"Arcoscephale is together with Pythium the first nation conceived in the creation of Dominions. After having played GMT's Great Battles of Alexander and S.P.Q.R. I got fascinated by ancient warfare, and the hoplites were among the first units to appear in Dominions. At first the two nations were one, with a troop roster of ancient units, while Man and later on Ulm had troop rosters with a more medieval touch. Soon, however, it became clear that Pythium and Arcoscephale should be two distinct nations. Arcoscephale is heavily influenced by ancient Greek city-states and Hellas. The Golden Age is influenced by the mythical past and the archaic age." - Illwinter

The kingdom of Arcoscephale is yet to be founded and in its place is a loose collection of city states. Bronze is more common than iron and hoplites have yet to see the light of day. Instead, myrmidons and chariots compose the core of the armies. In this time, slaves are commonly used and most free men have plenty of time to spend on fine arts and good living. Philosophers gather in the cities to discuss esoteric truths and engineers manufacture clever contraptions for civil or military use. At the heart of Arcoscephale lies Mount Cephalos, abode of the Awakening God. At the foot of the mountain is a great temple where sacred Pegasus Riders are trained. Icarids, men with mechanical wings, are also used in warfare. The philosophers are better at magical research in a slothful Dominion.

This is the beginning of the well-known Hoplite nation, with communions. EA Arcoscephale is more focused on chariots, flying raids, and masters of siege attacks and defenses rather than heavy armored formations of later ages.

The area they struggle with is that, like other humans, they're likely to die from unanticipated army wipe spells. They also lack the lineup and native magic to produce good thugs or counter thugs. The second anything goes wrong, Arcoscephale is prone to complete collapse, especially when handled by the AI in singleplayer.

Mystics grant cross paths of Astral, Fire, Water, and Earth. Mage Engineers can add Air to the mix (can forge a Crystal Matrix to add them into communions if they don't random Astral) but can't random above 2. Most of its higher-level mage power will come from adding them to communions.

Melissa is an expensive way to have 2.

Major Ritual power comes from Oreiads, 25% of which will random 4 (and very rarely 5), which can be boosted even higher with a Thistle Mace. Also provide strong access to Wind (can random 3) and has Earth/Air/Water/Nature crosspaths.

Combat

• Enchantment 6, 2 for 1: Sow Dragon Teeth ( Spartae×10). A troop summon that can be decently useful in battle. Can provide the same amount of value as a full-sized earth elemental without going too deep into Conjuration.

Ritual

• Conjuration 5 3 for 10: Monster Boar ( Monster Boar×1)
  Primarily serves as an annoyance spell. Use to force the enemy to send forces to their money-making provinces to stop the unrest the boar is producing.
• Conjuration 5 3 for 13: Procession of the Underworld , ( Lampad×12)
  Can't be cast with native magic paths, but you get a lot of them for their price. A niche anti-thugging unit that inflicts decay. If Gift of Reasoned they add 121 to your communions.
• Conjuration 5 21 for 4: Summon Hound of Twilight ( Hound of Twilight×1)
  Can't be cast with native magic paths. Decent patroller and Spirit-sight can catch elves.
• Conjuration 6 2 for 12: Bind Keres ( Ker×3)
  Can't be cast with native magic paths. Summons hard-to-hit flyers that can paralyze undead. Can be effective in conjunction with your flying units late game as many nations will have undead mages. If Gift of Reasoned they add 11. They don't look like much but they can provide access to useful spells and gear with only a 1 (do need to collect slaves and you can empower).

• Construction 7 22 for 5: Craft Keledone ( Keledone×1)
  Summon a hard-to-kill immobile communion slave in case a fort gets besieged. Situationally useful. Late game Humans are super suseptable to board wipes, spend more resources to protect the masters instead of also the slaves. may make you think they only exist for that last hara when a future siage will mean you the game, but can be sallied forth with Stygian Paths.
• Construction 7 33 for 30: Forge Brass Bull ( Khalkotauros×1)
  A high protection trampler.

• Enchantment 5 4 for 25: Awaken Hamadryad ( Hamadryad×1)
  An immobile 3 mage. Can be situationally useful as a defensive emplacement.

Mage power comes from Communions and Oreiads.

Communions can put out a large variety of buffs and evocations. (ex: Magma Eruption, Freezing Mist, Acid Rain, Gifts from Heaven, Mind Burn).

Oreiads are stealthy big casters, able to surprise the opponent.

• Stymphalian Wings: 20 4. Grants Fly, Trample, and Fear but at a significant penalty to Defense and Attack. Efficient compared to other options as normally you would have to use 3 item slots to achieve the same effects. Can allow for effective province raiding if put on a proper Thug chassis with other items.

This is probably the most difficult section to get consensus for. Describe how strong the nation is during expansion, the early, mid and late game, and what makes it strong/weak at each of those points. This should give readers an idea of where the weaknesses of a nation lie (if they have not been shown already) and when to take advantage of a nation's strengths.

List some example expansion strategies here. If a strong bless or pretender is required then leave the specifics for the pretender section.

List some example pretender builds. Try to use the following format to keep authorship and pretender design rationale clear.

Dominions 5 Nation Analysis: EA Arcoscephale by Perun (2020)

Nations
Early Ages	Arcoscephale • Ermor • Ulm • Marverni • Sauromatia • T'ien Ch'i • Machaka • Mictlan • Abysia • Caelum • C'tis • Pangaea • Agartha • Tir na n'Og • Fomoria • Vanheim • Helheim • Niefelheim • Rus • Kailasa • Lanka • Yomi • Hinnom • Ur • Berytos • Xibalba • Mekone • Ubar • Atlantis • R'lyeh • Pelagia • Oceania • Therodos
Middle Ages	Arcoscephale • Ermor • Sceleria • Pythium • Man • Eriu • Ulm • Marignon • Mictlan • T'ien Ch'i • Machaka • Agartha • Abysia • Caelum • C'tis • Pangaea • Asphodel • Vanheim • Jotunheim • Vanarus • Bandar Log • Shinuyama • Ashdod • Uruk • Nazca • Xibalba • Phlegra • Phaeacia • Ind • Na'ba • Atlantis • R'lyeh • Pelagia • Oceania • Ys
Late Ages	Arcoscephale • Pythium • Lemuria • Man • Ulm • Marignon • Mictlan • T'ien Ch'i • Jomon • Agartha • Abysia • Caelum • C'tis • Pangaea • Midgård • Utgård • Bogarus • Patala • Gath • Ragha • Xibalba • Phlegra • Vaettiheim • Atlantis • R'lyeh • Erytheia