Phlegra is a kingdom of giants who have enslaved the much more numerous human population. The Gigantes of Phlegra are the descendants of the Gigantes of Mekone, who made war upon the gods of men. Punished for their sins the descendants of Mekone no longer appear as proud hoplites in gleaming armor, instead they are deformed and cursed with a violent temper. Since the fall of Mekone, the Gigantes resent pretending gods and religious faiths, and only the human population of the kingdom devote themselves to the awakening God. Phlegra is also the home of the sheep-herding Cyclopes, another tribe of giants. Like their predecessors the Gigantes of Phlegra have enslaved their neighbors and formed a kingdom under the rule of their Tyrants. Unscrupulous human mages have developed ways to serve the Tyrants by dominating less fortunate magically adept humans. Now human taskmasters and oppressors cause more fear in the populace than the Tyrants themselves.

"Mekone and its successors are inspired by giants of Greek myth. Described either as strong and proud hoplites, or in later times, as monstrous beings with serpent legs, the idea of a nation of giants that doesn’t follow the development of most other giant nations, with smaller and smaller giants in the later ages, started to take form. … I also wanted to incorporate the hubris of the giants and the Gigantomachia—the war against the gods—into the nation, which in turn created the backstory for the middle and late age versions of the nation.

Phlegra in the middle age is a nation that has lost most of its proud legacy. The Gigantes of Mekone are cursed for their hubris and are becoming physically and mentally afflicted. I also wanted to add shepherding cyclopes to the Elder Cyclopes of earlier times. At first, the nation felt a bit bland, but when I started to think on the slaves and the Phlegran society the idea of the oppressors and slave mages appeared. The feel of the nation took a whole new turn and the slave mage mechanics made for entirely new tactics not available to other nations." -Illwinter

Middle Phlegra succeeds Mekone as a nation of small giant armies and huge human armies. There are no Sacred troops, and none of the giants are Sacred, but nothing stops you from naming one of your Phlegran Tyrants or Elder Cyclopses a Prophet. Making your elite commanders better is never a bad idea, but Phlegra primarily wants highly favorable Scales; if not for recruiting the regular troops and the mid-grade Cyclopes, then at least for both manufacturing more of those tyrannical elites and surviving their impact.

Phlegra's economy is rather fragile. The best troops and commanders drum up Unrest; not that you absolutely need the Gigante Warriors, but the commanders are what make Middle Phlegra stand out. Said Unrest can be tackled by the helot squads the Tyrants can seize for free, though a Patrolling unit is one on the defensive. Phlegra's Dominion does not tackle Unrest, and even works against Phlegra's economy due to the turn order – though, if you've taken Order, that will help as usual.

Magically, Phlegra is weird. As a mostly human nation it has access to Communions, specifically of the Astral variety; however, lacking Astral, these automatically assemble among the nation's Trophimos Oppressors and Shackled Mages instead. Like the Pythian Theurg Communicant, the Shackled Mage is largely pathetic outside of propping up these arrays. In contrast, the Shackled Mage is technically a mage who can typically attempt strategic mage tasks, but he therefore takes up Commander Points. It should be noted that Phlegra has a national Communion Master item, so it can assemble (taxing) Communions of Nature and Death alongside the Trophimoi's four Elements.

Magic Access	Alt. Access	Unit Summary	Core Abilities	Buildings
4 (Rare 5) 3 (Rare 4) 2 (Rare 3) 2 2 (Rare 3) 1 1	Master Smith Heroes 12233 Summons 11 (req. 2 & GoR) 121 (req. 3 & GoR)	Mostly Human Slave Soldiers Cyclops Warriors Few Gigante Warriors No Sacred Troops.	Slave Taskmaster Gluttony Communion Slave Communion Master	Giant Forts

Capitol Gems: 221

Turmoil Limit + 1

Unrest: "All provinces under the dominion of Phlegra will have their unrest increased every turn. Higher dominion strength in the province yields a greater increase in unrest. In a disciple game this will only have an effect if Phlegra is the Pretender God and then it will affect the disciples as well. Being a disciple of Phlegra will be difficult."

In Dominions 5, the Unrest added is roughly equal to the Unrest that friendly Dominion candles subtract, give-or-take one point if the local Dominion is an odd number. The only things that modify Unrest after this thing are the "Reduces Unrest" and "Causes Unrest" traits. Unrest can't be below zero at any point during the turn calculations, resulting in an Unrest "floor" for friendly provinces. Here are the effects of those "floors":

1	0-1	-1%	-0.5%	-0.5%
2	1	-2%	-1%	-1%
3	1-2	-2.9%	-1.5%	-1.5%
4	2	-3.8%	-2%	-2%
5	2-3	-4.8%	-2.5%	-2.4%
6	3	-5.7%	-3%	-2.9%
7	3-4	-6.5%	-3.5%	-3.4%
8	4	-7.4%	-4%	-3.8%
9	4-5	-8.3%	-4.5%	-4.3%
10	5	-9.1%	-5%	-4.8%

Like Pythium, Phlegra has innate Communion Slaves. These fellows typically have a magic path, unlike the Pythian equivalents, but this has a decent chance to mismatch with what the Masters possess. Phlegra also has innate Communion Masters, who automatically command these Slaves without the need for casting Communion Master (a spell they cannot cast anyway), and the nation also has a national item for providing the trait to other mages.

• Gigantomachia (Thaumaturgy 7)
  44 and 60
  Commentary here.
• Oppressors Headband (Construction 1)
  3 and 15
  Commentary here.

See Magic Access. These guides supplement the summaries at the top.

An Elder Cyclops with 2 or 1 (1 in 4 for both) can make a Staff of Elemental Mastery or Staff of Elemental Mastery, which can be very helpful. Both versions are difficult to get to, though.

22 from the hero, Phlegyas - Theurg Tyrant, with boosters can create a Staff of Elemental Mastery.

4 Phlegran Tyrant (1 in 4) is the best recruitable and also has 1. It can create a Skull of Fire.

Both 2 Trophimos Sage and Elder Cyclops (1 in 4 for all) are the highest MA Phlegra has. They don't have an Astral crosspath.

The hero, Phlegyas - Theurg Tyrant, has 2 and can create the unique Tome of High Power.

2 Trophimos Sage (1 in 4) is the highest recruitable mage but doesn't have crosspaths. 1 Elder Cyclops (1 in 4) and Trophimos Oppressor (1 in 2) have an Earth crosspath. With enough Water boosters, they can make a unique Orb of Atlantis.

Both 3 Elder Cyclops and Phlegran Tyrant (1 in 4 for both) are the highest recruitable mage but neither have helpful crosspaths.

No national access. The hero, Phlegyas - Theurg Tyrant, has 3, and can make a Coin of Meteoritic Iron, maybe a unique Tome of High Power, and with some boosters, the unique Atlas of Creation. Even more, a unique The Forbidden Light.

54, (hard to reach), can create The Magic Lamp for 3.

2 Phlegran Tyrant (1 in 4) is the strongest Death mage.

13, (such as a Phlegran Tyrant), can forge The Copper Arm, which allows holding more Death boosters. Also, it's not hard to get to 33 for the unique The Silver Arms.

1 Cyclops Shepherd Shaman is the only Nature mage recruitable.

No national access. 4 can cast Troll King's Court for a 1.

3 can Summon Spectre for a 7 in 16 chance of at least 1.

3 can cast Forest Troll Tribe for a 1 in 4 chance of at least 1.

No national access. 2 can Bind Keres and 4 can Gift of Reason the Ker, the Ker will have 1.

5 can Awaken Treelord for a 1 in 3 chance of 1.

How to win as the nation. Feel free to use the following sections, or delete them, or change them.

Different expansion options.

Early game options.

Mid game options.

Late game options.

What are the nation's weaknesses?

Add links to guides or other overviews for this nation here.

Nations
Early Ages	Arcoscephale • Ermor • Ulm • Pyrène, • Marverni • Sauromatia • T'ien Ch'i • Machaka • Mictlan • Abysia • Caelum • C'tis • Pangaea • Agartha • Tir na n'Og • Fomoria • Vanheim • Helheim • Niefelheim • Muspelheim • 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 • Pyrène • Marignon • Mictlan • T'ien Ch'i • Machaka • Agartha • Abysia • Caelum • C'tis • Pangaea • Asphodel • Vanheim • Jotunheim • Nidavangr • 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 • Feminie • Piconye • Andramania • Pyrène • Atlantis • R'lyeh • Erytheia