====== Armies ======

{{:abilities:formation_fighter.png?43&nolink|}} **Armies** are the base component of military power of Dominions. They're composed of any number of [[commander|commanders]] using their [[leadership]] abilities to carry [[units]] around. 

Early you might use small bands of elite [[sacred]] units blessed by a [[priest]] to give them extra battle prowess to [[expand]], later you might have hundreds of units led by a few commanders, each squad with its own set of orders, backed by dozens of mages buffing them in battle. 

==== Force concentration ==== 

A big decision point in Dominions strategy is knowing when to concentrate armies. 

Concentration of forces in a single province comes with huge vulnerabilities that include: 

  * [[Remote Attacks]] such as ??Flames from the Sky?? or ??Murdering Winter??
  * A [[thug#supercombatant|super combatant]] teleporting on top of them in one heroic feat 
  * A smaller army using [[spells]] like ??Foul Vapors?? or ??Fire Storm?? to inflict catastrophically disproportionate damage. 

This makes [[doomstack]]s, i.e. stacking a lot of forces together in one unbeatable blob, not always a great choice.  Multiple small parties will also be more efficient at [[raiding]] enemies and taking lightly defended [[provinces]].


  * [[Siege]] and taking enemy forts, or holding your own walls. Sometimes you'll hear about "one turn popping" a fort, meaning siegeing them down in one turn and being able to storm it down the turn after that, giving limited opportunity for the opponent to react. 
  * Defeating smaller armies [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defeat_in_detail|in detail]]. 
  * Matching other big armies in battle, particularly if you don't have a mean to fight them asymetrically. 

In general, big [[map move]], as well as abilities like [[flying]] or [[terrain survival]], is very valuable for giving you options to split and rejoin armies at will, potentially surprising enemies.