[IndyPendant]

Random Stuff:
This is a grab-bag of brief general strategies, in no particular order, that you can add to your game as needed/wanted. I will probably add to this section semi-regularly.

--Ferrus, the Iron Wizard: Keep an eye on the Mercenaries. If you see Ferrus, you have researched at least Const-4, and you don't already have an alternative source of earth magic, buy him at (almost) any cost! (I once payed nearly 2,000 gold to ensure I would get him in a MP game.) Then when you have him, build one Earth Boots and two Crystal Coins. Pay whatever seems reasonable to you from then on, and if you keep him have him craft and/or cast Gnome Lore as needed until you lose him. (Of course, if you started with a Rainbow Pretender, or have some other way to reach at least 2S/2E, don't bother with Ferrus.)

--Obscuro and/or Mamor: Other good Mercs. Again, if you have Const-4 and no good source of at least A2 try to buy one of these mercs (although you need not bankrupt yourself to do it). Then get them crafting Winged Boots. Why? See next.

--Winged Boots: Grand Thaums were recently changed to have a mapmove of 1. Pain. In. The. ***. If you want to move them away from your home province, you're usually stuck with Teleport. Winged Boots will give them a mapmove of 2 however, and allow them to ignore terrain obstacles. Much better for sitesearching. I usually try to craft at least 3 of these, particularly since I rarely have a better use for air gems until very late in the game.

--Master Gibur: This is the last merc I will mention. You should buy him if you have Const-4, and no way to reach W3. Have him craft one or two Robes of the Sea, then perhaps site search for a while.

--Seeking Arrow: Another pita that deserves a mention here, since your mages are vulnerable. Two good counters are Robes of Missile Protection and/or simply flooding your armies with hordes of Mound Kings, scouts, indy leaders, etc. If you have 4 Thaums accompanied by 15 or more chaff leaders, Seeking Arrows become less of a problem.

--Province Defense: Ermor's PD is actually quite good, although not truly exceptional. I like to set all provinces to PD 1 in early game, then change it to 10 sometime in midgame, with 20-25 for castles. PD 10 should be more than enough to defeat even multiple Call of the Wild and Call of the Winds spells from other players, and PD 25 should keep most Misfortune-caused indy attacks from locking down a castle, even without patrollers.

--Countering opponents: In mid and late game, I like to field mega-armies composed of dozens of vestals, over a hundred principes, and hundreds of horsemen. If you do this, your biggest concern is caster-heavy enemy armies. Try to identify these and cast as many Manifestations (or Mindhunts if they have no astral leaders) each turn as you can on them; Leprosy can also do well against some armies. Against bless-heavy armies, your best bet is often overwhelming hordes of horsemen. Against SCs, your horsemen may work well; if not, your only real counter is either the standard anti-SC spells (some research should find good advice for you) or in late-game, SCs of your own.

--Midgame Battlefield: I usually have 8-10 (regular) thaums, accompanied by some Mound Kings and Indy Priests, with every massive army. My standard array is to have the first 4-5 thaums set to Communion Slave/Nether Darts x4, and the next is set to Communion Master/Divine Blessing/Holy Avenger/Terror/Fanaticism. The others are set to Communion Master, then one each to Unholy Blessing, Protection Sepulchre, and Power Sepulchre, followed by anything you want from the third round on. Some good choices: Personal Luck/Resist Magic/Astral Shield (which all will be cast on the Communion Slaves as well); Fanaticism/Raise Skeletons/Terror/Enslave Mind/Soulslay/Disintegrate; and if you have the gems, Power of the Spheres/Darkness/Doom/Shadow Blast/Antimagic/Will of the Fates. There are other options, but these are a good start. As to the units, I like having Principes right at the front edge set to Fire Closest, with Shadow Vestals just behind them set to Attack Closest. On either flank I have horsemen set to Attack Rear. The casters are spread in a line either just in front or just behind the Vestals, while the mound kings are set at the very back to Stay Behind Troops.

--Endgame: Is all (and I do mean exclusively *all*) about SCs and massive battlefield spells, with armies all becoming so much generic chaff, their unique qualities rendered almost completely irrelevant. All the variety between the nations, that makes Dom3 so special, blends into the same few limited strategies, making every end-game play out pretty much exactly the same way (with only minor differences here and there). I frankly despise Dom3 endgame (can you tell? ; ), so I don't have a lot of advice to give here. Some brief research on general endgame strategies should give you enough material to apply to Ermor.

--Attrition: By mid-game, you should be producing more units than the second and third nations combined. You should be trying to reduce your own losses whenever possible, but don't worry if you are losing twice (or even thrice!) as many units as your opponent, so long as you are hurting him in the process. You can almost always replace your losses much easier than he can. I love drowning my opponents in endless waves of undead in MP games, adjusting my tactics and positioning based on his actions. It can be crude, but it's a delightfully effective strategy for Ermor. --However! If you lose a battle without harming your opponent at all, that is a huge red flag, warning you that you need to change your tactics--and quickly!--to start wearing your opponent down again.

--Pale Riders, Manifestation, Mind Hunt: Great spells to ruin your opponent's day. Be careful to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and to use them appropriately.

--Well of Misery, Astral Focus: Great globals to cast, and rarely dispelled.

--Burden of Time, Utterdark, Arcane Nexus: DO NOT cast these spells, unless and until you are ready to take on every player at once. If you do cast any of these spells (and they're not just immediately dispelled by the other players pooling their resources), you will almost always instantly be at war with everyone. And note that your thaums are not so skilled in Death Magic that they'll be able to shrug off the effects of Burden of Time.

--Your Vestals have stealth. One viable tactic is to research Conjuration, summon an undead-capable stealthy leader, and raid your opponent's provinces. I usually prefer Pale Riders for rading, but this can work as well.

--SCs: Tartarians are no longer the no-brainer choice for end-game SCs they once were, now that they have 25% insanity, and often with malicious effects such as pillaging and destroying temples. Bane Lords can make surprisingly effective thugs if you equip them minimally (Bow of war, Eye of Aiming, and maybe Pendant of Luck is one good example; Frostbrand, a good shield, Pendant of Luck, and maybe Boots of Quickness is another--but your options here are almost limitless). Wraithlords are also good with Ethereal, Fear, and Chill--but a little fragile for their cost. Harvesters of Sorrow can be effective as well. And Tartarians used as army units (as opposed to leaders) can be a good way to spend your death gems as well.

--Blood Magic: MA Ermor can get into blood magic if you want, easier than many other non-blood nations. If you want to go this route however, you must plan for it from the beginning. The rewards in the end can be massive if you manage to pull it off! A brief search of the forums ought to give you some example strategies you can adapt to build a viable blood slave income.