If any of you bothered to read my fluff post, you probably have a good idea what Marverni is like. If you didn't read it, you probably don't. Most people really don't know much about the Gauls, except that Julius Caesar beat them, and wrote a book about it. Hopefully, I can clear that up with a look at how the nation plays.
First, though, me. I am a new player. I've owned Dominions 3 for a year or two, and played maybe fifteen games against the AI. As I type this, I'm in my first four multiplayer games, all of them using different mods. Like Roland_Jones, I'm from SA, and no, my god isn't related to him. Unless he looks Druish.
Speaking of Druidia, that brings me right back to Marverni. Marverni is all about druids- well, druids, screaming barbarians, and guys in chainmail. Here's a look at their unit list.
12 different units, and 10 different commanders. Sort of big, isn't it? Thankfully, most of them are basically the same thing, so we can really cut that down to a few. Figure that those 12 units come from four different tribes, each of which has its own spin on the same few units.
The Tribes:
Marverni: Have access to all five types of infantry, no special abilities.
Ambibates: Cost more gold and less resources, have +1 morale/attack/defense over Marv, limited units
Carnutes: More morale and HP than Marv, axes, berserk (+2), forest survival, but less defense, cost less res and more gold than Ambis
Eponi: Have cavalry, and nothing else.
Horn Blowers:
These guys are weaker than normal infantry, but have Standards. Basically, each horn blower raises the morale of the units around it, making them far less likely to run away when, say, they see a giant caveman splatter three of their friends across the countryside. My soldiers are a lot of things, but they're only human- having these guys along can make them a good bit more effective, especially the way I intend to use them. The Carnute version is slightly better in battle, has a small amount of armor, and is slightly tougher, for a bit more gold (and less resources, oddly enough.)
Barechests:
These guys are your basic barbarian fighters. If you look at their stats, you'll see that they are actually barechested- their only defenses are their helmets and their shields. On the upside, this makes them dirt cheap. The downside is that a good sneeze will kill a barechest. These guys are more expendable than TIE fighters, and anybody who plans to use them would do well to toss hundreds of them into the fight at a time.
Some differences between the three types. Marv BCs get two javelins and a sword, which they'll throw before moving into melee. Ambis lose the javelins, but gain some morale and combat skill. Carnutes are stronger, tougher, and have higher morale, but use axes instead of swords.
Nobles:
Elite fighters. These guys are tougher, stronger, more skillful, and more motivated than the BCs are. More than that, they wear armor- a Noble has Protection 12, FOUR TIMES what a BC has. The downside of the Noble is that you can get 2-3 BCs, depending on the situation, for the cost of one Noble.
Marv and Ambi Nobles are basically the same thing- the Ambi costs 2 gold more, and has the usual skill and morale bump, but is otherwise identical. The Carnute trades 3 defense for 3 morale and 1 HP.
Ranged Units:
Marverni has precisely two options here. The Javelineer is basically a cheaper, weaker BC- less armor and defense, a spear instead of a sword, and slightly more likely to run in battle. The Slinger, on the other hand, is a proper ranged unit- even more likely to run and less armored, but able to hit from longer distances and do more damage for less cost.
NEITHER of these guys has the accuracy to match a real archer in ranged combat. They won't be hitting small groups all that hard, but get enough of them, and armies can be whittled down well enough.
Eponi Knight:
This is my only cavalry unit, and I don't really know if it's all that good. It's basically a supersized Noble on a sugar rush- same weapons, same basic stats, but bigger, faster, and a good bit harder to hit.
Boar Warrior:
WTF. Really? The Boar Warrior is Marverni's sacred unit- basically, it costs much less to maintain, and can be given a bless (which somebody else will probably explain soon enough) to make itself stronger. Unfortunately for me, it's a gigantic waste of time. For one, it's a Carnute Noble with the serial number filed off. One more HP, one more point of morale, one more point of strength, one more point of attack, and a slightly better special ability. For another, it costs 7 more gold than the Noble- I could have another Marv BC for that. Third, since it's sacred, I can only recruit a number equal to my Holy (starting dominion score + number of temples you have/5) each turn from each fort I have. Oh, wait, I can't even do that much, since the Boar Warrior can only be recruited in my capital province. Too limited, too expensive, and not good enough to be worth getting.
Commanders:
Like my units, my list of commanders is bigger than it looks. Here's how it breaks down.
Scout:
This guy is horrible in combat. He MIGHT be able to beat a chimpanzee... if he's lucky. He's also a horrible leader, since he can't lead any troops. What he is is relatively good at not being seen, which makes him perfect for seeing where (and how many) troops my enemies have. The Marverni scout has Stealth +20, making him better than the normal Scout (which has +10) at not being seen. Still not going to build any, since I have better things for my forts to be doing.
Chieftains:
These are the tribal leaders. They're basically Nobles with a bit more training, some extra morale, a relatively small Standard, and the ability to drag 40 men around. I don't plan to build any of them, for two very good reasons.
Eponi Chieftain:
This is the first reason why I'm not going to build the last three guys. He's about half again the cost of the other leaders, but is based on my (higher-stat) cavalry, gains more stats from being a commander, and can lead twice as many men. DEFINITELY worth the extra cost. Still not planning to build many, but I'll make some.
Vergobret:
Yeah, no. This guy is a bottom-level priest, and nothing else. He's cheaper than buying a priest from some random province, but a turn spent buying one of these guys is a turn that could've been spent buying a mage (who is also a priest) AND a normal priest. Thank you, no.
Sequani Stargazer:
Just looking at this guy, you wouldn't see much. He's barely a mage- only one level of Astral- not sacred, and a terrible researcher, not to mention useless in melee combat. Still, I'll be buying dozens of these guys over the game (assuming I survive). Why? Because they're dirt cheap, can search for Astral sites, can cast a few useful battle spells, and are one of the most effective force multipliers I get. More on that later.
Gutuater:
This is more like it. Half again the cost of the Stargazer, tougher in battle, better at research, a priest (making those Vegemite-guys obsolete), and access to another type of magic. Nature magic will give me a few more tricks to use- oh, and these guys also get one random level of magic. Gutuaters can give me a bit of Water, Astral, or Earth, and have a chance of reaching level 2 in Nature. I like all of this.
Druid:
This is where it's at. Let me say that again.
THIS IS WHERE IT'S AT.
The Druid is my best priest. The Druid gives me two levels of both Earth and Astral magic- enough to search for Earth sites, forge a lot of good items, and cast some good spells. Druids research like two Gutuaters duct-taped to each other, and get the same W/S/E/N guaranteed random pick the Gut-eaters do. Then, for good measure, they get ANOTHER one. As if that wasn't enough, they have a 10% chance of getting a THIRD one. I could potentially get Water 3, Astral FIVE, Earth FIVE, or Nature 3 out of one of these wonderful, wonderful chaps. With enough items, I can get to half the top-end summons in the game, or turn them into absolute MONSTERS with the help of a couple dozen Stargazers.
Sure, they cost almost as much as three Gutuaters, but the value of all that magic CANNOT be underestimated. Once I have a proper economy, I would be a FOOL not to get at least one Druid a turn. Yes, I know I'm a fool, but I'm not the sort of foolish fool who foolishly fools around instead of recruiting Druids. There's a reason Marverni's tagline is "Time of Druids".
Boar Lord:
This is the commander version of the Boar Warrior, and it lost a LOT of suck along the way. It gains more strength and attack than the other commanders did, with a light sprinkling of extra HP and morale on top. If that's all it got, it'd be decent, but this guy is actually good.
Remember how the Boar Warrior was basically a Carnute Noble? Low defense, better attack? The Boar Lord has the attack of a Boar Warrior commander... and the defense skill of an Ambi commander. Four defense skill goes a long way. It also gets bigger berserk bonuses (more on that later) than anything else I have, leads as many men as the Eponi Chieftain, and is a basic priest ON TOP OF THAT.
The Boar Lord has one more advantage over the entire rest of my troop list. Reinvigoration. Figure that a Boar Warrior racks up 5 points of fatigue for every turn it's fighting. You go unconscious at 100 fatigue, so it can only fight 20 turns straight before it collapses. The Boar Lord does the exact same thing, and then loses 4 of that fatigue every turn. Theoretically, it could fight for 100 turns straight before tiring out, if such a thing were possible. With the proper equipment, this guy could become a thug- a single unit capable of taking lightly-defended provinces on its own.
Strategy:
If you look at my unit list, you'll notice a few things. I can either get a horde of cheap, weak units, or a smaller number of tougher ones. Marverni can be played either way, or even switch between the two as needed.
The Carnute versions of my units can go berserk, though, which adds another option to my list. Berserk units gain strength, protection, morale, and attack, at the expense of defenses- they hit harder, more of the time, take a hit better, and NEVER break, but get hit more often. I can go cheap horde, tough mob, or tough mob o' berserkers, and even tailor my mobs to the enemy- Carnute axes against giants, Marv swords and javelins against the undead- that sort of thing.
The addition of mages has a truly marvelous effect on this, which this post is too short to contain.
Re: Multi-Player After Action Report (Introductions, early game posturing underway)
It's a can't-miss long-range paralyzation attack (may also do some real damage) that's resistable by MR. It helps those clumsy slave trolls hit things.
Re: Multi-Player After Action Report (Introductions, early game posturing underway)
Hybrid Mode
