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LA Bogarus, Age of Heroes

Lore

"Imagine cold winters, princes in sable-rimmed cloaks, opulent halls where sinister old men practice vile magics or seduce their masters' wives. Think of Rasputin. Think of orthodox patriarchs and bizarre sectlike movements of religious fanatics living in hiding. Imagine the monsters, heroes and bogatyrs of Russian fairy tales.

When Bogarus was added to Dominions 3, I already had some ideas about the predecessors. My imagination was influenced by Kievan Rus' when the nation was given Vanir ancestors. I wanted priests and an institutionalized religion that brings the Russian Orthodox Church to mind and some sectarian movements on top of that. I did some research and I was quite happy when I found the skoptsy, the "castrated ones," and other strange religious movements."
–Illwinter

By the Late Age, there were no Vanir left in Vanarus, and the Chudes had disappeared into myth. The Kingdom has survived the loss of its founding race, but it is a very decentralized realm. Like with Vanarus before it, the Kingdom title seems to simply imply that there can be no King, and that the best anyone can be in the realm is a “Prince”; the Princes each control a few cities and the bitter lands around them, and most of them serve under “Grand Princes” that answer to no one but themselves. The Grand Princes focus outward rather than inward, letting the Princes decide what is allowed in their cities, who in-turn have allowed and even financed some pretty-whacky traditions and practices. The only truly-unifying force in Bogarus is religion (though some worship a bit differently from others); if the Eparchs hadn’t reformed from their aloof ways and pulled the ears of their Grand Princes to alert them of the Awakening God (you), then they probably would’ve still been butting heads for dominance by the time you arrived. With the Ascension Wars beginning, the fragmented realm looks to carve out an Empire in your name, and many great Heroes may arise from your inspiration.

General Overview

Bogarus is a nation of competent mages who hate being in battle, incompetent troops who hate being in battle, and Sacred troops that are hated by everyone else. In other words, it's beautiful.

They have powerful and diverse human mages (possibly the best in the game), sad troops (with the best being the expensive Malaia Druzhina heavy cavalry), and a deep roster of national summons.

National Features

Race Military Magic Access Priests Buildings
Prefers Cold 2
Humans
Cold Resistant (3)
Snow Move (only on least useful units)
Cheap Peasants
Med.-Hvy. Infantry
Horse Archers
Knights & Nomads
Flagellants
Bogatyrs
astral 33 (rare 4)
fire 22 (rare 3)
air 22 (rare 3)
blood 22 (rare 3)
earth 11
death 11
National Summons
air 22astral 22 (Require astral 33)
air 22astral 11nature 33 (Require nature 44 )
air 22water 11earth 22nature 44 (Require nature 66)
air 33astral 11nature 22 (Require air 44)
water 11death 11 (Require water 11death 11 )
water 33nature 11 (Require water 22 )
water 33earth 11nature 22 (Require water 33earth 11)
holy 33 Cap-only
holy 22 in Forts
Stealthy

Summonable holy 33 (Require astral 22)
Standard Forts (Citadels)
Nomadic Cavalry off-forts

Capital Special Sites

Grand Cathedral Hall of Elders
* Enables recruitment of Eparchs
* Produces 1astralpearl per month
* Enable recruitment of Starets
* Produces 1astralpearl1firegem1airgem per month

Notable Units

Your nation is made up of common human Rus, having Cold Resistance (3) which grants them immunity to Chill Auras combined with most foot troops having Snow Move, lets them skirt by most downsides of being a cold nation. (Your mounted units and mages don't get snow move, and, since cavalry have naturally high movement, the most important power of the nation is the slowest factor in your army. )

Commanders

Sprite Unit Name Special Attributes Comments
Bogarusian Scout
25
4
1
Stealthy (50)
Cold Resistance (5)
Mountain Survival
Forest Survival
Snow Move
Scout that can move unimpeded through the cold. Indie scouts are plentiful in the Late Ages, however.
Voivode
30
14
1
Cold Resistance (3)
Snow Move
60 leadership doesn't generally come this cheap, 1 CP aside.
Voivodes have 14 Map Movement, and they also ignore snow. This lets them cross two friendly forest/waste provinces at once in the cold, while leading piles of your more-unusual troops; your standard picks have only 12 Map Movement in Snow, unfortunately, though that's still enough to travel across two friendly-and-mundane provinces at once.
Knyaz
90
14
1
Cold Resistance (3)
Inspirational (1)
Mounted
The Knyaz is a mounted commander with 80 leadership and a point of Inspiration, giving those beneath him a +2 morale bonus. This at least keeps your poorly-equipped national units in the fight for slightly longer, by delaying a rout.
If you're feeling adventurous, you could try using their superhuman stats for thugging.
Veliki Knyaz
130
21
2
Cold Resistance (3)
Inspirational (1)
Mounted
The Veliky Knyaz is the leader of last resort, giving you 120 leadership and a point of Inspiration for the price of an Alchemist. Those beneath him have a +3 morale bonus, and that's without Sermon of Courage (bringing the bonus up to +4).
The "Grand Prince" is also the strongest unit Bogarusian gold can hire, at least physically. Just remember that every GP you hire is a minimum of 11 RP per turn that you're saying "no" to.
Skopets
70
2
1
holy 11random020%
Sacred
Stealthy (40)
Cold Resistance (3)
Snow Move
Cause Unrest (+2/month)
Start with Affliction (20%)
The Skopets, a self-castrated man, is a Stealthy holy 11 Priest. His Khlysty followers are also Stealthy, so you could theoretically attempt to "elf" (stealth-raid) your foes; it might take a bunch of Khlysty, though, unless you've committed to the meme with a mighty Bless.
Alternatively, since Skoptsy and Khlysty generate Unrest with their tenuous grip on orthodoxy, you can park your raiding force in semi-important enemy provinces and watch their income (and Dominion) spiral into irrelevancy. Results may vary.
One-in-five Skoptsy have blood 11, in case you like building temples before labs; that averages 350 gold and 5 CP per lab-less Blood Hunter, so that's a somewhat-reasonable option if you're far-more-lacking in gold than time.
Exarch
70
2
2
holy 22
Sacred
Cold Resistance (3)
The Exarch is about as cheap and plentiful as holy 22 Priests can get. Their lousy 10 leadership probably has something to do with that.
Even with no bless worth mentioning, an holy 22 is nothing to sneeze at; it can cast Sermon of Courage and Smite Demon, its Banishment will be decent (a neat feature when facing the Late Ages' spammy Death nations), and it will push Dominion nicely.
Eparch
145
2
2
Capital Only
holy 33
Sacred
Cold Resistance (3)
Old Age (60/50)
For a nation with such a divided faith and such unliked Sacreds, Bogarus sure gets a lot of Priestly power. The Eparchs are holy 33 Priests that require only 2 CP. Most others require 4!
Granted, most others have something else fastened to them, such as enormous Leadership scores or true Healing or even a level of arcane magic; the Eparchs have only their holy 33.
Having relatively-spammable holy 33's offers a bunch of Dominion-pushing power and plenty of Smite users. Kalendologists are cheaper "magic snipers" (having Mind Burn), but Eparchs are more effective if your Pretender supports any of the nonstandard Smites.
You might not want to lean on the Eparchs too much, though; every Eparch you recruit is a Master of Names you're passing up on, and Research is quite important for putting your Mages to work.
Occultist
100
2
2
astral 11death 11blood 11 11
Cold Resistance (3)
Old Age (50/50)
The Occultist, for all his petty misdeeds, is an excellent mage to stock up on. He's your cheapest Blood Hunter (not counting one-time infrastructure costs), your cheapest Communion Slave, and your best shot at finding Death Gems in a reasonable span of time.
While building Communions, be aware of mismatched paths. Occultists are cheap, but they don't fare super well if their Masters are casting anything other than Astral, Death, or Blood. Likewise, being your only reliable Death mages, they can be a bit of a pain to your non-Occultist Slaves if they go off-script and start spamming Horde of Skeletons.
Kalendologist
105
2
2
astral 22 9
Cold Resistance (3)
Fortune Teller (10%)
The Kalendologist may seem a bit overpriced, at least if you're looking just at his Research Ability.
He's an out-of-the-box spammer of Mind Burn and Paralyze, with no Communion required. Plug him into two Slaves, and he'll cast Soul Slay. Plug him into four, and he'll cast Enslave Mind.
There's also the Kalendologist's Fortune Teller ability, which will suppress bad random events. This could be used to take Misfortune Scales and avoid the hits to your treasury and Gems stockpile that come with them; random events are distributed across all of your provinces, however, so you'll have to spread your Fortune Tellers out if you intend to lean into this strategy. On top of that, taking Misfortune results in getting fewer Bogatyrs, meaning you might have to pay for a Veliky Knyaz.
Astrapelagist
125
2
2
air 22astral 11 11
Cold Resistance (3)
Fortune Teller (5%)
The Astrapelagist harkens back to the Thunder Priests and Perkunus of Old Rus, albeit without the Nature magic.
With his paths, he can cast Lightning Bolt right out of the box. With two Slaves, he can cast Thunder Strike (or Summon Air Elemental for 1airgem, if your foe has Shock Resistance). With four Slaves, he can cast Storm and upgrade the other Astrapelagists, letting them get out Thunder Strike (if they're not plugged in) or the infamous Fog Warriors (if they are plugged in).
Note that the Astrapelagist's air 22 makes him twice as hard as your air 11 Mages on Air-less Slaves.
Alchemist
135
2
2
fire 11earth 11astral 11 11
Cold Resistance (3)
Alchemist (50)
Old Age (50/48)
Bogarus's Alchemists have two, technically three avenues for enriching their nation.
The actual Alchemy route converts your guaranteed Fire Gem income (and your potential Earth Gem income) into a supplemental trickle of cash. If you have no care at all for gem-hoarding, you can alchemize just your capital income into 9firegem every four turns, netting you 45 extra gold per turn at base.
Then there's the Firebird route; every turn, an Alchemist can spend 2firegem to summon one of these things, and each one has a 2% chance to bring a random good event to the province they're in. This is more of a "long-term" investment.
Lastly, there's the option of using the Alchemist to take new provinces. His paths all interact nicely for the purpose of blowing craters into enemy armies, though Communions will be needed to make this apparent. Alternatively, if you're keen on summoning stuff with the Occultists, three Alchemists and 2firegem (or one Alchemist, two Occultists, and 2firegem) can back them up with a Solar Eclipse.
Master of Names
155
2
2
astral 22random1100% 17
Cold Resistance (3)
Adept Researcher (6)
The Master of Names is a high-quality Research monkey. Forget Occultists for a moment; if you need to catch up or get ahead on your Research, these guys can do it.
If you suddenly feel like dragging them out of the library, consider doing so with the fire 11's (for Astral Fires and Gem-hunting for your Alchemists) or the blood 11's (for additional Blood-hunting and the odd Horror job). The air 11's could make Owl Quills, if you want more Research.
Fivefold Angel
225
1
2
blood 22holy 22 9
Sacred
Cold Resistance (3)
Stealthy (50)
Snow Move
Cause Unrest (+5/month)
Start with Affliction (30%)
Spy
Damage Reversal (0)
The real-life Skoptsy had two "seals" that suppressed whatever made them unholy; castration, and emasculation. (Don't look these up.)
Bogarus's Fivefold Angels add three more seals; a flaying of their back, a removal of their left arm, and a removal of their right hand. This makes them the "ideal" Skoptsy gameplay-wise: useful (and reliable) Blood Mages, superb information-gatherers, stealthy as a scout, and annoying as heck to deal with.
Aside from their magic paths, the Fivefold Angel's only manner of dealing damage is through reflecting the damage others try to inflict upon them. The Magic Resistance check for hitting through this power is against a 10; not a high bar to hurdle, but still capable of snagging people (especially those nefarious Ulmish). There's probably someone out there who's managed to counter-thug with these guys.
Last-but-not-least, the Fivefold Angel can use Sabbath Master to boost their Priest level in battle. Only four slaves (not counting the Blood Slave) are necessary for getting a Fanaticism out, followed by Smites and (if you're facing one of those nations) high-grade Banishments.
Starets
255
2
4
Capital Only
fire 22air 11astral 22blood 11random1100%
10%
25
Cold Resistance (3)
Adept Researcher (6)
Old Age (68/46)
The Starets is a Level 7 mage, in an era where most nations cap out at Level 5. He is old but skilled, a national master of Fire and whichever path his primary random level favors, and the only Bogarusian path he can't helm in Communion is Earth. He's also between the Masters of Names and all of Bogarus's other mages in terms of Research efficiency.
Watch out for Pangaea, by the way; the Starets is resentful of being mandated by the church to accept your money, and his Morale (a mere 8) makes him quite susceptible to Seduction. Bodyguards can hold off assassins, but nothing can hold off the fantasy of serving anyone but you.

Troops

Your troops would have been okay in the Early Age but the Late Age places higher expectations of using better armor and crossbows.

Sprite Unit Name Special Attributes Comments
Voi Spearman
8
8
5
Cold Resistance (3)
Snow Move
Bogarus gets to choose between two militia-type troops with medium to low-damage weapons.
Voi Axeman
8
7
5
Cold Resistance (3)
Snow Move
Voi Archer
8
5
5
Cold Resistance (3)
Snow Move
Cheap archers that can do work with Flaming Arrows, but are otherwise difficult to make use of.
Khlyst
10
3
5
Sacred
Stealthy (40)
Cold Resistance (3)
Snow Move
Cause Unrest(+0.5/month)
Start with Affliction (10%)
Masochistic fanatics. Are one of the cheapest recruitable sacreds in game, and they show it by having horrible stats and a chance to have an affliction. Unlike their closest comparison, Marignon's Flagellants, Khylsty do not do much damage to make up for this weakness. They do at least provide a stealthy, unrest-causing option to Bogarus.
Peshtsi Axeman
10
18
9
Cold Resistance (3)
Snow Move
Peshtsi are up to 11 protection from the Voi's 8, which is not much of an improvement. They retain the medium to low-damage weapons of the Voi.
Peshtsi Spearman
10
15
9
Cold Resistance (3)
Snow Move
Peshtsi City Guard
11
20
12
Cold Resistance (3)
Snow Move
Castle Defence Bonus (1)
At 14 protection, the Peshtsi City Guard are sadly the most durable of Bogarus' foot troops. The broad sword does not overcome the low-damage weakness of Bogarus' other troops.
Grid Druzhina
25
28
36
Cold Resistance (3)
Mounted
Light archer cavalry with sword and hoof attack.
Is your best "cheap" flanker.
Malaia Druzhina
40
42
46
Cold Resistance (3)
Bodyguard (3)
Mounted
Roughly equivalent to Man's Tower Knight, Malaia Druzhina are expensive but reliable heavy cavalry among the mostly chaffy Bogarus lineup.
Your most viable expanders.

The following units can only be recruited outside of forts.

Sprite Unit Name Special Attributes Comments
Black Hood
18
16
20
Cold Resistance (3)
Mounted
Bowman on a horse that can only be recruited outside forts.
You may take them instead of Voi Archers if you want your unbuffed arrows to have a better chance to land accurately and deal damage.
Don't have them fight crossbows.
Styag
30
23
36
Cold Resistance (3)
Standard (1)
Mounted
Mounted standard with a lance.
Recruit only one to boost your Druzhina's moral.

Heroes

Sprite Unit Name Special Attributes Comments
Bogatyr
Multi-hero
holy 11
Sacred
Cold Resistance (3)
Inspirational (1)
Mounted
Veliki Knyaz that is a sacred knight.
Saves on army leaders and can be light thugged.
Koschei - Deathless
Turn Arrival Limit: 10
air 22water 22death 33 19
Cold Resistance (25)
Poison Resistance (15)
Cold Aura (5)
Fear (8)
Immortality
Old Age (440/50)
The living Lich, if not the originator of the Lich trope.
Crosspaths of Air, Water and Death, with Stygian Rain, Wailing Winds, Freezing Mist.
Alexej - Patriarch death 11blood 22holy 44 11
Sacred
Cold Resistance (3)
Dominion Attracts: Khlyst
Grants access to Fanaticsm and give you an influx of disposable flagellants.
Baba Yaga - Hag
Turn Arrival Limit: 20
air 33water 11death 33nature 22 23
Cold Resistance (15)
Poison Resistance (15)
Shock Resistance (5)
Fear (8)
Flying
Forest Survival
Supply Bonus (20)
Grants Bogarus nature access.

Magic

Magic Access

If nothing else, Bogarus' magic access is quite nice:

  • Level 3 Astral on a quarter of your Starets, and plentiful astral 22's
  • Level 2 Fire on your Starets
  • Level 2 Air on your Astrapelagists & a quarter of your Starets
  • Level 2 Blood on a quarter of your Starets
  • Level 1 Earth on your Alchemists
  • Level 1 Death on your Occultists & a quarter of your Starets

All of your mages have at least astral 11, allowing you to boost any of the above in battle via communions. You don't even need the Starets for your communions, since they don't have any paths that are unique to them; on the other hand, your potential communion slaves are so varied that you can avoid burnout with relative ease.

Unfortunately, your magical depth isn't super conducive for ladder-climbing, just missing many key boosters. Empowerment isn't a great option either, since your mages are all so old. The age issue can be compensated for with some of your national summons, but your actual access to those isn't great.

National Spells

FIXMEnational spell or summon cost and usecase, judgment if it's good. fix from Rus

One of Rus's selling points is its sheer amount of exclusive summons.

  • Summon Simargl air 11 Conjure 2, for 1airgem, ( Simarglx1). Too slow if your trying to amass a flying force, but fine as patrol chaff.
  • Summon Firebird fire 11astral 11 Conjure 3, for 2firegem, ( Firebirdx1) Alchemist should be spamming them for the influx of lucky events in your fort, especially since they also something besiegers will have to mess with. Given how Luck scales works, they can pay themselves back in gems and gold.
  • Sloth of Bears nature 22 Conjure 3, for 8naturegem, ( Great Bearx10 + [lv]) Summons more bears for sieges, but they are not so good in combat.
  • Contact Sirin astral 22 Conjure 3, for 8astralpearl, ( Sirin) A way to steal male commanders. If that doesn't work, giving them Handful of Acorns and a weapon that can be used in the misc slot, can dispatch a variety of problems
  • Summon Likho death 11 Conjure 4, for 10deathgem, ( Likho) Summon and let her sit in a enemy province to cause annoyances.
  • Contact Alkonost astral 22 Conjure 4, for 15astralpearl, ( Alkonost) Summable flying greater priest, leader, and throne claimer. Decent all-round utility.
  • Summon Rusalka water 11death 11 Conjure 4, for 16watergem, ( Rusalka) Hard for LA to use. Create more low-level Death mages and a way to expand underwater. Can kill most things with a Water Lens: summon a Water Elemental and then spam skeletons until the assassination target is dead.
  • Send Vodyanoy water 22 Conjure 4, for 20watergem, ( Vodyanoy) only targets Sea provinces. Conjure a Stealthy Water mage underwater. He won't be establishing a foothold underwater by himself and without gems, but he can raid if you have already created a foothold down there. Is a means of fighting a water war, if the ocean nations have failed to conquer most of the independents. They will also climb water magic for you, getting you into Queen of Elemental Water and Naiads
  • Send Lady Midday air 11death 11 Conjure 5, for 10airgem, ( Lady Midday) Basically summons a weak Disease Demon. Is very fragile. Not a high priority for a Starets to cast.
  • Summon Zmey fire 22 Conjure 5, for 5firegem, ( Zmeyx1) Cool 3-headed dragon, but held back by the fact its a reptile and all of Rus's line are cold nations. May be OK if taking a Hellbless. In LA, it's another point against summoning them as Firebirds are the easiest to spam in this age.
  • Contact Gamayun astral 33 Conjure 5, for 25astralpearl, ( Gamayun) Get a flying Air and Astral mage. Very mobile with Flying and Cloud Trapeze, supports your army with Paralyze and Mind Burn.
  • Send Bukavac water 44 Conjure 5, for 5watergem, ( Bukavac) Only targets Sea provinces. They are very hard to deal with, especially if you are having a bunch of Vodyanoy send several against a single providence. These are giant Tramplers that will clear out fish-man settlements and many of their armies.
  • Contact Beregina water 33earth 11 Conjure 6, for 35watergem, ( Beregina) An amphibious Water mage with Nature support spells that may take a decently sized force underwater.
  • Contact Cloud Vila air 44 Conjure 7, for 40airgem, ( Cloud Vila) Mountains and borders only. Take a strong Air mage Seducer, that's a flying True Healer. Also, a means to go into nature magic by forging the boosters needed to summon a Mountain Vila.
  • Contact Mountain Vila nature 44 Conjure 7, for 40naturegem, ( Mountain Vila) Mountain and borders only. Nature and Air communions, True Healer 2 mage that comes prepackaged with a Vine Bow for going off-script. Mix of Faery Queen and Ivy King, and too expensive to be used recklessly. If you just need a generally strong nature mage, an Ivy King is far more resilient and cheaper.
  • Contact Leshiy nature 66 Conjure 8, for 60naturegem, ( Leshiy Leshiy) Forest only. Takes a lot of climbing to get a nature mage that can be potentially nature 77 while in forests. Only get so someone, not your pretender, can hold up Gift of Health or Enchanted Forests.

Notable Generic Magic

Combat Magic

FIXME What is the best spell you can use in combat. What spells the best support your national lineup, Is there weakness that you need to fix? Any tricks you should be aware you have?

Lots of astral communions, with Blood, death, fire, Earth, and Air cross paths. being all astral allows blood mages to enter communions without using the more fatiguing Sabbath version.

Being all astral allows your Starets to be Magic Dueled, but having so many mages that can also Magic Duel will protect them.

Ritual Magic

FIXME What is the best ritual you could cast. Are there any globals you want up, any units you should be summoning? Are there any Generic rituals few nations can cast?

Magic Items

FIXME Do you have any National items(Construction Level, Price, and required Paths). Any unique generic items few other nations can forge? What item would be useful on your unit lineup (non-standard recommend thug gear)?

Is recommended to find a way to get Earth Boots so you can get more earth 22.

Your do have fast researchers, boosted by Owl Quills, Skull Mentor and Lightless Lantern

Strategy

Power Curve

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.

Expansion Strategies

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

Example Pretender Builds

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

Father of Winters
Bogarus is infamous for its rough early game unless extremely good scales are taken but an expansion titan can alleviate that weakness without shredding your scales! In addition to the usual power of physmoss, regen, and mistform the Father of Winters also has great stats (particularly in cold 3) and a length 3 greatsword for repels and an absolutely massive cold aura which you should not underestimate! The luck and magic scales are great for firebird memes and research too!

Chassis: Awake Father of Winters
Paths: air 22water 22nature 22
Bless: None Scales: Dominion strength4Turmoil3Sloth2Cold3Growth3Luck3Magic3
See The Virtues of Expansion Titans

Blood Fountain (Imprisoned): S4N8B9 Dom5Tur3Slo1Hea1Gro1Luc3Mag3. Bless: Far Caster, Unaging, Recuperation, Strong Vitae, Blood Vengeance. Makes Eparchs into formidable combat mages, prevents them and other commanders from getting old or injured/feebleminded. Blood Vengeance allows Khlysts to be relevant as evocation deterrent. End game is Astral Corruption - Eparchs still provide combat magic and demon banishment, and Luck scales with Firebirds provide magic items, while enemies have demons at best.

bogarus-la.txt · Last modified: 2024/07/09 05:09 by johnnydown