Dominions 3: The Awakening/Nations/Oceania, Triton Kings

The Early Age of Oceania is still under control of the Triton Kings.

Units

 * Unit: Gold x, Resources y
 * Description

Commanders

 * Unit: Gold x, Resources y
 * Description

National Summons

 * Unit: Gems z
 * Description

Strategy A
Your tritons provide a sturdy ocean-only expansion force with 15+ hitpoints and good protection. Things get a lot harder when you want to crawl ashore, as you well then need to use merfolk (with only 10 hitpoints and either unimpressive defense or unimpressive protection). You may want an amphibian combat pretender to help with early expansion (which is often slow given the limited options underwater) and with coming ashore.

Given your difficulties getting on land, the game is likely to be a long haul for you. Your success will mostly be determined by your starting position. If you're in a large ocean with good magic sites, you can conquer the ocean, turtle up, start your own clam and fever-fetish economies, and have some chance at keeping up with your terrestrial competition. If you're in a smaller ocean, you'll need to establish a defensible land footprint soon, or you'll be in big trouble. Even if you do establish a footprint, your terrestrial troops are unimpressive, so expansion will likely be a challenge.

Scale Design
You're likely to be in it for the long haul, so a death scale is probably inadvisable, and growth may even be advisable. You probably want one magic, to keep research going. Order and productivity are both good to have.

It may be reasonable to start with a relatively weak dominion (4-5 candles), and count on your bishop fishes (120 gold for an aquatic 3-holy) to preach your territories into white candles. A bishop preaching in a temple will keep your candles in a territory high, even in the face of strong encroaching dominion.

Pretender Design
You can take a dormant sacred statue for strong economic scales.

For a super-combatant you probably want the Wyrm, the Ghost King, or an amphibian titan. It's hard to say which is worse: the woeful economy you get having your SC awake, or the risk of missing a crucial window for terrestrial expansion you face if your SC sleeps through the first year.

Since your sacred troops are aquatic only, a bless-strategy is inadvisable.