Game report: Nomads without heroes, mixed Life Warlord

[Catwalk]

***Midway game analysis***

Setup
I regret picking Inquisitor. I could have taken Raven out without it, and that would have given me a size 7 city very early on. That would have been bigger than the Inquisitor bonus, and it would have given me access to another race. I would also have had access to halflings, solving my food problems in a most excellent manner. Food has not been a big issue so far, but any luxury is welcome.

Other than that, I'm very pleased with how the setup has played out. Next game I'll use the same setup with heroes enabled, and I'll go with one more Life book (for Endurance) instead of Inquisitor. I'll also get Holy Armour instead of Holy Weapon.

So far my Sorcery book has been a complete dud (Nagas, Aether Sparks, Psionic Blast, Resist Magic, Dispelling Wave) and Nature has been of great value (Sprites, Earth to Mud, Resist Elements, Web, Water Walking). Looking through the common and uncommon Sorcery spells, I really don't see much I want. Conversely, I see a lot of Nature spells I want:
Resist Elements, Water Walking, Sprites, Web, Earth to Mud, Nature's Eye (I could have traded for this but snorted in disgust, regretting that now), Web, Change Terrain, Transmute, Land Linking. I'm not sure if there's any one particular spell I want really badly, so I think I'll trade the sorcery book for another Life book and take Just Cause.

Strategy
Early scouting worked out well, and my enemies were as vulnerable to early horsebowmen as anticipated. It's easy to spam out a stack, and at speed 5 they get there in no time. It wasn't necessary to hit that early, though. The vulnerability to a size 9 stack would have remained for another 10-20 turns easily. I think planning on a strike around turn 36 (January 1403) is realistic. Sprites are actually one of the biggest challenges I can face by then, this strategy should work regardless. If I have the continent to myself I'll go into full builder mode instead and rush to settle everywhere.

Opposition
I have faced little opposition this game, it's slowly surfacing now. I'm seeing volcanoes outside my doorstep, ruining my coal and iron tiles. Annoying, but not lethal. When they ruin my mithril and adamantium I'm going to scream. Raven came around to deliver a few punches back, he was able to raze an outpost defended by one unit of horsebowmen and kept me from taking the southern island for a long time.

[Seravy]

A second Nature book to allow finding and trading for Uncommon Nature spells might be a good idea, your list included three Uncommons.
Giant Spiders might be worth considering for their low cost and ability to web (and exceptional efficiency against low resistance early game units) as they can move at the same speed as Horsebowmen unlike almost every other unit in the game. The remaining Nature uncommons can be quite useful as well, though they are situational - Crack's Call can break through any invincible hero the AI might get (lucky artifact finds is a thing they sometimes do), and summoning Catapults in combat works well with an already ranged strategy. It even unlocks Ice Bolt so you can have a decent direct damage spell, something you don't get from life books.

Nature definitely is great when going with a tactic that relies on ranged units, Sorcery doesn't sound very useful for this strategy as Nomads have enough resistance on their own and Nature already provides Water Walking. (Focus Magic to bypass missile immunity is a nice trick though)
If the game drags out, 2 Sorcery books for Spell Lock, Flight and AEther Binding can be a lifesaver (not to mention the chance to get a really impressive rare like Magic Immunity or Invisibility), but only 1 of them sounds a wasted pick indeed.

[Catwalk]

It's -1 priority for each armor the target has and a 3+(ranged/4) bonus for ranged enemies.
Hitting the same target as last turn is +2 but that cannot apply if the "same target" is already killed.
Regenerating targets are -3, flying targets are +2, breath/thrown targets are +2, First strikers are +2, Heroes are +4, combat summons are -3.
Being damaged does not doesn't seem to apply to the priority except at melee attacks, but it's the deciding factor if there is a tie, and can even override the priority if the difference in priority is 2 or less.

Meanwhile I realized it's already using "effective defense" instead of raw defense, so abilities and spells are included. If the only surviving horsebowmen had Resist Elements for +4 armor and Jaer did not, that could also explain changing targets.

Chances are the "heroes are +4" is to blame here. I think a damage output check to reduce priority if the expected damage is zero or close to it should be done, if possible - selecting the best target works as intended, but the best target might not take damage if the ranged unit is too weak.

Resist Elements wasn't in play, it's definitely the hero factor, and I think that should be removed. It's essentially a cheating strategy, as it "knows" that killing your heroes weakens you against all wizards even if it isn't what helps the most in the current battle. Heroes should be evaluated based on stats alone, not given a higher weight IMO.

Btw does health factor into target decisions?

A unit of pikemen buffed with holy armor, endurance, heroism, bless and whatever else and backed by healing is near unstoppable in the early game - the only reason I can't recommend this tactic is the presence of Crack's Call which can kill it anyway (and web to stop it from moving).

Nothing Barbarian Cavalry can't do just as well (First Strike + Thrown is amazing against normal units), or Horsebowmen. Or High Elf / Klackon / Draconian / Troll / Beastmen / Dark Elf Halberdiers. Hell, I'd even go with Halfling Swordsmen.And the pikemen can't even take out sprites. Only reason I gave up on my Barbarian strategy was that Wall of Fire is a heavy counter against them. It would counter pikemen as well.

For fun, let's compare buffed Halfling Swordsmen with buffed Pikemen (Warlord + Alchemy, Heroism + Holy Armour + Holy Weapon + Endurance):

Halfling Swordsmen
5 melee, +3 to hit
7 defense, +2 to defend
2 health

High Men Pikemen
7 melee, +2 to hit
6 defense, +1 to defend
3 health
Armour Piercing

Fighting a 6 figure unit, this is how much swordsmen suffer per attack:
4 melee = 0.3 damage
5 melee = 0.54 damage
6 melee = 0.87 damage
7 melee = 1.31 damage

Pikemen:
4 melee = 1.01 damage
5 melee = 1.59 damage
6 melee = 2.31 damage
7 melee = 3.16 damage

5 swords and +3 to hit will let my halflings damage most things quite effectively. Against 8 shields they'll do 8.09 damage on average.
Swordsmen are available right out the gate for 30 hammers. Pikemen cost 250 hammers for a Fighter's Guild and then 75 a piece.

Or let's compare with Barbarian Cavalry. At Ultra Elite they have melee 7 and thrown 5. Against 8 shields they'll do a massive 15.82 damage before the enemy gets to hit back. Against 6 shields it's 19.79. They only require Stables to build, and they move at speed 5. They can kill sprites.

The lesson here is that buffed anything is really nice. Pikemen as they are now are an inferior choice to so many other units in the same price range and availability. The only time you want Pikemen is if you're having a hard time doing any damage at all. And even in that case, horsebowmen doing 1-2 damage per turn while suffering 0 damage back is usually the better option.

[Seravy]

Btw does health factor into target decisions?

Not at all.

The only time you want Pikemen is if you're having a hard time doing any damage at all.

Well yeah, that's kinda the point of using an Armor Piercing unit. (which is something other races either don't get at all, or from an Armorer's Guild only)
I wouldn't say "any damage at all" though - halving enemy shields increases damage output massive on high figure count units.  It's essentially as effective as a boost of as many swords as the number of reduced enemy shields - when attacking a 8 armor enemy unit, that's 4 swords which is better than Lionheart. (yes, I'm ignoring To Defend and To Hit here, if you raised your To Hit significantly, it's less relevant, and if the enemy has increased To Def then it's that much stronger)

Even if we go with the assumption that an average enemy unit only has 6 shields, it's still a massive 3 sword boost to the Pikemen.

(btw comparing anything with halflings for damage reduction is not fair - the racial +1 to defend from Lucky is a massive boost which makes them by far the most durable swordsmen...but they don't get halberdiers exactly for this reason so they have only 1 hp per figure units. They might take less damage per hit but they don't have as many hit points either.)

I can't argue against using Horsebowmen instead, but that's because fast ranged units are superior to melee units as they literally don't take damage at all as long as they are at a safe distance. I'd use them instead of halberdiers anytime.
(I admit I used the pikemen tactic with High Men when I tested it - they don't have Horsebowmen.)

[Nelphine]

Now I'm tempted to try halfling swordsmen instead of beastmen halberdiers. Let's me pick up archmage and an extra life book.

[GermanJoey]

Pikemen are good for the AI as city defenders, sitting behind a city wall. They're units you basically have to use ranged attacks or spells against as they'll completely butcher whatever other units you try to melee them with.

For offense I would never bother using them, of course.

[Catwalk]

It's essentially as effective as a boost of as many swords as the number of reduced enemy shields - when attacking a 8 armor enemy unit, that's 4 swords which is better than Lionheart. (yes, I'm ignoring To Defend and To Hit here, if you raised your To Hit significantly, it's less relevant, and if the enemy has increased To Def then it's that much stronger)

Even if we go with the assumption that an average enemy unit only has 6 shields, it's still a massive 3 sword boost to the Pikemen.

But doing enough damage is rarely the problem. Not dying in the process is a much bigger problem. You're not unstoppable if you can do a lot of damage, you're unstoppable if you can survive to tell the tale. In fact, heavily buffed Pikemen are most likely overkill for early encounters. With all the buffs you can do 33.65 damage to a unit with 8 shields. When do you need to do that much damage? And you'll suffer plenty damage in return, your defenses aren't strong enough that you can shrug off attacks. As shown above, buffed halfling swordsmen take 1/3 of the damage buffed pikemen do. Actually, I'm just realizing that the numbers above are wrong. I don't know what I did, but the numbers below are correct. The 1:3 ratio still holds. Add Klackon Halberdiers to the mix.

Halfling Swordsmen, 8 shields at +20%
4 melee = 0.745 damage
5 melee = 0.901 damage
6 melee = 1.128 damage
7 melee = 1.438 damage

Pikemen, 7 shields at +10%
4 melee = 2.413 damage
5 melee = 2.852 damage
6 melee = 3.416 damage
7 melee = 4.107 damage

Klackon Halberdiers, 11 shields at +10%
4 melee = 0.178 damage
5 melee = 0.217 damage
6 melee = 0.282 damage
7 melee = 0.382 damage

The Klackon Halberdiers are unstoppable. They'll also stop arrows and magic missiles.

(btw comparing anything with halflings for damage reduction is not fair - the racial +1 to defend from Lucky is a massive boost which makes them by far the most durable swordsmen...but they don't get halberdiers exactly for this reason so they have only 1 hp per figure units. They might take less damage per hit but they don't have as many hit points either.)

That's the point, it's perfectly fair. Pikemen are a unique unit, so I'm comparing it with what other races have. Swordsmen are a lowly unit, so when Halfling Swordsmen can do this well in comparison (the pikemen are still better, but not by much) then you know something is off. And compare with those Klackon Halberdiers. You do more damage with your pikemen, but you don't need that much damage. And the extra damage doesn't justify your inferior defenses. Pikemen are a pitifully weak racial unit in comparison with generic units from other races. Nomad pikemen are even worse, they should never ever be built. Just change them to regular halberdiers instead and they're a better unit.

Now I'm tempted to try halfling swordsmen instead of beastmen halberdiers. Let's me pick up archmage and an extra life book.

Go with slingers instead and use them for melee if needed, if you're going to buff heavily there's no point in using a weak unit.

[Seravy]

7 melee = 4.107 damage

Healing restores 5 health so this much damage is still acceptable - in exchange you wipe that unit out in a single hit, even if they are the above mentioned klackon halberdiers - or even a stag beetle. I'm not saying this is the best unit in the game, but being able to kill almost anything in a single attack is certainly nice - I admit it's more useful later though. For early game, the klackon halberdier is most likely better.

Pikemen are a pitifully weak racial unit in comparison with generic units from other races. Nomad pikemen are even worse, they should never ever be built.

This I can't agree with, though. Pikemen slaughter units like great wyrms or behemoths. Maybe they aren't as good in the early game then, but Armor Piercing with 6 or 8 figures is very powerful mid to late game. When playing life, I'd definitely prefer them over Griffons (unless I absolutely need a flying unit for some reason).

Go with slingers instead and use them for melee if needed, if you're going to buff heavily there's no point in using a weak unit.

Definitely. Slingers are brutal if buffed, even in melee.

[Nelphine]

There absolutely is a point to using weak units. You get them earlier.

My beastman halberdiers can't take on great drakes by themselves (until they get mega buffs, but by then the game us won anyway).

But I get them fast enough that they canulch most AI units.

Halfling swordsmen? I could literally start those on turn 1. (I wouldn't, but I could) that's far far faster than beastmen halberdiers. And due to archmage I can even buff my halflings noticeably faster. So if I have multiple cities producing I won't end up with half my stacks unbuffed.

(Also note, by the time you've got Lionheart and adamantium on your halflong swordsmen they are better offensively than the halberdiers, and it only takes 1 more defensive buff beyond the common life (like iron skin, or charm of life) before the halfling swordsmen are better defensively as well. 8 units and lucky is just far far better for buffing once you get enough choices.

[GermanJoey]

halflings don't even have a barracks though... halfling swordsmen are weaaaak. by the time you're even able to layer on all the buffs you'd need to make them competitvely strong, there's no way you can't afford a Fighters Guild.