Table of Contents
EA Fomoria, The Cursed Ones
Lore
The bountiful land of Fomoria was claimed by giants who once guarded the dark and stormy ocean realm of the drowned dead. With death ever near, their loyalties had changed and their malice grown. With the ascendancy of a previous Pantokrator, they were punished for their sins and banished from their dark home. The full effects of the Curse became evident when the Fomorians settled in a fertile land. Their offspring were short and cursed with monstrous appearance. The few surviving Fomorian giants saw their once proud race degenerate and die. Then came the Invasions. Partholonians, Nemedians, Fir Bolg and Tuatha all claimed the land of Fomoria. Twice the Fomorians were all but defeated by foreign magic, but twice they conjured a plague that slew the invaders. The third wave of invaders, the Fir Bolg, accepted Fomorian rule and aided the giants in defeating the Tuatha. Now Fir Bolg compose much of the Fomorian population. Fomorians are skilled shipwrights, powerful storm crafters and have a legacy of mastery over the dead.
"[Fomoria and Tir na n'Og] are the predecessors of Man and Eriu. They are both heavily influenced by "The Book of Invasions" and Celtic myths and folklore. The wars and conflicts between Fomorians, Nemedians, Fir Bolg and Tuatha were used to create a common backstory for the nations. The Fomorian ideas were combined with some ideas of sailing storm giants, inhuman goat-headed giants and some concepts of Fomorians as keepers of the watery dead that struck my imagination." -Illwinter
General Overview
If you are considering picking this nation to play, what should you know?
National Features
| Magic Access | Alt. Access | Unit Summary | Core Abilities | Buildings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 4 (Rare 5) 3 (Rare 4) 3 (Rare 4) 1 (Rare 2)  1 (Rare 2)  1  2 | Hero 223232 2142 3122 343 | Fir Bolg infantry Fomorian infantry Nemedian infantry |  Stealthy  Glamour  Iron Vulnerability  Sailing  Gift of Water Breathing  Darkvision  Starting affliction chance |  Giant Forts |
**Capitol Gems: ** 2
1
2
1
National Race Features
Fir Bolg: Hit Points + 3, Magic Resistance + 3, Morale + 1, Strength + 2, Attack Skill + 2, Defense Skill + 3, Combat Speed + 1, Map Move + 4
Fomorian: Size 6, Magic Resistance + 2, Morale + 2, Strength + 9, Precision - 3, Combat Speed + 3, Map Move + 2
Nemedian: Hit Points + 4, Magic Resistance + 4, Morale + 4, Strength + 2, Attack Skill + 5, Defense Skill + 3, Precision + 2, Combat Speed + 1, Darkvision 50, 
Stealthy, Iron Vulnerability, Glamour
Most Fomorians are Size 6 beings who look like goats; they are enormous by human standards, but diminutive by the standards of their human-looking, Size 9 ancestors. Most are born disfigured beyond mere goat-ness, but those spared have at least 30 HP, 5 Natural Protection, 18 Strength, 7 Precision, 12 Magic Resistance, 10 Morale (even for naked militiamen), and 15 Combat Speed naked.
The aforementioned ancestors are known as the Fomorian Giants, given that they tower over their children. Former pirates, they have only one eye due to a curse from the Pantokrator, making them relatively easy to blind if one can somehow reach their face. However, they are still 
Amphibious, and their history beneath the waves gives them 
5 Cold Resistance and 50% Darkvision.
The Fir Bolg are Size 3 (three-to-a-square) fellows who live among the Fomorians. They have a little elven blood in their veins, giving them superhuman abilities in spite of their mundanity; even their untrained militiamen have 13 HP, 11 Strength, 10 Attack Skill, 11 Defence Skill, 9 Morale, 13 Magic Resistance, 13 Combat Speed naked. They also have sharp eyes with 12 Precision, or at least the trained Fir Bolg do.
The Fir Bolg are here because their ancestors, the Nemedians, are also here. Sometimes regarded as "elves", these Size 3 beings are 
Stealthy and possess the fay art of Glamour. They also have 50% Darkvision. Being so close to the fay has not come without weaknesses, however, for Nemedians take 1 more damage from iron. Otherwise, Nemedians are like the Fir Bolg, but slightly better in a variety of ways.
National Units
Commanders
| Sprite | Unit Name | Special Attributes | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Fir Bolg Scout 35 12  1 |  Stealthy (50) Mountain Survival Forest Survival | A typical Scout. |
 | Fomorian Scout 60 19 1 | Stealthy (40) Mountain Survival Forest Survival | A considerably more expensive, less stealthy, giant Scout. It is unclear why these would be useful compared to their Fir Bolg equivalent, except perhaps for ferrying gems using a slightly more durable commander. |
 | Fir Bolg Champion 60 12 1 | Stealthy (50) Mountain Survival Forest Survival | 75 leadership, human commander. Very good melee stats for a human, but pretty light gear. |
 | Fomorian Champion 80 29 1 | Start Affliction (10%) | A more expensive 75 leadership commander, but much more survivable due to heavier gear and giant HP. |
 | Unmarked Champion 180 29 1 | 1  Sacred | A 100 leadership commander with minor priestly ability. With reasonable base stats and the ability to take a bless, Unmarked Champions are good for leading armies as well as sacred expansion parties. They could potentially be made into army thugs with minimal gear. |
| | Fir Bolg Druid 105 2 2 | 1 1100%     9 Stealthy (40) Mountain Survival | Fir Bolg Druids are Fomoria's cheapest researcher, and they are the only way for Fomoria to get Earth magic. These are good for researching, low-path site searching and forging Earth equipment. |
 | Fomorian Druid 285 3 2 | 211100% 11 Sacred | Fomorian Druids are reliably useful due to their 2 path, allowing them to throw lightning evocations and summon Air Elementals. Their randoms provide interesting crosspaths, but not at a high enough level to do anything spectacular with. |
 | Nemedian Champion 245 25 2 Capital Only | 111 9 Sacred Stealthy (65) Darkvision (50%) Glamour Spell Singer Iron Vulnerability (1) | Nemedian Champions are expensive, cap-only and weak mages, but they are great Stealthy leaders. Still, they compete with Fomoria's other, much more powerful cap-only commanders. |
 | Nemedian Sorceress 370 1 2 Capital Only | 1221100% 10% 17 Stealthy (65) Darkvision (50%) GlamourFemale Spell Singer Iron Vulnerability (1) | Nemedian Sorceresses are excellent mages that are fairly reasonable in price and take only one turn to recruit each. Death/Air and Glamour/Air are both excellent crosspaths, and come in high enough levels to do strong plays like Wind of Death and Wailing Winds. Early on, this mage enables fearsome Cloud of Dreamless Slumber spam, a potent counter to many elite troop strategies; consider taking the Unsleeping bless to enable your sacreds to fight underneath the sleep clouds. They can also just spam Lightning Bolt or Horde of Skeletons. |
 | Fomorian King 675 37 4 Capital Only  Holy Points x 2 | 3221100% 10% 17 Sacred Darkvision (50%) Cold Resistance (5) Shock Resistance (5) Gift of Water Breathing (250) Amphibious Sailing Max Size 10, Sailing Ship Size 999 One-Eyed | Fomorian Kings are very expensive, but powerful mages. They are notable for guaranteeing high Air magic for spells like Storm and Wrathful Skies, and being durable Wind of Death casters that can Cloud Trapeze. They can also be Twiceborn to gain a second life as undead, Size 9 Wight Mages, though this process is expensive. These so-called "wightans" (a portmanteau of "wight" and "titan") are the subject of much theory-crafting in the community, and with the right bless and gear are very difficult to kill. Still, Nemedian Sorceresses are probably the more generically useful commander to recruit in the capital, with Fomorian Kings coming in when the research is available to make the best use of them. |
Troops
| Sprite | Unit Name | Special Attributes | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Fir Bolg Militia 10 5 11 | Fir Bolg Militia are a good deal more expensive than most Militia troops, and are a bit better skilled in return, though not enough to make them particularly usable for combat. | |
 | Fir Bolg Slinger 11 2 12 | Fir Bolg Slingers are a ranged troop with a lower damage ranged attack and higher gold cost than the average Archer, making them of limited use. | |
 | Fir Bolg Warrior 13 10 15 | Fir Bolg Warriors are lightly armoured infantry but have good melee skills. The axe variety deals more damage while the spear has slightly higher Defence skill and has javelins. | |
 | Fir Bolg Warrior 13 10 15 | ||
| | Fomorian Militia 15 3 7 | Start Affliction (60%) | Fomorian Militia are the cheapest size 6 unit money can buy. They have awful melee skills but a lot of HP and strength for the gold cost, making them decent siege chaff/evo bait. |
 | Fomorian Javelinist 20 15 11 | Start Affliction (40%) | The Fomorian Javelinist and Spearman are giant medium infantry with fairly poor melee skills, and lack helmets. The Javelinist has a 22-damage javelin attack, while the Spearman has a shield for parrying enemy attacks. |
 | Fomorian Spearman 20 17 11 | Start Affliction (40%) | |
 | Fomorian Warrior 30 27 17 | Start Affliction (20%) | The Fomorian Warrior is a giant heavy infantry unit with mediocre melee skills. They are the most competent of the goat-headed Fomorian infantry at standing in a line and not dying, but their low unit density and mediocre Attack skill means they still have low DPS against squares of human-sized infantry. |
| | Nemedian Warrior 35 22 24 Capital Only | Stealthy (40) Glamour Darkvision (50%) Iron Vulnerability (1) | Nemedian Warriors are elite, stealthy infantry. Though their protection is fairly low, the mirror images they receive from the Glamour ability and their high Defence skill protect them against enemy attacks. They also have a magic weapon for countering Ethereal or Invulnerable units. Being size 3, they can sit in the same square as Fomorian infantry, ameliorating the Fomorians' low unit density. Their main issue is that their damage is fairly low for their cost, meaning they struggle into high Protection elites. They are also be very expensive if squares of Nemedians start dying to evocations. |
 | Unmarked 55 27 28 Capital Only | Sacred | The Unmarked is essentially a sacred version of the Fomorian Warrior with slightly better melee skills. While unspectacular, they hold a bless and can help to deal with the sacred rushes that scales troops are weak to. |
| | Fomorian Giant 75 37 37 Holy Points x 2 Capital Only | Sacred Amphibious Cold Resistance (5) Darkvision (50%) One-Eyed | Fomorian Giants are extremely cheap for a size 9 sacred, about half the price of a Muspel Giant, but are significantly less powerful to match, and they are still difficult to recruit due to costing two Holy points. Their Attack/Defence skill is merely okay, they have 16 body protection and no helmet, and basically no other special abilities aside from Amphibious. Still, they deal a lot of damage with their basic attack and are a big bag of hitpoints for relatively low cost. Nevertheless, Fomorian Giants are not typically the focus of Fomorian pretender designs due to their deficiencies compared to other similar sacreds. |
Heroes
| Sprite | Unit Name | Special Attributes | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Macha - Nemedian Queen Earliest Arrival Turn (10) | 223232 29 Stealthy (40) Darkvision (50%) Glamour Spell Singer Iron Vulnerability (1)  Supply Bonus (20)Female | Commentary here. |
 | Tuan - Last Partholonian Earliest Arrival Turn (10) | 2142 33 Stealthy (40) Darkvision (50%) Glamour Spell Singer Iron Vulnerability(1) Immortal | Commentary here. |
 | Bres - Uncursed Earliest Arrival Turn (10) | 3122 17 Sacred Darkvision (50%) Cold Resistance (5) Shock Resistance (5) Gift of Water Breathing (250) Amphibious Supply Bonus (+20) Sailing Max Size: 10 Ship Size: 999 | Commentary here. |
 | Balor - High King Earliest Arrival Turn (25) | 343 19 Sacred  Fear (9) Cold Resistance (5) Shock Resistance (5) Gift of Water Breathing (400) Amphibious Sailing Max Size: 10 Ship Size: 999  Spirit Sight  Gluttony (10) One-Eyed | Commentary here. |
National Spells
Summons
Combat
| Summon Spell | Unit | Special Attributes | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dance of the Morrigans // (Conjuration 8) // 25 and 4 |  Morrigan Battlefield Enchantment |  Sacred Cold Resistance (15)  Poison Resistance (25)  Stealthy (+40) Fear (+5)  Undead Glamour  Flying  Need Not Eat Spirit Sight Female | One of the most powerful battlefield enchantments in the game, Dance of the Morrigans makes late-game Fomorian armies into absolute monsters. Morrigans are Sacred, can Fly, and have a Fear aura and drain life attack on top of incredible Attack/Defence skill, so being able to summon a stream of these throughout a battle (as long as units are being damaged) is incredibly powerful. Consider casting a battlefield AOE damage spell soon after casting Dance of the Morrigans to get the Morrigan summoning going. |
Ritual
| Summon Spell | Unit | Special Attributes | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summon Black Dogs // (Conjuration 2) // 2 and 5 |  Black Dog x 20 | Dark Vision (100%) Stealthy (+60)  Dark Power (2) Iron Vulnerability (1)  Animal | Black Dogs are stealthy animals with a single 15-damage Bite attack. They are very inexpensive at 0.25 Death gems each, and come in large numbers, but they die fast and don't do much damage. Their 100% Darkvision and 2 Dark Power makes them significantly more effective under Darkness. |
| Summon Barghests // (Conjuration 4) // 2 and 7 |  Barghest x 14 | Dark Vision (100%) Stealthy (+60) Dark Power (3) Iron Vulnerability (1)  Curse Attacker (5) Animal | Although Barghests are twice the price of Black Dogs per-unit, they are sacred, have twice the HP, and have a slightly higher-damage Venomous Bite. Still, they are not exceptional, and are largely relegated to fighting under Darkness. |
| Summon Morrigan // (Conjuration 6) // 12 and 5 | Morrigan | Sacred Cold Resistance (15) Poison Resistance (25) Stealthy (+40) Fear (+5) Undead Glamour Flying Need Not Eat Spirit Sight  Female | Although Morrigans are excellent units, 5 and only one unit summoned per cast is such a high price that it is difficult to justify these as permanent summons. |
Other Spells
Combat
- Curse of Balor (Enchantment 7)
31 and 1
Massive-AOE Blindness at a short range. Ironically, Balor himself cannot cast it. - Geas (Thaumaturgy 3)
2
Commentary here.
Items
- Spear of the Morrigan
(Construction 3)
11 and 55
Commentary here.
Magic Access
See Magic Access. These guides supplement the summaries at the top.
Fire
No native access. No good summons to get access.
Air
An 4 Fomorian King (1 in 4 chance) starts at the key point in 
Air access where empowerment is not needed.
Water
Water is relatively easy to climb, which is good for EA Fomoria because its crosspaths are little help.
Earth
1 Fir Bolg Druid (1 in 4 chance) is your only recruitable 
Earth mage. Its only crosspath, 1, is not much help. With Air boosters and Earth boosters, it can forge a Staff of Elemental Mastery.
Astral
No native access. Potentially, an Earth Fir Bolg Druid with many boosters could forge The Magic Lamp for Al Khazim - Jinn. 3 can Summon Spectre, which has a 7 in 16 chance of having at least 
1.
Death
Both Nemedian Sorceress (1 in 5) and Fomorian King (1 in 4) can start with 3. No easy access to additional arms means empowerment from 3 to 4.
The heroes, Tuan - Last Partholonian and Balor - High King, are high enough in 
Death, they can skip most empowerment.
Nature
1 with no useful crosspaths and no easy access to additional arms, makes 
Nature a difficult climb. Some EA Fomorian heroes start at 2.
Glamour
A Nemedian Champion or a Nemedian Sorceress look like they might be good for climbing 
Glamour. They are not. Expect to empower.
Blood
If a Nemedian Sorceress can reach 25, (a difficult climb), it can Contact Lamia Queen for a 7 in 16 chance or Awaken Treelord for a 1 in 3 chance of 
1.
Strategy
How to win as the nation. Feel free to use the following sections, or delete them, or change them.
Expansion
Different expansion options.
Early Game
Early game options.
Mid Game
Mid game options.
Late Game
Late game options.
Example Pretender Builds
Format for putting a pretender build in.
Chassis: Awake Titan of Crossroads
Paths: 457
Bless: MW/Arcane Finesse, Invuln 10, Regen.
Scales: 
6
2
0
3
1
2
3
Format for putting a pretender build in.
Chassis: Awake Titan of Crossroads
Paths: 457
Bless: MW/Arcane Finesse, Invuln 10, Regen.
Scales: 6203123
Weaknesses
What are the nation's weaknesses?
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