[johan osterman]

If you find the game hard try the necro or the druid.

As a necro look for spots where there are lots of dead, and use your apperentice to raise the dead. He will eventually go insane and become immobile. If you raise at a terrain where there are sufficent number of corpses you will gain beast of disorder, which are somewhat similar to the eater of the dead in dominions. Note that humans killed in battle will up the corpse count. As a necro you will also collect hands of glory, you can use these to summon undeads or transform yourself. If you transform yourself into a Vamp it will cure any insanity, if you transform yourself into a Lich you will be immune from insanity. Since a lich is immune to insanity it can grow it's forces after each battle with humans. Hands of glory use is cheaper in fallen temples, haunted castles and haunted cities. Vamps Liches and Carrions are immortal, as long as you reatin you homecastle you will ressurect there when you die.

As a druid, note that the most powerful summons are only available if you are currently in a mountain or great forest square. In the great forest you can get beholders which are ridicously powerful.

If you play demonlogist or evil priestess lower your tax, or your villagers and miners will revolt from the sacrifice collection.

Kill brigands they are more likely to enter income squares than non income squares. If you find a brigand lair, clean it out, it generates new brigands if not captured. Independents only spawns in darkened map areas, so if you play a nation capable of capturing forests you will be less bothered by independents.

If an enemy summons the horsemen of the apocalypse or the inquisition be sure to have more than one citadel. They will walk towards one random citadel and capture it, and then walk towards the next. As long as they remain alive.

If you play a shaman you can use their ability to posess to let your attacks count as defense instead of offense and thus gaining firststrike advantage. Remember to posses first though, since you cannot posess troops in battle. Nightmare last 2 rounds, by using both your shaman and totem pole for 2 rounds you can posess powerful independent units like hydras, mountain giants, beholders or vampires.

Try binding elementals if you are a warlock. Don't bind waterelemtals though. I don't think they ever gained aby functionality when bound. If you have fire or earth elementals you can wait with binding them until they are damaged.

In general spellcasters are more powerful in the lategame. Warlords and nonhuman in the shortrun.