Can someone tell me about Machaka?

[Ink]

with CBM:

the reduced cost of spider riders has made them available for using as a workhorse unit. Machaka can depend on them rather than requiring something like the Colossal Fetish (something which will only become quickly useless as the game moves into midgame).

thus, DONT take a colossal fetish, rather go for a rainbow to provide paths/combinations needed for Machaka to have a chance in late game, and really good scales for Machaka to recruit the hell out of spider riders/knights.

Crone:
E1S3N4D4 (or something like that, give S for diversity and the other paths for missing combinations to forge key items)
Dom6-7 (good dom for good scales)
O3P3H3L-1G3M1 (max income dom)
asleep

recruit spider riders/knights and build lots of forts to boost reasearch (this is why you have such good scales)
research site searching
research evo to 5 or 6 for battle magic
research const to 8 for artifacts
research conj

havn't really tried this out in any real gameplay (ie MP), but it looks like the tack I would take with Machaka now.