Rlyeh newbie getting massacred by AI...any tips?

[Sandman]

Use Crab Hybrids to expand underwater.

An imprisoned rainbow mage won't give you any help whatsoever for the early game and first half of the midgame. Wyrms seem to be popular with R'lyeh; take one with no more than two magic paths and a high dominion.

[Endoperez]

Starspawns that start with priestly powers have this nifty icon that makes them better summoners. They are also somewhat better at not becoming insane in the Void Gate. Because a prophet is much more important than a normal recruitable commander, don't throw him to the gate. Use the priests.

Research Thaumaturgy. Mind Burn - damage through armor, nice against well-protected creatures like Amber Clan. Magic resistance protects against it, though. Paralyze - good against scary things you don't want killing your forces. Soul Slay - magic resistance protects against it, but one failure is fatal... Enslave Mind - to get more units for your armies.

Lobo units are cheap, and don't rout easily, but they have hard time killing tougher troops. Select provinces that have weak defenders, or where their superior numbers can overwhelm the enemy (e.g. if you have 50 Lobos, 10 Crab Hybrids, go against either 40 Tritons or 10 Sea Trolls, Kraken, but not against 30 Shark Knights or Amber Clan Tritons, or 100 Tritons.)

[Failure]

OK. Sorry, I have too many questions.

So, I'll cull the rainbow pretender for now. Do I have to have an awake pretender to do all the fighting? (ie: the wyrm)

As for thaumaturgy - who's going to do the casting? I need the researchers for researching, or should I be sending a certain number of them off to battle? Will 2-3 of them casting THA spells really change the battle outcome?

I always use the special summoner guy for the gate, but why not a prophet. Does the extra bit of priestly power have no bearing on summoning from the gate?

What else should I use the prophet for?

[Slough_Gairn]

The lobo guards and other fighting units are just a meat shield to cover for the leaders. I put them in the middle of the field with orders to hold and attack. All leader types should go at the very back of the field. Your prophet can cast buff spells like bless or sermon of courge, spell casters can cast buff or attack spells and the other illithids can paralyse so that by the time your forces meet the opponent is greatly weakened. 2 or 3 spellcasters is ok at the begining of the game but later on you will want more.

Use another starspawn to enter the void gate. I always like to keep a second around as an immediate backup.

[Shovah32]

Failure said:
OK. Sorry, I have too many questions.

So, I'll cull the rainbow pretender for now. Do I have to have an awake pretender to do all the fighting? (ie: the wyrm)

As for thaumaturgy - who's going to do the casting? I need the researchers for researching, or should I be sending a certain number of them off to battle? Will 2-3 of them casting THA spells really change the battle outcome?

I always use the special summoner guy for the gate, but why not a prophet. Does the extra bit of priestly power have no bearing on summoning from the gate?

What else should I use the prophet for?

Prophets dont help summoning, only summoning skill does. Use your prophet for leading troops, casting spells(smite or morale boosts) and possibly thugging depending on who you prophetise. A battery of soul slaying or mind enslaving starspawn can do alot of damage to the ai and also defend you against bigger threats such as elephants and large pretenders.

For your pretender an E3 wyrm either awake or sleeping is great early-mid game. Send him out asap against very weak provinces while researching alteration. When you reach protection spells(stoneskin/ironskin/invunerability) they combine very well with his high health and he becomes nearly unstoppable by regular armies of the time. Later with summon earth power and maybe some cheap items such as starshine skullcap, horror helm, pendant of luck and something else he can work very well alone or with your army(routing enemies quickly to reduce casualties) and can also be a support caster with spells like bladewind and legions of steel/strength of giants.