Ermor balance?
After playing the demo with some friends for a while, I decided the time was right to pick up the full Version. My first MP experience with the full Version was a hotseat game with a friend. He chose Ashen Empire Ermor (dominion: 10, turmoil-sloth-death-luck-magic: 3) which I knew was a pretty strong theme. However, I soon realized that it was even stronger than I expected...
He got multiple leaders per turn, despite the fact he had only 1 castle. He got tons of free troops that were immune to routing. He pillaged ruthlessly, and used his money to purchase every mercenary group. To add insult to injury, Etimmu the Wraithlord decided to show up on turn 3 - he's probably the best special character I've seen.
Anyway, his initial expansion was impressive. By turn 8 he was taking 4 provinces a turn. If he had better managed his assets, he would've taken even more. I guess that was the most frustrating thing - he didn't really play that well and still managed to steamroller the independents (strength 6) and Man.
Is Ashen Empire Ermor too strong at the start? The independents and AI players couldn't stop him, thus he had a huge edge in troops and territory by turn 10. More provinces -> more troops -> more provinces... that synergy creates a lot of momentum. Add in the fact that the provinces he controls are progressively being ruined, and you have one very nasty opponent.
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