In the Lebor Gabála Érenn (also known as the Book of Invasions or the Invasion Cycle), there are six peoples who take Ireland. The first were the Cesairians, followers of one of the sons of Noah (from Noah's Ark), who were submerged with the Great Flood. The second were the Partholonians, who defeated a race of destructive gods known as the Fomorians but were then wiped out by a plague in a single week. The third were the Nemedians, who defeated the Fomorians four times but were then devastated by another plague, reduced to vassals of the Fomorians that were destroyed in a rebellion. The fourth were the Fir Bolg, who enjoyed independence for only 37 years; the fifth group, the Tuatha de Danann ("the tribe of the goddess Danu"), then swept in with supernatural powers and vassalized the Fir Bolg, contesting control of the island with the Fomorians until the legendary Lugh settled things for the Tuatha. The sixth and final group were the Milesians, the "modern Irish", who subdued the Tuatha's magic and then divided Ireland with them; the Milesians got the surface, while the Tuatha got the underside of Ireland and retreated to their new dominion through burial mounds known as "Sidhe".

Eriu (literally the Irish name for Ireland) is the Kingdom of the Milesians. In the Dominions version of things, the Sidhe (permanent residents of the under/otherworld in Irish mythology) were the noble descendants of the Tuatha and the direct Lords of the Fir Bolg, while the Tuatha preferred to stay on their favorite island, Tir na n'Og. When the Milesians arrived, they overwhelmed the Sidhe all at once, and the Tuatha failed to save the day with a heroic countercharge. Most of the surviving Tuatha fled to either Tir na n'Og or Ker-Ys, both of which vanished without a trace – Ker-Ys disappeared under the waves, but Tir na n'Og disappeared from the world altogether. The Milesians tried conquering Tir na n'Og instead of cleaning up, so the Sidhe and the last Tuatha that remained with them disappeared into faery lands underground through the mounds of ancient kings. The Fir Bolg were abandoned, of course, but the Milesians were firm in their position and interbred with their new vassals. Unlike the Witches of Man, the Milesians were unable to secure any of the Magical secrets of their conquered foes; luckily for them, the Sidhe have been encouraged to return to the world by a new Pretender, and the last of the Tuatha have followed them out.

Although much of the old Tir' na n'Og units are only found in their capital, They are still an archetypal "elf nation" possessing highly skilled elite troops who can use stealth and glamour to pull off surprise attacks and raids, as well as capable and cost-efficient thugs. While they lack the blood access of their Norse counterparts, they wield potent air and nature magic and have much more cost-efficient research than is typical for elves. Their Fir Bolg and Milesian troops also give them a reliable cheaper option for chaff once the prevalence of late-game spells makes pricey elves a liability on the battlefield. In summary, like TNN, Eriu is less of a blunt instrument than the likes of the Vanir or other nations, requiring finesse and specializing in controlling the flow of combat through stealth, raiding, and now also Diplomacy with your power dwindled compared to Tir' na n'Og. Their main weaknesses are the high cost of their best troops which are mostly Cap only, The mediocrity of other units, and the lack of magic diversity, being largely restricted to air and nature, along with the fragility of their elven units when faced with ranged attacks.

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Mound of Ancient Kings
Enables recruitment of Bean Sidhe, Tuatha, and Daoine Sidhe Generates 32 per turn.

Eriu has some pretty-ridiculous heroes, considering how average most of the faction is.

Sprite	Unit Name	Abilities	Comments
	Ferdiad - Fir Bolg Hero	Berserker (+5)	When's the last time you've seen a unique hero who's worse than their multihero counterpart? Anyway, Ferdiad is odd for having normal Defense while Berserked. He also has 17 Strength and 20 Attack while Berserked.
	Cu Chulainn - Hero	Awe (3) Fire Resistant (15) Trample Fire Shield (8) Berserker (+8) Mounted Mounted Berserker	An insane Trampler who still has 15 Defense while Berserked. He's the only Mounted unit who can go Berserk, by the way. His ludicrous Defense, Awe, and Fire Shield all make him a more-effective Trampler than most, at least at surviving; however, he doesn't have the HP of an Elephant, nor the size. Consider putting actual armor on him.
	Tuan - Last Partholonian Minimum arrival turn: 10	21429 Sacred Immortal Stealthy (65) Darkvision (50%) Glamour Spell Singer Iron Vulnerability (1) Adept Researcher (+10)	Calling Tuan "game-changing" for Eriu might be a stretch, but he's the star of the hero line-up. Virtually undetectable on the strategic map, immortal, and boasting Wailing Winds access without any extra gems or boosters; he can even cast Stygian Rains with a Water Bracelet. He even passes the threshold for summoning other Immortal Death-casters, if you have the gems to spare.
	Scathach - Trainer of Heroes	3215 Sacred Shock Resistance (5) Flying Stealthy (65) Darkvision (50%) Glamour Spell Singer Fortune Teller (15%) Female	Scathach is like Tuan, but with less magic in exchange for innate flight. You also have to be more careful with her, since she's not Immortal. Lastly, she's a better fighter than Tuan, but easier to instakill due to her lower Magic Resistance. If you don't need her, set her in your capital so she'll keep the bad events off of it.
	Fianna	Sacred Inspirational (+1) Multihero	Size-3 stats on a Size-2 fellow, owing to their Fomorian ancestry. Aside from that, they're like un-mounted Knights of the Stone or Bogatyrs; an excuse to not recruit new troop-leaders if you haven't gone 3.

Highest single paths:

4 on Tuatha - 6 with accessible boosters (Winged Helmet + Bag of Winds).

3 on Tuatha - 4 with a Thistle Mace.

2 on Bean Sidhe - 4 with accessible boosters (Water Bracelet + Robe of the Sea).

1 on Bean Sidhe and Tuatha - Earth Boots come at 2, just in case you're curious.

Notable crosspaths:

31 on Tuatha (and on Bean Sidhe with a Thistle Mace or extra gems) for casting Foul Vapors.

31 on Bean Sidhe with a W booster for casting Contact Naiad and Naiad Warriors.

Spells To support its army, Eriu mages can summon air / water / earth elementals (Evo3-7) as well as Swarm (Alt4/7). For larger armies recruit a Sorceress to cast Storm (Evo5) and use Storm Powered (Conj2) Sidhe Lords, A2 Bean Sidhe and Sidhe Champions to cast Lightning Bolts or air elementals and Thunder Strike (Evo4). Water mages can use Frozen Heart (Alt6) to kill elites / heavy armor, buff troops with Quickness / Wave Warriors / Fire Resistance and with a nature cross path Bone Melter (Alt5, aoe1 kill vs MR) can delete squares. Earth mages can Earth Boots or Earth Power and gems to buff with Legions of Steel / Strength of Giants and disable enemy iron equipment with Rust Mist (Evo2) / Iron Bane (Alt6). N2 Bean Sidhe can spam Swarm (Alt4) to put up some distracting blockers, buff troops with Wooden Warriors (Alt5) or poison enemies with Breath of the Dragon / Poison Cloud (Evo4-5). Earth mages, with Earth Boots or Earth Power and gems, can buff allies with Legions of Steel and Strength of Giants, while disabling enemy iron equipment with Rust Mist (Evo2) / Iron Bane (Alt5). For big battles consider using Howl (Conj5), Wind Guide (Alt4), Darkness (Alt6, with Kokythiad and LLV bless), Rain (vs fire) / Mist / Storm (Evo2-5) and Foul Vapors (Ench5, with PR bless).

List and describe any unique national items or discounts in this section, discuss and compare with similar generic items. Also discuss generic items that are useful and accessible for the nation. These may include:

• Thug gear (if the nation has good thugs)
• Research boosters (particularly if the nation needs help researching or is already very good at researching)
• Other items that synergize with the nation (e.g. Dwarven Hammers for MA Ulm)

Disclamer:With the rapidly changing meta nature of the game, thoses advices can be wrong, i strongly adviced to try everything in SP before

Original Post: All Nations Guide

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.

Mid-game is Eriu's strongest phase. Be more aggressive then usual to press your advantage with powerful air & nature magic and heavy raiding with Sidhe Lords to win the game early or get an overwhelming advantage for the late game. Key research objectives are Conj5 for Powers / Elementals, Evo5 for Storm / Thunder Strike, Alt7 for Wooden Warriors / Mother Oak / Marble Warriors / Mass Protection / Fog Warriors and Ench4 for Cloud Trapez / Seeking Arrow. Mother Oak (Alt5, N5) and Perpetual Storm (Evo6, A5) are good globals to put up.

An important tool for winning is to raid as many provinces per turn as possible with Sidhe Lords or Champion-led Daoine Sidhe to quickly take all of their provinces. Sidhe Lords are excellent raiders with Bless / Barkskin / Air Shield / Mistform / Personal Regeneration (Flight / Elemental Fortitude). Later, they can Cloud Trapez (Ench4) into enemy hinterlands as well as cut off retreats of enemy armies. They can be used with minimal equipment (Frost Brand) but are even better with a Vine Shield, armor (Kithaironic / Knight) and a repelling Dancing Trident. Call of the Winds and Call of the Wild (Conj3) can be effective against weak province defense but is quite expensive.

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

Use expansion parties of ~6-8 Daoine Sidhe or ~25 Fir Bolg led by a Champion to expand, combine them for hard provinces. Two Sidhe Lords without equipment can conquer weak to medium indy provinces, Elephant (trample) and Shaman / Tribe provinces (Tangle Vines) should be avoided. Alternate recruitment of Champions and Firbolg Druids until you build your first fort starting on turn 7/8. With more money recruit Sidhe Lords instead of Champions and Bean Sidhe instead of Druids. Site search with Bean Sidhe and research either Conj5 for Powers and Air Elementals or Conj3 + Evo5 for Storm and Thunder Strike first depending on whether neighbors have a Magic Weapons or Shock Resistance bless. With an awake Earth pretender, Const2 first for Owl Quills + Dwarven Hammers is also an option, otherwise it requires too many air gems that will be needed in your wars.

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