Questions on Tir na nog

[Trumanator]

Okay, so I decided to give these guys a try, and see how/if they were different from Eriu. They're not much different, but I did notice a few things.
1: They have Sidhe Warriors, which is the Daoine Sidhe Eriu gets, but non-sacred and recruit anywhere. They are probably comparable to many medium strength sacreds for their era.
2: They have an EXCELLENT assasin in the Baobhan Sidhe, who can cast lightning bolt.
3: You've actually got a decently cost effective researcher who is recruit anywhere.
4:Your Tuatha Warrior sacreds have magical weapons, useful at times. They don't really seem worth a bless, as the Baalz bless(E9 N4-6) that would apply to the commanders for raiding really doesn't do much for them.

Right now I'm messing around using Sidhe warriors for expansion, while making an early beeline for evoc 2 to put my Baobhans to good use. After that I am basically following Baalz Eriu guide.

Is there any strategies in particular that would work well with Tir? If it makes any difference, I am using CBM 1.4.

[licker]

For fun take a W9 bless and zoom up your defense (and the quickness...).

I agree the assassins are potentially game breaking early, before your opponent can get lightning immunity, and even then, it will cost them alot to stick it on all their commanders they might be worried about.

The assassins are also recruit anywhere (I think...) so you can really spam them if you want to try an assassin heavy tactic. Not sure how much legs that's got, but seemingly you can almost afford to throw them away occasionally if you force your opponents to change their entire strategy to deal with them.

[Trumanator]

Yeah, they're pretty darn cool. They do cost 225 gold though, more than a Bean Sidhe, so it could be pretty expensive. On the other hand, imagine someone without native air access trying to deal with them in the early game

[licker]

Exactly, and frankly, from what I've seen, money is not a real issue for Tir, they expand well, they put up cheap castles, and they can take strong scales.

Their core troops are relatively cheap as well. Though I'm not convinced they fare that well into mid/late game as their native magic isn't anything to be excited about. They lack death, astral, and blood afterall, as well as fire.

[Trumanator]

I don't really know if they can get scales that easily. I took an imprisoned Lord of the Forest E9 N6, with O3 S1 G3 and M2. This was in CBM. In hindsight, I would probably skip the growth scales in favor of luck, since you get at least one awesome hero in Lugh Longhanded. I somehow got him despite my scales, but it's almost worth taking luck just for him. The lack of D, S, and B is a problem though.

[Redeyes]

Lugh is quite likely the best hero in the game, getting him early is a massive advantage of its own

With the bless you are using I like to pair two Sidhe Lords in the same square, scripting one to
Bless->Mistform->Gift of Flight->Soothing Song->Holy Avenger->Attack Rear
And the other to
Protection->Mistform->Soothing->Soothing Song->Holy Avenger->Attack Rear

No gear, hasn't failed against any indie or PD I have seen yet.

[VedalkenBear]

Hrm... I wasn't aware that Lugh was available to Tir? I thought he was just available to Eriu?

Regardless, The Baobhan is quite nice, but that high of a cost for an assassin kinda scares me. IIRC, she has few if any defenses, and so against certain nations (e.g., giants), the Lightning spam may not kill the giant before it reaches you, which would likely end in a dead Sidhe. Also, I don't think the Sidhe herself is Lightning-immune, and if she switches to the close-effect lightning area spell when any enemy gets next to her, she's literally gambling with her life.

So while I agree that she's a good assassin, I don't think that she's necessarily something that should be sent out in large numbers.

[licker]

Well you can't use her indiscriminately obviously, but she does start with glamour and decent enough defense, she can buff with RL and mistform (if you feel the need), she can cast phantasmal warrior to spit out some chaff, ... Basically she has a higher cost in gold, but does not need any equipment to be essentially 100% effective against everything other than lightning immune, or giants.

There are tricks you can use, but against the right opponents they will have a difficult time countering her, and if you force your opponent to adjust to your tactics you are ahead of the game.

[Trumanator]

One thing I'm finding out though is that she is surprisingly vulnerable to AI priests, who like to script Holy Avenger. That and smiters.

[Redeyes]

To be a great assassin you need plenty of hp.
Have you tried scripting air elemental summons for assassinating?
It costs gems, but if lightning bolt alone doesn't do it...

Air elementals are quite great for when you start running into bodyguards.