Man is one of the first nations conceived in the Dominions universe. The nation is a conglomerate of medieval English and Arthurian concepts spiced with some fantasy elements from Ars Magica and the books of Robert Jordan. The Irish/Northumbrian monastic tradition, Anglo-Saxon society, and Welsh longbowmen are all inspirational sources. Later on, the nation turns towards scholarship paired with dark tidings. The mood in the movie Sleepy Hollow is a nice comparison.
In Dominions 4 steps has been taken to accentuate the influence of invading barbarians reminiscent of the Angles and Saxons. It is not difficult to see an early Ulm or a similar nation in the Logrian backstory." -Illwinter

The Kingdom of Man was once the land of Fomoria, or at least a land connected to that one. Though a bountiful domain, the Fomorians did a lot of damage to the place through their wars with Partholonians, Nemedians, and finally the Tuatha. Their back-and-forth with those superhuman elves, with the half-elven Fir Bolg used as peons by both sides, ultimately ended with Fomoria ruined and the Tuatha victorious; not that their victory was long-lived, for then humanity arrived.

The first humans in Man were the Logrians, guided by warrior-shamans of a seemingly-Ulmish background. Migrating to the once-Fomorian landmass, they coexisted with the Fir Bolg at first, but expelled most of them the moment an opportunity arose. This chance came with the Milesian invasion of the Tuatha's imperial core (now known as Eriu), causing the Tuatha and their Sidhe descendants to abandon Fomoria in a bid to salvage the situation. From there, the Logrians' new home was called Logres; that was the only thing the various Logrian tribes could agree on, however, and they entered a period of feuding petty kings.

Logres became Man with the arrival of the Witches, non-Logrian ladies who heard notes of magic from the forests and came to find the full songs. Eventually they found their prize, the Enchanted Forest of Avalon, and treasure troves of Sidhe spellsongs. Their discovery made them the most powerful beings in the land, so they united Logres and chose a non-Logrian King for it. The Logrian families remain as much of the Kingdom of Man's nobility, but their men are forbidden from joining the Witches' coven; the closest some can get, aside from eavesdropping and becoming Bards, is through supplicating to the Witches and becoming their Wardens.

A little trivia: Logres is the name of King Arthur's dominion in The Matter of Britain.

Magic Access	Alt. Access	Unit Summary	Core Abilities	Buildings
4 (Rare 5) 3 (Rare 4) 2 1 (rare 2) 1 (rare 2) 1 1	Heroes 23232 1233 3321	Varied human infantry Knights Longbowmen Sacred Unicorns	Stealthy Spell Singer Divine Insights Recuperation	Standard Forts Temples Cost 300

Capitol Gems: 32

Divine Insights: Man's designated priests may research, but the number of units with this trait researching in the same province may not exceed the province's dominion strength.

Chorus Communions: Any spell singer in Man may join the Chorus Communion via a 1 spell. They automatically exit this Communion upon reaching 100 Fatigue, without causing any psychic backlash for the other members.

While some nations' troops gobble up Gold, others gobble up Resources, and still others gobble up Recruitment Points, Man has the misfortune of relying on all three. This makes choosing which Scales (Order for Rec Points, Productivity for Resources, etc.) to favor or dump somewhat tricky, though Man is one of those nations that doesn't need a Bless.

Sprite	Unit Name	Special Attributes	Comments
	Logrian Slinger 9 8 6 Foreign Rec+		Your cheapest troop choice. They obviously lose out to Longbowman in terms of value, but they're still useful if you need to make an army of ranged attackers or Siege chaff on the fly. They come with an axe, so they can inflict some damage before they die in melee. They're also the first unit in the game's code, ID-wise.
	Longbowman 10 7 13		Archers gifted with the magical ability to actually have a chance of hitting something. Crossbowmen aren't widespread in MA, so press your advantage while you can.
	Spearman 10 9 9		This guy's only difference from Indie Heavy Infantry is that he wears green pants.
	Longspear 10 13 9		This guy's only difference from Indie Heavy Infantry is that he carries a longer spear. (Also the green pants, don't forget those.)
	Logrian Warrior 12 15 9 Foreign Rec+		Logrians have +2 HP & +1 STR over normal Men, and these guys also have +1 ATT. These guys are also better-equipped, and can perform decently during expansion.
	Tower Guard 12 18 14	Castle Defence Bonus(1)	More-spammable defense linemen, compared to your Landless Knights. They're also pretty-efficient for propping up your Castle walls, if you think you'll need Siege chaff.
	Forester 12 7 14 Forest Rec+	Stealthy(55) Ambidextrous(1) Patrol Bonus(1) Forest Survival	Bowmen with dual-wielding. They function as Ranged raiders, picking off weak PD with their bows, and then using their axe and dagger to finish off whatever charged at them. They're kind of screwed if their targets can get a hit in, but that shouldn't happen unless they also have bows.
	Landless Knight 13 24 16		Fill the role of very-heavy linemen, boasting the highest melee durability of Man's foot Roster.
	Logrian Cavalry 25 19 26 Foreign Rec+	Mounted	Swift Light Cavalry with a little extra bulk. They're probably better than anything else you can pick up in a freshly-conquered Indie province, though certainly not cheap without a Fort.
	Warden of Avalon 26 28 31 Capital Only	Sacred Stealthy(40) Bodyguard(3) Forest Survival	Fully-armored raiders and Witch-Bodyguards. They can be used to safely clear PD without a bless, but they can also be your solution to problematic enemy Sacreds. No one else that you have hits harder, aside from your Knights with their initial lance charges, and you could gain a bit from making them more accurate with their swings.
	Knight of Man 40 51 46	Mounted	Fairly-alright non-sacred Heavy Cavalry. All of that armor is quite Resource-intensive, and it slows them down significantly compared to Man's staple Light Cavalry and Unicorns. The aforementioned Unicorns are a better choice from the capital, at least if you're not penny-pinching.
	Knight of Avalon 60 56 48 Capital Only	Forest Survival Recuperation Mounted	Heavy Cavalry power with Light Cavalry speeds, featuring a three-hit combo that covers all Physical Resistances and Invulnerability/Etherealness. They're not sacred, despite their ludicrous price tags, so they're expensive both with the initial purchase and their upkeep afterwards. That being said, they're still great for expansion (though a tad slow if your Scales aren't great) and glorious at most other things.

You get seven of these things, and one of them is a multihero that you can get a theoretically-infinite amount of. All of your Mage heroes have wonderful paths for boosters, mainly the Moonvine Bracelet that boosts Nature.

Sprite	Unit Name	Magic	Special Attributes	Comments
	Knight of the Stone		Mounted Multihero	He's not a terrible Multihero; his stats are neat, and he can lead your armies. The Mages are nicer, though.
	Bernlad - Green Knight		Regeneration (10%) Stealthy (40) Forest Survival Recuperation Mounted	The best of your physical thugs! Try to guess why. Bernlad's dream is to find The Vale of Unicorns, which gives you ANOTHER place to recruit Knights of Avalon from, but he'll only find it where it's present. He can also give you up to three free Knight Commanders, by stealing them from provinces that raise their own Knights.
	Rhianne - Heroine		Patrol Bonus (25) Forest Survival Recuperation Mounted	Certainly isn't Bernlad. 21 Defense is neat, though.
	Brangwen - Blind One	233121	Sacred Resist Poison (5) Supply Bonus (30) Old Age Fortune Teller (10%) Spell Singer Blind	He's your only Mage-Hero who isn't a complete jerk. (Brangwen's actually a girl, but Illwinter forgot to give them the Female tag. Oops!) Hopefully you don't get him too early!
	Nog - Ettin King		Ambidextrous (6) Gluttony (3) Unsurroundable (1) Undisciplined Mountain Survival Forest Survival Stupid Eyes (4) Retinue: Tower Guard (2 - 12)	A big boy. His retinue is neat! In battle, keep him AWAY from your Mages. You can also berserk him to negate the effects of stupid.
	Myrddin - Cambion Hero turn arrival limit: 10	22323 19	Demon Resist Fire (15) Resist Poison (5) Stealthy (40) Inept Researcher (10) Supply Bonus (30) Fortune Teller (15) Shapechanger Forest Survival	Excellent site searcher due to good paths and sneakiness. Also more of a Forger than a Researcher. If you have him AND a Mother of Avalon, he might seduce them, giving them a 1 pathboost or a 1 pathboost or (in a Forest) a 1 pathboost, in exchange for making them a Disciple of Myrddin who has Inept Researcher 4. This can only happen after Turn 15, but it can happen to multiple Mothers. (What a guy!) He can also make the Crystal Coin!
	Morgaine - Fay Hero turn arrival limit: 10	3123 23	Resist Poison (5) Resist Shock (5) Darkvision (50) Stealthy (65) Supply Bonus (30) Shapechanger Glamour Spell Singer Female	Morgaine is a very nifty Mage, able to fly wherever you need her to be, but she does NOT like the Witches. She'll turn one of your Mothers into a Great Boar (fortunately the Marverni kind) roughly once every twenty turns, and she might Mute one of your Crones with a powerful and destructive Curse (possibly the same Curse plaguing Later Man) to protect a pet Basilisk that you'll get to keep as compensation. The latter can Curse your Pretender and other units in the same province as her, but isolating her won't prevent the events. Fortunately, she doesn't start to hate Witches until Turn 15.

• Summon Black Dogs, 2 Conj2 8, ( Black Dogx20). Requires outside assistance like a Troll Shaman to cast. These are stealthy animals, with very little survivability. However, if massed, these fey beasts can deal noticeable damage to lightly armored opponents. They Do their best work when Darkness is cast.

• Summon Cu Sidhe: 2 Conj3 6, ( Cu Sidhex7). The Cu Sidhe is a size 3 sacred elvish dog. Their prot and MR are surprisingly high for animals, and their higher hp and decent damage attack can mitigate their low attack density. However, they remain a questionable use of N gems in most situations, lacking the glamour and high def skill which makes your other elf troops strong, and still possessing all the same weaknesses. If you're running a heavy bless, access to summonable sacreds from a fairly gem and mage-turn efficient spell can give them a role, but they are probably best avoided.

• Summon Barghests, 2 Conj2 7, ( Barghestx9). which is basically a stronger version of Black Dogs. It does come later but costs a single gem less. This spell summons improved Black Dogs and Cu Sidhe, which come with defense and protection inferior for the price. However, these hounds can curse enemy units, and do 18 damage + poisonous bites. These creatures can perform decent flanking maneuvers in the midgame but are also relatively easy to amass.

• Chorus Master|Chorus Slave: 1 Thaum 1 Spell Singers only. A exclusive spells of Man that lest nature Spellsingers create communions. as with Spellsingers casting, magic comes at half a turn longer but you have a communion that Astral and Blood mages can join like any other.

Man is a fairy-tale place, with the happy (or at least neutral) paths of Nature, Air, Earth, Water, and Fire.

Nature's the big one; your Crones of Avalon can get 4 without Boosters, and 6 with the ones you can easily craft. Having at least a pinch of Luck (or at least not maximum Misfortune) may allow you to get one of the national Heroes that can craft your missing Booster, bringing you up to 7. That's essentially all the Nature you need for casting whatever Nature spells you want, though it does require Construction Level 6.

Air is capped at 3. I cry every time. On the bright side, that's enough for quite a few spells, and your 3's have a lot of 1's and 2's to support them in Chorus Communions, giving you whatever big buffs you think you'll need (and/or a ginormous pile of Living Clouds). There's also Storm and Summon Storm Power, if you feel like spending your Air Gems on things other than Owl Quills.

Earth has a slightly-higher ceiling than Air, but it's expensive and a bit manly. Logrian Wise Men can have 2, or 3 with the Booster, and you can slap those shoes on a Troll King for 4 if you're swimming in Earth Gems (or your 22323 Hero if you're not). Honestly, Empowering the 2 is cheaper, but the Troll King is less likely to die. In battle, your ceiling is either 4 or 5, depending on how dearly you clung to your Gems, thanks to Summon Earthpower; this is basically all you need in battle, at least for the bare minimum, but you could use the Chorus Communion with your rare Earth Witches to top it.

Water is stuck at 1 on your recruits, and not very common at that, but it comes on 3's and can thus be used for the dreaded Foul Vapors. With Construction 6 and a drop of good fortune, you can reach your national ceiling of 2; if you got that 22323 Hero, however, you can climb to 3 or 4, or even to 5 if you have enough Water Gems for a Sea King. In battle, the good ol' Chorus Communion can boost your Water levels to whatever you need, potentially enough to cast Fire Fend for your Barkskin-wearing troops.

Fire is stuck at 1, found on your Logrian Wise Men sometimes. It's enough for some Site-Searching, some Fire Resistance, some Magma Bolts, and some crafting of Lightless Lanterns. Unlike with Earth, the Logrian Wise Man's primary specialty, it's not taken up by the Witches and is therefore ineligible for the Chorus Communion; unless you got that magical 22323 Hero, anyway, who can craft the Crystal Matrix and thereby allow one of your Logrian Wise Men to lead the choir.

You're left out of Astral (mostly), Death, and Blood, all of which are (mostly) icky paths; Astral outside of your three Astral-bearing Heroes can be somewhat ignored since you have Chorus Communions, however, while Death can be (meagerly) entered via the Troll Shamans and Blood can be bootstrapped into.

DISCLAIMER: This doesn't acknowledge the 1/160 chance of getting 4 on one of your slow-to-recruit capital-only Witches, which would allow you to craft both of the Air-Boosters for 6. It also doesn't acknowledge the 1/160 chance of getting 2 on one of them, or the 1/160 chance of getting 5 on one of them, or any Unique summons such as the Elemental Royalty or the Treelords (one of which has 1).

Different expansion options.

Early game options.

Mid game options.

Late game options.

What are the nation's weaknesses?