Fomoria - The Other Giant Meat
Overview: These guys destroyed the greatest ancient civilization that we know about, the Partholonians. This about sums up how bad these guys are, they're really bad. At least, they were, until the ancient gods got pissed at them, and cursed them with goat heads, limps, and all kinds of hideous deformations. This is fine, if they hadn't been hit so hard by the nerf bat, they'd make Niefelheim look like Arcoscephale, and we want to keep the game sporting, don't we? Now in current terms, Fomorian giants lack the Chill aura of Niefel Giants, and they lack the de facto magical gear and over-the-top stats of the Hinnom Giants. To top it off, all but their elite come riddled with various Afflictions, much like Flagellants. So what makes them so good, you might ask? Magic, my good man, magic is what makes them so good. Fomoria has some of the strongest Death Magic access in the EA, and they are a contender in Microwave Oven race (a la Air Magic), due to how robust their mages are, compared to how fragile most other nations' Air mages are. But wait, there's so much more to know! And now we will break this enigmatic race down point by point, otherwise I will just ramble all day (you know you love it, squeal for me!).
Pretender Design: First, the basics. Obviously, this is one nation that has no need for an awake SC. In fact, more on that later, but as this nation has decent Bless options (also more on that later), we should not even entertain an Awake pretender at all, and in fact I strongly suggest that you only look at Imprisoned pretenders. Unlike Niefel and Hinnom, these giants prefer neutral temp scales, and again, it's because these guys don't need the 120 design point training wheels that those other nations get. Some might argue that a Rainbow can be useful for Fomoria. I will not deny that the nation can be plenty powerful with just a couple minor blesses, though I found in SP tests that the AI gets too frisky before your late game develops, if you do not have a strong bless to smash them to bits. Also to note, before I get into any specifics -
I almost exclusively play with CBM now - so remember that points may not match up exactly. That's more or less fine, as the build is a general guideline, and everyone has a different playstyle - cater to your own by tweaking this build, and you will do much better than if you try to force yourself to play exactly like me (I'm weird, so always bear that in mind!
).
In my eyes, there really is no one for Fomoria but the Lady of Springs. Why? Because with a major Water bless, we are going to sail towards victory. This bless certainly has limitations, but understanding of those limitations can lead your foes to their ruination. Let me list 3 viable variants of this build, each will play a bit differently. #1 is the pretender that I won with as Fomoria, #2 is the CBM version of her, and #3 is a powerful variant I have played around with as well:
(Vanilla) Imprisoned Lady of Springs - W9/N4, Dom6, O3/S1/L1/M1
(CBM) Imprisoned Lady of Springs - W10/N4, Dom7, O3/S1/M1 (Dropping to W9 and Dom6 gains you 2 scales, but wastes 22 points - though those 102 points could be played with as you desire)
(CBM) Imprisoned Lady of Springs - W9/E4/N4, Dom7, T2/S1/L3/M1 (adding E4 offsets the major limitation of Water bless, and these scales have proved quite viable in SP tests, due to the strategies best employed)
Let's break it down.
Order: As you can see, depending on your bless and how you use it, I don't think Order is an absolute necessity for Fomoria. However, a large portion of my primary strategy will be pretty gold reliant, so bear this in mind.
Productivity: You will not make many troops under my strategy in auxilliary castles, but I value Unmarked very highly. I feel the best compromise is exactly S1, S2 can probably be viable, I do not think S3 is competitive, unless in a rare case where those points go directly into Growth to offset income loss.
Heat: Gold, gold, gold, I do not recommend ever sacrificing temp scales for points - but to each his own.
Growth: If you aren't going for a major Bless, you need to maximize income. Thus if you can find the points, Growth can be good. 1D could potentially be tolerable in the right build, but I don't recommend it.
Luck: I like luck. If you feel lucky, Fomoria can function under a Turmoil/Luck strat. Otherwise, I do like a point in Luck at least, as all of your heroes (at least, with Worthy Heroes mod, you have 3 possible) are quite worth having. Again, I suppose I could see saccing Luck and going Misf 2 -only- if those points are rolled into income gaining scales, but it's a hard choice.
Magic: This is how you win the game. M1 seems a no-brainer to me. Drain is a bad idea, as your mid-late game will be -highly- dependant on Air and Death gems, and your mages do not qualify for making M3 cost effective enough.
Bottom line - you are seeking a certain balance between gold income, and bless viability. For me, major Water bless feels right to achieve this end. The alternative should still involve a couple of minors, probably E4/N4 to give you an edge in Evocation power, rather than melee brute force - however taking a weaker bless means you absolutely need to put those points into high scales. I honestly think in most cases, you are hamstringing yourself if your pretender is not Imprisoned, so build accordingly (as I said, the other giant nations get +120 points on you, even going Dormant pushes that to +220, can you really afford that large a disparity?).
Okay, Volume 1 of the epic
"Everything you need to know, everything you want to know, and a lot of things you didn't care to know about Fomoria" is complete. Stretch your legs, grab some lemonade, and let's talk about the recruitables!
Firbolg Slingers: Well..... they're better than human Slingers? I guess? Also, significantly more expensive. If you are being rushed by heavily blessed Jaguar Warriors, Hydras, or -a lot- of archers without shields, these guys can come in handy. If not, they won't.
Firbolg Warrior (with Axe): Seriously, I would buy Slingers before I buy these guys. A Length 1 weapon with a malus to Attack AND a Malus to Defense? You're kidding me, right? Buy indie Light Infantry before these guys, really.
Firbolg Warrior (With Spear and Javelin): I used to think the same of these guys as the axe guys. An early game wrestling match with Eriu set me straight, and made me look at their stats with new eyes. Specifically note 3 things - 13hp, 12 Precision, 15 Defense. These guys are so cost effective, it's not even funny (to have to fight them!). You can chew through indies with these guys alone (average attrition = 2 per fight), as their high Defense even can protect them from Heavy Cav charges often enough, if they aren't caught straggling. I tried a test run expanding almost exclusively with these guys, under a "light bless/high scales" strat. They're good. They'll be your best "damage mitigation per gold" chaff for most of the game.
Fomorian Militia: No seriously, go home. These guys are riddled with Afflictions - and their BASE stats are 5Prot, 8Def - no shield. Go hobble around in the fields and make me some money, I'd have to be a fool to pay for the privelige to let you die in combat. These guys are the reason your PD will never amount to anything. Honestly? Worst unit in the game, Markata are more cost effective and versatile, by far.
Fomorian Javelinist: These were tauted as awesome, long ago. Why? I honestly can't comprehend. 8 Precision, 9 Defense, no shield, and random Afflictions. These guys can't hit an Elephant at 20 yards with their Javelins, so will probably cause friendly fire casualties, and then they're useless in melee. Do yourself a favor and buy Slingers before these guys, or really, anything else.
Fomorian Spearman: Really pretty weak. Think human light infantry, with no Javelins, random Afflictions, and 1 per square. 30hp can't even begin to make up for all of that. Again, train human light infantry before these guys, but better yet, just pump out your Firbolgs, they will actually do something useful.
Fomorian Warrior: Your first giant that actually can somewhat compare to other giant units. But at 27 resources, and still with random Afflictions, 3 Firbolgs will be superior in most situations. Of course, there -may- be situations that these guys are useful in, let me know if you figure out what those are.
Unmarked: So named because they do not start with Afflictions. These guys are pure gold, especially with a Water bless. Let's look at these numbers - 60g (Sacred! so only 2 upkeep), 27 resources. 35HP, 21Str, 16Prot, 12Att, 14Def, 14Morale, 13MR, Enc6 (their only Achilles Heel). Now, with W9 they are 18Def before they gain exp (and they'll get 1 star almost immediately), or 19Def out of the box with the W10 variant. They do have low-ish MR, but there's a funny thing about that - single target MR check spells, will almost exclusively fall on your Kings, so they're the only ones you have to worry about. I've seen comments that these guys are "vanity items". Call me vain then, because as long as I have Holy and Resources left, I am buying these guys before -anything- else gets money. With the W9/E4/N4 variant, you get a lot of staying power as well, but once you hit critical mass, you don't need it so much. In large battles you can often get a "leapfrog" effect, where the front rank makes kills, and the next rank moves ahead, allowing the first rank a turn to rest. But I'll show you shortly why "stamina" isn't the strength of Fomoria. We are sprinters. We jump in your face, we tear it off, and we feed it to you, and we do it faster than you can cry "OMG HAX".
Fomorian Giant: Okay, for most purposes, these guys ARE vanity items. Honestly, there are only 2 compelling reasons to ever train these guys at all - Poor Amphibian (hey, it's better than nothing!), and 50%CR. The CR is really only useful in certain situations, like fighting Niefelheim, but the PAmph can leverage you into the water, which is usually a good thing. On the other hand, their base Prot and Def are both 2 lower than the Unmarked. Combine this with the significantly higher costs, and you see that really the Giants should only be trained for specific missions, while the Unmarked serve in general operations.
Nemedian Warrior: These guys are pretty sweet. 16Def with Glamour and a magic weapon, what's not to like? Well, I don't like that they compete with Unmarked, that's what. Perspective is mighty funny. Personally, I see these guys as the vanity items. You are not Vanheim. The mighty Fomorian Nation does not skulk around like brigands. See above about face-ripping. When we raid, we still tear off faces, but why Stealth when you can Fly? Still, I can't say never train these guys, but I don't see any special reason to recommend them, other than they are "so cool".
-- Commanders --
Firbolg Scout: You would train him over an indie Scout for why, Javelins? Never train one. Ever. I will come to your house and be mean to you. Really mean, like as mean as if you buy Fomorian Militia. Grrr.
Fir Bolg Champion: See above - replace "indie scout" with "indie commander".
Fomorian Scout: Stealthy +0. Seriously. NEVER. It's just a Fomorian Javelinist who can't actually Sneak anywhere effectively. I'm tired of threatening you, I may come to your house and be mean anyways, just to make sure you understand.
Fomorian Champion: There really is little reason. Maybe once a game you take a castle from someone, and this is the best commander you can train to carry some Firbolgs to reinforce an army in a pinch. Otherwise these guys are better off in the fields, yet again.
Unmarked Champion: Okay, repeat after me, "the Unmarked will carry our great nation to victory". For just 10g more, and 2 more Resources, you get a commander Unmarked. He is Sacred, Holy1, full slots, 15Def unblessed, and basically is like a miniature Chuck Norris clone. It is utterly hilarious what these guys are capable of with the suggested Bless and a little creativity, but that's for the strat section. Here I will just say - you want lots of these guys, they are the Butter, and the regular Unmarked are the Bread.
Fomorian Druid: One of the weak points of this nation. This is your -only- recruitable anywhere Mage. With 1A and 1AWND pick for 150g, you are thanking the fates that they are Sacred, or you'd really be screwed. These bad boys get 5RP apiece with Magic1, and this is hardly impressive. Luckily, they all become quite useful. Even the 1A/1N variant, since most of them can just be dedicated as your Research backbone, as the others start to gain more responsibilities. On the bright side, they all come with 1A at least, so even in the darkest of times, Phantasmal Warrior spam, or Orb Lightning spam, or a Storm + A2 spells can make you glad that you have dozens of these guys coming out your ears (seriously, dozens, you will need a LOT of gold).
Fomorian King: It's good to be the King! 500g and well worth it. These guys get 3A/2D out of the box with 110%AWD pick. 9RP with Magic1, you will want to hold as many of these back Researching in the early-mid game as possible. These are the weakest SC chassis of the 3 major giant nations, out of the box - damn that one eye, it offsets the Prec bonus from Air magic, slightly impacting their casting abilities as well. So, it sounds like I'm talking these guys down. Shhh. Yes, you will always want them supported, either being guarded by Unmarked, or operating in teams - but teamwork is something to be proud of. Look at it this way, you have 3 major variants (ignoring possible 10% picks, which are just incredible). You have 4A/2D, these guys are your Air booster forgers, your heavy Evocationists, and your Air Battlefield Enchant casters. They are indispensible, so you are going to smile every time you get one. You have 3A/3D, these guys will ultimately be your most powerful SC chassis, with Mistform and Soul Vortex. Bear in mind, they must be used solo (can support with non-mistformed units, mostly and especially if they regenerate), as Soul Vortex will kill Mistform in adjacent Kings - MR can mitigate this, but unless we are pushing past 25MR, it's best to avoid this scenario. The 3A/1W/2D Variant is interesting in combat. With a base Def of 13 on the King, +4 from Bless, and +3 from Personal Quickness, we're at 20, throw on a Frost Brand and it hits 24, and add a Weightless Kite, and we hit 27 Def. These guys are your anti-SC patrol. Try to get them a couple stars, and then keep them parked so you can Cloud Trapeze them on anyone silly enough to raid into your lands unsupported.
Nemedian Champion: Again - trophy commander. "I destroyed the Nemedian civilization, and all I got was this Nemedian Champion, and one eye". Okay, base Def18 and self Blessable, they can technically be thugged. They are capital only. You should probably buy a few of these guys at the start of the game, before you can afford Kings. Check this out, they are A1/D1/H1, and Glamoured. Right, you're saying, "I thought I don't build Nemedian Warriors?". Forget those pansies. Think Flying Shoes, and 30 Undead Leadership. Chew on that for a bit, and I'll talk to you later.
Nemedian Sorceress: A2/D2 1AWND pick. The game that I won, I had 7 of these, from the first year when I couldn't reliably buy Kings. I've since determined that since their upkeep (non-sacred!) is actually higher than for a King, that there is actually little to no reason to hire one of these nice ladies. Maybe if you dabble into Blood, and you want a chassis for a Black Heart, I can technically see that. Otherwise you have 2 other capital only options that are more cost effective, and more useful.
Volume 3: The Early Game. Yes, you made it, we're finally on turn 1. Savor this moment.
Turn 1: You want to purchase 2 Unmarked, and a Nemedian Champion. You should have a little Resources left, buy Firbolgs. I suggest Prohetizing your initial commander, it just moves things along. Here you have a choice, first research goal can be either Alt3 for Mistform, or Evo2 for Lightning Bolt. Whichever one you pick, I sternly recommend you take the other as your second goal.
Turn 2: Attach your Unmarked to the Firbolg squad, set your Prophet to Divine Bless + Smitex4 + Spells. Avoid the hard indies with this force, and be amazed. Your Unmarked always rush ahead of the Firbolgs, screwing up incoming archer fire. Between how bad *** Unmarked are, and your Smites, it is entirely likely that this force will be able to proceed through weak-moderate indies until initial expansion is over. I'm serious. Relish it.
Turn 3+: Priority 1 will always be Unmarked. Do not overflow them, use any remainder of Resources for a few Firbolgs to toss in with them. If you can afford a King, do the Dance of Joy, if you cannot, smile because you still get a Nemedian Champion.
When you get 10 Unmarked together, package them with a Champion, set them in the far back field with orders to Hold and Attack Closest. Set Champion to BlessX3, and either Spells, or Fire Closest depending on your confidence level and research. Repeat deployment of these squads until all indies are conquered. 10 Unmarked will devastate 99% of indie spawns without any real chance of a casualty. You can technically launch with 8 but it slightly increases risk factor in favor of expedience.
Now, once your expansion gets nicely underway, you will likely find that you are comfortably maxing your queue with Unmarked + Kings, and generating a healthy surplus. Here is where Fomoria starts to get funny - as much as disposable cash will allow, start dropping castles wherever they look good. Insure a Temple in each, but you should only need Labs in 2-3 of them for the time being. As long as you can avoid even making Firbolg chaff, your cash flow should allow you to easily put out Unmarked, a King, a few Druids, and a large handful of Unmarked Champions every turn. Set the Champions on Preach duty for now, and/or throw them in with your other forces to gain stars - these guys are an investment.
Your initial Research thrust will eventually get you to Alt3+Evo5, this gives you access to Mistform, Orb Lightning, Thunder Strike, Storm, and Personal Quickness. These spells can carry you quite a long way. At this point, you want to grab Thaum2, and Conj3, and have your A2 Druids cast Auspex, and your A1/D1 Druids cast Dark Knowledge until the cows come home. Additionally, depending on potential random Gem events, or N0 sites yielding gems, you may either want to just Empower a Druid to N2 and get him spamming Haruspex, or send an A1/N1 Druid out manually searching. Bear in mind you will have to manually target Auspex on those provinces if you manually search at A1, which can be a hassle. Also, sooner or later you must also decide (partially based on serendipitous supply of free early Water gems) whether to just Empower an A1/W1 Druid to start casting Voice of Apsu, or to wait until you get to Cons6 and build a few Water Bracelets first.
Here I want to pause, and point out one specific thing about this strategy that clashes with something that I complain to people about. The simple fact is, you are looking at a start with absolutely *zero* access to Astral, and I will not kid you, S1 and S2 forgings will be very valuable to you by late game - indispensible in fact. However, unlike any other path in the game (except Blood, but though Blood access is undeniable, it's also undeniably a pain), you are almost guaranteed to at least get Lizard Shaman, or Crystal Amazons in your initial expansion. I've run hundreds of SP tests through at least the first year (not just with Fomoria, eesh
), and honestly, while it's minorly inconvenient, just keep your eyes peeled, and the first access you get to Astral, jump on it. Also bear in mind, if nothing else, between Gem events, cross-path gem sites, potential S0 gem sites, and the relative efficiency of Alchemy to get starting Pearls, you should be able to put something together by some time in the third year, in time to develop it enough for what you really need out of it. Also it bears mentioning, that even with that, you still also lack any native access to Fire, or to Earth. The Earth hurts, I will admit, and it's one of the benefits of the 9W/4E/4N variant, as you can at least compensate slightly as soon as your pretender is out. But bear in mind also, how relatively common Earth is especially, in conjunction with Nature in magic sites. Not just gems, but recruitables like Gnomes and Witches, not to mention the fairly common Enchantresses, which will give you access to all elements, plus many useful cross-path forging options. Again, you can't count on any of that, and it's entirely possible that you make it to end game with little to no Earth access (most likely, "little", as you should eventually be able to Empower someone and get the boulder rolling).
Now, Tertiary Research Goals:
Conj: 4=Barghests (these guys are pretty effective with the W/N Bless), 6=Morrigans, 8=Dance of the Morrigans, Queens of Air (not entirely necessary, but keep them away from more fragile Air powers) - Manifestation - Well of Misery (as you can see, Conj8 is BIG for Fomoria, getting the Well up is crucial to push from competitive, to dominating), 9=Ghost Riders, Tartarian Gate (A note here, some may argue it's not needed, but you can compete with EA C'tis as premier Tartarian summmoner, and they may not even be in the game, leaving you on top - Tarts may not be necessary, but they add numbers and diversity well worth the expense)
Alt: 6=Soul Vortex - Darkness, 7+Fog Warriors, 8=Disintegrate
Evo: 6=Wrathful Skies - Wind of Death (both, used sparingly, are potent - your HP will allow you to outlast most enemies against Wrathful Skies, and you have 100+ years to spare on Unmarked, 200+ on Kings and Nemedians), 7=Shimmering Fields (not my cup of tea mostly, but has its uses) - Cloud of Death
Cons: Cons4 opens up most of the doors you need for most applications - but beware, getting Cons8 early (I did in the game I won) is a huge boon, even if you don't "need" it, per se, the Scepter of Dark Regency is like a "free Tart a turn" card for you, and there are numerous other goodies that are very nice to monopolize, even before accounting for any magic path diversification.
Ench: 3=Raise Skeletons (come on, sometimes it's the tool for the job, Niefel got you down?), 4=Cloud Trapeze (better sooner than later, I say), 5=Thunder Ward - Foul Vapors (again, you have the HP to suck up a bit of it, do they?), 6=Rigor Mortis (not for use with Quickened melee troops but can be useful in extreme late game), 7=Mass Flight (mixed bag, as most late game encounters you will want a Storm up, we'll find out why shortly), 8=Storm Warriors = Mists of Deception
Thaum: 3=Leeching Darkness, 4=Terror, 6=Wither Bones - Leprosy
Fomoria - Where is your God now? (AKA - The Other Giant Meat)
Re: Fomoria - Where is your God now? (AKA - The Other Giant Meat)
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