Dominions 3: The Awakening/Nations/Man, Tower of Avalon

The special troops of the magical forest of Avalon are the Wardens.

Overview

 * Strengths:
 * Access to strong Air and Nature magic, weak Earth and Water magic. Air magic is hard to counter in battle
 * Longbowmen, Cavalry archers, Slingers, Knights and Heavy infantry recruitable in every fort
 * Sacred summons and cap-only sacred heavy infantry
 * National spell-songs offer useful battle role for your chaff N magi
 * many fort types cost 800 gold, build in 3 turns
 * temples cost 200 gold
 * most commanders are stealthy
 * stealthy spies can foment unrest in enemy territory
 * Weaknesses:
 * really needs both good scales and a good bless, but can't afford both
 * lack of natural access to S, D, F and B magic makes for a tough end-game strategy
 * overall your troops are somewhat lackluster compared to other MA nations, more like hyped-up indie versions
 * weak H1 priests, fighting enemy dom-push poses a problem
 * primary stealth unit is cap-only map-move 1
 * N magic doesn't offer much direct-damage spells
 * Expensive cap-only mage has Old Age, other cap-only commanders make for tough recruitment choices

Units
Most of MA-Man's troops have identical or marginally better stats than their standard indie counterparts.
 * Spearman: Gold 10, Resources 9, Upkeep 0.7
 * A decent defense value and a shield, making them competent to form a blocking line against 'normal' infantry types, archers and indies. Map-move 2 means they can provide the melee component of a mobile archer army. They also require half the resources as a Tower Guard, thus are easier to quickly mass in numbers. Their biggest downfall is their low-damage spear, which becomes practically ineffective vs heavy armored enemies.


 * Longspear: Gold 10, Resources 13, Upkeep 0.7
 * Bafflingly less survivable than normal spearmen due to a lower defense value. Technically their length-5 spear might cause a repel-check against certain low-morale enemies.


 * Axeman: Gold 10, Resources 14, Upkeep 0.7
 * Truly mediocre. Everything the Axemen can do, the Tower Guards can do better, for only marginally more gold. Nothing to see here... move along.


 * Longbowman: Gold 12, Resources 7, Upkeep 0.8
 * Your go-to missile unit, a mob of 50+ longbowmen can be be quite devastating against non-shielded infantry. In most archer-vs-archer exchanges, you will likely come out on top. However, against shield-bearing infantry their effectiveness can drop off quite dramatically. Several mid-game spells and early summons can also render them useless, so beware of committing too strongly to a long-term missile-based strategy vs certain nations.


 * Tower Guard: Gold 13, Resources 18, Upkeep 0.9
 * This is a slightly improved version of the basic indie Map-move-1 heavy-infantry with sword and shield. But they can be bought in any friendly castle, and thus serve as the bread-and-butter of MA-Man's heavy arrow-magnet blockers. They make competent troops, but their stats are fairly mediocre as compared to other nations' heavy infantry, so they tend to have a hard time without magical back-up. They work best when blocking for a large group of archers or drawing fire for elite knights/wardens who do the killing.


 * Knight: Gold 50, Resources 51, Upkeep 3.3
 * A marginal upgrade from indie knights. Still their double attack, high speed and good defense value make them a valuable part of your army, especially vs elite troops and giants or killing fleeing enemies. Knights seem to be most effective when deployed on the extreme sides, where they can mass against an enemy's exposed flanks and rear while your normal troops block the center. Even though they take a lot of gold and resources, they are available in any castle, so MA-Man can still collect an effective force in short order when needed.


 * Militia: Gold 7, Resources 7, Upkeep 0.5
 * The only redeeming quality of militia is providing a cheap body to draw arrow fire and numbers to lay siege to an enemy castle. Even for that, you would probably be better off with slingers, archers or one of the indie tribal troops. These guys are the primary reason why your PD is next to worthless, with horrible morale. Don't bother.


 * Light Cavalry: Gold 25, Resources 8, Upkeep 1.7
 * Because Man's longbowmen are so useful, Light Cav are often ignored. They are, however, much more survivable in hand-to-hand fighting than longbowmen, and can usually escape to fight another day if the going gets too tough. So you could use them tactically to form a 'second' defensive line in front of your missile troops. Their aim though is quite low for an archer, so a bit of magic might help in that respect.


 * Slinger: Gold 7, Resources 2, Upkeep 0.5
 * Easy to hire in large numbers and not as bad as their in-game description makes them out to be. You will see these a lot even if you don't actively hire them, since they form an integral part of your PD. Like most missile troops, their effectiveness increases when deployed as a large mob. Used against non-shielded infantry they can be quite deadly, although they themselves are in turn vulnerable to both missile fire and melee attack. These are the easiest troops for providing massed numbers to speed up sieges and castle assaults, where they can also fire over the walls at the defenders.


 * Warden of Avalon (Capital-only): Gold 40, Resources 28, Upkeep 1.3
 * Man's heaviest foot-soldiers. Map-move 1 and cap-only means these guys will be slow to mass and deploy after the early game. You probably want at least Dom-6 to be able to hire enough per turn in useful numbers. They are quite costly, but sacred means they are no more expensive to maintain than your other troops. Without a bless their usefulness is questionable. A F/W-bless makes these guys quite nasty vs normal troops, although E/N/B-blesses also boost useful stats. Their major weaknesses are lack of a shield and being as vulnerable as the next guy to all sorts of enemy magic. So they work best when other troops can draw fire or hostile spells while they hack through enemy lines.


 * Knight of Avalon (Capital-only): Gold 75, Resources 60, Upkeep 5
 * Outrageously expensive, high upkeep and cap-only: it will take many turns to build up a large force. Operationally their use is identical to your normal knights with only marginally better stats. The unicorn does have a magical gore attack which makes them MA-Man's go-to melee unit vs ethereal enemies. The recuperation skill is quite nice for keeping them in prime fighting trim without debilitating afflictions: after a few battles, your veterans will be none the worse for wear.

Commanders

 * Forester: Gold x, Resources y
 * Description


 * Castellan:


 * Monk:


 * Bard:


 * Mother of Avalon:


 * Lord Warden (capital-only):


 * Daughter of Avalon (capital-only):


 * Crone of Avalon (capital-only):

Heroes

 * Brangwen the Blind One:A2 S2 N3
 * Blind, old age.

Brangwen is MA-Man's only non-indie access to astral magic, other than taking it on your pretender. Her blindness limits her use in battle, but she makes a good site-searcher/forger. Afflictions from old-age/disease will eventually wear her down to impotence, unless you can give her an elixir of life or boots of youth. If she shows up early in the game, you can keep her alive wearing a ring of regeneration while topping-off her hp in battle with healing magic.


 * Rhianne the Heroine


 * Bernlad the Green Knight

Starting Sites

 * Forest of Avalon: 3N gems/turn, enables recruitment of Lord Warden, Warden of Avalon, Knight of Avalon


 * Tower of Avalon: 2A gems/turn, enables recruitment of Daughter of Avalon, Crone of Avalon

National Spells

 * Song of Bravery: Ench-0 N1
 * AoE 10+ increases morale of nearby friendly units.


 * Soothing Song: Ench-0 N1
 * AoE 10+ invigorates the caster and nearby friendly units. Doesn't work underwater. Very useful when spammed near spell casters.


 * Healing Song: Ench-0 N1
 * AoE 10+ heals the caster and nearby friendly units 1+hp. Doesn't affect undead.

National Summons

 * Black Dogs: Conj-2 D2, 10D gems
 * Summons 20 size-3 fae-hounds.


 * Cu Sidhe: Conj-3 N2, 10N gems
 * Summons 8 size-3 sacred fae-hounds with poison immunity.


 * Barghest: Conj-4 D2, 13D gems
 * Summons 9 size-3 sacred fae-hounds with Darkvision.

Research Order
Early on, MA-Man's most effective magic assists troops by granting buffs and de-buffing the enemy.
 * The very first schools you should research:
 * Alt-1 for Aim, Eagle Eyes, Barkskin, False Fetters, Resist Lightning
 * Conj-1 for Tangle Vines
 * Evoc-2 for Vine Arrow, Lightning Bolt, Shockwave
 * These spells, combined with your national song spells grant every single one of your mages useful combat magic. Note that Aim is an AoE-1 spell, so any units stacked in the same square as the mage also get increased precision. Also, the AI refuses to cast Eagle Eyes and Aim on the same commander, so they apparently can't stack.


 * Early-game useful army buffs/debuffs
 * Alt-3 for Protection which all your mages can spam, then on to Alt-4 for Wind Guide which improves battle-wide accuracy for both missiles AND spells
 * Ench-3 for Gift of Flight, Regeneration, Seeking Arrow, possibly on to Ench-4 for Poison Ward, Haste.
 * Thaum-2 for Berserkers, Sleep then Thaum-3 for Panic or alternatively Evoc-3 for Sleep Cloud, Mist
 * You also pick up the best self-buffs for your casters at the same time with those. Seeking Arrow gives you a nice early assassination tool to weed-out enemy commanders. Mist is your only easily castable battlefield-wide spell without boosters or empowerment.


 * Early-game summons
 * Alt-2 for Phantasmal Warrior (the unscripted AI likes to cast this often)
 * Conj-3 for Summon Lesser Air Elemental, Cu Sidhe, possibly Amphiptere then Conj-4 for Barghest, Spring Hawks, Spirits of the Wood (cast Regeneration Ench-3 in battle so they can survive away from their home province)
 * Alt-4 for Swarm
 * Mid/Late-game spells
 * Damage: Evoc-4 for Thunderstrike, Evoc-5 for Orb Lightning, Evoc-6 for Stream of Life and Evoc-7 for Storm of Thorns, Shimmering Fields (if you can cast it). Some boosted Crones of Avalon might also be able to cast Bone Melter at Alt-5.
 * Buffs: Alt-5 for Wooden Warriors, Alt-7 for Fog Warriors, Mass Protection and Ench-5 for Thunder Ward, Ench-6 for Arrow Fend, Ench-7 for Mass Flight, possibly Serpents Blessing and Ench-8 for Mass Regeneration, Storm Warriors, Ench-9 for Gaia's Blessing.
 * Alt-7 also enables Transformation, a spell which turns your Crones of Avalon into 0-upkeep casters and cures them of Old Age (about 80% survival rate). A boosted W-random crone can cast Quickness at Alt-4.


 * De-buffs: Thaum-5 for Confusion, Thaum-7 for Charm and Conj-8 for Wild Growth or Alt-8 for Polymorph
 * MA-Man can easily spam Charm in battle, and this makes up somewhat for the lack of damage spells.


 * Assassination Thaum-6 for Beckoning. An expensive spell, but cast on an army in the woods it can seriously mess up the enemy's plans.
 * Battlefield: Evoc-5 for Storm and Ench-6 for Relief are both quite realistic for MA-Man to cast. Evoc-6 for Wrathful Skies, and Ench-8 for Mists of Deception and Storm Warriors offer interesting possibilities for a powerful air mage.
 * Summons: Conj-5 and higher for Air Elemental, Lamias, Fairy Court, Elemental Royalty also Ench-7 for Treelords. A few Crones of Avalon with lucky random picks might be able to summon Watchers at Ench-5.
 * Globals:
 * Mother Oak (Alt-5 N5) and Gift of Health (Ench-5 N5) are both very realistic for MA-Man to cast, even easier if you take strong nature on your pretender. Perpetual Storm (Evoc-6 A5) is a bit more ambitious to cast and will harm your economy, but your air-magi's battle magic will be stronger and enemy nations without nature magic will suffer from supply problems. In the very late game, you might consider casting Gale Gate (Thaum-8 A5) to generate more Air gems. Most other end-game rituals will require strong magic on your pretender to be able to cast.