Guide to Marverni

[Reay]

Some people concluded otherwise in another thread.

I think shield protection is not used in range combat. If it fails to hit the unit then damage is not calculated. The shield just seems to negate missles by providing a large boost to the target's defense roll via shield parry.

It would be better if it used the shield protection when the 2x shield parry bonus actually causes the arrow to miss.

I'm not show how this affects missiles from spells like fire bolts. It seems strange that an armour negating bolt might be useless against a unit with a shield.

This is the boulder's vs shields issue that people some time talk about.

[Sombre]

Shield protection is not used in ranged combat. You either parry or you don't. Even AN missile weapons (provided they /are/ counted as missile weapons) can be parried.

Shield protection is used in melee though.

[fantasma]

Baalz, great write up.

On most I have to agree and are part of the setup in my current game, in a slightly different way, though. Although I mess it up quite a lot of times, like not having a skullcap in a lab when I need one right now ...

You seem to completely ignore the ambitate nobles, though. I think they are the best general purpose unit Marverni has. They have better att/def then the carnutes and do only marginally less damage. Their morale is decent, also, and they are cheaper, goldwise.

One thing I haven't concluded yet is whether to rely on gutuator's 1/4 for communion or go for stargazers.
You pay more upkeep for 1 less in research and they are mapmove 1.

[fantasma]

To my experience, the PD runs quite early, especially if in enemy dominion. Wouldn't that mean an autorout problem when you have just a druid/golem there?

I at least suffered that several times when the battle was virtually won.

[Baalz]

Well, golems don't rout, ever. They're rather unique in that.

For the PD issue with druids, it depends on what you're facing. The druids spew a ridiculous amount of damage real fast, so the biggest threat to making the PD rout before the druids can lay the smack down is archers - anything else needs to spend a couple rounds closing and a couple rounds killing which is all the time the druids need. If your opponent is fielding significant archers just skip the PD completely as the druids are basically immune to it. A combination of archers and cavalry/flyers is the hardest thing for the druids to handle (pay no attention anyone in my current game), but small numbers can be handled by throwing in a summon earth elemental or swarm before starting in with the evocations. If you're talking about large amounts of cavalry *and* archers...well that sounds like where the golems need to go.

[Baalz]

fantasma said:
You seem to completely ignore the ambitate nobles, though. I think they are the best general purpose unit Marverni has. They have better att/def then the carnutes and do only marginally less damage. Their morale is decent, also, and they are cheaper, goldwise.

Well, you could (and have) make an argument for the Ambitate nobles, but I tend to prefer the extra toughness and damage of the Carnutes. I suppose it depends on what specifically you're fighting, but for me the bereserk bonus is what really puts the Carnutes into the top spot for me. When berserk they have a better attack than the Ambitates, much more damage, never rout, ignore fear/awe and have much more protection.

[theenemy]

Great guide Baalz! Now I just HAVE to try out those strategies!

[Ming]

How do you get blood slaves for Marveni (not counting Pretenders with blood path)?

[capnq]

Ming said: How do you get blood slaves for Marveni (not counting Pretenders with blood path)?

A commander doesn't have to have a blood path to hunt for slaves; having a blood path just makes him much more efficient at it.

I'm not sure your nation even has to have the ability to do sacrifices. I can imagine a "slave trader" nation hunting to supply its allies in a multiplayer game.

[Baalz]

Also, one of the national multi-heroes is a blood druid. If you end up taking luck you're likely to land one or two.