Hidden in Snow

[normalphil]

I use it as thematic support for my LE Atlantis games. It's amazing just for that.

[Meglobob]

Edi said:
Oh, sea trolls. Don't get me started. The minimum they need is attack 10 or 11 and weapon 29 (claw) instead of fist. Then they would be useful something other than just taking hits.

Edi

Very, very useful with earthquake thou...

[Kalin]

Sea trolls has good HP and they regenerate, making them great meat shields, and useful in tiring out an enemy army. Although I prefer the normal trolls because they come with an earth mage capable of casting curse of stones to further tire the enemy out, the sea trolls can go underwater, which is a great tool if you're a land nation.

Besides, I mostly cast Sea trolls to collect sea kings and horde water gems. The other trolls I send to the front line to die as fast as possible since they cost a lot of maintenance.

[mathusalem]

45 waters gems for just on commander (+1 gem / season) ?

It will be profitable only after 45 turns, not very effective IMHO

[Saxon]

45 months to replay the investment cost? Gosh, that is 3.75 years, I wish I could get the apartments I bought to pay themselves off that fast, it is a great deal…

However, back to the game, it is a long pay off period. However, you do also get the mage and trolls, who you should be able to use to take new provinces and recover your investment faster. If they can get a single province with a single gem site, it is only 22 months to recover costs in gems alone, but that would also give you gold income as well. If they are your first gateway to ocean provinces, they will pay you back many times over However, if you are just doing it for gem income, I am not so sure it is the best value.

[Kalin]

Not only do you get the gem cost back (isn't it 55 gems?), which is easily done in a large game of back and forth battles, but you also get a ton of regenerating meat shields for your armies... and they can go into water.

If you're already an aquatic nation, then sea trolls might not be as great, but if you're not, they are a great deal.

You tell me, what other easy summon actually gives you back it's gem cost? Even if it doesn't fully return it's initial cost, everyturn that goes by with the sea king alive, the gem cost of the summon is effectively reduced by one.

If you're playing a quick rush style game, you might never even get the spell researched, so there's no point talking about it. If you're playing a medium game, then sea trolls can be a very cheap summon if you split the kings out (to refund yourself and cast more later). In a long game, the kings work like clam shells for pearls. Sure, they aren't as effective, but with the meat shield involved, I don't see how you can say that it's not a good investment.

[Sombre]

Maybe you got that response because you initially seemed to suggest suiciding the trolls so you don't have to pay upkeep for them and basically using the spell entirely to get more gems via the kings.

I also find it hard to see how going for kings to get more gems makes sense. You'd have to be playing a huuuuge game for 45/55 turns to be a sensible amount of time to wait. If you have the time and resources to set something like that up my feeling is that you could have done a thousand other more effective things to help you win instead.

[Nick_K]

IMO The sea king spell is ok, because the king himself if a very good commander. That's not what I'm criticising... but the regular sea troll unit is just rubbish. I think they're only worth using if you need amphibious troops and can't get the (dramatically better) kydnides. Otherwise, I just throw them in an army to bulk it out and let them die.
The problem is their large size. When 1 sea troll is fighting 3 infantry then att9, def9, prot8 doesn't cut it. They tend to die if they're matched up in front line combat against any reasonable force, and I've often seen them rout fairly fast too. They are ok against independents and they could be useful if you plan on dealing loads of damage with mages or missiles and just want them to take damage for a few turns. Even then, I'd prefer, say, indep heavy infantry but the trolls can go underwater and you might have a bunch hanging around from the king summon.

Does anyone actually use the 1-gem sea troll summon though? Anyone rate sea trolls without the king?

[Belcarl]

Sea trolls are great really, as chaff. High hp regenerating unit. Just don't expect them to do any damage. They are there to soak up the enemies melee so you can do artillery damage.

If that is not your main advantage, other summons may be better.

[FrankTrollman]

Deleted.