Last of the Tuatha strategy

Shuji Doyama · #1 January 9th, 2004, 04:35 PM

My bad - sure, bards can summon vinemen only. I am still not sure if it's worth the gems. I was thinking about the default theme Avalon crones, of course.

*edit* : well, giving a nature bonus weapon is an option.

For the longbowmen, I mostly use them with armored troops who don't suffer much casualties from their arrows, or in the beginning of the game (infantry gets order to guard commander far from the enemy. Most independents rout before engaging in melee.) Another way is to have longbows snipe enemy archers - if there will be any, problem with friendly fire is solved.
Bog beasts sound interesting, but who besides pretender god can summon them?..

[ January 09, 2004, 14:51: Message edited by: Shuji Doyama ]

Gandalf Parker · #2 January 9th, 2004, 06:27 PM

quick notes. Dont forget that you are geared toward frequent use of "Call of Winds" both in magic and in gems. Move the units to another commander for patrol and use the leader for equiped kamikaze attacks.

And with such a strong sneaking military using CotW to soften or test a province that your sneak-army can mop up works well.

Those Cu hounds are cheap, sacred, and fast. Putting them with a monk on the flanks is handy. Have the the monk bless them and sned them on their way into the rear.

Vine men do not a fighting force make but as fodder and BIG morale boosters they can save you alot of cost replacing other frontline troops. Mix at a ratio of 1/3 or even 1/2

Longbows are good for fire at archers. Slingers are good for fire at closest or cavalry. Slingers are cheap and do cause rout. In fact an army of vinemen backed by slingers can be a cheap handy wall to put other units behind. Not a great army, but a handy one.

Always put archers/slingers on flanks. Less damage from friendly fire.

ywl · #3 January 9th, 2004, 07:20 PM

You've covered most spells. But don't forget "Protection", 3 Alteration, 1 Nature. It's castable even by your Bards and Sidhe Champion, making them more useful in battle.

And as another has said, Nature 6 is not very useful for the blessed effect. So, either go all the way to Nature 9 or just stop at Nature 4 or 5. Unfortunately, The Tuatha Man does need some help on Nature (how ironical

. So, I guess having a Nature 4 Pretender is not necessarily a bad idea. I don't think too many people has looked at it, but the White Bull seems to be a good pretender. After getting personal regeneration, (Enchantment 3), he's quite powerful.

But if you want to go for diversity, adding some Fire with Moloch or Death with Prince of Death is not bad.

If you're going for Conjuration, don't forget the Firebolg (Conj 5) and Lamia Queen (Conj 6). They're both good bargains.

Also, if you go for Chaotic scale, I don't think you'd have gold to hire a lot of Tuatha (and Sidhe). Take that into account.

That's all I can think of for now.

Keir Maxwell · #4 January 9th, 2004, 10:52 PM

Do a search on Tuatha and you should find some idea's Jasper and I were thjrowing about in a trhead awhile back.

Basically the key to Tuatha IMO is bless effects. The Daone Sidhe need more defense to be really tough and water9 is alos good for your mages so this is what I tried. Nature will make your mages go berserk when wounded and charge into combat - scary.

I like the Cu Sidhe alot. Part of this is thematic softeness the other is that they can really speed expansion. If you find you lose them at first play with their deployment so that they do not get drawn into the main part of the battle but instead cause havoc on the flanks.

Mass Protection is an amazing spell for anyone with adequate nature and low natural armour (ie excluding items) and should be seriously considered.

Have fun

Keir

Jasper · #5 January 10th, 2004, 07:33 AM

After more testing I've come to agree with Keir that the Water 9 blessing is better than Fire 9 for Tuatha (a main point of our discussion in the thread he mentions). I think I must have had bad luck with my initial Water 9 test, or done something stupid. Moreover the benefit of +4 defense increases as your troops gain experience.

Still, Fire 9 + Dom 6 is much cheaper to get with the Moloch than Water 9 + Dom 6 is with a Blue Dragon...

As an aside, I think it's better to send your Sidhe into battle, rather than casting evocations. They're effective, hard to hurt, and you won't get any friendly fire. Barkskin and Mist Form help greatly here.

Also, someone else mentioned putting your Doaine Sidhe in the front to attract arrows. IMHO this is a very bad idea. True, their glamour helps a bit, but for their cost they're still vulnerable, especially due to their low protection. Something cheaper with higher protection works better IMHO, as you really don't want to lose any Sidhe during expansion.

[ January 10, 2004, 05:37: Message edited by: Jasper ]

Jasper · #6 January 10th, 2004, 07:35 AM

Arg! I hit quote rather than edit.

[ January 10, 2004, 05:37: Message edited by: Jasper ]

quantum_mechani · #7 January 10th, 2004, 08:21 PM

My personal favorite strat for Last of the Tuatha is using a nine astral oracle. Being the cheapest way to get a level nine blessing (other than the blood fountain) it leaves enough points to have growth and productivity scales. I find that important to compensate for the lost income from the turmoil and luck scales which seem most effecient for the theme.

Also Cu Sihde work very well with Twist Fate, and with already high magic resistance both your sacred troops make a good counter for a variety of spells.

[ January 10, 2004, 18:23: Message edited by: quantum_mechani ]