Halt Heretic - Opinions

[Dedas]

Twan said:
The guardians don't have this ability, only the lord guardian (commander, you may recruit one per turn in the beginning, so you will have less than 10 of them -imagining you know you will be rushed and never build priests or mages- when an ennemy rusher arrives).

So I'm not really sure it's sufficient to stop a sacred early rush (especially when most blessed sacred have 14 or more morale).

ps : not tested so I may be wrong

Anyway the new priests and other new spells give a good boost to Ulm (darts look really awesome for their low fatigue cost).

I didn't write that they have Halt Heresy, but that they have Bane Heresy. Click on the black halberd to see this.

[Kristoffer O]

Dedas said:
It's a bit too early yet to say, at least I haven't tested it yet. Although the +2 bonus that the Lord Guardian gets seems a bit weak, at least if it works like ordinary awe. The reason is that especially sacreds, among all units, have above normal morale.

The Halt Heretic power of the lord guardians are not supposed to stop bless rushes. It is the power of the Iron angel, and just a bonus for the lord guardians.

It is the Black Halberds thet are supposed to stop early sacred rushes (sand perhaps late ones as well) .

Halberds do 15 ap aoe1 stun regardless of hits, meaning massed unarmored units get lots of fatigue. Jaguars and vanir are prime targets.

[Baalz]

Yeah, personally I kinda like picking up nations that are considered underpowered and figuring out how to play them in such a way as to make their strengths shine. I'm not the best player out there and only have a couple wins under my belt, but I've had very strong showings with MA Ulm (tied for second), MA Atlantis (solid second) and Eriu (came out the gate so fast 6 nations ganged up on me in year 2...oops). None of these were newbie games, all of them were large games and I always find it amusing when somebody claims that some nation is unplayable...or that I'm a newbie and don't know what I'm talking about. Use a bit of creativity, know your limitations and have fun with it. Who wants a game where all the nations play the same?

[Dedas]

I'm all with you Baalz!

[Xietor]

I think Ulm being redone is responsive to the cries of the mp community. So thanks KO. Not sure anything helps Ulm survive an early elephant rush, but Ulm can and should take an awake pretender sc to deal with this possibility, just as Abysia and other nations are forced to do.

I guess if every nation had an elephant counter then the value of elephants would be reduced.

My minor suggestions:

1. Move Iron Angel to construction, as that is a more likely path for Ulm to traverse-and it is Iron(a construct).

2. Given Ulm's huge weakness to magic, Temper Will is 5 spots down a tree that Ulm does not research. If it cannot be moved to a more friendly research path, like evoc, then would it be amiss to make it available at 4 rather than 5?

Ulm really gets nothing of value at Thaum 4, and the astral races get mind burn at 2 and paralyze at 4, and antimagic at enchanment 4. It really makes it hard on Ulm to have to go to thaum 5 early in the game, when you also need summon earth, constr 4(earth boots, dwarven hammer(2)), blade wind, etc.

And make no mistake Ulm is still fairly helpless against astral races until it gets temper the will. But it really cannot afford to run straight to thaum 5 out of the box.

[Kristoffer O]

> I think Ulm being redone is responsive to the cries of the mp community.

A bit perhaps. Since I've heard the cries for the last couple of years it has probably affected my view on Ulm. I think I have agreed more or less all the time though. I got some ideas this summer, but have been up to other stuff that felt more interesting, like Serpent Cult, Bogarus and other projects.

Someone mentioned Ulm when I was free a couple of weeks ago, and I got inspired.

[llamabeast]

I'm very excited to take a look at this patch when I get home.

Do the black halberds only work on sacreds then?