with a pretender who is also top shelf for late game. If you've got a suggestion for one that would work better I'm listening. I also think you discount his combat utility a bit too much, having that invincible battering ram zooming about like superman set to attack rearmost not only makes me happy to think about, it certainly is the sort of thing that will wreck an opponents day in many situations. You won't be using him to singlehandedly take down armies, but used as part of your overall strategy you shouldn't have too hard a time putting him to good use.

@Aezeal - he's got over 200 hitpoints with just one candle, so pushing a strong dominion is certainly not required. You don't want to send him into strong enemy dominion of course, but mildly friendly should be fine along with all those buffs. I didn't mention it, but you'll want to put up enough temples in those forts to make sure your nice dominion covers all your land. He's only got two misc slots, so I'd outfit him generally as I said with an amulet of MR and a ring of whatever resistance seemed best at the time (lighting by default as it's the biggest danger).

@Redeyes - yeah, swarm will give all kinds of different SCs problems, Oreiads included. Haven't tested it, but size 4 wyvern bodyguards should be a fairly effective screen against swarm I'd think.

@analytic_kernel - yeah, I agree. Maybe I didn't make it super clear, but I do mention chariots are your goto guys outside of your capital. There are lots of situations where chariots are next to useless though, anybody who sticks a couple crushers at the front of their army will pretty much ruin your day if all you've got is chariots. Myrmidons certainly have a niche in your army.

@Dragar - The earth is an very important component of the blessing. It doubles the effective time your wind riders can fight which is important for units used in smaller numbers. It's also a non negligible benefit to your Oreiads, and as central as they are to your strategy it seems like a good idea to invest in them.