I have never won a sp game...

[shovah]

maybe he didnt get the bless effects, mustve been items or somethin ( but still, doom horror with 200 health 36 prot and 40 attack defence and strength. he also has 14 regen and his usual +15 fear and +2 blood vengance is pretty fun )

[High_Priest_Naresh]

75% magic rich 15 hof
easy research
usually play against abysia ulm man or jontun
they just surround me with overwhelming numbers and wait build temples forts then cast spells like Fires from afar and seeking arrow it can be really annoying
thier difficulty is easy...
sad innit?

[Endoperez]

You left out indep. str, but I quess you have it quite high. Try advancing more carefully, or playing with fewer enemies. And as especially Ulm and Jotunheim have much better provincial defence than is usual, you should learn to use it. However, don't buy it everywhere. Having 1 is enough vs AI if it cannot reach it with normal armies, because AI rarely uses transport or distant summon spells with any real skill.

[sushiboat]

Naresh, I still don't know much about how you play. Are you relying mostly on national troops? Are you getting a good gem income? What spells or items do you use to decide what to research? Do you build forts? Have you ever used a supercombatant (SC)? Do you recruit at least one mage per turn? What scales do you use? What is the Pretender design you have been using recently?

Go to the Illwinter Maps website and download the Talis map. Pick an opponent (Abysia, Ulm, Man, and Jotunheim are all fine), pick your own nation, and stick with that setup until you win a few games.

As for PD, I would recommend 11 in every province, when you can afford it. The AI knows how large your total army is. PD counts toward your total army size. Having a relatively large army can deter the AI from starting an early war with you. PD 11 also has a chance of discovering stealthy units.

[High_Priest_Naresh]

I use PD 10, I usually use either some one with cheap magic if their nation has very few magic paths maybe for like abysia maybe a dragon or pheonix,
I rely heavily on national troops(the ones you can only build at forts...)
they are about the only kind of army I use apart from if I find a really cool thing like trodgolites or woods men I usually use them.
with ulm I use quite a few sc a few lord guardians kitted out to the max give them a small army of black plate and their off!
I usually recruit 1 mage a turn, and if I'm not building another army I build some sacreds and give them to a priest
I usually take turmoil 1 magic 2-3 luck 1--1
fortesses or black keeps?
high prductivity or growth

[High_Priest_Naresh]

oh yeah I use alot and I mean alot! of archers!

[Endoperez]

Do you use much magic in combat? As an example, do your Ulmish master smiths use Earth Power, Blade Wind, Magma Bolts, Magma Eruption? Do youuse shortbows with Ulmish troops (they can't hurt Ulmish units through their armor)? Have you summoned Troll King's Court, Kings of Elemental Earth, Mechanical Men, Iron Dragons or Living Statues (last one fron Enliven statues)?

About scales: High order would give lots of gold, which might help you. Luck is fun, but you can't count on it, especially if you don't use Conceptual Scales mod.

Try different extremes. If you know them, you can try to use just enough of each of them to get most out of everything.
Try Oracle with Astral 5 and go for scales and castle. Try a no-magic Wyrm or Manticore, and remember that death costs nothing. Try Wyrm or Manticore with some magic for spells (pick one: fire shield; breat of winter and quickness; mistform and mirror image, iron skin and earth power (fatique removal); personal regeneration; luck, body ethereal, astral shield, astral weapon) and try to find out their limits. Try heavy-bless pretender for Jotunheim: W9 Son of Niefel or N9E4 Great Mother with fast-building castle (3 turns at max) and recruit lots of Jotun Jarls. Try summoning crazy hordes of Vine Ogres. Take high-Earth pretender and research enchantment just for Enlive Statues. Choose less Earth and go for Mechanical men/Iron Dragons. Try using uniques as combatants as early as possible.

[NTJedi]

High_Priest_Naresh said:
I use PD 10, I usually use either some one with cheap magic if their nation has very few magic paths maybe for like abysia maybe a dragon or pheonix,

Try setting up your pretender with 3 or 4 magic paths which are level 4 or higher. This will give your blessed troops bonuses in battle and allow you to search for magic sites. Higher province defense helps discourage the AI from attacking.

High_Priest_Naresh said:
I rely heavily on national troops(the ones you can only build at forts...)

Now here's your main problem... troops bought from castles require a gold upkeep. Troops which are summoned from spells usually cost nothing... thus more gold allows for more mages which gives magic sites and more finished research which give more summoned troops. By turn 35/40 you should be leading all the AIs on research.

High_Priest_Naresh said:
they are about the only kind of army I use apart from if I find a really cool thing like trodgolites or woods men I usually use them.

If used right the trogolodytes can be great... just make sure the enemy archers aren't shooting at them during the start of battle. Woodsmen?? If you're talking about the archers which are available in provinces with druids these fellas are not that great. I recommend a 2/3 crossbow and 1/3 regular archer... longbowmen are good too. Also search for the archer types which cost the most resources... their armor(protection) will be better.

High_Priest_Naresh said:
I usually recruit 1 mage a turn, and if I'm not building another army I build some sacreds and give them to a priest
I usually take turmoil 1 magic 2-3 luck 1--1
fortesses or black keeps?
high prductivity or growth

Only in the very beginning do I use castle-type troops unless I have a good blessing bonus... even then it's not my main army source. Learn spells like Pale Riders(D), Enliven Statues(E), Mechanical Men(E), Vine Ogres(N), Bind Fiend(B), Bind Devil(B), Winter Wolves(W), and I'm sure I missed some. Unlike the troops you buy these troops will never flee and are built much stronger and tougher than almost any unit bought... plus pound for pound they're good for the gems spent.