Dominions 6 - LA Andramania Strategy at a Glance

[@synomuumi]

-"So what's the broken thing you're planning on doing this game?" -"Pressing the recruit button"

[@ZanGames]

Thematic for this nation! But doggo printer is definitely terrifying. I wasn't there, but supposedly it was in full effect in some blitzes that happened on Saturday. I think The False God played them.

[@TohuBohu6]

Just want to say, my current favorite dominions series. Very bite size and digestible, far better than the multiple hour summaries we often see.

[@ZanGames]

Oooh the urge to do the 1 hour ones is still there. But I can't deny the positive reviews these short ones have been getting. Also makes it potentially possible I hit the majority of nations...In theory. My expertise is fairly bad on some nations (giants, EA)

[@Colderslave]

@@ZanGames Can't wait to see you do Mekone then! (EA and giants haha!) 😀

[@Ragatokk]

No point in making something longer just for the sake of being longer, but if you are concise in the longer video then it's nothing wrong with it being long.@@ZanGames

[@ZanGames]

Longform MP game in progress with them already. Oh boy...

[@DarkSideCookies]

I really like a titan that gives +2 positive scales, and going imprisoned full scales. You'll have so much gold, so many forts, and so many troops and mages it'll blow other people's minds since your expansion is fast as hell.

[@ZanGames]

Just to confirm for others reading from our discord conversation this is the Ibis titan. One of my favorites! Neter of the Moon. Once it comes out it has the potential to supercharge your research and contest late globals!

[@DarkSideCookies]

@@ZanGames The mages are just so versatile too! Definitely a not fully discovered part of the nation.

[@markmittelbach7975]

@@ZanGames I have 3 different ways of building that specific titan. Imprisoned full scales, imprisoned sac the luck to get a second path and astral 7, and dormant sacing the luck. They have all been strong.

[@markmittelbach7975]

@@DarkSideCookies I'm sure you can thug them, though I'm not sure how to do that efficiently. At the very least they are tough enough to survive random bs that would trouble a lot of mages.

[@DarkSideCookies]

@@markmittelbach7975 They have phenomenal buff paths. Probably just need a little gear to turn out some decent low PD thugs, or army thugs

[@tokyotochicago]

Cool vid, as somebody scared of getting into Dominions, this is a way more digestible version than the 1h deep dives we usually get.

[@ZanGames]

I was scared of starting dominions for so long too! Then a group of friends, who of course no longer plays, got me into it... The depth and continuous learning was the hook. I felt like maybe I was getting some grasp of a dom5 meta...and now 6 came out and flipped the table. Just gotta join some games and be ready to get your butt kicked. Then learn from that butt kicking and give it back to the next person!

[@fishbones1397]

Had a lot of fun with this nation in single player. All my mages just biting any would be assassins was hilarious. Things became less fun once the ai controlling well of misery decided to put up burden of time. Dog people do NOT like aging quickly. Thank the Pantokrator for disenchantment.

[@ZanGames]

Oh that is something I had not considered, the dogs do get old quick... I thought they were a blast in singleplayer too! So refreshing after trying to play 4D chess with Feminie and Piconye...

[@duartemarco]

Awesome guide and overview. Loved the format, this is going to be 100% useful for newer players

[@ZanGames]

That's the plan! Once I re-learn all the meta stuff for the game I can go back in depth. Or maybe just leave that for the other creators. So many nations it will take me a hot minute to get through them...

[@KermodeBear]

One thing I've been experimenting with in single player: An Inspiration bless. The extra leadership is the main reason. Here's why: The Magistrate is now a strong contender for initial expansion, not just a gimmick for unrest reduction and province defense. They are less expensive than the troop leader commanders (initial and upkeep), they increase PD as you expand, and when they're done expanding they are already out in the field to build forts and temples. Later you can use them for shuffling troops around with the PD/unrest benefits. You don't have formations, but for expansion you rarely need it. The Prebyter is also a solid expansion commander choice now. Here, you trade province defense/unrest reduction for blessing small squads of sacred units. Same deal: Cheap, you're not moving 100+ troops in the early game anyway, and they're already out in the field to build temples and forts when the time comes. You're probably going to hire some of these guys anyway at some point (at least a few magistrates for the free PD), so let them do double duty until you really need the more expensive commanders. You're saving money and commander points in the early game for zero downside, and later in the game the extra morale is not a bad thing.

[@ZanGames]

This is not a bad idea. Inspirational commander is a legitimate way to power up mundane troops on nations that don't need a strong bless. Great job thinking outside the box and synergizing it with this nation's kit!

[@lukeyoung9839]

As a newer player, this series is a godsend! Keep up the good work!

[@ZanGames]

Glad you enjoy it! Will try my best!

[@drunkseraph]

these videos are great, the format is great, and you're great. ty!

[@ZanGames]

Awesome, thank you!

[@extrarice1]

Might be neat to have some B roll battle footage with the faction you are discussing running in the background when you are not showing units or stats. Great stuff!

[@ZanGames]

Noted. I tried that with Feminie and it was "okay" responses. But I guess seeing the alternative (either the thumbnail or the unit screen) makes the video feel lacking if I dont have the battles. They are tough to organize to look nice. I'll try and find a more reliable solution.

[@CantusTropus]

I'm getting the feeling that Andramania will be really strong, and that you'll have to rely on their low MR in order to beat them. Obviously Beast Mastery and related spells are a real heavy blow, but those aren't the only MR-check in the game.

[@ZanGames]

I think they are strong as heck. 10 MR, ranged fire, and formation fighter(for evos) will likely be their weakpoints later on. Earlygame though...those are hard to exploit.

[@theral056]

I wonder if glamour magic is a major weakness for them. Confusion effects, randomly hitting allies, and also sleep which iirc is a MR check. I think glamour might have the best early responses. Nothing to wipe an army, but enough bullshit to make the army ineffective and easy to fight with your own army.

[@nicholasmenzel201]

I think for expansion the spearmen are really brutal and efficient and they do enough damage to also fight a lot of player armies depending on what they are fielding. And for raiding they are good all game. So i would probably recruit spearmen and sacreds in the first 10 turns unless you specifically need something different. The crossbows seem a bit expensive to mass, but cool as line holders to put close range evo mages behind.

[@nicholasmenzel201]

Also for the paths the mages have I think they are great value. Definitely wouldn’t call them too expensive, especially with the cost increase across the board.

[@ZanGames]

You are probably right on using the spearmen for expansion, likely much less attrition than the pure 2hs in LA. Xbows are expensive, I just think its great that they can double as line infantry too like you say. On the mages, youre probably right. I likely still have my dom5 goggles for gold cost and 270 is a scary number. But then again, Feminie's main battle mage was 315 and also not sacred. You definitely right. I worry on both nations that the upkeep cost will sneak up on you, moreso for Andramania since their units are gold expensive too.

[@CantusTropus]

​@@ZanGames True, but does the gold cost matter when the troops are worth it? I'd argue that if Andramania has so many troops that it's struggling to pay them, then that's a sign that you haven't been aggressive enough taking other people's land.

[@ZanGames]

@@CantusTropus I wish I could go back to the mindset I had in my first dom5 game ever. LA Mari in Lucid's newcastings. I didnt know what could kill me, so I was fearless. But I also knew that upkeep was 80% of the recruitment cost. So if unit survived a year I essentially recruited it twice. Now why would I do that? Better to go get them killed in the name of the Pantokrator! tldr; you right, worrying about upkeep cost means you aren't fighting enough.

[@markmittelbach7975]

Been playing with these guys and bunch and love them. You missed a few things about the magister magus. They are sacred, which makes them cheaper than the other magus, and they let get more earth 2s out than if you don't get them. But they are also horribly old. Enough that you need an unaging bless to use them reliably. The nation does have the issue that with the troops being so expensive and densely packed, it can be hard to prevent enemies from slipping around the side. But the good news is that your backline is surprisingly tough. Even your mages beat most troops in combat one on one.

[@ZanGames]

I cant believe I missed the ease of getting Earth2 with the magistrate magus. What a rookie mistake. Thank you for pointing that out! Youre right, shoot, you DO need some of them. Earth2 is a big deal for earth boots, easing up the size of communions you would need.

[@ernestlishchenko1307]

In which situations would you decide to use Howlers? 40 gold for an undisciplined units seems like too much even though it's a berserker. Or maybe it's just me, i have the same problem with EA Rus, good but undisciplined units dont seem like something reliable. Cool guide! I really like the short format

[@-Kidzin]

I think taking turmoil 1 is fine with them, discounts them to 35. They are quite killy and pillager is a nice thing to have.

[@ZanGames]

Berserking howlers roughly do a little under 50% more damage than other units due to dual wielding / berserk. A bit worse versus super heavy armor units. Field recruitment is a really important aspect too, especially early game while you only have your capital. Essentially you can turn unforted resources and gold straight into blenders. They do get phased out, imo, as the game progresses due to low mr and higher availability of fort troops. Undisciplined really makes it difficult to use large area buffs efficiently, but early game thats not too big an issue. I haven't tried EA Rus in 6, but I was a big fan of their unforted stealthy spear chud in dominions 5. Almost for the same reason as the Howlers if I am honest - Very killy unit, easily turns gold to value, low res cost, berserks, out of fort recruitment, can recruit commander in same province. Hope that helps, and thanks for the comments on the format!

[@ZanGames]

@kidzin I hadn't considered lower scales because I am mesmerized by their scales troops. I'm glad other creators like you are coming out with way different ideas than my own. More ways to play and experiment for everyone is very healthy for the game! I'll be watching your video in full during lunch!

[@-Kidzin]

@@ZanGames you're too kind Zan ;)

[@bread1958]

Love the dogs! I suspect you can actually thug some of their commanders. Especially with unageing.

[@ZanGames]

I think its only the magistrate magus and the fire randoms that get old initially, but you may be able to! They have good stats and very good paths!

[@Unahim]

Liking the "at a Glance" videos for very quick overview when I just want to hear a second opinion before going in!

[@ZanGames]

That's great to hear! Definitely what I was hoping for!

[@Logidrake13]

Very cool way to present a nation, I really hope you do LA mictlan next cause I rly can't even beat normal AI with them

[@ZanGames]

I'll add them to the list! My last Mictlan showing with Toldi didn't go so well. I feel like unsleeping was added as a bless solely due to that beat down haha. (the current finals) I'll definitely give them another pass. Its a fun nation to cook with. I think current next lineup is: Patala/Machaka, then Nazca, then Mictlan? Maybe. Nazca looks tough and Mictlan needs time to simmer.

[@Logidrake13]

k, not gonna miss your next videos!@@ZanGames

[@williammclyr3330]

I think star of the show for andramania troops are pikeneers: very damaging piercing attack, stupid amount of attacks from square and repels with 12 attack skill, though senatorial guard is also looks solid

[@xeroprotagonist]

I feel like they might be a bit weaker than they look because of how repel mechanics work, their bites will pretty much always result in a repel check and their defense stats are not incredible, so a lot of their extra attack density might get neutralized in practice. If they repeatedly take repel damage from their bite attacks then they're likely to have to roll morale frequently even in fights that they're winning. Their morale is pretty good but that's still dangerous, you're going to need to focus on boosting it as much as possible. The animal attack and morale boost spells are going to be mandatory for these guys I think. Their dense formations are also a double-edged sword, I think they're especially vulnerable to crossbows, in particular their shieldless formation fighters. And they don't have a great counter to crossbows, they have no cavalry or flyers to jump on them and their own ranged units are 25 gold and 31 resources, they're better than typical crossbows in melee but very cost-inefficient as ranged units. And it's good that they can cram so much value into a square, but the minimum they have to pay to fill a square is 40 gold for two militiamen, which you probably don't want. Realistically you're almost always going to be enveloped by most opponents with an equal-cost army, which can reverse your attack density advantage and leave your commanders vulnerable to cavalry flanks, etc.

[@markmittelbach7975]

Their stats are enough above average that they survive getting surrounded a lot, and the amount of damage they put out vs take in most match ups is pretty good. The animal attack boost is good, but I honestly think rushing alteration first is better. Solar eclipse is very easy to cast and is a massive stat swing against a lot of nations, and it also gives you group barkskin which pushes their prot up to 22 which is really nice. Getting outnumbered however is real worry,

[@ZanGames]

Dense formations are a double edged sword indeed! When I ran MA Arcoscephale I even took larger to bring the Sacred Band down to 3/square from 5. I think in the case of this nation the concentrated attack density makes up for a lot of problems. Especially later on when you are able to increase the attack values / berserk the units via thaumaturgy. Since they are animals its easier to berserk them via spells. @markmittelbach7975 is right in about everything he said there. He knows his doggos! Worth watching some videos being made by Darksidecookies where he tests Andramania vs other nations. Or a recent 1v2 blitz that Andramania won played by TheFalseGod. This nation is wild.

[@ballinstalin2225]

TLDR, early game senate guard goes brr. Mid game Senate guard gets buffs and brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs harder. Late game. Bitch you an astral, nature fire earth nation with a splash of water death and blood you go do what ever you want.

[@ZanGames]

You guys were warned lol. The units in here are nuts. Chewed through everything the ai made in my test, even lemurians. Didnt try the ulmish, but that halberd is a scary one

[@duartemarco]

ball' everyone and they won't reach late game

[@justinboggin9086]

Oh no our way too strong for the cost units eat a lot of food. If only we had access to nature to make the cauldron...oh. So the doggos are just outright better than everybody.

[@ZanGames]

You would think that right? But since they are all animals they actually use half supply too! The nature magic is enough, barely need cauldrons or wineskins

[@nicholasmenzel201]

Animals use half supply? I didn't know that. I never paid a lot of attention to the supply mechanic.

[@CantusTropus]

I feel pity for any Bogarus players who spawn next to this nation. At least Patala players have the Funny Elephant Statue to fall back on.

[@ZanGames]

DarksideCookies and a few others tried to test who would be able to fight off scales Andramania early game... There are some who can resist better than others... but no winners have come out on top just yet. This nation is SCARY

[@DemonsthenesDominions]

​@@ZanGamesMidgard with Mistform point buffed Einheres and a lot of magic duel is probably the best candidate for beating the dogs 1v1.

[@ZanGames]

@@DemonsthenesDominions Just to touch on that note because i was considering Midgard soon... Adding pointbuff mistform & luck to the nordic berserkers(midgard/vanarus line) feels like such a huge unexplored deal to me no one i see has talked about. It also gives the vibe that the elf overlords are more leaders of men rather than solo duelists, which makes a lot more sense lorewise for me. That said, every elf on a horse feels wildly overpriced to me right now. Like 100g more expensive than they should be.

[@DemonsthenesDominions]

@@ZanGamesyeah the mounted elves are expensive but Midgard's air access is mainly about Galdermen anyway; every single one is A2 and thus able to paint Mossbody. There's basically only a couple nations with affordable massed A2s, with Midgard and Caelum being the main ones.

[@KermodeBear]

BATTLE FURRIES!

[@ZanGames]

Battle furries who cast *bark*skin for extra protection

[@puppet_master]

If this turns out to be something you want to do long term, id advise getting a new mic. Rode and Elgato do fantastic USB mics that sound very professional. I do like your content.

[@ZanGames]

Thank you! I've been told by a few about the mic thing. I'll try my other office mic in my next video and see if that helps. But I think I do want to do this long term, building this community and chatting with everyone has been heart warming. I was just able to monetize so I'll definitely be reinvesting every penny into the channel. A new mic + pop filter, coaching, learning how to edit properly, etc. If you have the time and watch my next release(after Nidavangr) when it comes out, please let me know there what you think of that mic in comparison. I'm kind of winging it and fairly ignorant of what I even need to know right now. So having viewers like you point these things out to me is a major help. Thank you!

[@puppet_master]

It's a small community, and diversifying off Dominions would be unlikely to work. As long as you are happy to have the channel as a hobby rather than a job that sounds great. Will keep an eye out for your next video.

[@ZanGames]

Definitely a hobby and not a fulltime. May try to branch to other strategy stuff in the future cause i find it fun.

[@dogebestest7187]

I think the dog crossbows are good enough to have some sort of archer line buff strat, when you line up fluffers behind the ljne of crossbows and they soak all the buffs while not charging forward but staying put and shooting their bows. The one issue really is that you mages really do like cadting the rage of the cornered rat spell and sending your guys running ahead and breaking ranks. It might change depanding on ones research but it was kinda annoykng when i was trying out the natuon today

[@ZanGames]

That is a great spell for them to cast... just not on the crossbowmen. It keeps the bite attack from getting repelled and increases average squad morale. But we want the crossbowmen to shoot everything they got first! Then go in and bite people.

[@bread1958]

You missed that the magistrate magus is actually also sacred, just not a priest.

[@DemonsthenesDominions]

All priests are sacred.

[@bread1958]

I think you read what I said there backwards somehow@@DemonsthenesDominions

[@ZanGames]

I did miss that! My bigger miss was that they are the most consistent earth2 access to the nation! That's definitely a mistake on my part someone else brought up. Worth recruiting until you get an Earth2, then back to neveragain status.

[@DemonsthenesDominions]

@@bread1958 oh quite so :)

[@thesmilyguyguy9799]

:- D

[@ZanGames]

THE RETURN!

[@thesmilyguyguy9799]

@@ZanGames ):] D(