EA Game: Where are the Gnomes?

[jfp3]

...and all the mythical creatures like Trolls etc.? Am I playing the wrong Age for these to appear as Independents? Are they Independents? I'm about 20 turns into a game and have taken some 30+ provinces (huge 1000+ province map)...I've only come across Humanoid creatures. Still having great fun in the play, but I'd love to get some more mix in there.

Also: What is the best way to take down Elephants? Right now I'm resorting to using mostly counter-Elephants but I'm thinking there "must be a better way".

Thanks for the responses!

[thejeff]

Mythical creatures, that aren't part of a nation of their own, are usually found as summons, not independents. Sometimes as events.

There are a handful of non-human independents, Lizardmen and monkeys are probably the most common. And of course the various aquatics.

Trolls can be summoned. I think there's a troll attack event as well. There are gnomes, but they're only recruitable from a magic site.

The easiest way to take down Elephants is magic. They've got low mr, so single target mr-negates spells work well on them. Soul slay/Paralyze/Rage, plenty of others depending on what paths and research you've got available.

The most elegant way is fear, if you can pull it off. They've got decent morale, but if you can hit them with enough fear causing spells, they'll rout and trample anyone behind them.

Counter-elephant aren't all that good, since without trample they don't do a lot of damage. If you've got a size 6 pretender or access to other size 6 creatures, the elephants won't stand much chance. Hydras eat elephants for breakfast, for example.

Otherwise, use lots of low resource high damage troops. Defense helps more than armor against trampling, so don't bother with heavies. Even barbarians work fairly well in quantity. Remember elephants cost 100 gold, so if you lose ten 10 gold troops for each elephant you're coming out even. Aim to have twice that many and see how it goes. Spells that stop them for a turn will help: Earth Grip, Tangle Vines, Bonds of Fire are all available very early.

[Foodstamp]

There are gnomes! There is a magic site that allows you to recruit them. Here is what they look like:

http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Gnome

[Knai]

Though sea trolls are not uncommon if you are taking water provinces, and the occasional sea serpent or kraken also shows up.

[thejeff]

Though the sea trolls and kraken aren't recruitable from those provinces, which I always regret.

[jfp3]

Hey thanks gents for letting me know the finer points. Ok so my instinct about how to combat the elephants was pretty good (casting Earth Meld for now) and throwing masses of cheap troops at them in a 2nd wave (Hold and Attack). And the Counter-Elephants. I'm about to try this. I was hoping that "Spear Equipped" heavies might have been helpful though.

And as for the Gnomes....I'll find those little wankers on some casting set for a Travelocity Commercial before I find them on this map :-)

[Knai]

Originally Posted by thejeff

Though the sea trolls and kraken aren't recruitable from those provinces, which I always regret.

Yeah, and even Kraken Pits don't show up any more often. Oh well.

[Hadrian_II]

There is a troll pop type, so you might get recruitable trolls (but afaik that poptype has to be assigned by the map), there is also a troll site.

I once had the troll site in a troll province, so i was able to choose between 2 versions of the same troll.

[jfp3]

Is there a mod out there where Indy's are creatures like from your standard Middle Earth scenario?

[chrispedersen]

Elephants suck on MR. Soul slay is a classic way to take care of pachyderms. So are size 6 critters they can't trample.