[Gandalf Parker]

There is no real research or forging. You can visit a library to learn a random new spell, or you find get a scroll as combat loot which allows you to add a new spell to a mage. For equipment it tends to come as combat loot. It can be redistributed among all troops (not just commanders).

Resources are for getting more units. Some nations collect herbs for summons, some use gems to create mechanicals, some need cities to get sacrifices for summons, some need gold to recruit, some need iron to recruit more armored units or siege weapons. Most of them have multiples of the above to different amounts so no one is entirely stuck with the results of just one resource but they do tend to have obvious preferences.

In the end it is not as many optioned as Dom3. Its simpler and plays faster. But it is still varied enough to offer a lot of game. A much faster game.