[Lumix19]

So I realised I hadn't written a quick AAR yet and probably should.

My quick AAR

I choose a rainbow Serpent King (thematic reasons) god whom i hoped would forge all the boosters i needed for my low level mages. I used Hydras to expand as only a few of them can take on almost any independent with ease. Once I made two small armies of Hydras I began recruiting Comitatense and Palatines from my capital and used Serpent Priests for research. I researched thaumaturgy and conjuration for site searching spells and path boosting spells then went for construction for boosters. After that I went for evocation for Falling Fires. Once I knew who my neighbours were (C'tis = North, Ulm = East, Mictlan = West, Bogarus = South) I realised I had to assess the dangers they posed at various stages in the game and act accordingly.
I reasoned that Ulm is good early game because of their powerful infantry but their low magic resistance made them weak end game so I thought iron bane would be a useful spell against them as well as curse of stones.
Mictlan is dangerous right through the game because of their Jaguar Warriors and buffed Jaguar Warriors are even worse but Jaguar Warriors have low protection so if used archers and flaming arrows with a lucky Heliodromus that would be effective. Also high fire bless seems like the staple for Mictlan so my Solaris troops with their 50% fire res would be useful, especially boosted with fire fend or warriors of Muspelheim. Luckily those spells were in the same school.
C'tis is powerful end game because that's when they can start spawning armies of undead at once and backed with powerful battle magic I reckoned I would have difficulty dealing with them, I had researched thaumaturgy so I had dust to dust and evocation for Falling Fires to deal with the living troops and I got cleansing water as well for the undead.
Bogarus has excellent mages and exponential research so he would be a real threat in midgame when he had high level magic and I only had mid/low level magic but I didn't think if him as a threat for early game. I also felt I needed an ally so I befriended him.

Mictlan offered an NAP early on, presumably to secure his safety as he attacked Patala but i'm not sure and (though i didn't realise it due to my misunderstanding) Ulm offered an NAP too. I accepted and just sat around for a few turns with no real plan in mind but to create and extensive scouting network and research as much as possible. When it became clear Mictlan was on the ropes I decided to break our NAP in the hoped I would gain some valuable lands. Meanwhile I noted hat Ulm was defeating Utgard. I decided to use my Hydras and unfortunately they got slaughtered so with a huge army of Jaguar Warriors about to attack and no Hydras I made my peace with Mictlan and retreated. I decided to attack Ulm to secure Utgard's future and attacked unfortunately breaching the terms of our NAP and I retreated. Realising what a threat Mictlan was now he was knocking on Midgard's door I worked with Bogarus to take down Mictlan. I also knew C'tis was planning an attack on me so I was forced to split my forces. Then the game was over.

Things i've learned:
*Hydras are useful in expansion but need buffs to survive fighting against other nations.
*Poorly placed scouts can mean the difference between seeing an army of reinforcements and not seeing one.
*I need to communicate more with my neighbours, the only one I was taking with was Bogarus and sometimes Mictlan so I wasn't entirely sure whether C'tis was really planning an attack and I didn't know of Ulm's involvement.
*My choice of god and scales was bad compared to what it should have been, if I had gone with a Forge Lord and better scales to complement my resource hungry troops and my money hungry Maenads I would have been better off.
*Site searching spells aren't all that useful and because of that I lacked magic gems throughout most of the game. I should have sent out my god to do lots of site searching.
*Luck with enemy dominions (from what i've read) actually causes misfortune, I didn't have any luck but I think Bogarus did and his dominions started to encroach on my territory a bit (not that I'm blaming you for that Bogarus, it's not real,y in your control and I should have been managing my dominion better) so I had some bad luck. Also building temples with good scales is a good idea as it spreads your dominion and gives you greater income for more temples and troops.
*Serpent Priests were probably not the most cost efficient mage for research and I probably should have gone for the Renata.

Just some of the things I learnt, it was a great learning experience and lots of fun. Thanks everyone.