Repulsion strategies

[DrPraetorious]

This thread is meant as a clearing house for advice on how to repulse the various double-bless scared-unit rush strategies, with at least a 40% chance of success. I'm getting sick of all the whining.

It's assumed that these rush strategies know how to repulse eachother (see violence, extreme). I will start by listing the sacred unit rush strategies that exist. Let me know if I missed some. I'll write a brief blurb on how to counter each when I get around to it - but obviously I haven't played every nation so anyone who wants to contribute advice, please do so.

Question - I have conflicting reports on the 9D blessing, and having tried it myself, I can't say for sure how it works either. It seems to do more than 2 pts of damage, though. Anyone know for sure how it actually works?

Type I - EA Abyssia - 9E9N.
The idea is that you have extremely tough (prot 24 when berserk) units with a fire shield. This is my favorite. There is no counter - grab your ankles, *****es.
Well, actually, there are counters.
Counters: Disintegrate, Quagmire, Mind Burn, Banefire. Trampling units if you can get fire immunity on them. Fire immune thugs or supercombatants with armor piercing weapons (surprisingly easy to make for another fire nation.)

Type II - EA Vanheim, EA Helheim, MA Vanheim or LA Vanheim - 9W9X(4-6Z). X can profitably be F or N, E or S is a possibility. Z, which is optional, can be A or B.
This is the most popular and feared. Idea is, you have a very high defense, a decent shield and glamour. In conventional combat, such a baddie is very difficult to defeat.
Counters: Tramplers - set chariot archers to "shoot and fire" at enemy archers, they'll shoot the archers for a bit and then bulldoze through the van to reach the archers.
Cloud spells (fire cloud, sulfur, etc.) Hydras.
You will have to be willing to lose screening troops - but if you can pin the van down long enough to get them poisoned or on fire, the van are so expensive that you can trade militia 5:1 and come out ahead.

Type III - EA Niefelheim, EA Agartha, ME Machaka or ME Agartha - 9N9X. X can profitably be W or F, E or S is a possibility.
The idea here is that you have sacred units with large hit point totals and they regenerate. The Machaka sacreds turn into such units when their riders die, which is going to happen sooner or later you might as well face it.
To counter these you want swarms of units. Swarms of archers, swarms of melle units.
They're big targets, but not numerous, so all of the counters listed to type I still apply, and you don't have to worry about the fire shield.

Type IV - ME Ermor - 9S9W(4-6X), dom 10. X, which is optional, can profitably be A or B.
Idea here is that you have a very high defense rating, you're ethereal, and the first time someone does somehow manage to hit you, it doesn't take.
The best counter to this is archers+flaming arrows. That really ruins my day.
Archery in general is probably your best bet - these shadow girls are numerous, are fragile if you can hit them at all.

Anyone wanna help me fill out the list? LE Ulm, ME Marignon, some of the monkeys, Mictlan can also do good sacred unit rushes, but I don't play those nations myself so I can't provide commentary on how the sacred builds are done (though I've fought against them.)

And yes, please feel free to contribute your own strategic suggestions.