Dealing with Hydras

[Rathar]

Turn them to stone with a gorgon.

[OmikronWarrior]

Offhand, I'd say some very high protection thugs with poisoin immunity to occupy them while a whole bunch of archers attack. Remember, hydras cost between 10 or 20 normal units, and that kind of investment means the player is very vulnerable in having invested so much into this one tactic.

[Lingchih]

OmikronWarrior said:
Offhand, I'd say some very high protection thugs with poisoin immunity to occupy them while a whole bunch of archers attack. Remember, hydras cost between 10 or 20 normal units, and that kind of investment means the player is very vulnerable in having invested so much into this one tactic.

I don't know, but I would doubt an LA Pythium player would have just invested in Hydras. Their elite infantry is the best in the LA game, and I would hope any player could back up those Hydras with their hard-to-beat infantry.

[Aezeal]

If he has so much unit so early in the game (low research yet it seems) then he must have pumped it all in hydra's 40 of them is like 10 + turns of cash (assuming some researchers have been recruited too)

[HoneyBadger]

Even Heracles needed help, and he didn't manage to kill the Hydra, he just cut off most of it's heads and buried the last one under a rock. The Hydra got it's revenge, in the end: it was the Hydra's poison that did Heracles in, in the end, that and his wife and her tricksy centaur lover.

[Gregstrom]

I can thoroughly recommend archers, as stated above. Even if it's just to lop off as many heads as possible before you face them in melee.

[Saxon]

Skelly spam is quite effective, but numbers are needed. As one poster stated, don't be skimpy on your mages.

In MA, just tons of undead will eventually wear them down, but it is an long, ugly battle. If you don't have enough missle units, they will use up their ammo and then charge into battle. It keeps your mages safe another turn, but is not ideal...

Thanks for the other ideas, I seem to have a hydra infestation and your tips will help!

[Natpy]

Rage spaming. Its may be very effectiv

[MaxWilson]

Umbrals + Iron Warriors is probably worth a shot, if you've got the research and the gems. Use them as blockers while your mages spam them with (Terror/Blade Wind/Skelly spam/whatever you have researched). Shooting from the hip, I'd say 10 umbrals with Iron Warriors up should be able to whip 40 hydras, perhaps even without any mage backup. Of course I could be radically underestimating--I'll simulate this battle later.

-Max

[MaxWilson]

I tried the Iron Warrior + Umbral counter at home. It worked just dandy, up to a point. I used 1 Attendant of the Dead and had him hold for five rounds, then attack large monsters. 13 umbrals were his guards. 4 Ktonian necromancers cast Summon Earthpower, Iron Warriors x4, and all of the umbrals got nicely covered. The hydras could hardly scratch the umbrals, although the Attendant died pretty quick (doesn't matter, he was just a mechanism for holding umbrals in place long enough to be buffed). And then... all the umbrals ran away, and my necromancers died.

Turns out hydras have Fear +0. Ah, well. Scratch one possible counter.

-Max

Edit: by the way, when I replayed the battle after modding umbral morale up to 99, they wiped the floor with the hydras. 40 dead hydras, no dead umbrals, although most of the umbrals had picked up a couple of afflictions. It's the fear, and nothing else, which saved the hydras.