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EA Hinnom, Sons of the Fallen

Lore

Hinnom is a dry wasteland inhabited by giants. At the dawn of time, one the sacred Mount Hermon, six Angels in full celestial splendor descended to aid and instruct the land's giants. The Avvim were a people strong and beautiful of mind and body. They were adept students and their culture flourished under the tutelage of the Grigori, the angelic Watchers. But before long the Angels became enamored with the Avvim and taught them things that should not be taught. Tempted by the beauty of the Avvim, they took their daughters as wives and sinned before the Celestial Powers. Their offspring were Nephilim, giants of godlike power, abominable to the world. The Angels were imprisoned in the infernal Realms for their sins, but the Nephilim were partly of this world and could not be banished by the Celestial Powers. The Nephilim made themsalves kings over the Avvim, and they fathered sons who became known as the Rephaim. The Nephilim and their sons had unnatural appetites and consumed food, livestock, beasts, and finally their own offspring. With time, the Nephilim left Hinnom searching for a purpose and left their sons to rule the Avvim.

"Hinnom, Ashdod and Gath are heavily influenced by ancient Israelite, Canaanite and Philistine concepts. I have always been intrigued and fascinated by biblical mythology, and had long wanted to include the Nephilim and biblical Genesis myths into the game. However, I was worried that I would not do the sources justice, so it took a while before I finally got down to finish the nations. The Bible, the Book of Enoch, the Dead Sea scrolls, and the Ras Shamra texts of Ugarit and interpretations of these texts are the nations' main sources. Hinnom draws more heavily on the biblical and Enochian tradition, while the veneration of the deified dead kings of Ashdod draws inspiration from the Ras Shamra and Canaanite/Ugaritic concepts the dead. The Rephaim/r'p'm of the Ugaritic texts are ghosts or deified dead rather than giants, so Ashdod turned out a bit different than I first intended, with death magic replacing blood. The shift from blood to death gave the nation a different and interesting mood. I have looked a bit at Sumerian and Babylonian history when designing Hinnom and Ashdod. Gath, on the other hand draws more heavily from Israelite and Philistine concepts. Early Israelite religion and history with a centralized cult at the temple and Israelite tribes, combined with David and Goliath's legends are obvious sources for the late iteration of the nation. I wanted the nation to be an abomination, slowly becoming more civilized throughout the ages. Hinnom is perhaps more than any other nation in the game an evil nation. I'm not very fond of the concept of evil, but it would be difficult to claim that the cannibalistic giants of Hinnom are anything but." - Illwinter

General Overview

EA Hinnom has a variety of tough size 3 giant troops, a broad selection of magic paths, affliction healers, recruitable Super Combatants, national blood summons, and national longdead giants. Horite Shamans, Ammis, and Achas are strong and versatile mages in their own right, but the show's real stars are the Rephaim! Kohenim fuel your blood economy, Ba'alim are powerful mages who can sabbath and boost their way up to cast a great variety of powerful spells, Rephaite Warriors are some of the best sacred giants in the game, featuring 2 attacks each, high prot, amazing stats, and even magic weapons, lastly the Melqarts are Hinnom's recruitable Super Combatants, which Hinnom can buff, fluff, and equip to be among the best Super Combatants in the entire game.

While Hinnom has many paths available to it (7 paths in total, 6 of which are at level 2 or higher), crosspaths are a rarity; only the Rephaites and the Horite Shamans have any cross paths, and the Rephaites generally only mix Blood with Earth, Astral, or Fire. While depth in a given magic path is rarely an issue for Hinnom, their lack of cross paths can seriously cut down on the spells available to them and the items they can forge; notably, Hinnom misses out on Earth/Fire and Earth/Astral crosspaths for the Shield of Gleaming Gold and the Cyrstal Coin as well as Gifts from Heaven and Magma Eruption. Hinnom's Rephaites also suffer from their great hunger, disturbing and even eating the population, Melqarts doing so at the prodigious rate of 80 population and 8 unrest per turn each! With even their basic blood hunter, the Kohen Eating 20 population and causing 2 unrest each to turn, their blood economy will be particularly disruptive to their gold economy and will burn provinces to the ground in short order. Were it not for their Need Not Eat tag so that they can be safely sent to a barren wasteland when not needed elsewhere, Rephaites would soon ruin Hinnom's capital.

While Hinnom's Rephaite Warriors are generally inferior to their successors, the Ahiman Anakites, they are still strong sacreds for much the same reasons and can easily be made into nearly indestructible demi-gods. Hinnom also has the blood economy to make extensive use of its national Se'irim summon to supplement their capital only giants. Unlike Ashdod, Hinnom does not need to expand with its sacreds and can easily produce expansion parties each turn composed of Avvite Charioteers, though they will rapidly become obsolete against players.

EA Hinnom is a powerful nation in all stages of the game and can be played with a focus on scales or bless, and under either strategy will experience a strong early, middle, and late game.

National Features

Hinnom has a temperature preference for +2 heat and is able to sacrifice blood slaves to spread their dominion. Hinnom also has national longdead Rephaites. These are well-liked because they are larger and more dangerous than generic longdead. These national longdead can be most easily accessed through the Enchantment 1 ritual spell Reanimation which can be easily cast by any Horite Shaman.

Special Race Attributes Military Magic Access Priests Buildings
Prefers Heat Scale +2
Wasteland Survival
Avvim:
Size 3
1 Base PROT
+14 HP vs. Humans
+5 STR vs. Humans
+1 ATT & DEF vs. Humans
+2 MR & MOR vs. Humans
Horim:
Caveman traits
Size 3
2 Base PROT
Stronger than Avvim
Dumber than Avvim
-2 MR vs. Humans
Rephaim:
Size 5
3-5 Base PROT
Sharp Horns
Fire Resistance (7-8)
Need not Eat
Hedonism
Strong Medium Infantry
Tramplers
Population Killers
Healers
National Longdead
blood 33
fire 33 (33%, Rare 4)
earth 33 (33%, Rare 4)
astral 33 (33%, Rare 4)
nature 22
air 22 (25%)
death 11
National Heroes:
astral 44, air 44, fire 44, earth 44, nature 44, blood 44
National Late Game Summons
astral 55, air 44, fire 44, earth 44, nature 44, blood 55 (requires blood 88)
Weak Priests (holy 11)
Blood sacrifice
( Pros)
Giant Forts
  • Mercenaries are 25% more expensive.
  • Your Melqarts (Rephaite Kings) might eat your Rephaite Warriors, if they're in the same province. This happens as a Random Event. Your Rephaite Warriors might eat your Avvite Charioteers, too, horses and all.

Capital Special Sites

Mount Hermon Gomorrah

Provides 2earthgem per turn
Provides 2firegem per turn
Provides 1astralpearl per turn

Enables recruitment of:
- Melqarts
- Ba'als
- Rephaite Warriors
Provides 2bloodslave per turn

National Units

As a Giant nation, your units have greater Strength and HP, but the army has fewer units in a square. They have above-average moral and MR. Horites are naked Giants with bad MR, but they alternatively Resist Heat and Cold damage.

Your Size 5 units "got the nasty habit of eating people alive." They will depopulate provinces quickly if left stationary, so either keep them moving or park them to a province you don't care about.

Commanders

Your commanders are giants and half-giants; they're more expensive than most guys, but they're also much more resilient. Tramplers such as Air Elementals and battlefield wipes such as Earthquake will be less likely to obliterate them, allowing the mages to get their spells out and allowing the troops to avoid early routing.

Image Unit Name Special Attributes Comments
Avvite Scout
40
16
1
Stealthy (50)
Wasteland Survival
Mountain Survival
Forest Survival
While very expensive for scouting, the Avvite scout is a fairly-cheap option for raiding pathetic PD.
32 upkeep (2.67 gold per turn).
WHERE ARE THEIR NECKS?! Qedesim
65
2
1
holy 11
Sacred
Wasteland Survival
The Qedesim is a half-Giant Priest. While not trained for fighting, he's your cheapest vessel for your Bless.
(Dawn Guards are cheaper, but they need leadership, which isn't cheap in Hinnom.)
26 upkeep (2.17 gold per turn).
Qedesot
70
2
1
holy 11
Sacred
Wasteland Survival
The Qedesots, mothers of Ashdod's giants, are the weakest of the Avvim.
Despite that, they get an upcharge due to their 10 Leadership, which makes them Rephaim-herders.
28 upkeep (2.33 gold per turn).
Avvite Commander
85
26
1
Wasteland Survival 80 Leadership, take it or leave it. It might seem like overkill, but it's what you have.
68 upkeep (5.67 gold per turn).
Horite Shaman
90
2
2
earth 11death 11nature 11 5
Resist fire(5)
Resist cold(5)
Darkvision (50%)
Supply bonus (10)
Wasteland Survival
Mountain Survival
Horite Shamans (or are they Shamen?) have a decent spread of paths for combat.
They're low, but a 1naturegem can get the Horite in light-thugging shape, while a 1deathgem can make them raise Rephaite bones.
There's also site-searching; they won't find everything, but skimming three paths at once is neat.
72 upkeep (6 gold per turn).
Ammi
120
2
2
random2200% 9
Wasteland Survival
Fortune Teller (15%)
The Ammi are your most effective researchers for their price.
Hoping for an air 22 might get annoying, but all four types are useful.
96 upkeep (8 gold per turn).
Acha
160
2
2
nature 22 9
Wasteland Survival
Healer(2)
Supply bonus (20)
The Acha are nature 22 mages and healers of afflictions.
They can cast Mass Protection for two Nature gems.
Keep them around your supercombatants to heal and fluff them.
128 upkeep (10.67 gold per turn).
Kohen
250
8
2
blood 11holy 11random1100% 9
Sacred
Resist Fire (6)
Wasteland Survival
Gluttony (10)
Kills Population (20)
Cause Unrest (+2/Month)
Need not Eat
Kohanim are the only Rephaim and Blood Mages you can recruit off-capital.
The other Rephaim are much better as thugs, but they're not as widespread.
They're your best blood hunters en masse, but their Rephaite nature makes them less than ideal.
100 upkeep (8.33 gold per turn).
Ba'al
455
3
4
Capital Only
blood 22holy 11random3300%
10%
15
Sacred
Fear (5)
Resist Fire (8)
Wasteland Survival
Gluttony (15)
Kills Population (50)
Cause Unrest (+5/Month)
Need not Eat
For all of their hedonism and sins, the Ba'als are darn good Mages.
fire 33's go wide with damage output.
astral 33's pick off single targets (but can also provide Luck).
earth 33's provide all sorts of support.
All Ba'als can Sabbath into Communions (at a bit of a cost) and/or Reinvigorate in battle, thanks to their blood 22.
The possible crosspaths that 10% random provides make them even better.
182 upkeep (15.17 gold per turn).
Melqart
485
101
4
Capital Only
blood 33holy 11random2200% 15
Sacred
Fear (5)
Adept Sacrificer (3)
Resist Fire (8)
Wasteland Survival
Gluttony (20)
Kills Population (80)
Cause Unrest (+8/Month)
Need not Eat
The Melqarts are warrior-Ba'als, fully-equipped and juiced to the gills.
Their Fear aura makes them Dai Oni without the weaknesses, though also without Death, Air, or that extra life.
Their blood 33 lets them use Hell Power, just in case you want them MORE powerful.
Outside of battle, Melqarts are your fastest Blood Hunters and Blood Sacrificers, though also your most destructive.
194 upkeep (16.17 gold per turn).

Troops

Sprite Unit Name Special Attributes Comments
Enkidu Slave
11
2
3
Slave Are bad at fighting but are gold efficent siege chaff, Great a cracking forts quickly.
In battle, keep them in the back, having a lot of HP in reserve can stop your other units from HP routing.
Horite
20
1
4
Resist Cold (5)
Resist Fire (5)
Darkvision (50%)
Wasteland Survival
Mountain Survival
Horite are mere naked men of the wild.
During the early to mid game they work out as high strength glass cannon units.
Their clubs outdamage the prot of most units.
They resist the fatiguing effects of hot and cold, fast map move, and are even more respectable units when fighting in the dark.
They fall of by late game because of their low MR.
Regular Horites are the most spammable of the three, mix Horite Hunters in your units to reduce enemy Att and Def (especially when facing Elves).
Horite Champions are improved Horites in every way.
Horite Hunter
23
3
13
Resist Cold (5)
Resist Fire (5)
Darkvision (50%)
Wasteland Survival
Mountain Survival
Horite Champion
25
2
10
Resist Cold (5)
Resist Fire (5)
Darkvision (50%)
Wasteland Survival
Mountain Survival
Avvite Light Infantry
25
14
15
Wasteland Survival Expander unit with a javelin.
Avvite Spearman
25
23
15
Wasteland Survival Alternative to Swordman. Light Infantry with more armor.
Has a ranged weapon to disrupt enemy formation but may also disruptd your own lines when they throw.
Pierce damage is situationally better than slashing against high prot targets.
Avvite Swordsman
25
25
15
Wasteland Survival Cost efficient line units, two in a square will win most matchups against another square of most other line units.
You will start to feel the upkeep later in the game as you mass more of them.
Avvite Heavy Archer
25
35
15
Wasteland Survival High prot, high damage, longbows.
Devastating second line, especially when buffed.
Avvite Horn Blower
35
25
24
Wasteland Survival
Standard (1)
Siege Bonus (5)
Boosts troop morale even higher and cost effective siege strenth.
Are not fighters, so mix them in with fighters.
Slightly slower then other melee troops so less likly to get killed.
Dawn Guard
40
32
28
Wasteland Survival
Bodyguard (2)
Avvite Swordsman with magic weapons and are bodyguards.
Expensive but still a good unit later game where magic weapons bypass spells like Fog Warriors.
Bodyguards with Magic weapons are good at their job when Ethereal assassins start coming out.
Avvite Charioteer
75
31
51
Trample
Wasteland Survival
A great expander, able to trample over indies with ease, while javelins also dealing with barbarian indies.
They are still expensive and players can counter chariots.
fine to get a few for early game expantions.
Rephaite Warrior
130
53
29
Capital Only
Sacred
Resist Fire (7)
Wasteland Survival
Gluttony (10)
Kills Population (20)
Cause Unrest (+2/Month)
Need not Eat
Expensive but strong unit, high stats, two high damage attacks with one being magical.
You have to be aggressive with them if you mass recruit them, to prevent them from devouring all your tax payers.
Very strong in the early game will eventualy fall off when the game transitions to late game with all its giant counters.

Heroes

By midgame you have the chance for the Nephilim, Children of Watchers, fathers of the Rephaites.
They are all lager Melqarts with the following features: Sacred, Fear (5), Resist fire (15), Wasteland Survival, Gluttony (50)
Kills Population (120), Cause Unrest (+12 Per Month), Need Not Eat

They even more destructive to your population, so Keep them in the Rephaites parking lot.

Sprite Unit Name Special Attributes Comments
Son of Azazel
Minimum hero arrival turn: 20
fire 22astral 22blood 44holy 22 21 The best fighter. (+1 ATT/DEF)
Son of Semyaza
Minimum hero arrival turn: 20
nature 44blood 33holy 11 19
healer (3)
Resist poison (22)
Dec
Son of Ezekiel
Minimum hero arrival turn: 20
air 44blood 33holy 11 19
Resist shock (22)
The most Precise. (+2 PRE)
Son of Shamshiel
Minimum hero arrival turn: 20
fire 44blood 33holy 11 19
Resist fire (22)
Dec
Son of Kokabel
Minimum hero arrival turn: 20
astral 44blood 33holy 11 19 Dec
Son of Arakiel
Minimum hero arrival turn: 20
earth 44blood 33holy 11 19 The strongest. (+3 STR)

Magic

National Spells & Summons

Hinnom has 5 national spells, Summon Se'irim, Summon Shedim, Release Lord of Civilization, Summon Mazzikim, and Summon Lilot.

Reanimation is effectively a national spell, as many of the troops it will generate are Rephaite longdead. These longdead are superior in both damage output and durability and can support Hinnom's conventional forces. 50% of them are Longdead Rephaite, Longdead Rephaite, or Longdead Rephaite,

  • Summon Mazzikim nature 11 Conj 3 for 3naturegem ( Mazzikx8). trades nature gems for Imps and can be a useful way to harass opposing mages or to force them to take troops away from the front lines to act as guards.
  • Summon Lilot nature 44 Conj 5 for 15naturegem ( Lilot). Discount Succubus that use Nature gems. They use dream seduction instead of normal seduction so they need to pass an additional MR check vs 16 to seduce, the Morale check is unusually strong in exchange. At only 15 gems, they are not a bad summon to harass enemies trying to besiege your forts.
  • Summon Se'irim blood 22 Blood 3 for 23bloodslave ( Se'irx2). is a national staple which produces outrageously good sacred demons called Se'irim and should be cast frequently throughout the game; any Kohen with a blood thorn can cast it.
  • Summon Shedim blood 33air 11 Blood 4 for 28bloodslave ( Shedx3). Also produces excellent demons, Shedim, although they are not sacred their storm power and ability to do high, armor negating, shock damage more than makes up for that, their only downside is the difficulty Hinnom has in summoning them, often needing to empower and air random Ammi and give them boosters.
  • Release Lord of Civilization blood 88 Blood 8 for 177bloodslave. Release Lord of Civilization Summons one of the 6 outrageously powerful titular Lords of Civilization, or Grigori, the Fallen Fathers mentioned in Hinnom's epithet. The Grigori are so powerful that they can not be wished for, a property that even the Doom Horrors lack. Release Lord of Civilization is also the second most expensive spell in the game after Merkavah which summons not just one Chayot but also 4 Ophans along with it. Little more needs to be said about the Grigori than that they are well worth their price and earnestly deserving of the no-wish tag. If Hinnom is in a position to Release the Lords of Civilization, then the game is likely already won, and Hinnom just needs to claim the last thrones.

Magic Access

Hinnom can access the following paths on their recruitable mages, without counting heroes, summons, or 10% randoms;

  • Fire 3
  • Air 2
  • Earth 3 → 5 with Construction 6 Boosters!
  • Astral 3 → 4 with Construction 6 Boosters!
  • Death 1
  • Nature 2 → 3 with Construction 4 Boosters!
  • Blood 3 → 4 with Construction 6 Boosters!

To get earth 55, give an earth 33 Ba'al Earth Boots and a Blood Stone (crafted with an earth 22blood 33 Melqart). If you're willing to get to Construction 8, you can then give that same earth 22blood 33 Melqart a Blood Thorn and have him craft a Pebble Skin Suit, bringing your Earth access up to earth 66. You should then cast Earth Blood Deep Well, simply to flex on Agartha with your superior Earth access (unless they've already summoned an Earth King or gotten a one-in-forty earth 55 Oracle).

Combat Magic

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

Ritual Magic

FIXME What is the best ritual you could cast. Are their 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)?

National Items

FIXME nation exclusive items

National Discount Items


The Wall Shaker (Const 4, air 33, 15airgem) topples Walls faster and scares off guys who would outnumber you, in case Horim aren't cutting it. Unfortunately, you don't have air 33, unless you go the Empowerment route (45airgem) or the Pretender route.

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.

See More

hinnom-ea.txt · Last modified: 2024/03/21 20:09 by johnnydown