Countering Master Enslave...

[thejeff]

Well, in the classic Master Enslave contest, he who goes second has some serious issues to contend with.

First, the defender can cast AntiMagic/Army of Lead to protect both his troops and your former troops, greatly weakening the effect of your Master Enslave.

Second, since his new troops are among your remaining troops (and mages) many of your mages will be attacked or in hand-to-hand and thus less likely to cast what was ordered.
Do enslaved troops attack the round they're enslaved? I think they do.

This applies less if it takes a round or two to get communioned up to Master Enslave level. Though even a communion can do it round 1 with a Matrix and a late acting caster.

[Loren]

Just a question here:

If a caster can throw it on his own, what happens? My impression is that he will end up at 200 fatigue.

Also, the message before seems to say that the matrixes cast the spell on the mage's turn, not at the beginning of battle. Is that so?

Finally, what happens to the slave matrix if the bearer dies from fatigue? Will my other commanders pick them up?

[thejeff]

If a caster casts it without a communion (or a ridiculously high Astral level) he'll max out at 200 fatigue.

I believe the matrix casts at the beginning of the turn. Regardless, it is in effect when the mage casts.
I would just use a matrix for the master and have him act after the slaves, thus getting the full effect of the communion and being able to cast first turn. The slaves would cast Communion Slave normally. (Pythium communicants would also work). Then follow up with Vortex or Antimagic to prevent reprisals.

slave matrices should be treated like any other item when it's bearer dies. Commanders on the winning side have a chance to pick them up.

[Atreidi]

How do you you stop a raging astral mage that is master enslaving your armies after another?
What do you do when he already enslaves 2 big armies and hes stil advancing?
What do you do when you lost your strong mages?

[MaxWilson]

thejeff said:
Well, in the classic Master Enslave contest, he who goes second has some serious issues to contend with.

First, the defender can cast AntiMagic/Army of Lead to protect both his troops and your former troops, greatly weakening the effect of your Master Enslave.

Second, since his new troops are among your remaining troops (and mages) many of your mages will be attacked or in hand-to-hand and thus less likely to cast what was ordered.

The situation I see counter-Enslaves being useful in is when other counters won't work, e.g. you're Ulm and your troops have low MR even after Antimagic. I don't expect hand-to-hand interference to be a big problem unless you were caught by surprise, in which case you're not using Master Enslave as a counter-tactic anyway. (You may be using it anyway but your forces will be set up differently.) I agree that you're going to have a hard time dealing with counter-countermeasures like Master Enslave + Army of Lead.

But I don't have a good understanding of the endgame anyway.

-Max