I think it would be a good idea to start a thread for challenging users with custom wizards and reporting playthroughs with them. I'll start off with my last run:
Wizard
Sorcery 7 books, Retorts Runemaster and Astrologer, Race High Men
My reasoning was that I would play to the supposed strengths of Sorcery's dispelling power by boosting dispel resistance and Arcane spell research and cost. Sorcery also doesn't get many good summons until Rare, but it does get nifty spells for combat like Confusion and AEther Sparks, so I decided to pick Astrologer so that said spells could be cast reliably in nodes. Lastly, High Men have reasonably strong military units early and mid game, so I picked them in the hopes that they would bolster the weak early game.
My playthrough turned out rather tense. I opened up with searching liars with a Magic Spirit, then casting Nagas to claim some easy rewards. However, trouble soon followed as a Death wizard Rjak, with Aggressive personality, started seizing my land with Lizardmen settlers. I quickly got a Fighter's Guild up and then started massing many Pikemen. The war afterward was extremely fierce, I kept losing a settlement at the bottom of my continent, and ran into gold issues so often I actually had to use my mana supplies to pay my armies.
Eventually I researched Water Elementals and managed to decisively push Rjak out of my continent. I got peace offers from him at around the same time a Nature/Chaos wizard, Oberic, declared war on me for accidentally stepping into one of his villages. Two stacks of Water Elementals and Pikemen razing one of his cities and getting into position for the next one made him plead for peace, with him offering a generous 252 gold as tribute.
With both wizards being at peace, I decided to focus on my power and skill supply, as well as clearing out some nodes. Wizards Guilds were quickly brought up in most of my cities, with Amplifying Towers being constructed in most of them. I also moved enough Water Elementals and Pikemen to significantly weaken a node with Chimera in it. But war struck again, with Rjak wanting revenge for his failure. I tried attacking one of his towns with a pikemen stack but that backfired, and he stole four of my pikemen. Six Water Elementals did work, but he got a stack of Wraithform Halberdiers and some Pegasai and took one of my cities. My Water Elemental stack retook it, but upon using it to advance, I ran into a nasty surprise, with Night Stalkers effortlessly taking out my Water Elementals. At that point I quit since I saw no good answers to them in my spell book.
Perhaps I should have used Resist Magic more since I was facing an Aggressive Death wizard. It would have also been handy to have upgraded to Paladins, but the thought never struck me as I was forced into dedicating my towns to supplying Pikemen early on, which led to my power and skill being somewhat neglected. Flying Warships would have been a fairly formidable force though still perhaps weak to Night Stalkers.
Wizard
Sorcery 7 books, Retorts Runemaster and Astrologer, Race High Men
My reasoning was that I would play to the supposed strengths of Sorcery's dispelling power by boosting dispel resistance and Arcane spell research and cost. Sorcery also doesn't get many good summons until Rare, but it does get nifty spells for combat like Confusion and AEther Sparks, so I decided to pick Astrologer so that said spells could be cast reliably in nodes. Lastly, High Men have reasonably strong military units early and mid game, so I picked them in the hopes that they would bolster the weak early game.
My playthrough turned out rather tense. I opened up with searching liars with a Magic Spirit, then casting Nagas to claim some easy rewards. However, trouble soon followed as a Death wizard Rjak, with Aggressive personality, started seizing my land with Lizardmen settlers. I quickly got a Fighter's Guild up and then started massing many Pikemen. The war afterward was extremely fierce, I kept losing a settlement at the bottom of my continent, and ran into gold issues so often I actually had to use my mana supplies to pay my armies.
Eventually I researched Water Elementals and managed to decisively push Rjak out of my continent. I got peace offers from him at around the same time a Nature/Chaos wizard, Oberic, declared war on me for accidentally stepping into one of his villages. Two stacks of Water Elementals and Pikemen razing one of his cities and getting into position for the next one made him plead for peace, with him offering a generous 252 gold as tribute.
With both wizards being at peace, I decided to focus on my power and skill supply, as well as clearing out some nodes. Wizards Guilds were quickly brought up in most of my cities, with Amplifying Towers being constructed in most of them. I also moved enough Water Elementals and Pikemen to significantly weaken a node with Chimera in it. But war struck again, with Rjak wanting revenge for his failure. I tried attacking one of his towns with a pikemen stack but that backfired, and he stole four of my pikemen. Six Water Elementals did work, but he got a stack of Wraithform Halberdiers and some Pegasai and took one of my cities. My Water Elemental stack retook it, but upon using it to advance, I ran into a nasty surprise, with Night Stalkers effortlessly taking out my Water Elementals. At that point I quit since I saw no good answers to them in my spell book.
Perhaps I should have used Resist Magic more since I was facing an Aggressive Death wizard. It would have also been handy to have upgraded to Paladins, but the thought never struck me as I was forced into dedicating my towns to supplying Pikemen early on, which led to my power and skill being somewhat neglected. Flying Warships would have been a fairly formidable force though still perhaps weak to Night Stalkers.