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marignon-la

LA Marignon, Conquerors of the Sea

Lore

"In the late era the Spanish influence is heavier than the Albigensian. Later Gothic concepts of occultism and devil worship are incorporated along with seafaring and missions abroad." – Illwinter

Let’s start with the good news: Marignon defeated Ermor. It took everything that they had, and each & every Knight of the Chalice perished in the penultimate battle, but Eldregate had finally been put to rest. The Holy Chalice itself was captured and brought to the House of Fiery Justice, posthumously completing the Sacred task. The bad news is that this required a Deal with the Devil(s); as other Kingdoms fell to Ermor, Marignon’s leaders had the Inquisition strike a bargain with infernal forces, and Blood Magic was accepted by the feudal theocracy. Marignon’s army became dependent on the Devils that the Infernal Lords supplied, especially in the face of ever-mounting Undead hordes, and the Infernal Lords themselves were called to smite Ermor after the previously-mentioned penultimate battle exhausted both sides’ forces. Marignon had thus taken on a debt that they could never repay, and anything that might placate the Infernal Lords is now permitted as long as the Inquisition oversees it. Still, blood-spilling is a lot less worrisome for Marignon’s nobles when it’s on their terms, and many of them are now looking for stuff to do. Recent advancements in shipbuilding and navigation have allowed them (and the Priests) to look to distant shores, with God, Gold, & Glory in mind.

General Overview

Similar to Ulm, Marignon undergoes a bloody transformation in the Late Ages. Instead of the straightforwardly powerful sacred cavalry of MA Marignon, LA Marignon gains a serious blood economy and expertise in Devil-summoning. However, its expansion can be challenging due to its horrible starting army and a complete lack of shields in a crossbow-heavy age. Its magic access is also quite shallow, in line with most nations of the Late Ages.

In the hands of a player who can overcome these challenges, LA Marignon promises enormous scaling potential and overwhelming demon power at bargain-bin prices. Its troop roster is solid, its mages are cost-efficient, and it is just as capable of spiraling out of control as any other blood power.

National Features

Race Military Magic Access Priests Buildings
Average Humans
High Morale
Two-handed Weapons
Expensive Heavy Armor
Good Bodyguards
fire 33 (rare 4)
blood 33 (rare 4)
air 22
water 22
astral 22
earth 11 (uncommon, rare 2)
nature 11 (uncommon)
National Summons
air 33, fire 44, fire 44air 44astral 44, death 33
holy 33 Cap-only
holy 22 in Forts
Good Patrollers
Inquisitors
+1 Fire Bless points.
+1 Astral Bless points.
+1 Blood Bless points.
Blood Sacrifice
Standard Forts (Citadels)
Start with a Grand Citadel
Masons (Grand Citadel)

The Inquisition

Marignon is held together (more or less) by its Inquisition, the militant fist of the House of Justice's militant arm, the House of Just Fires. These guys repel hostile Dominion even if you haven't hired them, in provinces and forts that belong to you, having a 30% chance to remove an enemy candle from each of these places each turn (and a 60% chance if there's a Temple). They're less effective at spreading your own Dominion, able to do so only to a maximum of 1 candle (2 where there's a Temple).

Capital Special Sites

The House of Justice The Royal Academy
Enables recruitment of:
* High Inquisitors
* Goetic Masters
* Hand of Justice
Kills Undead (25% chance)
Produces 1firegem per turn
Enable recruitment of:
* Architects
* Admirals
* Royal Navigators
Produces 1airgem2astralpearl per turn
  • The House of Fiery Justice's holiness does 10 Armor-Negating Magical Damage to roughly half of the Undead in its province each turn (Magic Resistance negates).
  • Prefers starting on a Coastal province.

Notable Units

FIXME General description of the units in the nations rooster, any standouts, shared qualities aka temperature, any foreign rec, what makes a good basis for planning around

Commanders

Sprite Unit Name Special Attributes Comments
Scout
25
4
1
Stealthy (50)
Mountain Survival
Forest Survival
National scout. The Late Ages have plenty of indie scouts, making these mostly unnecessary.
Assassin
60
7
1
Stealthy (65)
Assassin (1)
Ambidextrous (2)
Sailing (2,2)
Unlike MA Marignon, LA Marignon has a very potent assassin item in the form of the Lifelong Protection, which makes its assassins a much more significant threat.
Troubadour
80
5
2
Stealthy (70)
Seduction
Spy
Allows LA Marignon to collect mundane score graphs if desired. A useful tool to help gauge the relative strength of enemy economies.
Lieutenant
40
9
1
60 leadership commander that cannot sail.
Captain
55
22
1
Sailing (4,999) 60 leadership sailing commander.
Admiral
100
22
1
Capital Only
Sailing (6,999) 80 leadership sailing commander. LA Marignon's sole formation-capable commander can only be recruited from the capital, making them a good deal more precious than on many other nations. They are also able to sail up to size 6 units, as opposed to the maximum of size 4 on lower-level commanders.
Goetic Captain
65
22
2
random020%
Sailing (4,999)
A 60 leadership sailing commander with a token amount of undead leadership and a small chance to be a blood mage.
Missionary
50
1
1
+ Foreign Rec
holy 11
Sacred
Sailing (4,999)
A cheap, foreign-recruit priest.
Inquisitor
110
1
2
holy 22random1100% 7
Sacred
Inquisitor
patrol bonus (10)
Old Age (55/50)
Extra effective at preaching out enemy dominion. Half will also be able to blood hunt, with the other half casting minor fire magic.
Diabolist
65
1
2
fire 11blood 11 9 A very cheap blood hunter. Cannot sail.
Goetic Adept
115
1
2
fire 11blood 11random1100% 11 A good deal more expensive than the Diabolist for one extra magic path. Often less efficient as blood hunters than the Diabolist on a per-gold basis, but they can unlock some important battle magic in sabbaths. Cannot sail.
Chartmaker
70
2
2
Coastal Forts Only
air 11random1100% 9
Sailing (4,999)
Cheap coastal mage, though it has somewhat unreliable combat ability. water 11s have little to contribute prior to Frozen Heart at Alteration 6, whereas astral 11s can lay down the astral buffs or join communions.
Plague Doctor
80
2
2
random020%
Resist Poison (5)
Disease Resistant (100)
Stealthy (40)
Disease Healer (2)
Plague Doctor (3)
Can be used to cure diseases on old mages or to inflict diseases on an enemy army.
They do not need labs to recruit and 20% have some nature magic, which can be added to communions using Crystal Matrices in a pinch.
Architect
55
52
1
Capital Only
Siege Bonus (25)
Castle Defence Bonus (25)
Mason
In the late age, citadels are standard, meaning the Architect no longer unlocks another bonus CP. The Grand Citadel which it provides access to is expensive, but has very high wall strength. The architect doubles as a way to quickly gold-purchase siege strength that can move itself around, though it costs capital recruitment points.
Royal Navigator
160
2
2
Capital Only
air 11water 11astral 11random1100%
13
Sailing (6,999)
A more senior Chartmaker with reliable access to all of its paths, and enough depth to make more use of the path which it randoms.
High Inquisitor
210
1
4
Capital Only
holy 33random1100% 7
Sacred
Inquisitor
Patrol Bonus (10)
Old Age (71/50)
120 leadership commander and holy 33 priest, providing access to recruitable throne-claimers and battlefield-wide blesses. Reasonably priced and solid utility, although being slow to recruit makes them more difficult to recruit compared to Bogarus's Eparchs in the same age. blood 11s can join sabbaths to cast even higher level holy magic, such as Fanaticism.
Goetic Master
265
1
4
Capital Only
fire 22blood 22holy 11random1100%
10%

15
Sacred
Old Age (52/46)
An upgraded Goetic Adept. It does not provide much that the Adept lacks in terms of path access, although its increased depth in fire and blood has some forging applications.

Troops

Marignon's main lineup is stronger than Jomon's but suffers the same weakness of lacking shields in the age of crossbows.

Sprite Unit Name Special Attributes Comments
Flagellant
Gold 10
4
5
+ Foreign Rec
Sacred
Start Affliction (75)
Despite being crippled naked men, Flagellants are killy (if fragile) troops. They do lose out to other infantry as mainline expanders and line units as they die too quickly to be cost-effective prior to protection buffs like Marble Warriors.
Crossbowman
Gold 10
10
9
Cheap crossbows with low protection. Supported by Marignon's access to Flaming Arrows.
City Guard
Gold 8
10
5
Castle Defence Bonus (1) Cheap Halberdier that is poorly trained but uses fewer resources. Their low morale, melee stats and protection come together to make them function very poorly as line troops.
Pikeneer
Gold 10
20
9
Marignon is able to recruit three kinds of cheap, two-hander infantry, each characterized by medium protection, solid damage output and mediocre combat skills.

Pikeneers compare somewhat poorly to the others, lacking the damage output of the other two and having low defence skill, though they are able to repel more kinds of weapons.
Halberdiers deal more overall damage and hold walls up slightly better, while Swordsmen have the best melee stats due to their great sword, and have the best protection of all three.

These troops are all rather vulnerable to crossbow fire due to lacking shields.
Swordsman
Gold 10
28
9
Halberdier
Gold 10
22
9
Castle Defence Bonus (1)
Palace Guard
Gold 20
27
31
Castle Defence Bonus(2) Elite Halberdier.
Better protection and body armor at double the cost and extra fatigue.
Royal Guard
Gold 20
33
31
Bodyguard (3) Well-armored infantry with good melee stats, but comes at a significant premium.
Hand of Justice
19
22
21
Capital Only
Sacred
Castle Defence Bonus (1)
Patrol Bonus (3)
Sacred mixture of Halberdiers and Palace Guards. Cap only but they have less upkeep than Halberdiers while being better a patrolling out unrest from blood hunting.

Heroes

Sprite Unit Name Special Attributes Comments
Carmont - Cardinal fire 11astral 11holy 44 9
Sacred
Inquisitor
One of the rare few priests that can cast Fanaticism without a communion, and he can still join one to cast Divine Channeling.
Luck into a Throne claimer and Preacher without spending 2 cap turns.
Tomaso del Monferrada - Witch Hunter General fire 33astral 22holy 22 15
Sacred
Fire Resistance(5)
Combat Caster
patrol bonus(15)
Inquisitor
Mounted
A one-off thug chassis. Can do some solo raiding with Evocation and proper thug gear. He can make good on the self-protection spells in Astral and make use of the immortality of Phoenix Pyre.
Angelique d'Armant - Heroine Inspirational (1)
Mounted
Female
Massive army leader.

Magic

Magic Access

At a glance, LA Marignon has access to the following paths for rituals and forging:

Elemental

  • fire 33 on Goetic Masters
  • air 22 on Royal Navigators
  • water 22 on Royal Navigators, water 77 via Water Bracelet, Robe of the Sea, Sea King's Court and Queen of Elemental Water
  • earth 11 on Goetic Adepts and Masters

Sorceries

  • astral 22 on Royal Navigators, astral 33 via Starshine Skullcap
  • No reliable nature access. 20% chance on Plague Doctors
  • No recruitable death access
  • blood 33 on Goetic Masters, realistically as much blood as required via empowering and boosters.

In combat, all the elements can be brought into communions, though earth and fire communions require slave-expensive sabbaths.

Due to the ease of blood empowerment, Reascendance is an accessible (though research-intensive) route into death 33.

National Spells

Combat

  • Evocation 4 fire 22: Holy Pyre
    A situational side-grade to Falling Fires that is somewhat difficult more difficult to cast with LA Marignon's mages than MA Marignon's. It is a decent alternative to Fireball in that it is not a missile spell, and thus has a much higher likelihood of hitting the enemy.

Rituals

  • Conjuration 6 astral 44 for 25astralpearl: Contact Harbinger ( Harbinger×1)
    LA Marginon does not get enough Astral to summon any of the Angels watching it, meaning empowerment or pretender assistance is essentially required to access this. As an air 33holy 22 Angel, the Harbinger provides access to magic-phase thuggery and a mobile alternative to communions for casting high-air combat magic.
  • Conjuration 7 astral 33fire 11 for 35astralpearl: Heavenly Wrath ( Angel of Fury×1)
    A thug chassis that cannot bless itself. Comes with a potent anti-undead/demon weapon and decent combat stats, but is hindered by its lack of paths.
  • Conjuration 7 astral 55 for 50astralpearl: Angelic Host ( Arch Angel×1 + Angel of the Host(unit)×6)
    An fire 44holy 33 Angel with a big flaming sword & a small entourage of smaller big-flaming-sword-users.
  • Conjuration 9 astral 77fire 22 for 144astralpearl: Heavenly Choir ( Seraph×1 + Angel of the Heavenly Choir(unit)×9 + Harbinger(unit)×3)
    An fire 44air 44astral 44holy 44 Angel with a large entourage of smaller angels that could be made more-useful with Divine Name; the Harbingers are the same as those summoned by Contact Harbinger, while the Angels of the Heavenly Choir can be made into excellent commanders.
  • Blood 1 blood 11 for 1bloodslave: Bind Harlequin: ( Demon Jester×1)
    A standard-bearing demon, though this quality is really only useful for demons as mixed undead and non-undead squads take a -1 morale penalty by default. Extremely cheap compared to the generic Devil, but mage turn-intensive and a good deal weaker.
  • Blood 7 blood 44astral 11 for 88bloodslave: Reascendance ( Fallen Angel×1)
    An fire 33death 33blood 33 Arch Angel with a fear aura and a more-sinister sword, this summon is an excellent way to break into death. However, it is somewhat fragile for supercombatant duty, being both a magic being and a demon.

Combat Magic

Communions are the Basis of your combat magic.

Navigators form lighting batteries including Storm and, Conjure Air Elementals. your army needs Arrow Fend to get them by without shields against crossbows, Though Mist, or Teach men to fly with Gift of Flight as an earlier counter. Poler to your blood mages, Water is cold magic, Freezing Mist, Falling Frost, and Frozen Hearts as an alternative to shock damage.

They also single out enemies with Mind Burn/Paralyze and Soul Slay. Body Ethereal, Battle Fortune and Antimagic make your troops tough along with Fog Warriors, and Quickening.

Your Cultist on the other side provides a flipside for your Navigators, creating Blood communions, Throwing Fire spell, Buffing with earth, sniping with blood, and conjuring Horrors. The sabbath buffs with spell-like Iron Warriors, Strength of Giants, Rush of Strength

Get anti-thug/Supercombatent Curse of Stones, Maws of the Earth, Blood Boil, Agony, Harm, Life for a Life, Magma Eruption, Call Horror, Astral Fires.

Depending on how you set up your scale or in which climate your fighting in, You can lean into Cold or Fire as your main source of AOE damage.

Ritual Magic

Your Rituals of Summoning Devils. Starting with cultist Bind Devil, then casting Ritual of Five Gates for more diverse summons. Late game conjuring Arch Devils and Heilophagus.

A use of Fire gems is Terracotta Army to replace the human element.

As a late game goal, by Blood 8 you can summon a Fallen Angel to make Vampire Lords.

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)?

Despite being humans, You have access to a lot of good thug items for your Angles and Demons.

Evening Star, Carmine Cleaver, Frost Brand.

Helmet of Heroes and Horn of Valor grants an extra +2 from your Admiral.

Handful of Acorns or Bottle of Living Water for your assassin.

Crystal Matrix with Plague Doctor.

Boost your mage hitting power with combination Eye of Aiming, Eye of the Void, Spell Focus.

National Discount Items

  • Construction 2 blood 33fire 11 for 72bloodslave4firegem: Soul Contract
    A situational way to spend your early Slaves. Conjures a devil every turn for as long as you keep the commander alive.
    You have to make sure that paper stays in your possession for a long time to earn those slaves back instead of summoning 10 devils normally, or save it for vampires. Can be hard to keep due to a chance of being attacked by horrors and stealing that paper.
  • Construction 4 blood 22 for 32bloodslave: Lifelong Protection
    Summons 2 Imps every round of each battle. Excellent for generating chaff and highly scale-able. Cancerous on Assassins.

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

marignon-la.txt · Last modified: 2024/07/09 05:03 by johnnydown