Yomi - Oni Kings analysis. Developers please read

[Nerfix]

Well, that was bad luck. And admitedly E9 can be nasty on the SG's, though something like W9 would be worse since it would nullify their weak Def and give them and extra attack.

Seriously, against Agartans the high Def of the Ambitates really shows. You do need to have an amount advantage vs the Seal Guards though, I admit it, but I think that Ambitate Nobles are far easier to mass than Seal Guards.

Troglos are hard to deal with, but I'd use Javelineers in large numbers for them....if they are pelted with missiles and then dig too deep into block of infantry they'll get ganged and die. Remember that a troglo costs 50 gold and a javelineer costs 10. You can get 50 javelineers for the price of 10 troglogs. Troglos are great, but they need to be used in a "critical mass" so to say or they will get beaten. Javelineers are suprisingly good against the soft Agartans...

Troglo Lords and Ancient Lords are worse, but then again you have great acces to Horror Mark and Curse and a bit later on Paralyze. If you hit Evoc 5 and Alt 1 you could use a N1 Druid with either EP, 3 Earth or Communion backing for more precise Gifts from Heavens strikes.

In time of serious troubles I could even consider using Cave Drakes to suck in blows...

My typical research pattern goes Thaum 1 - Evoc 5 - Alt 1 - Conj 3 for:
- Horror Mark, Communion, Curse
- Bladewind, Gifts from Heaven
- Eagle Eyes
- Summon Earthpower

If I was in imminent threat of big creatures I could aim for Paralyze first.

That's what I'd do. Your Mileage May Vary as usual. And it might be that Marverni has harder time vs Yomi or such, just like in later era there are such pair. Imagine Marignon vs Abysia...!

[B0rsuk]

Using Carnutes against Agarthans sounds like trying to beat Agarthans at their own game. Of course high strength helps to punch through armor, and with berserk on it could be even worse, because in this particular case (C. Nobles) it substracts 2 from defence. You're basically trying to say 'Carnute Nobles are bigger, stronger and tougher than Agarthans'
I'd rather try Ambibate Nobles who have +6 defence compared to berserked Carnute Nobles, and a bit more attack, too.

B0rsuk, who never played full version of Dominions 3.

[curtadams]

I'd don't like "protecting" Oni demons by having them run away on their first death. First, if the causative priests aren't dead, the demons will just get blasted on the next enounter. Second, until high-morale summons dominate the game - which should be fairly late in Dom3 - battles are mostly decided by who breaks first. If only some break, it's just harder on the troops remaining.

[Archonsod]

I've never had a problem with the Oni Kings. Usually, keeping a mass of Dai Oni together throwing fireballs & poison at approaching troops keeps them out of combat (the enemy tend to retreat before they reach the demons).
Priests could be problematic, but again you can mix in non demonic troops (such as a bunch of bandits scripted to fire at the rear, hopefully killing the priest quite quickly).
One possibility would be to use stealth armies of bandits scripted to loose off a few volleys towards the enemies' rear and retreat. You could then ambush priest heavy armies and try to remove the priests, before delivering the killing blow with the demons.

[KissBlade]

Archonsod said:
I've never had a problem with the Oni Kings. Usually, keeping a mass of Dai Oni together throwing fireballs & poison at approaching troops keeps them out of combat (the enemy tend to retreat before they reach the demons).
Priests could be problematic, but again you can mix in non demonic troops (such as a bunch of bandits scripted to fire at the rear, hopefully killing the priest quite quickly).
One possibility would be to use stealth armies of bandits scripted to loose off a few volleys towards the enemies' rear and retreat. You could then ambush priest heavy armies and try to remove the priests, before delivering the killing blow with the demons.

A nice trick you described. Which suggests to me that you've never actually even bothered attempting it since there's no such thing as "fire rear".

[Cainehill]

Eh, may I point out that there definately _IS_ such a thing as fire rear? Albeit it seems that only commander archers get that option.

[Archonsod]

Commander archers get fire rear. Normal archers don't, but can fire archers which appears to default to fire rear if there are no archers present (and is equal to fire rear if there are, since the AI never alters it's deployment).

Never tried it with Yomi, like I said, I've never had any problems with a Dai Oni army.

[Corwin]

Also even if you have many demons in your army, chances are that you also have a lot of bakamoo and bandit archers as well. If demons flee, your archers as well as other non-demon troops are doomed. And purely demonic armies are simply not very flexible, even with the significantly decreased cost of demons.