Lamias vs mandragoras

[alexti]

Kuritza_Dru said:
Well, the problem is, I'm hard-pressed now, so I have to summon some effective troops

I'd summon lamias and mandragoras and vine ogres. Idea is to put few (3-4) smallish vine ogre squads in the front, 1 or 2 larger groups of lamias slightly behind and spread out several mandragora squads across the field (but more towards the rear). Script mandragoras to attack largest, ogres and lamias to hold&attack or attack. This setup will make the army relatively sturdy (for that level of research) and reasonably good against various armies/SCs. Add some mages, guarded by ogres to custom-tailor the army

[TheBirthdayParty]

My vote, in your situation, is for the lamias simply because they transform and thus will last longer on the battlefiend than mandragoras and vine ogres are slow to get a group together, plus not all that effective once you do. 1 vine ogre vs 5 lamias vs...8 mandragoras? each summons, i'd choose the lamias. But you still need a few turns to get lamias or mandragoras out in a large enough unit/regiment.

[NTJedi]

The Vine Ogres are a long term investment where you need like 3 or 4 nature mages pumping 2 each turn... after a dozen turns you have a nice meat shield for your different mage armies.

The lamias are good if you need the troops now or if your opponent has lots of priests.

The mandragoras are great since it takes several banishments for one to fall, plus they will put the approaching enemy troops or SC asleep with the attacks. Also they are definitely worth the price if the caster is a high nature level.

[TheBirthdayParty]

One thing I forgot that could very well make mandragoras better is that, i believe, they aren't affected by morale. IE-no routing worries.

[Hakko]

Ivy Kings get 4 vine ogres/summoning at a cost of 1N per spell. That's pretty good economics after a few turns. 20 vine ogres is a very nice meat shield. Twenty ogres in five turns for 25N (20N for Ivy King plus 5 for the ogres) vs. 20 turns for 20N (assuming one caster and no ivy crown) is a pretty good tradeoff.

[Boron]

Ivy kings have also the advantage to be good Battlemages .
They are a very worthy charm platform

[Hakko]

Yes, they are a favorite summons whenever I have good access to Nature.