good races for/against newbies.

[quantum_mechani]

magnate said:
(oddly leaving air blessing as the only really crappy one).

Air 9 is not terribly useful, but lower blesses have there uses. Death's is almost as weak as air, and blood is on average the worst.

[PDF]

IMHO it's just N9 that matters for Niefels, you can rather easily gives the Jarls reinvigoration and quickness through items (making Jarls thugs/SC is THE way to go with Niefelheim).
Also Son of Niefel is also better than GM (who usually kills herself by trample fatigue).
Lastly I don't think Niefelheim is easy to play effectively in MP : super expensive troops, uber-crappy research until you get Sages...

[magnate]

Well, reinvigoration maybe, but quickness items are Construction 6, and as you say, research is poor. If you're bothering with an N9 bless it's probably worth taking W9 or E9 as well - E9 might be slightly more useful (though I'm not yet convinced of that) but W9 fits better with the theme's mages and gem income. W9N9 and casting Relief on your troops is probably how I'd try it.

[thejeff]

Doesn't the Neifel Jarl have water magic? That would be the early approach to quickness.

If you're using them as SC's you won't want to bring relief casters along, so E9 might be better.

Of course the real problem is with a double bless, your scales will be so bad you won't be able to afford any Neifel Jarls anyway.

[Kuritza_Dru]

Hand them Wraith swords and fatique problems are solved unless you're facing mass undead or constructs. And with a wrath crown or some empowerment they can also cast soul vortex. Not sure if it's worth the death gems though.

[magnate]

Yes the NJ has water magic, but can only cast quickness on himself, at least until Alteration 8. The W9 blessing gives all his accompanying troops quickness and +4 def.

Why not bring a Gygja along to cast relief? I don't understand why the role of the Jarl as an SC makes a difference to that. Unless you're assuming that SC Jarls would have no troops with them. Then yes, you just give them reinvig items. And no need for W9 bless I guess - but then level 9 blessings are pretty pointless on tiny numbers of SCs, they're more useful on large numbers of cheaper units (in this case Woodsmen). Plus you need units for sieges.

Ho hum.

[thejeff]

Taking on armies by themselves is pretty much the definition of an SC. If you bring an army, you have to make the army tough enough not to route before the SC kills everything or the SC will retreat even if they're winning. If the army is that tough, they'd probably win without the SC.

Unequipped NJs aren't quite in that class, but even with a little gear they're real close. The N9 bless helps mostly by keeping afflictions away.

Last time I tried Neifelheim, I think I started with a Gode and an army of Woodsmen and separately a NJ and my W9N9 Son of Neifel. With the blessing on the NJ and a few buffs, the two of them could handle most 9 str independents. (Quickness, Breath of Winter, Personal Regeneration, maybe something else I'm forgetting.)

Sieges and major battles against a nation's main forces, you may want more. Of course, by that time you should have enough construction and gems to outfit the SC properly.

[PDF]

I disagree...Ermor AE is the sure way to get all other players gang up against you, as you ruin their lands through an awful and strong dominions, and is not easy at all to play in a competitive environment... And in an anonymous game you'll get no allies !
At start you're mostly dependent on your pretender, then you get a false sense of power with your hordes of crappy undead, that any skillful player will slaughter quite easily.
For a player used to playing Jotun it's a fully different challenge. Personnally I find Niefel rather difficult to play, given that you will always have small number of very expensive troops, and I prefer Utgard theme, that is quite versatile and has those great Seithkonas and Nornas.