Table of Contents
EA Machaka, Lion Kings
Lore
"The Machaka of the early age is influenced by the old pen and paper RPG Powers and Perils. In the fantastic campaign setting of this game there was a nation of African stock led by great men that were released from a great sleeping city. The notion of a released race of superior men was attractive. Various myths, tales, films and "African" fantasy concepts have been mashed together and mixed with the middle age Machaka ideas. My first idea of clans based on body parts like liver, heart, hand, head and leg, did not feel right and was replaced with animals, more fitting with the spiders of the middle age.
The nation evolved side by side with Berytos, but it took a bit longer to finish. Creating two nations together and intertwining their history gave them both additional life. It is probably something I want to do with more new nations in the future." - Illwinter
Machaka is an old sacral kingdom divided into totemic clans. The clans follow their totemic spirits and worship them as bringers of civilization and tell myths about their interactions with men. For centuries the Lion Clan has dominated the others and formed a unified kingdom under their wise rule. The Lion Clan is blessed by Lion and they are superior to other men. The Great Men of Mababwe, called ’Colossi’ by Arcoscephalean historians, have ruled the plains since Hyena was coerced to teach metalworking to men and Rhino was defeated by spears longer than his. From Great Mababwe, the semi-divine Colossi of the Lion Clan rule their lesser kin as sacred Kings and Queens. There are many totemic clans, but some have been more influential. Hyena, Rhino, Elephant and Spider all serve Lion with their totemic masters’ skills and guidance. Recent contact with Berytos and other nations has seen the rise of ambition among the Colossi royalty and the Lion Kings are preparing for the Awakening of Lion. Machakans prefer hot lands.
General Overview
If you are considering picking this nation to play, what should you know?
National Features
| Magic Access | Alt. Access | Unit Summary | Core Abilities | Buildings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 3 (rare 4)  3 (rare 4)  3 3  2 (rare 3) 2 | Hero 3 | Light Infantry with Tower Shields Archers Rhino Clan: Heavy Infantry Spider Clan: Poison, Spies, Spider Riders Good-Morale Lions & Elephants Sacred Colossi Lion Warriors |  Beastmaster tight-rein Forge Bonus (1)  Cause Unrest (+2/Month)  Heretic (2)  Disease Healer (1) Wasteland Survival Forest Survival |  Standard Forts |
Capitol Gems: 1
2
1
1
1
Heat limit + 1
Prefers 
Heat Scale + 2
National Units
Commanders
| Sprite | Unit Name | Special Attributes | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Machaka Scout 35 3  1 |  Stealthy (40) Mountain Survival Forest Survival | A generic scout. |
 | Voice of Spider 105 3 2 |  Sacred Stealthy (60) Forest Survival Spy | Spy is a useful ability, allowing you to identify sites in enemy lands (including thrones), access enemy graphs, or instill unrest. The last ability could potentially be used to create unrest in an enemy capital (assuming they are able to sneak all the way there and not get patrolled out), shutting down its recruitment with enough Voices of Spider. |
 | Rhino Clan Commander 55 13 1 | 75-leadership commander. Sort of lacks a niche considering it does not allow formations, unlike the Lion Clan Commander. | |
 | Lion Clan Commander 105 8 1 | 100-leadership commander, allowing formations. Unlike the Lion Clan Warrior troop counterpart, this wears a decent helmet, making it less prone to getting killed by arrows. Has unusually high map move (18) for a moderately-armoured human commander. | |
 | Voice of Lion 115 2 2 | 11 7 Sacred Supply Bonus (10) Beastmaster (+2) Tight Rein | As a mere 1 mage, Voices of Lion are somewhat limited in combat ability compared to Machaka's other mages. However, they can still cast spells like Barkskin, Web, Vine Arrow, etc. Voices of Lion are primarily interesting for having the Tight Rain ability, allowing them to give orders to undisciplined units. This means Machaka can potentially use units like Barbarians, Ko-Onis, Fire Drakes, etc. to much greater effect than other nations. |
 | Spider Clan Witch Doctor 140 1 2 | 11119 Poison Resistance (5) Inept Researcher (-4) Supply Bonus (+10) Forest Survival | Spider Clan Witch Doctors have low paths but some interesting cross-paths. In particular, they can cast Eagle Eyes and then spam Bane Fire Dart for fairly accurate, armour-negating damage. They are also a cheap way to spam Luck onto your troops. |
 | Hyena Clan Witch Doctor 230 1 2 | 11213 Disease Healer (1) Heretic (1) Wasteland Survival | Hyena Clan Witch Doctors are faster to recruit and cheaper than Boudas, but worse in most ways. They are cheaper for casting spells like Shadow Bolt or Horde of Skeletons, but they are less flexible due to their lower Earth paths. They are a very fast way to turn fort turns into research, however. |
 | Bouda 300 3 4 | 122 1100%   17 Forge Bonus (1) Cause Unrest (+2 per Month) Heretic (2) Wasteland Survival Shapechanger: Werehyena | Boudas are powerful and flexible mages, having moderate power in both Earth and Death. They are considerably more powerful than Hyena Clan Witch Doctors, but not that much more expensive; the main trade-off is costing 4 CP to recruit rather than 2, and causing unrest. Boudas can cast basically all of the Earth buffs and spam Horde of Skeletons. Death randoms are especially useful, being able to cast Soul Vortex and Bane Fire without using gems; consider Twiceborning these for the chance of gaining 4 when they get their second life. The Bouda's stealthy Werehyena form is great for raiding, with 22 map move and full humanoid slots despite walking on all fours. They are even efficient item forgers due to their Forge Bonus ability, which is especially good for 5-gem items like Lightless Lanterns, the ubiquitous Greatsword of Sharpness, Burning Pearls, and more.Be aware of their causing unrest and reducing dominion in their province; if possible, it is best to station Boudas who are not needed for battle in a low-income province. |
 | Werehyena | 1221100% 17 Gains: Stealthy (40)Shapechanger: Bouda |
|
 | Spider Clan Sorcerer 270 1 4 Capital Only | 11112100%  100% 10% 17 Poison Resistance (5) Supply Bonus (10) Forest Survival | Spider Clan Sorcerers are an excellent but very random source of magic diversity. The main reason to make these is probably for efficient site searching, and also fishing for the approximately 4% chance of a 3 mage. |
 | Lion Queen 445 7 4 Capital Only | 3121010% 17 Sacred Fire Resistance (5) Supply Bonus (+20)Female | Lion Queens provide high Fire magic for spells like Fire Storm, Heat from Hell, and the fire/cold resist buffs. |
 | Lion King 490 10 4 Capital Only | 2132010%17 Sacred Poison Resistance (5) Supply Bonus (+30) | Lion Kings can Strength of Gaia due to the Earth/Nature crosspath, making them effectively 4 in combat. They can cast several great spells like Relief, Howl, Wooden Warriors and later Army of Giants and Army Regeneration. They are also good army leaders with 120 leadership. |
Troops
| Sprite | Unit Name | Special Attributes | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Pygmy 5 2 2 | Forest Survival | Pygmies are potentially useful as a way to get a lot of archers to put Flaming Arrows on. However, they are highly vulnerable to battlefield-wide magic, fliers, or other ways of attacking the back line, and they are pretty much useless without magic buffs. |
 | Machaka Militia 7 2 3 | Pretty abysmal except perhaps as patrol or siege chaff. | |
 | Bird Clan Archer 10 3 9 | Not much different to indie Archers except lacking any armour and with very slightly higher precision. | |
 | Machaka Warrior 10 2 9 | Ordinary, albeit naked, spear-wielding troops - almost identical to independent Lion Tribe Warriors except wielding a longer spear that gives an Attack Skill penalty. | |
 | Hyena Clan Warrior 10 5 9 | Wasteland Survival | Very light, helmetless infantry with slightly higher Defence skill. |
 | Spider Clan Archer 12 4 20 Capital Only | Forest Survival | A mostly ordinary archer except for their Poison Bow. This deals weak poison damage, but only if the original ranged attack deals any damage in the first place. |
 | Spider Clan Warrior 12 5 14 Capital Only | Forest Survival | Identical to Machaka Warriors except for their Poison Tipped Spear, which has an additional strong poison effect if the spear deals damage. |
 | Rhino Clan Warrior 13 13 16 |  Formation Fighter (2) | Rhino Clan Warriors are Machaka's heaviest infantry, but still only have 16 head and 10 body protection. They are also formation fighters, packing four to a square for easier buffing and better attack density. Their attack deals an unusually high amount of damage for spear infantry (17) but with low Attack Skill (9). |
 | Lion Clan Warrior 14 6 18 | Lion Clan Warriors are light, helmetless infantry with good morale and slightly above-average melee skills. They are probably still largely outclassed as frontline troops by Rhino Clan Warriors. | |
 | War Lion 20 1 14 |  Darkvision (50)  Undisciplined  Animal | War Lions are very easy to recruit due to their low resource cost, move fast in combat, and deal moderate damage, allowing them to serve as niche psuedo-cavalry flankers. However, their lack of protection means they will melt under ranged fire or if their opponents do not die immediately Their undisciplined nature can be cancelled out by the Tight Rein ability of Voices of Lion. |
 | Spider Rider 25 5 24 Capital Only | Forest Survival | Spider Riders are an odd cavalry unit; they do not move particularly fast, they're not very deadly on their own, and the complete lack of protection on the rider means it will often get sniped off by archers, leaving the Stupid mount to wander around on its own. On the bright side, the Great Spider mount comes with both a ranged and a melee Web attack, which locks down enemy units, massively reducing their Defence Skill until they can beat a strength check to escape. These could serve a purpose against high-Defence elite units (e.g. Tuatha Warriors, Helhirdings), as long as you can keep them from taking the brunt of the enemy attack on their own. |
 | Great Spider | Poison Resistance (15) Eyes (8) Undisciplined Animal Forest Survival  Stupid |
|
 | Elephant Rider 100 18 34 | Combining the Trample ability with low morale, Elephants are infamous for routing and trampling through their own allies. Can potentially be used as flankers to disrupt the enemy formation and deal a lot of damage in the proper mass, but are expensive in this role. | |
 | Machaka War Elephant | No-throw-off Animal  Trample |
|
 | Elephant Archer x 2 |  Mobile Archer |
|
 | Lion Warrior 50 30 31 Capital Only | Sacred Invulnerability(18) | Lion Warriors are excellent against enemies lacking magic damage. While their armour provides little protection, Lion Warriors have 21 protection against mundane damage thanks to their invulnerability, allowing them to shrug off most attacks from non-giant troops. They also have a powerful magic weapon attack themselves which fatigues the enemy if the original attack lands and does damage. The high base damage of the Spirit Club attack makes the second part pretty easy, but Lion Warriors can struggle against high-Defence targets due to their merely good Attack Skill (12). This makes Lion Warriors a natural counter to big single targets that can be harassed down. The primary weakness of the Lion Warrior is their reliance on Invulnerability for protection; without a major bless, Lion Warriors are easily defeated by elite units with magic weapons (e.g. Tuatha Warriors, Gigante Hoplites, Rephaite Warriors), or any magic evocations. |
Heroes
| Sprite | Unit Name | Special Attributes | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
  | Ainra - Lady of Spiders | 133223 Poison Resistance (5)  Forest Survival Female Shapechanger (Great Spider)  Dominion Summons (Great Spider) x 20 | Powerful Earth and Death mage with a second spider health pool. |
 | Great Spider | 23 13 Poison Resistance Eyes (8) Forest Survival Shapechanger (Lady of Spiders) | Commentary here. |
 | Abasi - Hero |  Inspirational (1) Forest Survival | Inspirational leader for free, may also be used in minor arena battles. Save for late game with morale boost items for a army that is harder to rout. |
 | Yasini - King Triumphant | 3 Sacred  Awe (+1) Inspirational (1) Forest Survival | Throne claimer, and better leader then Abasi. |
 | Mwaka - Crowned Ape | 1 Sacred Animal Forest Survival Dominion Summons (Great Ape) | Big 120 leadership commander and gets some extra ape siege chaff. |
 | Mchumba - Ape Oracle | 17 Supply Bonus (10) Fortune Teller (10%) Animal Forest Survival Female | Only use is to have her sit around and prevent bad events. |
National Spells and Items
Summons
Ritual
| Summon Spell | Unit | Special Attributes | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pride of Lions (Conjuration 3) 2 and 9 |  Great Lion x 15+ | Darkvision (50%) Undisciplined Animal | Commentary here. |
| Herd of Elephants (Conjuration 3) 2 and 20 |  Elephant x 5 + [1/2 per lvl] | Animal Trample | Commentary here. |
Other Spell
Ritual
- Weavers of the Wood (Enchantment 5)
4 and 6
Commentary here.
Discounted Items
- Totem Shield
(Construction 5) 
11 and 4
4 - Spirit Mask
(Construction 5) 21 and 84 - Kithaironic Lion Pelt
(Construction 3) 11 and 11
Magic Access
See Magic Access. These guides supplement the summaries at the top.
Fire
Lion Queen, with 3, is the highest reliable recruitable mage. Any of the 11 mages can create a Skull of Fire.
Air
No native access. 14 for Faerie Court cast in Cold has 1 in 2 chance of 
1. Cast in other than Cold, 1 in 3 chance.
Water
No native access. 25 to Contact Lamia Queen for a 7 in 16 chance of 
1.
3 can cast Summon Spectre for a 7 in 16 chance of at least 1.
14 for Faerie Court cast in Cold gives 3. Cast in other than Cold gives a 1 in 3 chance of 1.
Earth
3 Bouda (1 in 3) is the most reliable recruitable mage for 
Earth. Giving Earth Boots to a Lion Queen will allow it to attempt to create the unique The Tome of Gaia. Even with it, one level of empowerment is necessary to get to King of Elemental Earth. Without it, even getting to 5 and a King of Elemental Earth is not that helpful because the King can't wear the Earth Boots and so can't get to 6.
Astral
No native access. 31 casts Hidden in Sand and Hidden Underneath, which both have ~3 in 4 chance of at least 1.
3 can cast Summon Spectre for a 7 in 16 chance of at least 1.
Death
3 Bouda (1 in 3), will need both a Skull Staff and a level of empowerment to reach 5, the next major step up 
Death.
EA Machaka can make The Silver Arms, which is useful for Death's multiple two-handed boosters.
Nature
Lion King has 3. With Earth Boots, he can make the unique The Tome of Gaia. Without The Tome of Gaia a level of empowerment is needed to get to a Treelord's Staff at 5.
EA Machaka can make The Copper Arm and The Silver Arms, which are useful for 
Nature's multiple hand held boosters.
Glamour
Spider Clan Sorcerer has a ~1 in 5 chance of 2 and ~1 in 25 chance of 3. 3 is necessary for the first booster, Gossamer Veil.
The next booster, a Mirage Crystal requires 23. The 2 is simple, just give Earth Boots, crafted by a Bouda, to a Spider Clan Sorcerer with an Earth path (~1 in 5). But, getting that same sorcerer to 3 is tricky. Only ~1 in 25 Spider Clan Sorcerers have 21. Empowerment may be necessary.
Once the Spider Clan Sorcerer is at 4, with a 
Fire booster, it can attempt to craft the unique The Sword of Many Colors.
Blood
No native access. 5 can cast Awaken Treelord for a 1 in 4 stationary 
1.
25 to Contact Lamia Queen for a 7 in 16 chance of 1.
Strategy
How to win as the nation. Feel free to use the following sections, or delete them, or change them.
Expansion
Different expansion options.
Early Game
Early game options.
Mid Game
Mid game options.
Late Game
Late game options.
Example Pretender Builds
Format for putting a pretender build in.
Chassis: Awake Titan of Crossroads
Paths: 457
Bless: MW/Arcane Finesse, Invuln 10, Regen.
Scales: 
6
2
0
3
1
2
3
Format for putting a pretender build in.
Chassis: Awake Titan of Crossroads
Paths: 457
Bless: MW/Arcane Finesse, Invuln 10, Regen.
Scales: 6203123
Weaknesses
What are the nation's weaknesses?
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