Dominions 3: The Awakening/Nations/Ulm, Forges of Ulm

The Forges of Ulm is the height of the kingdom of steel-worshipers. Their arms and armor are unequalled, but magic is discouraged and only used by the Master Smiths.

Units
Ulm features the heaviest units in the game. Generally speaking however, armor is good, but expensive and easily countered by magic (Ulm has lower magic defense than other nations).

Ulm Heavy Infantry has great armor and more hit points than average HI, but also some weaknesses like high encumbrance, average morale, low magic resistance and slow movement rates both on the map and in battle.

Pikeneers are a good choice when you don't know what you'll fight. Not weak against anything. Once you know what troops you'll fight, produce counters.

The Black Plate cavalry and Black Plate infantry get a base armor rating of 20, giving them the highest base armor of any normal troops of the age. To make them, you need extremely high resources as with most of your troops, so make sure to take all of the lands surrounding your castle as soon as possible.

A mix of Pikeneers and Heavy Infantrymen are nearly unstoppable by normal infantry, and are armored enough to ignore most missile fire. Put these troops as far forward as possible, potentially with some flanking Knights on the sides. The Pikeneers excel at repelling (they have max weapon length), and the HI can usually even penetrate enemy knights. Technically, some weapons are better than others against particular opponent types. Also, depending of your playing style, you will want either to have a weapon which makes more damages but gives less defense, or the reverse. It is somehow a personal issue here. To keep it simple, you could also mix them all.


 * Flail: two weak attacks and a defense penalty. Bonus against shield. Meant to dispatch hordes of light infantry. With magic buffs, these guys can become a terror.
 * Morning Star or Hammer: one medium attack, morning star gets bonus against shield, hammer has highest defense of all ulmish HI. Both carry tower shields. If your opponent is using massed archers use these.
 * Maul or Battleaxe: Both high damage single attack, with no shield. Use against giants and the like. Maul probably works better against undead and constructs.
 * Pike: medium damage but causes a moral check from the opponent, use against low moral troops (Ctis infantry, barbarians, etc). They slow the enemy attack, so use them if you plan to have a front line holding while your crossbows fire.
 * Guardians: Home province only. Highest damage + best attack skill + best morale combined with weakest defense skill of all Ulmish troops. Bonus in castles. A niche unit best reserved for when you have lots of excess gold.

Ulm's Crossbowmen use Arbalests, which are slow and less accurate but shoot further and for more damage than crossbows. Arbalests are so strong they are capable of killing their own troops if you don’t pay attention however. So you'll probably buy long- or shortbowmen in some independent provinces instead.

Local defense: Ulm has strong militia (arbalesteers and HI) that is actually worth buying in your key provinces.

Commanders

 * Spy: Gold 30, Resources 5:Stealthy unit, can also cause unrest in enemy provinces
 * Commander of Ulm (4 varieties): Gold 30, Resources 23/36/24/37:Foot commander equipped with either flail/morningstar and chainmail/plate
 * Black Lord: Gold 130, Resources 70:Mounted Knight commander with black plate
 * Master Smith: Gold 140, Resources 7:Description
 * Siege Engineer: Gold 50, Resources 50:Bonus added to army strength during sieges
 * Priest: Gold 50, Resources 1:pure vanilla variety
 * Lord Guardian: Gold 80, Resources 35:Foot commander equipped with halberd and black plate, bonus defending castle

Heroes
Barthulf, the best leadership of Ulm, "was dubbed a Black Knight at the age of thirteen. He appeared as a mystery knight at the great tourney of Black Keep and emerged victorious. After this deed he became known throughout the realm and soon men from near and far came to challenge him. Barthulf has never lost a challenge and is the pride of the Black Keep".

Hildegard "was the only child of the late Hochmeister of the Black Order. Her father taught her how to fight and wanted her to join the order, but she was a strong-willed young woman who didn't like the strict hierarchical organization of the order. She decided to become a freelance warrior, and as such she has become known and respected. During her more adventurous years Hildegard befriended a black unicorn that has followed her since". She is one of the fastest commander of the game, and her defense is so high that she is nearly untouchable in close combat.

Raterik, almost as fast as Hildegard but wearing a full plate armor, "is a strange and secretive knight. As a youth he befriended a black unicorn, and the magical steed has given the peasant boy the opportunity to join the Black Order. Several of the older members of the order complained about the peasant but so far he has not failed in his tasks. Raterik has proven himself a resourceful and able commander". He has recuperation, a very useful ability for a knight.

Starting Sites
The Keep of Ulm: Can recruit Lord Guardians and Guardians here.

The Forge of Ulm: Produces 5 Earth gems per turn.

Magic
Ulm has a weak and narrow magic.

Use Master Smiths and Priest Smiths for research, since they have the ability to tolerate the drain: they get a +2 research bonus minimum (so even in a +3 drain, they have 5 research points each – in a neutral or positive magic dominion they get the same bonus as all other mages). Keep in mind that all other mages, including your pretender, do not benefit from this drain immunity, however (this could be a good reason to take a weak dominion: build a lab in a border province, where your drain dominion is weaker, and regroup your other mages there). Priest Smiths are more expensive, but are sacred and their upkeep is halved; actually, a Priest Smith is cheaper than a Master Smith after 13 turns. Also, it is useful to get mages for searching sites if you don't have a mage pretender.

Both Master Smiths and Priest Smiths get a 25% gems discount on forging magic items, so if possible consider equipping them with many items to increase their skills (for example, with a Dwarven Hammer, a Master Smith can forge for half price). Try to use them over the pretender, so you save those gems.

They are decent support mages and generally are unable to penetrate the armor of their own troops, so friendly fire is negligible until Magma Bolts/Iron Darts, and even then is not very great. They have more armor than other mages, and have a good amount of command skill. With "Summon Earthpower" they have several nice level 3 spells available, like "Legions of Steel" (Ulm start spell), or "Blade Wind" which decimates light troops (or unprotected etheral units like seasonal spirits) but does not penetrate Ulm's super thick armors.

On the battlefield smiths are affected by drain scale while casting spells however (greater fatigue). Forge Earth boots (construction-4) as soon as possible, to be able to cast more Blade Winds in a battle, or to Summon Fall Bears, Contact Troll/Troll King's Court or Crusher Construction.

The priests are weak too, and Ulm has no sacred troops. Choose your prophet carefully, as he is probably your only priest able to cast Sermon of Courage until you get to Constr-6 and forge the proper magic boosters. Black priests are "inquisitors" and can counter enemy dominion. If you play defensively, consider a Black priest prophet.

Special Strategy
Simple: play like a tank commander. Build heavy troops and hit people with them. Early conquest, that is. As the game lasts and new spells are researched, Ulm's edge at grabbing territory becomes less and less sharp. So go for them as soon as possible. That's one of Ulm's adavantages – steel vs. magic, you have to learn the second while the first comes built in your troops. Steel doesn't work too well versus summoned troops, though, many of them being ethereal. But on the whole it remains the best thing to invest in.

On the other hand, spells that negate armor (electrical shocks and acid attacks, plus some earth spells) or pierce armor (most fire attacks) are the worst of your enemies. You badly need to get lucky with independents to do well, since you really need some more mages to protect your soldiers with different "wards".

Don't hesitate to make use of Crushers, Clockwork Men and Iron Dragons as an integral part of your army, as you have access to the knowledge and resources to use them extensively. They are your easiest counter on the battlefield to cold- and poison-based attacks, and they don't ever run away.

Dominion design
Ulm only needs to stabilise dominion inside its own territory and can use inquisitors to help, so it can get away with a dominion level of 3-5.

Scale Design
Heavy units take a lot of resources, so productivity +3 is a must. Fortunately, your capital is a fortified city with a high administration (it drains 50% of resources from all neighbours). High Order brings you more gold, and is advisable to help put up as many forts as quickly as possible, as well as funding massive amounts of your cheap mages and troops.

Growth can really pay off in the long term for longer games as well, as your resources build with "compounding interest".

Finally, a magic drain has little effect, since your Smith's studies are unaffected. Since you have ineffective magic, make everyone else ineffective too and put drain to maximum (and possibly put dominion to maximum too if you have a chance, to affect a larger area). And the drain will increase the magic resistance of your troops – something important since your troops have the worst MR of all nations. Every drain level gives +1/2 MR point (but +10% fatigue when mages cast battle spells).

So one possible setup would be: Order 3, Productivity 3, Growth 3, Drain 3, Dominion 3

Pretender Design
A bless strategy isn't reasonably realistic for Ulm to pull off in this Age, as they have no national sacred troops. Rainbow pretender works well, as it allows you to get into all the magic paths you need. Without a mage, you'll be unable to cast even your "national" spells, like Sloth of Bears (needs Nature-2) or Contact Iron Angel (needs Earth-5 and Astral-2). And site searching will bring more gems.

The alchimist is a special rainbow mage who gets a x2 bonus when he makes gold out of gems (this bonus is added in to the Alchemist Stone bonus). The Great Enchantress is nice with her 1 AP income (you can convert the pearls through alchemy to whatever gems you prefer to get your start on some basic magic items), the Crone for her inexpensive cost, and the Great Sage for his high research skill.

One possible pick would be any of the four above mentioned pretenders with: 2F,2A,2W,2N,2S,2D,2B. This will allow them to be very effective site searchers, build most of the basic buffing magic items, as well as represent a good start towards empowering any of the magic paths as the situation allows and the appropriate gems are found.

Another interesting strategy to consider could be using an immortal pretender such as the Lich or Vampire acting as a support mage for your main army outfitted to cast the spells that you otherwise don't have. Combining Ulm's steel troops with summons from Death or Blood magic might also make for a tough-to-beat army.

Expansion
Morale is a real problem for Ulm, as your starting forces tend to run away from combat until they have strength in numbers or you can cast Sermon of Courage. This means that it might be a good idea for your very first build on turn 1 to train a priest, then make the priest into your prophet and have him accompany your fledgling army for his SoC cast.

Early on don’t bother with Black Plate units. Quantity over quality counts quite a bit early on, not only tactically in battles, but psychologically to intimidate other players. Also, you will quickly have access to spells that will boost their armor to that of black plate quality anyways, so you can get away with this pretty easy. You might want to try Pikemen. They advance to close with the enemy a bit faster than most Ulm troops, and their ability to repel just about everything with their long weapons seems to make up for any other deficiencies. So set your castle to crank out 1 Smith and as many Pikes as you can afford each turn. With a second commander (indie is fine) to ferry units to the front line and keep your main force stocked with reinforcements, the war machine is set churning.

Your rainbow pretender is a pretty good researcher, but has a few other roles to play early on as well: 1. Search for magic sites. 2. Forge basic useful magic items when you have the gems. 3. Relocate to newly constructed castles to spread dominion.

Knowing where and when to stop expanding so that you are not overextended is key. Other nations can completely out-produce you when it comes to troops, so look to create a compact and easily defensible kingdom. Your growth scales will turn this into a very productive area after just a few dozen turns if you can maintain a freindly dominion. Initially look to maximize production (150-200 points per castle) and have enough territory to bring in at least 750-1000 gold income per turn. You want at least 2 castles, preferably 3 each with a lab producing 1 Smith every turn. Then solidify your position using your strong Provincial Defense. The first 20 points of PD gets you arbalests, the next 20 pikeneers, and further gets you battleaxes. The more you buy, the more units you get for the gold. So for example, buying 50 points of PD will cost about 1000 gold, and get you about 50 heavy armored arbalesteers, 30 pikeneers and 20 battleaxes. Properly supported by a few Master Smiths using the right spells, you can quickly establish an extremely strong local defense that doesn't rely on your slow troop production.

Anticipating the point where you want to attack one of the other pretender nations, start making some cavalry. Either the black knights or indie knights will do. The goal here isn’t to make a strike force, but rather a pursuit force to follow up the rout. The last thing you want to do is fight the same enemies turn after turn because they retreat and your foot soldiers can’t catch them. So when you deploy your expensive cavalry, have them hang back from the main combat and then charge towards the rear. Hopefully they will kill a lot of fleeing enemies.

When you have enough forts (usually about 3-4) so that your gold income per turn is spent but there is still production left, it’s time to start switching over to black plate units. Find the right balance between BP and normal units so that gold income and production income are exploited to the fullest.

Research Order
Your major basic goal to attain early on is to empower your Smiths for battle support. They come on day 1 with flying shards, but there are more useful spells.

First research goes into Alteration Lvl 1 for Earth grip and Earth Might, then directly to Lvl 2 for Stone Skin and Earth Meld. This gives them some basic spells that they can use right out of the box in a pinch.

A suggestion is then to research Construction all the way to Lvl 4. This will give you Legions of Steel and Crusher Construction (which you won't be able to use quite yet), but more importantly you can now set a Smith to make some Earth Boots, then equip the boots and make a Dwarven Hammer. Now have him equip the DH and make a few more, so that your Smiths can start cranking out magic items with a 50% forge bonus. The hammers will pay for themselves many times over in the course of the game.

If the situation allows it, try continuing research in Construction all the way to Lvl 6. This will allow you to forge Lightless Lanterns, which give your Smiths a +6 research buff for 2 fire gems each. This will really speed up research in whatever subsequent paths you choose.

But if you are being pressed by enemies, you might need to consider some more combat magic. Have one of your Earth Boot-equipped Smiths create some Crushers, and send them immediately to the front. They make for decent anti-thug/anti-SC protection in your army, as they are quite tough, don't rout and fight to the death. While a few Smiths forge useful items, your others can go back to researching Alteration Lvl 3 for Ironskin and directly to Lvl 4 for Curse of Stones and Destruction. The only problem here being CoS is a gem powered spell, so you probably won't cast it much till you have some Bloodstones. But used at the right moment, it could turn the tide in a tough battle, especially if you are using Crushers which don't ever get fatigued.

At this point you are ready to mix it up with some Pretenders, and so should send a group of 3 or 4 Smiths wearing boots and girdles to accompany your main army and script them to spam the above listed spells.

Depending upon whether your style is to use your Smiths for fire support or defensive buffing, you will want to quickly research the following checklist:
 * Conjuration 3: Summon Earth Power
 * Evocation 3: Fireball and Magma Bolts (Fireball is worth buffing or empowering a Smith for 2F picks if you can afford to do so)
 * Enchantment 3: Strength of Giants (a nice alternative to a Blood bless)
 * Thaumaturgy 3: Iron Will

Next you will probably want to keep going along the damage inflicting path and get:
 * Evocation 4: Blade Wind
 * Evocation 5: Earthquake (remember with Summon Earth Power and their Earth Boots, all your Smiths will be buffed to E4 during battle)
 * Evocation 6: Magma Eruption (nice for casting on fortress entryway chokepoints clogged with defenders)
 * Enchantment 4: Flaming Arrows (you will eventually have a few Smiths with an F2 random that can use this spell when outfitted with a Fire Skull or scripted to cast Phoenix Power, or have a Smith with an S1 random first cast Power of the Spheres then another Smith in the battle boost himself with Phoenix Power, or use a Communion)

Finally, as far as the best enchantments for your empowered Smiths are concerned:
 * Evocation: Lvl 7 for Earth Blood Deep Well and Rain of Stones
 * Constuction: Lvl 7 for Forge of the Ancients and Weapons of Sharpness Lvl 9 for Iron Dragon
 * Alteration: Lvl 9 for Army of Gold/Lead

Magic Items
As far as magic items go early on, go for ones that increase your gem income like the Astral Clam (W3/N1) the Fever Fetish (F1/N1) or buff your magic paths like Earthboots (E2) or Fire Skulls (E1/D1). Blood Stones (B3/E2) do both, so empowering a Smith to produce them cheaply will eventually pay off. Girdles of Might (E1) are useful to equip on your Smiths going into combat.

Ulm can benefit from some simple Communions (see next section). You will need to forge and equip Crystal Matrices and Slave Matrices (both S1/E1) to allow you to do so, as your Smiths and Priests generally have no astral. A Crystal Shield (S3/E2) given to one of the communion masters will buff all slave mages participating in the communion.

A Crystal Shield will also buff any normal non-prophet priest to H3, enabling him to cast Sermon of Courage.

A Ring of Regeneration (N2) is a good idea for your pretender, as it reduces the risk of catching afflictions. There is nothing worse than having your fledgling rainbow-pretender catch a disease or get feeble-minded early in the game.

Outfitting your commanders, priests and communion slaves with Bows of War (A1) works well when used in conjuction with the spell Flaming Arrows (F3) and Eagle Eyes (N1).

One of the main barriers that can slow down or even stop your expansion into enemy territory is food. So having a few Endless Bags of Wine (N1) or Enormous Caudrons of Broth (N3) early on can be helpful.

Overall, this is one of the reasons that the Enchantress as a rainbow pretender with her astral pearl income is so useful. She can alchemize pearls to whatever gems you need if you haven't found any gem sites yet.

General
Ulm's smiths generally can't cast the spells Communion Master and Communion Slave because they don't have astral paths. But with Crystal Matrices and Slave Matrices equipped they don't need to. The smiths carrying those items will be considered automatically joined in a communion at the start of a battle, and have their magic paths increased.

In short, using two slaves, the master(s) essentially become F2E3 Smith(s) or F3E4 using 4 slaves or F4E5 using 8 slaves. When each master casts his spells, he will share his fatigue with the communion slaves, as well as buff them and himself with any protective spells he casts.

If one of your communion masters has a Crystal Shield equipped at the start of a battle, then all communion slaves present (but not other masters) will also get the +1 buff to their magic stats granted by the shield. This can save you from forging a lot of expensive magic equipment, it improves spellcasting overall (fatigue is reduced when casting with higher paths, so your mages will cast more spells before becoming exhausted) as well as effectively give you an extra round of spell-casting in battle (each slave will start the battle as a F2E3 smith, so they can start popping off Destruction, Legions of Steel, etc. without needing to cast Summon Earthpower first).

Boosting Combat Magic
If you encounter problems scripting your F2E2 Smiths to cast Phoenix Power then Flaming Arrows, it may be the fatigue is too high, so they tend not to cast the second spell. But using a Communion can easily solve this.

The minimum way to get a guaranteed cast is to use three F1E2 Smiths as one master and two slaves accompanying a large army of indie archers (make sure the master has a fire gem to power the spell). Script the master to cast Phoenix Power + Flaming Arrows + Flame Shield + Ironskin and the two slaves to cast Summon Earthpower + whatever F2E3 offensive spells you want.

For earth-path spells, if the master was wearing Earth Boots, he could alternatively be scripted to cast Summon Earthpower + Weapons of Sharpness + whatever else. The slaves can then be scripted to just cast offensive F1E3 spells, since they will also be buffed by the master's SE spell.

Mass Thug Buff
There are many possible variations of this type of communion. This example assumes you have a few mages available with diverse paths to serve as the masters, each equipped with a Crystal Matrix, along with a dozen chaff mages (Druids or Sages will do nicely) each equipped with a Slave Matrix and a Bow of War.

Script the following: Have the masters script the following defensive spells according to the paths they can cast, then retreat from the battle: Air Shield, Wind Guide, Fire Shield, Personal Regeneration, Eagle Eyes, Iron Skin, Summon Earth Power, Luck, Twist Fate, Body Etheral, Gaia's Blessing etc. Have your Fire mage cast Flaming Arrows before he retreats. Have the slaves script Fire closest.

You now have a dozen super-buffed thugs on the battlefield with rapid-fire armor-piercing flaming arrows.