Ur came to be as a result of Trade & Taint, an earlier unfinished Illwinter project. I made the first Enkidus and Sobeks for that game. Shame, bone readers and reavers were some of the possible career paths for the Enkidu race. In Dominions 5 the Enkidus were given a nation influenced by Mesopotamian history. They had it in Trade & Taint as well, but in Dominions 4 it became more pronounced. After Dominions 4 was released we took up work on Trade & Taint again and ideas on the enkidus were developed. Last summer I found myself reading more on Sumerian cities and culture. The transfer of religious and temporal importance from Eridu to other cities during Sumerian times is an interesting process. Thus Uruk became the first new nation added in Dominions 5.

Hinnom is to some extent Sumerian, but I wanted the backstory of Ur to have a more Sumerian feel. I like the concept of a single center of civilization surrounded by lands inhabited by wild men roaming around tending goats and hunting game. This led to the development of the mechanic where some of a nation's units are recruitable, not in their home or fortresses, but in their surrounding lands. It gave the nation a troop rooster that accentuated the backstory of the nation. And of course, they had to have sirrushes, the wingless dragons of the Ishtar Gate.

The nations' shamans and bone readers are also influenced by some shamanistic concepts, Caananite ideas on veneration of the dead and probably a dose of some old RPGs. Ur develops into Uruk in the middle age and get access to armaments of iron. The Ensi priest king of Eridu will see his power diminished as civilization spreads and Ensis of other cities claim temporal and religious authority. In this new era the Entu of the Moon, inspired by En Hedu'anna, the daughter of Sargon the Great, becomes the unifying power of the kingdom and Uruk turns into a theocracy. - Illwinter

Uruk is a warm plain inhabited by Enkidus, large, hairy wild men with horns and unkempt hair. Since the founding of Eridu, the First City, civilization has spread and the kingdom expanded. Other cities were founded in the image of Eridu, each with its own character. Administrators from the City of Scribes aided local rulers, while traders and merchants from the City of Trade improved the economic infrastructure of the kingdom. But the Ensi of Eridu lost power and petty kings of the new cities rose to power and claimed the Ensi title. Strife and turmoil tore the kingdom apart. One of the new cities, the City of Gods was blessed by the Awakening God and saw the first Entu of the Moon erect a great temple in the city. It soon replaced the First City as religious center and the Entu priestesses of the First City moved to the City of Gods, no longer bound in marriage to the ruling Ensi. With the coming of the Awakening God, the city states have set their differences aside and joined a common cause. In the plains of Uruk the First City still stands as a symbol of civilization, although its temporal and religious power has diminished. Now each city has its own Ensi ruler. The wild men are no longer wild, and the shamans and Bone Readers of old have been replaced by the priests and mages of the cities.

Uruk is Ur transition to the MA, shoring up many of the troop weaknesses of the past. They trade their raw paths to be a communion nation of half-giants which is actually a boon for combat magic. They also fixed their arrow problem by making helmets to accommodate for their horns.

Although mages, troops, and infrastructure demanded a large increase in cost, they are powerful in numbers when back by Communions.

Uruk's god does not lose or gain magic paths when recalled from the dead (Does not work for disciples), and dominion score also cannot decrease. This is the same ability as Ur's, but is not (as of 5.51b) listed in their national summary.

Uruk has a lot of mages; A lot. They all (except one underwater one) have priests levels. This means that they are generally more expensive than mages with similar paths on other nations. However, being priests means that all the mages are also sacred, allowing all the mages to bless themselves and benefit from Uruk's bless. It also means reduced upkeep, making it more feasible to mass mages late game.

Img	Unit Name	Abilities	Comments
	Enkidu Scout 30 6 1 +Rec Foreign	Stealthy(40) Mountain Survival Forest Survival	Giant scout. Crazy Ideas for gear it into a light raider.
	Enkidu Commander 45 23 1		cheap national commander, but never seen as you have a superior mages commander.
	Gala 75 1 2	11 7 sacred elegist(2) Spell Singer Supply Bonus(10) Female	Get if you plan on being back your pretender multiple times during the game. Spell Singer reduces their casting fatigue in exchange for longer casting times, but as only a 1 path mage, casting as many evocations as possible before the battle ends or the enemy is on you is more important. Use on your own judgment.
	Naditu 70 1 2	11 7 sacred Female	Cheap giant Communion Slave. giant make great slaves as they can take punishment and benefit the most from Regeneration
	Nin 75 1 2	11100% 7 sacred Female	a 1 path mage if the other girls don't look appealing. 25% are Gala without Spellsinger so faster with getting off their spells. 25% are more expensive Naditu. 25% can Spam Earth Gip and Fluff by Summon Earthpower with an Earth Gem. also cost-effective Kusarikkus Summoners. Water randoms spam Frozen Hearts.
	Gudu 80 2 2	11100% 7 sacred	Very situation as other mages now cover for the weaken Gudu. Could use as a Cheap light thug as its a giant with a single thug path of Air or Earth. if you don't like the 25% earth random on Nin, he has a 50% to be a Kusarikkus Summoner.
	Ashipu 130 1 2	111 9 sacred Disease Healer(1) Supply Bonus(10)	The guy that removes deseises from your important units. Also the cheaper nature mage in your communions.
	Ishib 155 2 2	121100% 9 sacred	Exspensive for what they do but this is the guy you get a few to fish above water 2 for early water boosters. Non-water 2s can be used to Sermon of Courage and have more thug spells then Gudu.
	Ereshdingir 190 1 2	122 11 sacred Fortune Teller (5%) female	Stop bad events and a massable leader of Astral magic. Aready have enough paths to forge good Astral gear, and can cast Mind Burn and Paralyze without boosting.
	Ensi 215 19 2	1121100% 11 sacred Supply Bonus(10)	80 Commander and mage, He will be leading many of your armies. He will sit in the back and cast spells and prayers, or even thugs. You should replace his armor with something less fatiguing though.
	Entu 275 1 4 Capital Only	1231100%+10% 13 sacred inspirational (2) Fortune Teller (10%) Old Age(51/50) Female	High Priestess, Activating the blessing on all sacreds on the battle field to free up scripting space in important battles. Your not going to see a lot of her when she is not needed since she is old.
	Mashmashu 280 1 4 Capital Only	311100%+10% 15 sacred Supply Bonus(10) Fortune Teller (15%)	The cap only master of astral. With Booster, his gets to 5 for Call Apkallu and other important spell like Gateway, Stellar Focus, and Enslave Mind
	Enkidu Shaman 125 2 2 +Rec Foreign Only	12 7 Beastmaster(2) Supply Bonus(10)	You recruit a lot of them as they don't need to pay 1600 gold extra in infrastructure to make. WIth a Thisle Mace they are 4 in combat. Are your primary early game combat casters before you get a critical mass of communion mages.
	Kulullu Commander 45 9 1 +Rec Underwater Only	Aquatic	Cheap under water Commander with more HP than most Indies. Don't need a Lab and Temple.
	Kulullu King 145 9 2 +Rec Underwater Only	12 7 sacred Aquatic	Better 80Ld and provides additional battle field support with its water and Holy spells.
	Kulullu Sage 190 1 2 +Rec Underwater Only	21100% 15 Aquatic	Fast Researchers and Astral randoms can make Low-level Astral Items
	Kuliltu Queen 195 1 2 +Rec Underwater Only	111100% 11 sacred Aquatic Female	Has underwater Nature and other situational Low-Level Crosspaths.

• Herd of Buffaloes: 2 Conj 3 for 10 (summon 5+ Buffaloes). Animal tramplers, not the best thing to spend your nature gems on, but sometimes you need more bodies when being rushed. Also evocation magnets

• Summon Kusarikkus: 1 Conj 4 for 6 (summon 2 Kusarikkus). Powerful Sacreds summon, High HP, and two Attack with one being an anti-demon weapon, They become one of your strongest units when they have a Giants bless and the fact you have many of the buffing spells using communions.

• Summon Ugallu: 3 Conj 5 for 24 (summon Ugallu). Need a God or spend a lot of air gems for empowerment to get. Gives you A flying 3, for all that important Air utility, will also get Geared to be a Storm caster for that 5 combat magic.

• Call Anzu: 4 Conj 7 for 4 (summon Anzu). Needs to climb higher into Air for a Great Eagle with two breath attacks. Comes too late in research but can be used in Flying Raider forces.

• Call Apkallu: 5 Conj 8 for 60 (summon Umu-apkallu). A powerful Late game mage. An embodiment of all of Uruk's magic paths. Just summoning one Greatly improves your chances of reaching your other research goals. Grants greater verity in Combat, rituals, and Forging with all his Cross paths. Also a good commander of 120, so can bring a big force with Astral Travel

Uruks strongest and most plentiful path is Astral, able to Go up to 5 with boosters or 6 if you reach Conj 8. Enkidu Shamans give 2 and with available boosters can be a resting 4. Uruk may not have immediate access to high-level rituals but Uruks main combat power during wars is powering up with communions

Water, Air, and Earth are low level but have a place in spamming magic to stop rushes or being ramped up by communions.

If you can get a 3 you can then create more 3 Ugallus.

Boosting Water needs particular randoms on some above land commanders. Some may get 2 which is the first step towards for Sea King and Naiads. Can later turn into Water Queens if you can secure a lake.

Earth is at 1 unless you luck into a rare double Earth random so he can make Earth Boots to make himself 3, then climbed with Troll Kings for a boosted 4.

Troll Shamans can give you Death, and some with Skull Staffs are 3.

Can cast Stellar Focus

Have the paths to make thug items for your mages with Half-giant bodies. Kithaironic Lion Pelt is an efficient thug armor. give a Crystal Matrix to an indie mage you find so they can Communion.

It's Expensive but can make a Ring of Sorcery to make a Ring of Wizardry. Lots of boosting and likely only going to make the two.

Headdress of the Bull 5 1. Grant the user +2 strength and a retinue of a Buffalo. Great on a mage thug as it's a cheap item that boosts their damage, and gives them a trampling animal to buy him time for buffing. Also, Buffalos are able to run over any would-be assassin.

How to expand, potential pitfalls and how to get around them, obvious weakness strength, how much do you have to focus on war/infrastructure

what is the first big research rush, what is the first big powerspike, where do you shift recruitment to? what are the big magic diversity issues, are there particular globals you should gun for

How do you close out the game if you are in it, is the high-level research stuff you can do uniquely well, does your nation fall off, aka do you have to force things to conclude swiftly

Link here to guides for the nation, on and off(?) the wiki. This should likely include things like suggested pretender designs as well as strategy guides.