Machaka

[Nerfix]

Saber Cherry said:invincible to anything save lightning and MR-save spells. You only need a few.

Oh, but don't the two later on rule the battlefield?

[Cainehill]

Yes, but - something like 4 N9 hunters can clear most independent provinces. That makes it very feasible to expand quickly, and then work on longer term "solutions". Also, if you make a hunter lord your prophet, you can wind up with a very sweet early game mini-SC if he gets lucky with the HoF bonus, at which point you toss luck/ethereality/fire shield items on him if you didn't already.

Also - those black servant thugs? I think I was one of the first to discover 'em (surprised even Norfleet *grin*), and with heavy enough armor I had them successfully take 6 to 8 provinces with indies 7-8. Not sure if it's still possible with the CB mod, but the armored black servant is still pretty potent with a solid bless if you prophetize (or do stone boots/shroud of the saint).

[shovah]

dont really need to prophetise, just decent (dont have to be great, just done suck) items like lucky coin and a decent prot armour and you have a fairly good thug.

[Saxon]

Yes, anyone who can surprise Norfleet was doing rather well! Am I correct in understanding that very low level spell “Summon Black Servant” produces something that can be powered up to a decent thug? Armour was mentioned, what else should I look into?

However, isn’t this a strategy pretty general, as the spell is for everyone, or am I confusing the commander unit with the summoned unit?

To bless or not to bless? I may well try it out, especially as I really like the Nature spells generally. I assume you keep the holy unit well back casting spells, with some anti missile hardware or spells while the Hunters rush forth and destroy the enemy. Is this the general idea?

[Cainehill]

Yep, almost any nation can cast the spell - but certain nations can use it more effectively. For example, Ulm with the lich pretender can have a 27 protection, ethereal, life-stealing black servant out by turn 5 or 6 ( loaded with full black steel armor, helm, and shield ).

Likewise, Machaka has an earth income, albeit it can't equip a BS as quickly - but it has mages with earth and death, so while it may need to find some sites first, it can produce them without needing a pretender to do it.

By the mid-to-late game, these mini-thugs aren't worth as much, which is why you then see spectres kitted out with magic being used as thugs. But the black servants can be very useful for early expansion against indies & the AI, and even as a surprise against human players.

[Ironhawk]

thejeff said:
The other fun thing to do with with the Black sorcerers is to have them cast fire shield and invulnerability and attack. When they turn into Spiders they make respectable thugs. Throw a ring of regeneration and luck pendant on them. I sent them out in pairs and they could handle most Indies and fairly large swarms of AI troops. Worked better if one had an Astral random and cast Body Ethereal.

Sending out two commanders together is a really bad morale setup. If one commander dies or routs, the other commander will immediately rout regardless of damage. If you are sending out commander-only forces, the safest morale bet is to send only one. In that case it either fights to the death, or routs, but it wont impede any other units.

[Saxon]

I tried out a N9E4 bless strategy last night and my, oh my! Those hunters are dangerous, aren’t they! I had them out with a lot of archer support, but that led to supply issues and getting everyone diseased. The thing is, I did not really need the archers…

If one wants to make a Hunter Lord the prophet, be sure to provide good armor. The strength of this strategy seems to be the high hit points available to the spiders themselves, rather than the riders. As I found out the hard way, once the prophet rider dies, you are limited to two misc. magic slots…

The only real problems I ran into were large groups of heavy cav, as they can stand up to the spiders for some time. Once their infantry flanked me, I started to take a lot of hits and one casualty. Of course it was the prophet... Independents were on nine, and I was running six spiders. At lower levels of independents, this is a very strong starting force, thank you for the suggestions.

I did manage to equip a basic BS, but he went east and Ermor came west, so the life stealing was not that impressive… However, the potential is clear and I will play with it on the restart. After all, my best troops were diseased, my prophet was dead, my thug was dissolved and Ermor was walking over the east. Lessons learned…

[NTJedi]

Yes Machaka was my favorite for a long time... yet I play very large maps and grew to hate the very weak province defense.

[Saber Cherry]

Spiders are size 6, so be sure to saddle up with wine bags I guess a little chaff might be useful versus heavy cavalry, to absorb the lances.

As for black servants, I suggest a dragon helm over BS helm (fire protection) and something that gives strength (e.g. girdle of might) too boost their life drain. By default, it is pretty weak.

Personally, I don't use them, though - too fragile with their low HP. By the time they have 20+ protection they are no longer cheap.

[Saxon]

Thanks for the reminder, size determines the supply usage. As Ermor is on the border, I need the supply items in any case, but twice as much with the spider armies.

Isn't it wonderful how fast holy units get into the hall of fame after a successful brush with Ermor? The kill rate is huge!

As for the poor PD, I may have been lucky, but have found it to be reasonable so far. Twice routing a decent invasion force of giants was a pleasant surprise. That said, I will be trying for Mechanical Milita later in the game, it really makes life simpler.