Fun with Arco Astrologers

[Saxon]

Last night, my single player Arco nation was really getting moving well. I had just gotten construction level six and had spent a turn or three producing Starshine caps and Banners of the northern star, along with assorted minor protective gear. I took my ten astrologers off research, gave them the goodies to lift their astral levels, then teleported them off to join the fight against Man. Teleport is such an useful spell!

I had them on Body Ethereal, then Soul Slay. They joined the main army and the next turn entered battle against a big force. And then… The opposition just melted! Ten soul slays a turn punches an enemy army pretty hard. Do it four turns in a row, with 40 potential deaths and they are reeling. The astrologers also tend to target the bigger units first, or those closest, which usually hits the most troublesome units. They also keep firing after the army routs, so they eat up a lot of enemy troops, so you do not need to fight them again.

I just walked to the capital, often my melee units could not even reach the enemy, they were bLasted so fast. Once in the capital, I did run into a problem. The astrologers targeted the enemy pretender, who did have high magic resistance. This did seem like a waste, but after ten a turn for a few turns, one spell did get through. I would throw in a few spell penetration items before using this against pretenders.

In any case, I know the “Firing Squad” has been written about before in the forum and I know that I should expect a real power for my 1800 gold plus many astral gems, but the power of this combination really blew me away and I had to share.