MA T'ien Ch'i - a little of this, a little of that and BAM!

[Baalz]

Yeah, the pretender choice (based on the vector of this guide) is fairly open to whatever your personal preference is - there's just not a lot of holes he needs to plug. The critical portion of pretender design is Order-3 Production-3 Magic-1 and not terrible other scales, anything that allows you to afford this should work pretty well with this guide.

[Belac]

In terms of thug potential, what about Prince Generals (with attendant priests to bless then retreat)? They wouldn't be as good as those of many nations, but would they be useful at all (especially with a few cavalry as attendants)?

[Peter Ebbesen]

As a man who loves to play MA Pythium with a scales approach (it is one of the few nations where I can allow myself the guilty pleasure of an order 3, production 3 approach and feel that I am not giving up anything important compared to what I gain), thanks for the guide, Baalz. It contains a couple of good reminders.

The ability to field huge fairly tough armies designed to counter whatever threat is currently facing me on a very short notice coupled with an economy strong enough that plopping down 1200g castles everywhere appropriate (in terrain and population level) is one of the greatest joys of the game. Some nations in the game use small elite militaries, special operations teams capable of dealing with practically anything - T'ien C'hi MA uses the enlisted man, drilled to perfection and good at his job but relying on the military as a whole to deal with threats not in his purview.

[Peter Ebbesen]

Originally Posted by Belac

In terms of thug potential, what about Prince Generals (with attendant priests to bless then retreat)? They wouldn't be as good as those of many nations, but would they be useful at all (especially with a few cavalry as attendants)?

One problem with Prince Generals is the seasonal variation of their hitpoints. Just like the Red Guard cavalry, one has to be careful fielding them in the wintertime.

In spring the Prince Generals have +50% hitpoints but it declines to -50% hitpoints in the early winter, a variation from 19hp to 6 hp. Sure, they have excellent defense and protection, but the number of things that can kill a 6-7 hitpoint unit or commander, even a well protected one, in one blow are many.

Thus I tend to occasionally field Red Guards as a strategic reserve for the few situations where their higher morale, magic resistance, and defense over the Imperial Horseman may make a difference but I do not use Prince Generals as thugs or in general. They are just too fragile if used at the wrong time, and I do not want to kit out thugs that are only seasonally truly useful - thugs that additionally are capital only and take the place of recruiting an imperial alchemist or celestial master (one can never get too many imperial alchemists).

I do tend to buy one early Prince General and make him my prophet as a luxury. If he gets one of the two heroic abilities that boost hitpoints he becomes a great commander in some turns, even with the -50% hitpoints at the yearly ebb of his strength. If not - well, as T'ien C'hi I can afford having wasted a bit of gold and one turn of capital recruitment on the long shot that is a random heroic ability.

EDIT: Good lord, just loaded up MA TC with CBM 1.6. Last time I played them was in vanilla and now they seem to get five celestial soldiers for 8 astral gems! That's incredible! - and very, very, affordable. They have always been very nice elite troops (even when there's not a single 4 or higher magic on the pretender) mostly limited to niche uses by the premium value of astral gems but that price is only half what I am used to. I want to play MA TC in my next game.