Power of Themes

Im a newb so I have some questions about themes. It seems to me that alot of themes are more powerful then their orignal or original is more powerful then the themes.
For example, Last of the tuatha, seems more powerful to me then regular man. You lose avalon witchs/warden/knight of avalon but gain three powerful mage preists, who are all stealthy, compared to witchs of avalon who are not, and you gain two great blessable warriors. So in that case, why not always play Last of the tuatha.
Tell me if im wrong but it seems to me:
Reg Abysia>Blood of Humans
Reg Pyth>Serpent Cult
Masiama>desert tombs/reg ctiss.
Reg Ulm>Black forest/iron faith
Reg Arco>Golden Era
Reg Caelum>Return of the Raptors

[deccan]

Isn't BF Ulm considered better than regular Ulm?

[archaeolept]

not all themes are equally good ;p

as to your list, BF Ulm is more powerful than regular Ulm (which isn't saying all that much); desert tombs and regular c'tis are not so far off from miasma; and Last of the Tuatha is very expensive points-wise due to forced luck - it has amazing blessable troops (the daoine sidhe, not the cu sidhe, which are pretty ****ty) but it is very hard to actually get them a good blessing. also, mothers of avalon can be used as cheap wrathers.

[Alneyan]

I think Blood of Humans has a cheaper blood hunter than regular Abysia.

Last of the Tuatha also has more expensive mages; their basic research costs 140 gold, while Man only needs 80 gold to get the same research level, and Nature 1/Air 1 does not seem so great.

Return of the Raptors has one purpose: avoiding being called one of the biggest threats around.

Hmm, perhaps another game featuring the more uncommon themes/nations might be in good order...

[Turin]

serpent cult is good for a bless hydra strategy. Early game almost nothing can stop hydras with earth 9 nature 4 blessing.

[Tuidjy]

Your milleage may vary... but you are most definitely right that some themes
are more powerful than others. Furthermore, some themes are better suited to
different styles of play. For example, I dislike Marignon's basic theme,
because, in my book, they are a bunch of clumsy groundpounders, but I have had
very nice results with Conquerors of the Seas (Pythium light) This comes down
to personnal preferrence - for example, you think that base Ulm is better than
Black Forest, but many would disagree.

No, the races in Dominions II are not perfectly balanced. I dare say that the
best Standard Marignon player would lose to a good Abysia player in a 1x1. But
in big multiplayer games, this has never interferred with my enjoyment.
The uberrace-du-jour gets watched very carefully, and usually comes to a nasty
and sticky end. Of course, the race itself changes. There was a time when it
was Ermor. Today most people think it is Caelum. Both I and my girlfriend
disagree, but I think it is Pythium and she thinks it is Vanheim.

My advice is, find a race that you enjoy playing... if winning is important to
you, you may want to look only at Pythium, Vanheim, Caelum, C'tis, Arcocephales,
but that's still quite a bit, isn't it?

[deccan]

Alneyan said:
Last of the Tuatha also has more expensive mages; their basic research costs 140 gold, while Man only needs 80 gold to get the same research level, and Nature 1/Air 1 does not seem so great.

I second that and Alneyan knows well how badly I am being mauled playing LoT in his game. LoT's best mages are damn expensive, but you NEED to buy the 390gp Tuatha for 2N.

The_Tauren13 said:
I like desert tombs a lot. Maybe the hefty price tag makes it a little weaker, but it's just so much fun!!!

I second this too. It's always fun to prophetize your starting priest and start hoarding Tomb Wyrms from turn 2. I'm playing them with a Fire 9 blessing in Slugfest 2 and they're great. Best of all, their lifeless, so they can swarm lifedraining SCs, but they are not mindless, so you can use them to defend in sieges and you are not vulnerable to their commanders being targeted by mind attacking spells.

Miasma gives up the Sauromancer for the Marshmaster. While I can see how the Marshmaster can be cool, the Sauromancer is incredibly useful too. Can cast terror, spam skeletons, cast banefire, and occasionally you can get a 4D one to make into a "Darkness" caster.

[Steerpike]

I am playing Niefel Giants in Slugfest 2 with a water 9 blessing and I must say I like them much more than vanilla Jotun. Sure your good holy troops are capital only but they are so expensive I think it works out OK.
The research is hard until you find a library.
Having said that I am having a little difficulty with Abyssia at the moment, so what do I know.

I was wondering if some one could rank the themes in order of what they thin is the best theme.

[Steerpike]

I have been thinking about this question for a while.
there is oodles of Forum space dedicated to which is the best nation to play and it seems it depends on so many variables(pretender, Dominion, Scales, national troops, Summons, damage spells) that it is virtually impossible to give a definitive 'BEST' answer. I have crushed Caelum in Multi player and been crushed by said nation. (I have only played 3 multi games, so what do I know).
THAT is the beauty of this game.
How does Fatigue affect (so called) SC's, I found out in my Last game playing Niefel Giants( answer: A LOT).
Bet you never asked yourself that question.
How does fighting in Cold provinces affect Fatigue(answer:A LOT)
This game is complex, really, really complex and the only way to discover just how complex is to play multi.
Hell I have heard that the QT3 boys have completely different tactics to the forum boys. I would love to see a grudge match.
Why am I talking at length on a seemingly dead thread?
I think its because I have been a lurker for so long (long enough to pine for Norfleets return, Or wonder why Arryn hasnt posted in ages, or SOB that Mosehansen got sick of the game and took away his awesome website for hosting games)
In summing up, YOU CAN NOT ASK FOR A BEST OF LIST OF NATIONS!
They are all good, except for Tien Chi which seems to be the ugly duckling played by people who love punishment.
Just play against people and you will learn soooo much it will open your eyes forever.
I know it did for me.