Looking for a good PBEM setup. Post your favorite

[Alneyan]

Ghost Kings are not immortals PDF, so you cannot get Immortality *and* the cheap cost of a GK. If you do want an Immortal, it will have to be the Phoenix or the Vampire Queen (or the Bog Mummy for a nation specific Pretender, or the immobile that is Immortal and whose name I have forgotten... the Glyph, I think). But I agree there are better choices than the Virtue, particulary the Phoenix, but what can I say? I simply love the Virtue.

Note, however, that the scales are pretty much standard fare, at least in those games here, and you can certainly do very well with them. If you use Zen Scales mod, it may be another matter however (I never tried those scales under the Scales mod). Some national units can be recruited, especially archers, or mercenaries can do the fighting, but the main fighting force will be the Pretender herself, as soon as Alteration 2 comes online, with the other units handling the weak independents. Sloth 3 gives... let me see, -30% resources or so, and resources are what will slow you down while recruiting those heavy infantry units. Still, the difference is not that important, and national units are not a necessity. Jurri won a game with Jotunheim while recruting a minimal number of national troops, and those were mostly fodder in the very first few turns (before turn 5 I think).

[Arralen]

Spending 240 points = 6(!) scales on making a Virtue a semi-rainbow pretender is ridiculous.

This can only work with low indies (<7) and >12 prov/player, with easy expansion and no early threat, and easy research.

With stronger indies, you'll run into lots of provinces which the Virtue cannot take alone or with just a handful of crappy units. And with a low number of provinces per player, every prov you cannot get (and have to go around) makes you loose momentum in comparison to the other players.

[Graeme Dice]

Arralen said:
With stronger indies, you'll run into lots of provinces which the Virtue cannot take alone or with just a handful of crappy units.

Stronger indies mostly increases the numbers of troops you will face, not their quality. Once a virtue has mistform and mirror image (with sufficient air magic) most indies won't hurt her. Once you've also researched shockwave, there are few indies that she won't conquer very quickly. I will quite happily take on knight and longbowman provinces at indies 9 with an A9 virtue. She'd be scripted as: mirror image, mistform, attack, shockwave, shockwave, cast spells.

[Zen]

I'd probably go Air Shield, Mirror Image, Mistform, Attack, Shockwave, Cast Spells.

But Graeme's advice is good.

[Zen]

Graeme Dice said:
I will quite happily take on knight and longbowman provinces at indies 9 with an A9 virtue. She'd be scripted as: mirror image, mistform, attack, shockwave, shockwave, cast spells.

Assumption archers: Positive.