Dominions 5 Wiki

This is a guide about early-midgame Dai Bakemono Archer armies, hopefully a useful explanation of how this particular archer/infantry combination works in an army designed around them, some of the risks, and some idea of useful research to chase. by CyborgSellout

If possible, it's good to start building up Dai Bakemono with bows around turn 8; it takes at least 30 to fight in post-expansion battles– basic early/midgame needs Ench 3 Constr 3 Conj 3. Requires:

• 20+ Dai Bakemono with bows Line
• 20-30 Bandits with bows Line just in front of Dai Bakemono bows
• 30-40 Undisciplined spear bakemono-sho in front (will die)
• 1 x Shuten-doji or Dai Bakemono leader (Just behind Dai Bakemono bowline)
• 2 x 2 Uba skelly spamming (just behind edges of line)
• 1 x Bakemono Sorcerer (just behind center of line) to cast Earthpower, Strength of Giants x 2, Legions of Steel x 2.

Any other leaders are placed behind the center of the line, so the Shuten-Doji or Dai Bakemono commander with bodyguards can protect them. This diagram shows a sandwich version– it's a little safer.

					Example Layout

Dai Bakemono are a fairly unique troop type. Troops with heavy armor, bow/crossbow, and a 2-handed weapon, are pretty rare, and most nations do not have access to them. But they allow easy leverage of early-game aoe buffs. This army focuses on Legions of Steel and Strength of Giants (Constr3, Ench 3). Enemies who use heavy infantry are forced to run across the field through longbow fire and get bad contact on a well-buffed army of heavily armored two-handers.

Other things to note are that they have longer range than other archers, they have bigger arrows, and strength of giants helps their ranged attacks, as well.

Since they are expensive, most of the rest of the army is built around keeping these guys from facing too much attrition– replacing the Dai Bakemono archers takes more time and resources than all of Shinuyama's other troop types, and also a lot of money.

Bakemono Sorcerers are 2 + %25 1, Even without Earthpower, they can always gem into Strength of Giants and Legions of Steel as soon as Constr3 Ench3 are finished. Get a few more spells out of them with Reinvigoration or Unaging bless, but won't affect the Ubas.

They're cheaper, but still have armor, helmets, and melee weapons, so they'll draw a bit of fire, screen any lances that come through, and hopefully protect the Dai Bakemono archers from attrition. Don't want so many that the Dai Bakemono archers rout if all of these guys die, just a few because they have similar behavior and are cheaper to replace.

Cheap screen infantry to break up the enemy's formation and reduce attrition. They're going to die or run, but if you want to have another 20-40 with them, they can sneak up with the army. They're very hp-dense, so they draw ranged attacks away from the Dai Bakemono before they have buffs. They are also attack-dense, so they can do decent damage, too. The general idea is that there are enough Bakemono-Sho to make sure the skeletons get on the field and the enemy front line loses formation, but not so many that they contribute to an early hp rout before the Dai Bakemono run out of arrows.

Skelly-spam. Specifically 2 Ubas. Skeletons help bolster the army hp-rout threshold, and they add some flank protection against heavy cavalry. Also, skeletons won't die to foul vapors, so they can cause enemy infantry on “attack close” to move back and forth /across/ the field, instead of closing on the main formation.

Flaming Arrows Right after Ench3 gets Strength of Giants, Ench4 gives Flaming Arrows. If there are enemy factions without fire resistance, it can be a jump in power. Fire resistance is not accessible until Ench5– Flame Ward. 2 Ubas may cast Wooden Warriors off script– that can be very dangerous.

Foul Vapors Requires Constr4 for Thistle Mace on an 2 Uba. This represents the high water mark of this build. 5AN poison is good, but it tends not to kill Dai Bakemono. Shinuyama has access to Poison Ward, and Heal is an option, too, it's somewhat reliable. With an archer army, there is a luxury of time to cast Poison Ward, and may only need 4 casts to blanket all the good troops.

Bakemono-sho will still die, but they're probably dead to other things before that matters. But skeletons made by an Uba will be immune, and if the enemy infantry is having ai problems (or are on attack close) the enemy may just move vertically back and forth across the field between the two skelly summon paths before trying to actually close ground to melee the archer line.

Since these troops are stationary for 12 turns, all those range 25 evocations that are normally hard to leverage become very usable. If the mages are going offscript and burning fatigue before the enemy gets close, use some low-fatigue spells in the first few rounds to let the enemy get closer, or at least close enough for Web or Frozen Heart. Flame Eruption is great later at Evo6, and F1 Bakemono Shamans can Phoenix Power into it; usually they should survive, but it's not a huge loss if they eat an arrow. And eventually, Pillar of Fire.

More than other troops, Dai Bakemono face very thin advantage

• most of the time they can 1-hit infantry over a shield
• most of the time they can deal damage through a shield

A few points of hp, prot, or def can change these calculations rather dramatically. Without Legions of Steel and Strength of Giants, Dai Bakemono are very vulnerable to enemies who have cast them. Same with Mass Regeneration and Weapons of Sharpness– Dai Bakemono can't be wasted when they won't be cost-effective. And since they are so slow, they can be caught out of position without the right magic, and then they're a huge loss. They should only walk into a certain loss if they are sure to cause some damage, and there's another Dai Bakemono army right behind.

As for the stats, the low attack density of size 3 troops means that base stats are more relevant since harassment will occur less frequently. The Dai Bakemono swordsman is better by stats, but cannot stand still for 12 turns, so can't really leverage the buffs that make it immediately more effective. Enemy heavy melee troops also cannot stay still for 12 turns, so they will be also be less effectively buffed. This build is mostly about that, despite the Dai Bakemono archer losing 1hp, 2dmg, and 1attack to the Dai Bakemono with swords in an already razor-thin environment. The xp the Dai Bakemono archers gain (if they don't take too much attrition) is more significant than normal due to their reliance on stats, though, as well.

Also, as a side note, when ranged troops run out of ammo and advance, they won't advance in a line, so it's a little better to have the enemy hit the main line before they use all their arrows.

Legions of Steel and Strength of Giants are very accessible, and Wave Warriors, Marble Warriors, Wards, Weapons of Sharpness, or Quickening should be next. Most of these come a little later, but can be included in these armies if they'll be effective. These are for enemies who are trying to fight with troops; a lot of the midgame is resolved with fatigue plays or battlefield wipes, so Enchantment for Relief and Mass Regeneration is often the safer path.

Mossbody, Quickness, Iron Warriors, situationally Iron Will are the big ones. Takes a lot of mages, though.