EA Oceania, Coming of the Capricorns

Lore

Everything on land has a correspondence under water. Just like kingdoms formed on Dry Land, so did kingdoms form in the Sea, and just like the Wild rebelled against the encroaching civilization, so did the first Triton kingdom suffer the wrath of the underwater wilds. Oceania is an underwater realm of wild half-men, animals and guardians of the Kelp Forests. But Oceania is also a realm of the shores, where the stormy seas meet stable land. It is a nation of borders and transition, change and adaptability. Most of it's inhabitants have the ability to change their shapes and cross the boundaries of the sea. Sirens, Capricorns and Ichtysatyrs all share the ability and affinity for change and adaptability. Sirens use it to change their shape and lure the unwary to a watery grave. Capricorns and Ichtysatyrs use it to raid and spread turmoil and chaos in coastal provinces. With the coming of the Awakening God the Capricorns lead the half-men in conquest above as well as below the waves.

Overview

Oceania is an interesting nation to play in. At heart, Oceania is Pangea that trade many strengths to be Underwater. You have some of the best nature access in the game with your Capricorns having as much nature as Pangea's Pans. To go alongside Oceania's similarities to Pangea, you also can grow forts in shallow sea provinces. This bypasses your primitive fort penalty as you can still get 2 Command point forts. You also have decent earth and water access, which allows you to buff up your high defense troops and give every underwater nation a hard time. The last special trait of Oceania is in all non-coastal provinces, you dominion boosts the scale order by 1, and in coastal provinces, it lowers Order by 2. This allows you to still make your high recruitment cost troops underwater and make your mages with chaos recruitment cheaper on the coast.

National Features

Race	Military	Magic Access	Priests	Buildings
Mer-Halfmen Superior magic resistance Amphibious Recuperation	Primitive equipment Stealthy Units	4 (Rare 5) 3 (Rare 4) 2 (Rare 3) 1 (Rare 2)	Weak (1) (2 underwater only) temple cost 200	Bramble Forts Forts can be summoned with nature magic +2 in costal provinces +1 in other provinces Can build Underwater Forts

Capital Special Sites

add the site pics

The Grove of Aphros
Enables recruitment of: Generates 24 per turn. Aphroi Lord Aphroi

Units

Much of Oceania's good Troops are underwater, with the cheap wall chaff unit Being available on the coast.

Like Pangea, Your Units Sports Recuperation to Heal afflictions, Fast Map move, A MR of At least 13 to Reist enemy magic, plus many of your commanders and Ichtysatyrs have Stealth to hid the movements of smaller armies and to raid.

Commanders

Unit Name	—-SpecialAttributes—-	Comments
Ichtysatyr Scout Ichtysatyr Scout 20 5 1	Stealthy(40) Amphibious Recuperation	Your usual Amphibious scout. Their Movement will significantly slow down on land with a lack of Terrain Survival.
Ichtysatyr Commander Ichtysatyr Commander 40 9 1 +Coast Fort Rec	Stealthy(40) Amphibious Recuperation	Your 40Ld Troop shuffler and Small time Stealthy Raider.
Ichtycentaur Commander Ichtycentaur Commander 90 9 1 +Coast Fort Rec	Amphibious Recuperation	An 80Ld Leader. They can move very far with other Ichtycentaurs to protect your territory and jump ontop of raiders.
Siren Siren 130 1 2 +Coast Fort Rec 50 Gold Cheaper when Lure of the Deep is active.	2(underwater) 11(On Land) 9 Stealthy(65) Chaos Recruitment(10) Amphibious Recuperation awe(+3) Lure of the Deep(50%) female flying(land only)	Your cheapest Mage, especially in your High Turmoil Coastal forts. They are very mobile on land. Like any Water, they are Strong in Water fights if spammed. Their Special seduction operates more like a safer instant assassination to use on commanders that get too close to water. (Helpful to take the coast and thrones) If you can get Storm up, They can be surprised lighting casters.
Aphroi Hierophant Aphroi Hierophant 135 1 2	11100% 7 Sacred Stealthy(40) Amphibious Inspirational(1) Recuperation	A Sacred Mage that can lead Sacred expansions and Stealthy raiders. Having a Point of Nature and Water magic is good as there are many good spells that require a gem that will clearout hard Indies.
Aphroi Lord Aphroi Lord 145 17 1 Capital Only	Sacred Amphibious Inspirational(1) Recuperation	A sacred Ichtycentaur Commander with Inspirational. Big army leader and a counter to strategies that prey on your troops' low morale.
Haliade 325 1 2	2221100% 10% 15 Sacred Awe(3) Aquatic Supply Bonus(20) Recuperation	Weaker but comes out of forts faster than Capricorn, and are Lv2 priest. They can't leave the water without items, But making them will produce faster Research and a better Fort turns economy than Capricorns at a increased buying cost.
Capricorn Capricorn 355 7 4 +Coast Fort Rec	24(underwater)114(land) 1100% 10% 19 Resist Poison(7) chaos recruitment(15) Water Breathing(50) Animal Awe(3) Supply Bonus(40) beastmaster(2)	Pangea Pans, but Water instead of Blood. Still One of the strongest Nature mages, but at an increased price (discounted in Terumoil) Unlike the Pan of the EA, yours can cast Foul Vapors out of the box. Also, If Pangea is not in the game, He can Easily cast Mother Oak. They can also lead a lot of Land indies into your Underwater wars. (pay attention to if they have Iron gear) When They cast Transformation, they gain a +1 to path as removing the -1 to eath or water inherent to the chassis in addition to the chances to gain path a path when casting the spell, which is also a useful spell to remove High upkeep.

Troops

Unit Name	—-SpecialAttributes—-	Comments
Ichtysatyr Ichtysatyr 9 2 6	Stealthy(40)(Underwater only) Amphibious Recuperation undisciplined	Your easest massive chaff. A pointless of resources can mean the difference between 1-2 extra troops from a fort. Can be used to raid if they last to mid-game. Beware that they have the lowerest Ichtysatyr moral.
Ichtysatyr Ichtysatyr 9 3 6 +Coast Fort Rec	Stealthy(40) Amphibious Recuperation undisciplined	ichtysatyr with a shield means chaff that with some Prot so they don't die as much to Landdweller arrows. They have better prot but still have a not great Mor of 9.
Ichtysatyr Warrior 10 7 14 +Coast Fort Rec	Amphibious Recuperation Sea Shape ⇔ Ichtysatyr Warrior	Your heaviest land troop (less than indie Light infantry and no helmets). The higher Prot does stack with Cappacorns Earth buffs and Your armour won't rust, unlike the land dwellers that don't use bronze.
Ichtycentaur 30 8 17	Amphibious Recuperation Sea Shape ⇔ Ichtycentaur	The Light Centaur cavalry of Oceania. Fast but Light armor and have only a single Lance attack when underwater. Still Strong rear attackers and monster killers as those lances inflict a lot of Damage if that first attack hits.
Ichtytaur 40 5 12	berserker(+3) Amphibious Recuperation Trample(Land Form) Sea Shape ⇔ Ichtytaur	Glass cannon with it Relying on and expecting to use its big HP to survive hits and go berzerk. Don't inflict as much damage as its land counterpart, but Still tramples over humans when on land and uses a spear to bypass an enemy prot in addition to their high strength, while also having no penalties when used underwater.
Aphroi 55 15 30 Capital Only	Sacred Amphibious Recuperation poison barbs Sea Shape ⇔ Aphroi	Sacred Ichtycentaur with slightly better stats and heavier body armor(No hat). They will poison any enemy that hits it with a weapon of 1 or less length. Are very expensive for what they are and Need a strong bless to use.

Magic

National spells

Grow Fortress Alteration 0 nature 4 4 35 naturegem . For Nature gems, a Capricorn Can instantly make Forts in any Forest or non-deep or a deep Sea Kelp forest Provence. Very useful on bunkering important provinces and collecting resources (High gold, Rare indie Mages, and Troops.). For EA, it's more important as they are better than your normal bramble fort as they grant 2 Commander Recruitment points instead of 1.

Magic Access

Capricorns Are the primary magic of your faction. You can do most things with nature 4 4. Has strong Access to Water (while underwater) and Randoming into earth 2 2 (while on land) gives all the tools you need (can summon Troll King for earth 4 4 thug).

Nature is useful for additional access, Air is hard too climbed, but you only need some Faery Queens for battle magic. Death is climbable with a Troll Shaman and booster up to Lamia Queen for better Death and blood.

For rituals, Pelagia has access to the following paths:

Elemental

No Fire mage
1 guaranteed on Sirens on land, Capricorn and Haliade have a rare chance of randoming up to 2. 3 via Faery Queen for 40.
4 on Capricorn and Haliade, 7 via a Water Bracelet, Robe of the Sea and Queen of Elemental Water (expensive!)
2 on Capricorn on land, 4 via Earth Boots, Troll King's Court (expensive!)

Sorcery

No Fire mage
No Native death magic. 2 via Troll Shaman. 4 via Lamia Queen with Skull Staff (expensive if summoned by empowered troll shaman).
5 on Capricorn. There is a 2.5% chance of getting 5 on Capricorns. 6 Via Thistle Mace.
No blood magic

Magic Items

Can Water, Air, Earth, and Nature can make many great Thug items and boosters, like Boots of Quickness.

Remember to remove Earth Boots on Capricorns, before they return to the water, else you will Destroy them.

Combat Magic

Generally, your magic goal in combat should be to minimize troop attrition while bringing hell on the opponent.

All of the Capricorn magic randoms can be useful.
Nature randoms: Use for high level or gem intensive nature spells.
Earth randoms: Can be used to thug, or Earth boost while on land via Summon Earthpower and cast Earth magic like Shatter or Maws of the Earth.
Water randoms: Can be used to thug and Use for high level or gem intensive Water spells. Can cast Contact Naiad and Naiad Warriors
Air randoms: Can be used to thug, can cast Freezing Mist and Healing Mists

Troop Buffs: Wooden Warriors, Army of Giants, Mass Protection, Fog Warriors, Gaia's Blessing, Wave Warriors

Chaff Summoning: Swarm, Creeping Doom, School of Sharks, Summon Water Elemental

Battlefield Globals: Foul Vapors, Howl, Relief, Shark Attack

Area Fatigue or Immobilization: Syllable of Sleep, Storm of Thorns, Wild Growth, Freezing Mist

Armor Destroying: Rust Mist, Destruction, Iron Bane.

Single Target Elimination: Curse of the Frog Prince, Charm, Bone Melter

Thug/SC Self Buffs: Earth random: Ironskin, Temper Flesh, Strength of Gaia, Summon Earthpower. Water random: Liquid Body, Quicken Self. Air random: Charge Body, Flight, Mirror Image.

Ritual Magic

Being an Offshoot of Pan, Your are a contender of the strong nature Enchantments assuming Pangea is also not there. Mother Oak, Gift of Health, Enchanted Forests.

Capricorns also have other utility spells like Faery Trod for army fast travel, Beckoning and Wild Hunt for raiding armies.

Voice of Tiamat will find all the elemental gems in the water. Scying Pool grants greater insight into army movements and composition.

Capricorns do have a strong affinity with Transformation with always gives an additional path. For 8 naturegem Nature Gems, you can get rid of severe upkeep on a Capricorns and get an additional path out of it.

Troops are ok but your want to replace them. Naiad Warriors Are a-ok holding lines with them being medium armed troops with high awe.

Awaken Vine Men, Awaken Algae Men and Awaken Vine Ogres are a go-to for Nature nation spam troops. Clayman with their better melee stats and regen is also situationally viable despite costing more gems.

If you need Ranged attacks, Summon Yetis give Yetis glass cannon raining a lot of high strength rocks.

For magic variety, Faerie Court gives air 3 3, Troll Shamans give Death and Troll King let you climp Earth earth 4 4 with Earth Boots.

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.

Vengeful Water to protect your lands.

Will need to create your own Endgame with your pretender. Death is your best choice.

Expansion Strategies

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

Gets a fast expansion with Ichtycentaurs and Aphroi. Mow through most EA indies, can quickly churn out expansion parties with the leading Hierophant can quickly return to base if they need replacement centaurs.

When it comes to starting near another water nation, it's a bit tricky, with best-case settling disputes with a peace treaty under threat your are too prickly to be safely rushed.

in 9 turns, without some lucky sight searches, you will get enough gems to grow your first fortress, and it's recommended you grow or steal them instead of spending gold on primitive versions.

Sierens is your cheapest teacher monkies (especially on coastal forts), so get stacks of them in between your Hierophant expansion parties

Example Pretender Builds

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

See More

Dominions 5 Nation Guide: EA Oceania by Perun
Dominions 5 Nation Guide: MA Oceania(more on Sirens and thugging) by Perun
Oceania - Sea Goats by Joste

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