Counters to common threats

[Dragar]

As Chris suggested, am pulling this out from Regnor's New Players Questions thread as a useful reference.

Large armies:
• Bigger (or better) armies!
• Thugs/SCs with high defence and/or protection, regen, AoE weapons or shields
• Large area of effect or battlefield wide spells (possibly communion driven), including fire storm, earthquake, foul vapours, master enslave
• Numerous raiding forces to take more than you lose from the 1 or 2 big armies against you
• Stealth Armies taking provinces behind the enemies line
• Assassinate leaders via assassins, mindhunts, remote spells (earth attack, situationally whirlwhind), seeking arrow
• Remote spells – flames from the sky, murdering winter
• Skelly spam

Undead:
• Low level spells such as solar rays, dust to dust, banishment
• Higher level wither bones, solar brilliance, undead mastery, fire storm
• Global spell purgatory if they are invading you
• Anti-undead thugs

Raiders:
• Mind hunt (if they have no astral)
• Teleporting thugs
• Counter-raid
• Castles

Thugs/SCs:
• Single target high precision elemental damage if not immune – frozen heart, incinerate
• Penetration boosted astral magics of MR not very high – paralyse, soul slay
• Death magics – life drain, disintegrate
• Blood magics – leech, life for a life, the two level 9 prison spells
• Counterthug – specifically designed to kill his target, typically something that will attack first turn while the SC buffs himself.
• Horror spam

Elephants (and other tramplers):
• Large creatures/giants if you can field them
• Fear spells
• Immobilisers like prison of fire, false fetters, confusion
• Animal awe, awe
• Commander assassination

Deadly archers (wind guide/flaming arrows)
• Arrow fend
• Storm
• Archer decoys

Powerful bless units
• Cap only? Shut down capital
• Kill priests with earthquake, rain of stones, assassins etc

Communions
• Battlefield wide spells – earthquake, rain of stones
• Mind duels
• Assassinations – their scripts will be terrible in defence

[chrispedersen]

Elephants:

List more counters: False fetters, confusion, (Berserkers?)
Awe. (not just animal awe).

Also, you might want to note the deadly combination: Flying elephants.





Somewhere list

Cheap blockers: Swarm.

[RegnorVex]

Excellently useful resource, thanks for the suggestion, Chris, and for consolidating it, Dragar. This looks like a sticky to me.

I know what SC's are, but what are these "thug" things? Are they just big summoned uglies, or is there something more specific?

[Dragar]

A thug is a weaker SC. There is no clear definition, but in general a thug can solo against PD or a weak army, whereas a SC is built to solo against substantial armies

A fully kitted up tartarian is an SC. A golem or banelord with a shield, brand and helmet is a thug.

To me the mid-game is defined by the appearance of thugs instead of mostly armies, and you have hit late-game when SCs are prevalent

[Gandalf Parker]

is "Numerous raiding forces to take more than you lose from the 1 or 2 big armies against you" for Large Armies including Stealth Armies? Or should there be a separate line for

Stealth Armies taking provinces behind the enemies line.

I find stealth armies can help break up big armies by forcing some to break off and backtrack. Or force the other guy to invest heavily in PD which slows big-army growth.


Maybe it should be considered for the FAQ rather than a sticky on its own.