T'ien Ch'i, and how they rule!

I have to say I didn't like T'ien Ch'i when I first played them. They were interesting, had alot of 'coolness' factors but ... lacked. I have to say they took some getting used to. I have to say bar none, I like the Spring and Autumn theme the best.

Reasons:

Master of the Five Elements.

These guys are great. You just hope you don't get a pick in Astral. They get to use all those crazy spells you never really got to use before. Like Sulpher Haze, Acid Haze, etc. You need to with this theme. Or at least how I play them. You need every bit of help you can muster for your small, tenacious little armies. Every mage has a different spell line and you need it all and a little extra to get the job done.

Archers.

Archers, Demons of the Heavenly Flame, and to a lesser extent Horse Archers. You have to use them, you can't get around it. You have no other real troops to soften up the enemy (and hopefully rout) while your crack team of ... 1 recruitable heavy infantry, Demons of the Heavenly River and summons try to hold that front line. I have alot more appreciation for Archers because I've been playing both T'ien Ch'i and Man.

Celestial Masters.

Sure they can die to a Sage with an astral pick. Sure they are hard as hell to protect and if you are up against Pythium, Arco, Squidies, or anyone who happens to want to be Astral King you can count them as fodder (unless you beat them first). BUT, they can fly, have great magic and are like Masters of the Five Elements on crack if you don't have to fight an astrally powerful nation.

Spirit Mastery.

Man this really starts to kick in once you discover sites. The ancestors are pissed and are some of the only fodder you have that is cheap and plentiful. Too bad you have to get 3 or 4 commanders to drive over a good army of them!

(Hero) of the Iron Crutch.

A guy with leprosy that is an immortal leader. If he wasn't so valuable you wouldn't gouge out your eyes if you accidentally placed him near all your other commanders. Or if he runs up to them for some obscure reason. Must be Illwinter's idea of a joke .

All in all, I love this race. I'll play them in more and more MP games, though hopefully they won't be as hard if they give Mind Duel less of a 'instakill' factor.

Kudos on the design.