I ALWAYS loose.... I need advice and have MANY questions heh!

[Graeme Dice]

Originally posted by Lach:
How does getting the free undead work? Is your population replaced by undead or you get free undead units? What about gold/production?

The two themes of Ermor have no recruitable units. Every unit is either automatically raised from the dead by your dominion in your provinces, with more undead rising in provinces with castles and temples. You can also summon unholy priests that can further increase the number of undead that you have available. You will also very quickly kill off your entire population base, and have no more gold income or resources.

[Boron]

Originally posted by Graeme Dice:

quote:

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Originally posted by Lach:
How does getting the free undead work? Is your population replaced by undead or you get free undead units? What about gold/production?

The two themes of Ermor have no recruitable units. Every unit is either automatically raised from the dead by your dominion in your provinces, with more undead rising in provinces with castles and temples. You can also summon unholy priests that can further increase the number of undead that you have available. You will also very quickly kill off your entire population base, and have no more gold income or resources.

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yep . only one thing to add :
if ´there are gold producing buildings in a province like arena , gold mine ... you still get the gold so with some luck ermor still gets a small but steady gold income
because ermor only needs to build castles / temples / labs it is most likely enough .
if you need some further gold alchemizing fire / earth gems should always be enough

i prefer the free summons of AE ermor a bit more than the SG ermor free summons . you even get weak leaders summoned from time to time .
so you can use legions of free crap undeads to "scout/ oppurtunity kill" enemies and unleash your core troops which you summoned after that first costless test wave
the longdead horseriders / knights of the sepulchre you get are weak too but quite quick

in sp ae / sg ermor is real nice and for the pc's almost undefeatable .
so really the ideal race to test things

[Lach]

Sounds good but I wont be able to build castles besides pillaging....

[Norfleet]

Originally posted by Lach:
Sounds good but I wont be able to build castles besides pillaging....

Heheheh....how little you yet understand....

No, really, what ELSE would you do with all the money you'll get from pillaging and alchemy OTHER than build castles, temples, and labs? It's not as if your units require any upkeep, or that you have any to recruit. With the exception of a few indy mages, what else would you buy? Castles! LOTS OF CASTLES! I WILL BURY YOU IN MILES AND MILES OF CASTLES IN THE DESOLATE WASTELAND! YAAAR!

[Lach]

Most of my earlier questions turned out to be from lack of understanding game mechanics..... the problem still persists however. IF I can live long enough to get high level magic and a big gem income I can win...... or get close enough that I am satisfied.

The problem is that the computer just SWARMS over me with ENORMEOUS troops numbers.... how the hell can I counter that?

[NTJedi]

Originally posted by Lach:

The problem is that the computer just SWARMS over me with ENORMEOUS troops numbers.... how the hell can I counter that?

You might be playing the game with lots of computer opponents on small maps... which would cause this scenario.

or

You might not be expanding to independent neighboring provinces fast enough. You should be planning to conquer a province every other turn. Mercenaries help big time with this.

Also when you first meet your enemies don't go attacking multiple computer opponents unless you feel confident about keeping them under your thumb.

[Gandalf Parker]

Turn up the independent setting. That slows them down.

If you are talking about Ermor, thats his basic tactic. The answer is "make priests". As soon as you see ermor coming, start making priests. Their banishment spell makes big holes in that swarm. Of course you build your tactic around giving them time to cast that many times. Heavy infantry, set everyone far back on the battlefield, have the infantry do "hold and attack closest" or maybe just "guard commander". Dont charge the enemy, make them wear themselves out charging you.

[SelfishGene]

Originally posted by SelfishGene:
"In Illwinter's game Dominions 2, you can build temples, wage wars against pagan neighbors, and research fantasitcal magical spells. But Wish requires exact spelling.... and it doesn't take American Express.

VISA, its everywhere you want to be."

Just in case nobody got it, you can successfully wish for VISA.

[Norfleet]

Originally posted by SelfishGene:
Just in case nobody got it, you can successfully wish for VISA.

What happens if you do?

[Boron]

Originally posted by Lach:
Most of my earlier questions turned out to be from lack of understanding game mechanics..... the problem still persists however. IF I can live long enough to get high level magic and a big gem income I can win...... or get close enough that I am satisfied.

The problem is that the computer just SWARMS over me with ENORMEOUS troops numbers.... how the hell can I counter that?

the faerun map is optimal for learning the game .
because there you have plenty of time and most likely will meet your first opponent after you already control 10-15 provinces at least .
and it is not wraparound . this makes orania a not so easy map if you play with all 17 ai opponents ihmo .
if you have luck and they fight mostly against each other for a long time it's easy to win because you will have superior summons .
but if you are already in battle with 1 ai at turn 5 and 1-2 others at turn 10 which often happens and they go with all their stuff on you it is very hard to survive .
if you play standard ulm or marignon this is not so hard to come by because your starting troops are just great but with other nations .
playing ryhleh is ihmo very optimal for beginners since your only opponent in the beginning is atlantis if you did turn them on .
so you have time and can decide against the ai when the carnage should start by deciding when you go on the continent .

finally a tip : to see if you expand "fast" enough look often at the provinces score graph .
if you are in the upper third it should be enough . depends on nations though and since you play nonstandard ermor they don't need to expand very fast in the beginning

i think the ai is not too bad because their swarming keeps you busy in early-midgame and often successfully disturbs you quite a bit .
rarely but it happens sometimes the ai does even summon magic troops like summer lions .
only thing i haven't yet seen is summoning them one of the unique summons .
general i think the ai is good enough to be a challenge in most cases if you do not play under extreme settings.
when i started playing dominions 6 weeks before i first thought exactly the same they always have more than me and the ai is very good .
you already found out yourself that at high magic levels the ai is very beatable but i really think it is good enough at impossible settings since it is a challenge even for sc pretenders with its hordes in early - midgame