[Soyweiser]

Originally Posted by Foodstamp

Soyweiser,

Did someone mention using pretender assassins in this thread or are you taking cheap shots at someone?

It was part of the wiki a LA Mictlan pretender. And it is actually still listed in that other wiki. (The one newbies find because it has a higher google ranking...) I removed it but still. I hope nobody read that and though, "yeah. good idea!"

Originally Posted by Amorphous

Ah, yes, if I recruit an assassin, I lose the research race. I take it the same goes for mages that are wasted by fighting at the front. Or mages casting rituals or forging or site-searching. Come to think of it, actually using what you have researched before everything is researched means that you lose the research race.

Strangely enough, none of the above seems to be true when I actually play the game. Yes, if I go overboard on any of the above, I will fall behind in research, but a moderate usage of such options does not carry the same consequences. A commander must be useful and assassins sometimes are.

Of course that never happens. Because comparing normal mage usage with normal mage usage + assassins isn't a fair comparison. As everybody uses mages this way, you will not fall behind.

Try a heavy blood nation for example. These usually lack in research as they need a lot of mages to blood hunt. (Or need scales to take magic 3). Blood nations fall behind.

Of course you may think your assassins are all that useful. But they simply are not if you trade a assassin for a mage. The mages can always cast assassination spells later. Bonus, if the spell fails, you do not lose the mage . Another bonus, the mage does not have to be in the targets province for it to work.

(Of course, both tactics can be ruined by just buying a lot of indy commanders).

Assassins are specialty units. When you recruit them you do so for a specific purpose. That there are plenty of occasions where they are not useful is not particularly relevant in the situations where they are useful.

Sure, but the tradeof for buying them is usually just to high. And as assassins almost always are a tradeoff between buying mages. They are not useful. Perhaps if you find indy assassins without a indy mage. But I think they do not exist.

Once is all you need, if that once is good enough.

Well that means you are either very lucky. (Taking out that one mage that holds the entire enemy battleplan together, a mage that has no bodyguards, and is scripted such a way that it does not kill your assassin, and it does not go offscript). Or you bought a lot of assassins and do a one turn strike. And in the second case after the one turn strike all the assassins are worthless. Also, you lose your entire investment if the enemy army patrols for one turn.

Assassins are not even guaranteed to win. Even a low level mage can usually blast one to bits. And 1 or 2 guards is enough to hold them down long enough to kill them.

Sure assassins might work great if you give them items. But that dumps even more resources in a already failing strategy.

Look if they where that useful in any way. There would have been more blood succubus guides. And even with the great stats for an assassin, and seduction nobody really uses them. 66 blood slaves is just to useful in other ways.