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**Article Sections**

  * [[guides_and_player_improvement:strategy_articles:thugs|Part 0 - Outline and Links]]
  * [[guides_and_player_improvement:strategy_articles:thugs:part1_mechanics|Part 1 - Mechanics]]
*** [[guides_and_player_improvement:strategy_articles:thugs:part2_examples|Part 2 - Examples]]**
  * [[guides_and_player_improvement:strategy_articles:thugs:part3_item_and_spell_tables|Part 3 - Item and Spell Tables]]


=====Sample Army Thugs=====

<tabbox LA Agartha Blindfighter Army Thug> 


**LA Agartha 5 gem Blindlord army thug**

<WRAP column 100px>{{  :nations:LA:agartha:Blindlord.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>
//Popularized by Zan - the idea broadly was a GSS ??Blindlord?? commander in a line of regular blindfighters could add some much needed DPS to an otherwise very tanky, but prone to fatiguing out line. It also gives a small, cleanly defined, easy to buff 'ball' of troops.//

  * ??Blindlord?? (in a line of ??Blindfighter??s)
  * ??Greatsword of Sharpness??
  * Hold Hold attack closest (hold attack on blindfighters)

<tabbox Jotunheim Cheap Giant Army Thug>
**MA Jotunheim - Cheap Giant Army Thug / Counter-Thug - 10-15B **
<WRAP column 100px>{{  :nations:MA:jotunheim:jotun_herse.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>

//This works because its incredibly cheap. It only uses blood slaves, hits hard, and is on a non-mage sacred commander so can accept a bless. Weapons can be interchanged, but flesh eater is a natural fit - since this line doesn't use any gems nor many slaves//

  * ??Jotun Herse??
  * ??Flesh Eater?? (X1 or X2),??Ring Of The Warrior??
  * Attack Closest


</tabbox>






=====Some All Rounder Army Thugs / Counter Thugs=====
<tabbox Classic Elf Counterthug/Armythug>

**5 Gems Gear ??Vanherse?? Thug (requires E access)**<WRAP column 100px>{{ :nations:ea:vanheim:vanherse.png?nolink |}}</WRAP>


//This works because the thug chassis is already hard to hit/kill, and given a ??Greatsword of Sharpness?? can cut down highly armored enemy thugs. Luck is extremely good here - essentially layering with defense to make the counterthug very hard to kill, when the GSS does the killing work. Since this is a counterthug, a lot of buffs that would otherwise be good (e.g. Shroud of Displacement) are a bit redundant here, and we want to keep the script short and punchy//

//As an aside, with a longer script - this unit could be used as an army thug, and with enough def on the bless, potentially a very light raider (light thug). ??Greatsword of Sharpness?? on rainbow blessed elf cavalry thugs is a classic for a reason, it's versatile, powerful, and gives the elves a much needed way to punch through armor.//

  * ??Vanherse??
  * ??Greatsword of Sharpness??
  * ??Personal Luck??, ??Bless??, Attack Closest (Only 2 scripted slots so low fatigue and attacking early interrupts enemy buff scripts by getting the first whack). 

<tabbox Piercer Counterthug (may need 2 on harder targets)>
<WRAP column 100px>{{ :nations:ma:tien_chi:horseman.png?nolink |}}</WRAP>
**10-20 Gem AN bow Counterthug on any chassis**

//The power of this counterthug line is its simplicity. It fires an AN bolt round 1 that's going to kill a great deal of targets. If you have 2, that's 2 AN bolts. Combine that with a decent chassis (there's a lot around), and you have a solid earlygame counterthug. You can use Horse independents for mapmove, scouts for stealth or just ordinary commanders for convenience.//

//Note this really only works against low HP targets. The unit holding the piercer will likely die if the target ever makes it pass the buff script.//

//Since the unit never goes into melee, this can serve quite nicely in an anti army-thug situation if your opponents thugs are on a predictable chassis (e.g. horses). It IS a bit of a surprise tactic though - since a player (with air access) will start buffing air shield once they know these are flying around.//

  * ??Horse Tribe Chief?? (This chassis is quite nice because of the high mapmove so it can zip around your lands defensively). It can also use fire - Keep distance against melee thugs.
  * ??Piercer??
  * Fire Closest


<tabbox Blood Slave Counterthug/Armythug>


**MA Jotunheim - Cheap Giant Army Thug / Counter-Thug - 10-15B**

<WRAP column 100px>{{ :nations:ma:jotunheim:Jotun_herse.png?nolink |}}</WRAP>





//This works because its incredibly cheap. It only uses blood slaves, hits hard, and is on a non-mage sacred commander so can accept a bless. Weapons can be interchanged, but flesh eater is a natural fit - since this line doesn't use any gems nor many slaves//

  * Jotun Herse
  * Flesh Eater (X1 or X2),Ring Of The Warrior
  * Attack Closest


<tabbox MA Ulm Knight Thug>


**Ulm Barebones Black Lord Army Thug (1 Gem with hammers!!)**

<WRAP column 100px>{{ :nations:ma:ulm:Black_Lord.png?nolink |}}</WRAP>


//This is a barebones, no nonsense army thug (or counterthug). Other nations can do similar things, or use indie heavy cavalry, but it works best on ulm due to their multiple earth gem discounts to forging - so this can cost as little as 1 gem and provides quite a lot of killing power on an armored chassis.//

//They get stronger when fluffed with low level earth spells (Temper Armor, Strength of Giants) and body ethereal (a classic). Obviously  - they can be buffed more, but 1 weapon (typically GSS as it tends to outperform the alternatives), light buffing is the core (they can work without the buffing but it's a bit of a gimmie). Given ulm can easily buff Temper Armors ??Bracers of Protection?? are also a consideration for 1 gem at con3, as the extra 6 armor (once armors is cast) is non-trivial for survivability//

  * ??Black Lord??
  * ??Greatsword of Sharpness??
  * HoldX3-5. Attack Closest
  * Best with a random mage fluffing ??Temper Armors??, ??Strength of Giants??, ??Body Ethereal??

<tabbox Vampire Lord Thug>
**Vampire Lord Light Thug - 96 Blood Slaves (0-10 gems)**

<WRAP column 100px>{{ :independents:vampire_lord.png?nolink |}}</WRAP>

//The reason this thug is good is it's immortal (so your advantage rarely shrinks unless it gets seduced or the like), spammable at blood 8, and a flying stealthy thug that can raid distant provinces. Essentially - because its raids are 'free' due to immortality, it's all upside with very low risk - just a high initial investment.//

//This flies, is immortal (so is low committment), has stealth and can raid moderate amounts of PD solo even ungeared due to 25 invuln. Works well ungeared and with a single piece of armor. Also it can swap to horde of skeleton spam or melee variants on a dime which can cause counterthugs fits. Being immortal and flying means this unit can take otherwise risky lines. Boots and armor can be brought in to raid deeper and increase survivability for relatively few gems. A very powerful unit - but it's deep in research at blood 8. In dominions 5 it was exceptional at blood 7, now it competes with Three Red Seconds, so it's still good but lost some utility (the alternatives are stronger)//

//Also notable - this can be magic phased with ??Hell Ride??//

  * ??Vampire Lord??
  * [No Gear or 5 Gem Armor]
  * ??Soul Vortex??, [Spells (Can end on Reinvigoration with 1 Slave)]

<tabbox Hammer of the Mountains Counterthug>

**5 Gem Hammer of the Mountains Cyno/Caveman**


<WRAP column 100px>{{ :nations:ma:ind:cynocephalian_chieftain.png?nolink |}}</WRAP>

//This is an incredibly barebones counterthug. It is designed to deal with small units with the AOE stun - essentially stunlocking them until they die. It is effective against low str targets and defense stackers. This won in the arena against an objectively stronger unit through stunlocking it in Lucids Tournament Finals 2026.//

  * ??Cynocephalian Chieftain??
  * ??Hammer of the Mountains??
  * Attack Closest




</tabbox>




=====Common Answers=====
<tabbox Prot Supercombatant>

<WRAP column 100px>{{:pretenders:monolith.png?nolink}}</WRAP>



//Broadly - prot supercombatants tend to be vulnerable to construction items that give AN or ARP. Items like ??Greatsword of Sharpness?? early and ??Gate Cleaver?? later will rapidly kill a unit through any amount of protection. Otherwise - 1 hit kill spells like ??soul slay??, ??curse?? and affliction chipping are generally effective. Finally if its a pretender relying on invulnerability like a Dracolich, magic weapons will kill it quickly.//

<tabbox Defense Thug >
<WRAP column 100px>{{:nations:ea:helheim:vanjarl.png?nolink}}</WRAP>


??Web?? and ??Earth Meld?? tend to be the best answers at early research, albeit plain damage spells tend to do alright. The big 'strength' of these units is they do very well into a blob of ungeared troops. The solutions essentially all involve gems and magic (albeit in practice they're often tricky to counterthug). 

<tabbox The Overgeared Supercombatant>
<WRAP column 100px>{{:independents:wight_mage_6.png?nolink}}</WRAP>
//
//
??Curse?? chipping, AN/ARP weapons (to some extent), some specialized gear (like ??Star of Heroes??) are all solid in the earlier phases of the game, ??Axe of Hate??, ??Gate Cleaver?? are decent later on, and generally there'll always be some tricky way to counter it for less investment. Often something like skelespam to bog it down, and spamming some 1-hit kill spell is effective (even at 1% success it'll hit eventually). Without using const items, the more extreme variants of these can be hard to answer. Generally however - a small coterie of mages casting relevant spells will go a long way - as opposed to just more troops (be it chaff spam, curse, a one hit spell etc).  

//

//
It should be mentioned the above answers are often finnicky at the best of times. But the reason for that is an overgeared supercombatant represents a huge committment, be it in bless, gear or otherwise. It should require a large commitment to counter - and there are often phases of the game where supercombatants are 'functionally' very hard to kill - especially without item trading. However if one of these costs say '100' gems to make - does your large counter-committment 'actually' represent 100 gems + a hellbless of value? Oftentimes the answer to that is no. In any event - in a game where a player has a 'supercombatant bless', players should at least be aware when picking research priorities to try to have at least one answer. As always - diplomacy (and item trading) is the best answer.


<tabbox The Small Wight Mage>
<WRAP column 100px>{{:independents:wight_mage_1.png?nolink}}</WRAP>

There are a few dedicated items for dealing with these. ??Flambeau?? is surprisingly good (albeit gem expensive) since it also provides an AOE that can clear any chaff. ??Holy Scourge?? is a cheaper but still passable option that requires less paths and is serviceable on a countethug.

??The Ravenous Swarm?? is quite effective as a spell since it only targets undead. It's especially good in army fights where there are a few wights in someone's army, since it will only target them (assuming no other undead). 

Otherwise - general anti-thug tricks work. These smaller wights tend not to be too hard to deal with - but have high mapmove and can be kitted out in a variety of ways - so their unpredictability and speed makes the real threat. The real 'trick' is to predict where they're going if they're solo raiding tiles, and perhaps have an item or two 'prebuilt' to shuffle onto a counterthug.

It's worth mentioning these can be kitted very lightly - or very heavily, based on both the user and paths. A counterthug may work well against a lightly geared wight mage, but one with a load of paths, gear and high research may be harder to deal with.

Mid-Lategame - Fire Death wights specifically can pose real problems due to ??Phoenix Pyre?? + ??Soul Vortex??. The solution typically is to either kill it really fast, use ??Axe of Hate?? to kick its fatigue up so Pyre turns off, or use some fancy magic trick. The pyre vortex variants though really serve as light supercombatants so watch out!


<tabbox The Demilich>
So the ??Demilich?? is a monster lategame. The combination of immortality, Teleport, Innate Caster and the option to either heavy thug or cast a battlefield wipe is gamechanging. How can one deal with it? It should be noted that most answers are temporary at best (it's that powerful lategame), but below are some options


  * **??Curse?? variants.** Essentially - if the demilich is cursed it will accrue afflictions. They all reduce its effectiveness, but Mute isn't always removed on respawn and can stop it teleporting around. This doesn't solve the problem but it does help
  * **Magic phase a fort under it.** If a demilich gets teleported onto a fort - it can be quite hard to get it off. Typically, a player has to use a remote attack on their own demilich and kill it (and hillariously - the demilich being tough to kill often makes it hard to kill with remotes). Even if not a permanant solution, this is a passable one (and also protects the troops that would be inside
  * **Banishing to the shadow realm**: ??Infernal Prison?? and ??Claws of Kokytos?? are passable short tetm solutions
  * **Soul Slay:** Although hard to pull off due to the mage volume required (and likely sacrificed) and the high MR of the demilich (plus it being somewhat predictable for an astral nation) - this kills the Demilich for good (well until they call god it back up at least)
  * **Sic the demilich player on someone else** Not really a solution but Diplo can mean someone else suffers the demilich for a while
  * **Set up a dramatic line to pop the enemy capital** With the capital gone - the demilich dies for good. If you can pull off some sort of one turn siege shennanigans line (very hard to do most of the time), and win the combat, the cap will be taken and the demilich will die for good. Remember, you have to 'get' to the capital through the demilich, then siege it down, then take it, all with a demilich dropping on you - so this aint easy. Nevertheless, it's an option, particularly if you have the demilich locked down for a few turns.
  * <del>**A billion Horror Marks**.</del> This doesn't work due to turn sequence order. The horrors will kill the demilich 'after' magic phase ([[https://illwiki.com/dom5/dom6/turn-order-sequence]])
  * <del>**Smaller deployments and retreat orders:**</del> Short term this can work - long term the problem is the demilich keeps constraining the other player. Even if losses are small - the ability to deploy on the map and claw back are also reduced. 

</tabbox>

=====Common Pretender Supercombatants=====
<tabbox Bronze Colossus>
<WRAP column 100px>{{  :pretenders:bronze_colossus_1.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>

//This is an inanimate pretender with innate caster, lots of prot, lots of resists, and air paths so it can teleport. Earlygame, a lot of nations simply can't answer this or require extremely dedicated answers. The bronze colossus - albeit boring - has a bad habit of winning games due to wiping out stacks with ease, and being a magic phase monster. Machaka essentially gets an awake varaint of this in the ??Colossal Fetish??.//

//In theory it's a little vulnerable to thugs - GSS lines, Smasher's etc. In practice, it often moves via magic phase, can always embed in an army after a teleport, and usually has a sufficient kill mechanism that a few thugs won't cut it without some serious gear.//

//Normally, this unit will cast shockwave on spam for damage - albeit iron fists also works on hard targets. Finding the goldilocks balance of gear can be tricky - but this unit generally likes a lot of buffs. Just because it's a one man army doesn't stop you from fluffing Body Ethereal or some other multiplicative spell.//

//One core thing to remember - even though it has innate caster and is inanimate (low fatigue), if you give it too much encumbrance and a lengthy buff script - the fatigue can be non-trivial. Since any non armor-defeating hits are likely to do nothing - this is a real consideration.//


<tabbox Demilich>
<WRAP column 100px>{{  :pretenders:demilich.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>

**Demilich V1 - Battlefield Spells - 0-10 gems of gear, 3 gems to teleport, 1-2 D gems**

//This works because the demilich is immortal, and can use innate caster to bonk an entire army at the start of combat with some crippling battlefield wide spell. The basic idea is it teleports in, kills everything or mames everything (e.g. with disease), and either wins (fine), or dies and respawns, ready to do it all next turn, and the next turn etc. It wears Magic Penetration gear to increase the kill potential//

//Because the Demilich can do this time and time again, it rapidly can wear down any force not inside a fort, killing large volumes of mages and troops. It can singlehandedly make it difficult to move stacks around in the mid-lategame. Since few answers deal with it permanently (and if an opponent has answers, the user presumably takes precautions), this can be between nuisance every turn from the moment it comes online, to a game-ending stack wiping monster. This makes it the single most feared lategame pretender chassis in Dominions6//

//Such a build benefits from Blood4 due to the bonus 10HP, needs S3 (teleport), and at least D6 (Bone grinding). The rest of the pathing on the pretender can vary significantly based on player preference - albeit A1 is popular for Wind of Death//

  * ??Demilich??
  * ??Eye of the Void??, ??Spell Focus??
  * ??Bone Grinding?? OR ??Wind of Death?? -> Other Spells or recasts [also a 5x Magic Duel variant]

**V2 - Phoenix Pyre Variant - 4 Gems (No Items)**

//This is essentially the anti-PD variant. It's an ungeared or reinvig geared variant that just keeps respawning and killing things with magic. Technically you can put the two builds together, but they have quite different functions and will often want different spells (It's not bad on wind of death to keep the spell up for longer). Of minor note - if the tile doesn't have a lab, the demilich can get 'stuck' for a turn where it has to build a lab to teleport again.//

  * ??Demilich??
  * No Items
  * ??Phoenix Pyre??, ??Soul Vortex??, Other Spells (??Reinvigoration?? can be nice, but there's a lot of options here) 


<tabbox Immobile Rock>
<WRAP column 100px>{{  :pretenders:Monolith.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>

__Why The Early to Early-MidGame Innate Caster Giant Rock Pretender Supercombatant Works __

//At this phase of the game a big, inanimate, teleporting rock can be very hard to deal with. Layer on a few defensive buffs, and you have a super-combatant that can't move (ergo can't retreat) - so if it survives the combat - will rout the enemy. Of course, these big inanimate units tend to have a bunch of HP and can also just kill entire armies. However given the value of ones pretender - the safest use for these is picking off fringe parties, since dropping on someone's main army can be risky (with magic, and forged items and all). Nevertheless - it can drop on armies. //

//A popular meme strategy is getting some form of rock pretender awake and teleporting onto someones capital. It has its risks and problems, but if you can pull it off, it can obviously be crippling in a first war situation. Of course, this also leaves you on an awake researcher line with 'at best' an out of commission pretender for other players **(or a big honking trade partner for a third party with E forging)** - killing your pretender - leaving both players crippled and likely in a hellwar - in a position for said third player to swoop in). And if the monodrop fails for some reason, that's a very good way to knock one's self out of the game. As such - monodrop buids tend to be a bit of a meme//

//Typically this type of supercombatant has a few glaring weaknesses.// 
  * They tend to die quickly to construction 3 E items - so they often need to take care. In higher skill lobbies, these items will be traded around in the hopes of sniping such as super-combatant so a nation's lack of E access does not prevent them from deploying these
  * They tend to be very reliant on either Prot (e.g. Monolith) or a high HP pool with some defenses (e.g. Baphomet). Accordingly - they are vulnerable to high damage/arp/an, and magic weapons correspondingly. 
  * They tend to take some chip damage in a fight - so can't 'go forever'
  * They want to teleport onto labs if possible so they can teleport to safety after
  * It can be awkward getting the research needed to use these in a timely manner. They typically need Thamuturgy4 for the teleport, but their actual combat spells come from other paths. As such, they can often come online later than one might expect (since a user needs multiple researches at 2-4) where they are more vulnerable
  * Come the midgame - these aren't incredibly sturdy. It's the phase before battlefield wipes - so they don't kill quickly - but after research 3-4ish, so players have some good magic, Evocation is creeping up in damage and construction items are flying around. They're still good, but as the game goes on, they become increasingly risky to use



__**Build 1 Mid Research Rock + Battlefield Wipe**
__

//These are often empowered. There's no requirement to start with the paths for the battlefield wipe.//

//This works because it combines 3 things. A big, hard to kill chassis, innate caster for quick casting, and a spell that kills everything. There are variants of this, some for cap defence (like god block and sphinx), others that can teleport (like monument), but the basic concept is the same.//

  * ??God Block??
  * No Gear Required (but typically a misc slot is equipped
  * ??Foul Vapors??

__**Build 2 Late game Idol of Sorcery Soul Drain SC**
__

//There's a few variants of this - but broadly - this uses an inanimate chassis, some battlefield wipe spell, and optionally something like Phoenix Pyre to keep the pretender alive (albeit usually they're pretty hard to kill and enemy units die fast). Innate caster making sure spells go off turn 1 is significant and The lategame battlefield wipes at research 7-8 (??Winds of Death??, ??Fire Storm??, ??Soul Drain??) are a notch better than the clouds and foul vapors at 6 (albeit vapors is very good). Essentially - with pyre access and better battlefield wipes, these become noticably more effective (and work with a more common spread of paths)
//

//Note there isn't an idol of sorcery img on the wiki so we're using a monolith for now//

**Unempowered Lategame Idol of Sorcery**

  * ??Idol of Sorcery??
  * ??Eye of the Void??, ??Amulet of Antimagic??
  * ??Soul Drain??, ??Soul Vortex??, ??Astral Shield??, ??Body Ethereal??, ??Shroud of Bewilderment??


<tabbox Protection Expander>
<WRAP column 100px>{{  :pretenders:Golden_Lion.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>
//Broadly - there are two distinct subsets of this supercombatant. Essentially these fall within some of the Monster pretender options like the ??Dracolich?? and ??Golden Lion?? one one side of the coin (relying on invulnerability), and chassis like ??Myrmecoleon?? and ??Thrice Horned Boar?? on the other (relying on prot). Chassis that rely on invulnerability tend to be a bit cheaper and a bit stronger in most use cases, such as against independents and most troop armies. They tend to underpay a little in return for relying on invulnerability. The ??Virtue?? is also an example of this to an extent. In return, they're very weak to magic weapons (and other pretenders thwacking them). Some need a little magic or a little help from the bless to fully function - others are good out of the box.// 

//The classic ways these units get help are E3 (+3 natural protection), Personal Stoneskin/Barkskin (another prot or 2), Personal Regeneration, and Regeneration on the bless (which heals a lot on the bulky chassis)//


**Example 1 - Golden Lion (or the Cruncat)**
  * ??Golden Lion??
  * No Items
  * Personal Regeneration, Hold, Hold, Attack Closest

**Example 2 - Dracolich (strong into troops)**
  * ??Dracolich??
  * No Items
  * Hold, Hold, Fire Closest

</tabbox>

=====Some Light Thugs=====
<tabbox Xibalba Camazots Thug>
**MA Xibalba - I can't believe it's not a vampire lord (Invuln Vortex Thugs)**

**Camazots (D2) Cheap Backline Raider/Army Thug 2-3 gems + 5-10 gems of gear**
<WRAP column 100px>{{  :nations:ea:xibalba:camazotz.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>

//The basic idea of this thug is it's cheap (it carries 2 gems to cast invuln and vortex), flies (so it can attack rear), and has D2 for invuln/vortex. It also attacks at 0 fatigue due to ??Reinvigoration??. It jumps in the backline after r5 and wreaks havok on mage lines. It can also be equipped with a weapon like a ??Greatsword of Sharpness?? or ??Flesh Eater?? to increase its DPS. With 1 piece of armor, this unit has low 30's prot as well as soul vortex to stay alive. There are other shennanigans (in tham Xibalba can self-buff luck), but it's essentially a much earlier (and non-immortal) vampire lord thug. It's a bit light on stats for heavy thugging or supercombatanting. Notably, you can use more than one of these at once - and the same lines work on the twiceborned chassis.//

//They also can swap between skelespam lines and the above, so countering them can be complex due to the different attack vectors. Stealth and flying also do a lot for hitting annoying tiles.//

//Finally (and hilariously), Low base HP and morale means its quite easy to rout and self-trigger morale checks, especially with say a blood slave (for reinvigoration) and a retreating fluffer. Although amusing, this isn't good and is something to be aware of//



  * ??Camazotz#2719??
  * ??Blacksteel Plate??, ??Flesh Eater??
  * ??Invulnerability??, ??Gift of the Fourth Soul??, Hold, ??Soul Vortex??, ??Reinvigoration??, Attack Rear

<tabbox MA Pan Ackerbeltz thug>

<WRAP column 100px>{{  ::nations:ma:pangaea:black_bull.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>

Pending Coinneach MacAilpein

<tabbox EA Vanheim Vanjarl Paired Thug>
**Pair of Vanjarl Thugs - 20 Gems Total - Radier and Army Thugs (weapon interchangable)**

<WRAP column 100px>{{  :nations:EA:vanheim:vanjarl.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>

//A stock Vanjarl Thug Line. Items be shuffled around with Barding/Dream Spool, spells with Personal Flight (counterthug on atk large), displacement/Blur for Shroud of Bewilderment (shroud requires a gem and is a self buff but is considerably stronger than many alternatives), or even stack them (take care on fatigue). Weapons can be swapped out for GSS or similar when counter-thugging. The line works because putting 2 in a tile reduces harass penalties, the str boosts damage and the reinvig keeps them going. Luck is generally avoided for fatigue reasons//

//Broadly - in these lines - blur/displacement is best for counter-thugging, shroud is best for raiding. They come at different research paths however so the issue may be moot early.//

  * ??Vanjarl?? X2, 
  * ??Girdle of Might??, ??Frost Brand??, 
  * Caster 1: ??Mistform??, ??Air Shield??, HoldX3, Attack Closest
  * Caster 2: ??Blur??, ??Air Shield??, Bless, HoldX2, Attack Closest

<tabbox Fire Shield Prot Thug>

//So although we are using mekone as an example - this is a full subcategory of thug. Essentially, Fire Shield is a very effective thug kill mechanism, and if the thug can be kept alive, it will kill most light troops or PD. Quite a lot of nations have variations on this - be it with fire shield on the bless, or fire Shield being cast by some unit. Generally - the core 'pieces' are some way to gain natural protection (to stack with the armor) , Armor, Fire shield, albeit HP is always nice.//


**Ephor Fire Shield Thug (5 gems)**

<WRAP column 100px>{{  :nations:EA:mekone:ephor.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>
//This essentially is a prot thug that relies on Ench3 (??Fire Shield??) for damage. It works because for 5 gems - you get a very hard to kill unit with about 30 prot, not desperately high fatigue and a killing mechanism. It may be at a mathematical level better to skip temper armors for fatigue reasons. Notably - other nations like ulm have similar variants. Certain players like Monkeydew like layering this with a dormant Obfuscate bless for a very annoying raider.//

  * ??Ephor#3115??
  * ??Blacksteel Plate?? 
  * ??Fire Shield??, ??Earth Power??, ??Personal Ironskin??, ??Temper Armors??

** Ephor Fire Shield Thug  BAD VARIANT(30 Gems)**

// This fails for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the extra prot for the most part doesn't help deal with a lot of units. Secondly - this fatigues out fast due to +4 encumbrance from the other build - and will get rapidly killed by armor defeating hits. It doesn't answer a lot more than the 5 gem variant (and certainly not a lot more than a pair of them), has fatigue problems, and is a very juicy target for a counterthug //


  * ??Ephor#3115??
  * ??Full Blacksteel Plate??, ??Blacksteel Helmet??, ??Bracers of Protection??, ??Mace of Eruption, ??Blacksteel Tower Shield??
  * ??Fire Shield??, ??Personal Ironskin??, ??Temper Armors??, ??Strength of the Giants??
</tabbox>




=====Some Heavy Thugs=====
<tabbox EA Atlantis Basalt King Heavy Thug>
<WRAP column 100px>{{  :nations:ea:atlantis:basalt_king.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>

**20 Gem Basalt King Light Thug / Army Thug**

//Earth Fire paths and built in fear make for a good protection thug chassis. These can be chancey to use due to being Slowrec (and 'just' a prot thug //so a bit vulnerable to things such as GSS//), but are servicable in a lot of situations. Servicable at const3. Fluffable - and can accept a goodly number of buffs beyond what it can buff itself with (Body Ethereal is best).// 

//The Basalt King raid into almost any volume of PD in a pinch but does best as an army thug where the fear can really put in work. Theoretically, with a good bless and unprepared opponent it can stackwipe, in practice, anti-thug units tend to deal with this quite effectively. Nevertheless, sometimes players will be caught unawares and this can stackwipe in that case - especially with another layer of defenses like regeneration on the bless.//

//The Basalt King can be kitted as a light thug, army thug, or heavy thug and accepts a thug bless well. Generally used as a 20+ gem heavy thug due to the high cost and 2 cap turns.//

  * ??Basalt King??
  * ??Greatsword of Sharpness?? ??Blacksteel Plate??, ??Dragon Helm??, ??Bracers of Protection??
  * ??Summon Earthpower??, ??Personal Ironskin??, ??Fire Shield??, ??Personal Quickness??, ??Temper Armors??, Attack Closest

<tabbox MA Machaka Pyre Vortex thug>
**Machaka Phoenix Pyre Soul Vortex Anti-Infantry Heavy Thug [25-30 Gems] (Twicebornable)** 
<WRAP column 100px>{{  :nations:ma:machaka:black_sorcerer.png??nolink  |}}</WRAP>

//This is a straightforward Fire/Death Pyre/Vortex/Invuln Thug. It's predictable but it's very effective, with vortex providing the reinvig to keep pyre going forever. This requires Alteration 7 for Pyre//

Assuming wiki is in-date [[https://illwiki.com/dom5/twiceborn]]

//If you're incredibly greedy - you can cast twiceborn on these then cast transformation (or do it the other way around albeit twiceborn will cost more gems) and hope for a giant chassis. This essentially will turn it into a proper supercombatant (in both forms). When supercombatanting - you would gear more extensively.//

  * ??Black Sorcerer??
  * ??Skull Staff?? [Any Armor], ??Boots of the Messenger??, ??Girdle of Might??
  * ??Invulnerability??, ??Soul Vortex??, ??Fire Shield??, ??Phoenix Pyre??


<tabbox MA Naba Malikah - Multifaceted Thug>
<WRAP column 100px>{{ :nations:ma:naba:malikah.png?nolink |}}</WRAP>



//The Malikah is quite a complicated thugging unit. Naba gets access to a range of buffs - so it can have a lot of buffs painted on. It has good paths (is slowrec so is expensive), solid stats (especially in magic scales), decent HP and human encumbrance (3). It even has flying/magicphase/stealth so it can pick favorable battles and shuffle away! It's complicated because there are so many good aspects - and yet the unit struggles to balance fatigue / thugging and it's easy to go overboard, fatigue out, and die.//

//The basic spells it wants to selfbuff (on Naba's paths) are
??Shroud of Splendor??, ??Shroud of Bewilderment?? - both which add additional defensive layers. ??Fire Shield?? is another obvious choice. It can add self buffs depending on paths rolled (E for Earth power being the best).//

//It wants a few spells fluffed. Ideally it wants a skin buff like ??Stoneskin??, ??Mistform?? (or self-buffed), ??Displacement?? (or ??Blur??), %%Bless%% at a minimum, ??Temper Armors??. The best of these (Stoneskin/Mistform) are at alt 4 however and a little deeper in research than the rest of the kit.//

//Put all this together and you have a lot of defensive layers at around research 3-4, albeit fatigue remains in issue. Fortunately - the self buffs aren't especially fatigue heavy, but a complicating factor is the best fatigue regen items come at con5 (albeit ??Rangers Boots?? exist at con3) and naba has limited N access in any event. As such, the earth random tends to be the best one for ??Summon Earthpower??. Even with all the defensive layers the unit will be a little vulnerable as it wants to spam ??Shockwave?? in combat, which will tend to fatigue it out. However this makes it a very killy, very hard to kill unit for not a huge gem investment. However it's a versatile enough defensive 'base' to build in quite a few different ways (and lategame as a pyre unit as well).// 

//You can build this a few different ways - as a cheapo thug, with a weapon element (like repel), as a mage, as a heavy thug with a shield. There's no one way to do this - as the chassis can hold a lot of buffs - but the core remains, multiple layers of defense, decent stats, and not too fatigue negative.// 

**Example Malikah Heavy Thug - 15 gems (earth random) - 1 gem carried - Research 3. **

  * ??Malikah??
  * ??Blacksteel Plate??, ??Ranger Boots??, ??Thunder Whip?? (for repel), ??Burning Pearl?? (for repel)
  * ??Summon Earthpower??, ??Flying Shield??, ??Shroud of Splendor??, ??Shroud of Bewilderment??, ??Personal stoneskin??
  * Fluffed - ??Blur??, ??Bless??, ??Temper Armors??


**Example 2 Malikah Heavy Repel Thug (E random)**

//This line requires at least +2 Reinvigoration on the bless (e.g. via a ??Myrmecoleon?? scales build). It is fatigue positive, and layers BE, Defense, Repel, Awe, Shroud of Bewilderment, Prot. This layering makes it extremely difficult to kill with ordinary troops. Bonus points if you use a fluffer as it can take additonal buffs//

  * ??Malikah??
  * ??Blacksteel Plate??, ??Burning Pearl??, ??Dragon Helmet??, ??Enchanted Pike?? ??Bracers of Protection??
  * ??Summon Earthpower??, ??Blessing??, ??Shroud of Bewilderment??, ??Personal Stoneskin??, ??Shroud of Splendor??
</tabbox>

=====Golem Thugs=====
<WRAP box round>**Note**
//There are a couple variants of golem thugs. Historically, golem thugs have been quite divisive. On the one hand, they are mindless, high HP, STR and MR, carry a ring of returning well and can magic phase. On the other, their remaining stats are underwhelming, they tend to be very gem expensive to kit out, they can take a very long time to pay for themselves, and losing one can be catastrophic due to the gem investment. Below is a few of the more common variants//</WRAP>
<WRAP>
<tabbox Phoenix Pyre Golem>
<WRAP column 100px>{{  independents:golem.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>

**Controversial Phoenix Pyre Golem Light Supercombatant - 130 Gems**

//Essentially - this is a high HP, mindless chassis that you stack reinvigoration, phoenix pyre and defensive buffs on. Pyre and Fire shield kill reasonably fast, the unit doesn't take too much damage, reinvigoration means pyre keeps procing and the unit won't die, and there's enough flexibility that some resists can be fitted. This tends to be quite hard to kill with magic since mindless deals with most of the 1hit spells, and resist gear can deal with the rest. Extraordinarily expensive however - and should be 'relatively' cheap to answer with counterthug gear (Axe of Hate in particular).//

  * ??Golem?? (Empowered F1) - 1 F Gem equipped
  * ??Starshine Skullcap??, ??Amulet of Reinvigoration??, ??Girdle of Might??, ??Armor of Knights??, ??Boots of Stone??, Shock Trident
  * ??Phoenix Pyre??, ??Fire Shield??, ??Astral Shield??, ??Body Ethereal??, ??Resist Magic??

<tabbox Prot Golem>

**Prot Golem Heavy Thug (85 Gems)**

<WRAP column 100px>{{  independents:golem.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>
//Due to being mindless, this can be a useful way to kit out a golem. It's far from invulnerable, so it may want to stealth away afterwards or teleport again. The magic phase movement isn't strictly necessary but is highly recommended. May want to carry a S gem for returning after the 'main' combat//
  * ??Golem??
  * ??Frost Brand??, ??Charcoal Shield??, ??Starshine Skullcap??, ??Armor of Knights??, ??Boots of Stone??, ??Chains Of Reconstruction??
  *  ??Astral Shield??, ??Body Ethereal??, ??Resist Magic??

<tabbox Horror Harmonica SC Golem>

**Horror Harmonica Golem - 130 Gems Core, usually with another 30-40 gems in Armor, Misc Slot, Boots, Weapon/Shield.**

<WRAP column 100px>{{  independents:golem.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>
//This is one of the most feared supercombatants in dominions since any nation can make it. It is one of the big payoffs for being the first person to construction 9. Essentially, the way it works is the user has a teleporting golem with a ring of returning that summons horrors as a kill mechanism. Being mindless, the horrors don't attack it and the Golem isn't vulnerable to a lot of otherwise effective spells like soul slay. It's hard to pin down and unpredictable due to teleport so counterthugging (the classic answer is to make a counterthug designed to 1hit the golem) is difficult.//

//Otherwise, the golem can shuffle its gear a bit, and can hold an astral pearl in case you ever want to actually cast returning (e.g. teleport onto a non-lab tile and need an emergency button for a specialized counterthug).//

  * Golem
  * The Horror Harmonica, Ring of Returning, Starshine Skullcap (weapons and armor to preference but with a goal to not get 1shot)
  * Summon Horror X5.


**Why this unit is so annoying**

Firstly and foremostly - this is quite threatening and can take on essentially any amount of PD and smallish armies including with light mage support. On top of that - it's generally very hard to deal with permanantly due to ring of returning. So it teleports around the map, accruing value on small to medium targets. In that sense it's like a demilich-lite.

There are a small variety of answers to this unit - mostly focused around a unit with const gear hitting really hard and killing the golem in 1 round before ring of returning pops. For example - Dalts Reccomends a Golem of ones own with Gloves of the Gladiator to deal massive damage in one turn and kill the golem. A players gets the attack 'cycle' of one weapon - so quickness won't help but having a weapon that hits twice (or four times) will.

The big problem is - if there's a magic phase 'war' you need to both have your super-thug, predict where the golem will teleport to (with a wary opponent), Magic phase in yourself, and if there's no lab there - risk your opponent doing some sneaky MP thing with a different kitout to loot your thug. So the supercombatant golem actually quite hard to pin down - albeit there are theoretical answers.

<tabbox The Anti-Golem, Golem Counterthug>
**TO ADD - KNOWN QUANTITY BUT NEED AN EXAMPLE**

<WRAP column 100px>{{  independents:golem.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>
//The basic idea of this unit is it allows nations with limited magic phase access to use a golem as a magic phase counterthug. It's very expensive, but the idea broadly is if you can bonk a heavy thug - the gear recovered offsets some of the cost - and it's fairly low risk since it's magic phase and presumably in your own lands (enemy raiding), and the payoff can be quite lucrative. Players may need a scout or two in position to 'collect the loot' if the golem is heavily geared.//

//The specifics of the golem will depend a lot on the specifics of the enemy thug. As a rule of thumb - counterthugging heavy thugs is best with highly damaging weapons (ARP/AN 2 handed), and the golem will want a S booster (Meteoric Coin or Starshine Skullcap), but beyond that there's some flexibility. It is notable just how bad the golem's stats are - so that flexibility will often go into shoring up STR/ATK values //


<tabbox Niche anti-indie prot golem>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBCLQqZi4BI
**11.08 Golem Thug anti UW-Indie**

//A neat little fear thug with lots of armor. Note this costs a LOT of gems (80 including the chassis)//

  * Implementor Axe, Chains of Reconstruction, Horror Helmet, Blacksteel Plate, Boots of Quickness, Ring of the warrior
  * Astral Shield, Body Ethereal, Attack Closest


</tabbox>
</WRAP>

=====Supercombatants and Thugs from Lucids Tourney=====
<tabbox Acoasama earlygame Ghost King Supercombatant / Heavy thug>
<WRAP column 100px>{{ :pretenders:ghost_king.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>
**5 Gem Some Scales Ghost King - Uruk - Multiple Episodes**

//This is a light supercombatant. It has counters, however ultimately it provides diversity, scales with magic, has a big fear aura for helping with independents, stealths, goes underwater for expansion, and generally can wipe out non-magic armies. As discussed in the cast, it has some specific anti-undead weaknesses in magic (Solar Rays being the big one), but broadly - this is a decent option that balances a rainbow pretender for diversity, a light supercombatant, an expander and a site-searcher. This isn't going to be a world-beater - but it has enough power to wipe unprepared armies//


  * This example is episode 9 Timestamp 15:28  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiB-lKJ6TZE
  * Paths - F2, A3, E2, D4, N2, G2
  * Scales at -1 total (5 Dominion)
  * Magic at Ench3 Alt2

--

  * ??Ghost King??
  * ??Full Blacksteel Plate??
  * ??Personal Mistform??, ??Shroud of Splendor??, ??Personal Regeneration??, ??Flying Shield??, ??Blurred Body??, Advance and cast spells?

--
**Varaint 2 **

Episode 12 7.56 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKjIRB2O1JU

  * ??Full Blacksteel Plate??, ??Blacksteel Helm??, ??Boots of Long Strides??, ??Enchanted Shield??
  * ??Personal Regeneration??, ??Flying Shield??, ??Protection From Lightning??, ##2X Unknown due to script break, Attack Closest

<tabbox TODO - Ind Pretender>

<tabbox Type100 MA Machaka Colossal Fetish>
<WRAP column 100px>{{ :pretenders:bronze_colossus_1.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>

//This is one of the most feared supercombatants in dominions. It starts awake, is very cheap at 260 design points (only 1 scale more expensive than a dracolich), wears gear, has resists and innate caster, is mindless, is resistant to damage, has a big pool of HP, magic phases, and to top it all off, has fists of Iron due to high E so it's a pretender killer. This is extraordinarily hard to deal with in the earlygame, especially if used in conjunction with other tools and not just solo, and arguably the best pretender chassis in the game (Fortunately only machaka has access).//

//There are no good answers early. There are tolerable answers in construction and with counterthugs in friendly dominion - but the speed which the fetish kills things and its high HP pool means these are shaky at best, especially if it's embedded in an army. It's spells + innate caster give counterthugs fits. Functionally, this plays like a bronze colossus, except it's 120 design points cheaper and awake - so essentially at -1 scale and awake. As a result of this - it speeds up expansion and tends to hit players before any viable counterplay is available. As the game goes on, the colossus picks up gear and becomes even more oppressive - and becomes a teleporting global caster//

//Arguably it's biggest weaknesses is it can run outside of dominion easily, where it loses the bless and dominion HP. This isn't a huge weakness, but it's worth remembering as ultimately this will significantly reduce the HP pool and potentially allow for counters. //

**Episode 12 Finals - 31.13** http://youtube.com/watch?v=SKjIRB2O1JU


  * A4, E6, S4, N4 - Scales at -4, 5 Dominion
  * Magic at Ench3 Alt1, Evocation 2
  * Bless at +10FR, +10SR, Hardskin, +1 Strength


  * ??Colossal Fetish??
  * No Items
  * ??Flying Shield??, ??Personal Flight??, ??Gift of Giants Strength??, ??Astral Shield??, ??Air Shield?? Attack large monsters -> Will offscript ??Fists of Iron?? and ??Shockwave??

**Episode 27 - Lightning Battlefield Caster**

http://youtube.com/watch?v=k6w9zaAzjRs&t=3s 33.19

//The colossal fetish takes its 'second form' here - casting battlefield spells and killing a large ind army that way. A simple but well executed supercombatant line wiping out a large army effortlessly in the magic phase. It even has a stealth item so it can fade away afterwards. The wraith sword plus girdle means it never has fatigue issues. Notable is the decision to not wear armor (less fatigue), which is a very good - but not intuitive choice here.//


  * ??Colossal Fetish??
  * ??Wraith Sword??, ??Gossamer Veil??, ??Boots of the Behemoth??, ??Amulet of Antimagic??, ??Girdle of Might??
  * ??Storm??, ??Summon Earthpower??, ??Astral Shield??, ??Protection from Lightning??, ??Wrathful Skies?? (Unclear if advance spells or attack command here)



<tabbox Demilich Endgame Supercombatant Drop (full stackwipe)>
**R2G9 Maps - Ys Demilich Drop T52 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MF8wC7FJ1Q&t=357s**


//This is a brutal endgame Demilich line. Soul drain kills everything - and reinvigorates the caster - both through drain and howl. Although requiring heavy path committments, this is a true endgame supercombatant capable of soloing endgame armies that also have magic. A spectacular showing of an endgame Innate Caster SC by Maps.  //

  * Endgame Tech
  * Gems = 5E, 5S, 7D, 3N, 3E
  * Paths = 3F, 2A, 3W, 4E, 5S, 7D, 3N, 3G, 4B
  * 23 gems carried, 25 gems in gear
  * Bless = Shock Resistance 10, Poison Resistance 5, Defence +4, Reinvigoration +2, Blood Surge, Heroism +3



  * ??Demilich??
  * ??Starshine Skullcap??, ??Amulet of Antimagic??, ??Amulet of Resilience??
  * ??Phoenix Pyre??, ??Soul Drain??, ??Howl??, ??Meteor Shower??, ??Wailing Winds?? - Cast Spells


<tabbox MA Vanjarl army Thugs Kris Lighthawk t16ish>

**20 gem vanjarl army thug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC_yOkCbDak 1:02:04**

<WRAP column 100px>{{ :nations:ea:vanheim:vanjarl.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>
//Although this ultimately failed into the web-spam from machaka - these remain effective thugs and deserve an example. Obviously however - this fails into web since the thug gets stuck//

  * ??Vanjarl??
  * ??Blacksteel Plate??, ??Ring of Tamed Lightning??, ??Blacksteel Sword??, ??Sword of Sharpness??
  * Script Unknown

<tabbox Kleio assorted Ulm Thugs T17-22>


  * Bless = Fullscales Dumping Death/Misfortune/Drain Dormant Frost Father Rainbow -> Resists bless
  * 10 Shock Resistance, 5 Poison Resistance, 5 Cold Resistance, 80 Disease Resistance, Spirit Sight, Wind Walker (+6 Map Move)

**Assorted ulm army thugs**
//This is some generic Ulm army thugging. Morale buffed predominantly to handle a fear bless//

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a71Yw4DVhek 12:00


Assorted thugs with the following gear sets

??Bracers of Protection??, ??Pendant of Courage??, ??Dragon Helmet??, 1x with ??Wound Fend Amulet??, 1X with what appears to be ??Sword of Sharpness??. Units hold either 1, or 3 items

**Turn 22 Counterthugging Squads Anti-Ghost King)**


<WRAP column 100px>{{ nations:ma:ulm:priest_smith.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>
//These were combined with 19 Ghoul Guardians as an anti ghost-king squad. Although they never made contact - these army thugs / counterthugs were roaming around hunting for a pretender snipe.//

  * ??Black Priest??, ??Priest Smith??
  * Unit 1: ??Dragon Helmet??, ??Pendant of Courage??, ??Burning Pearl??, ??Hammer of the Mountains?? (armored unit)
  * Unit 2: ??Dragon Helmet??, ??Pendant of Courage??, ??Burning Pearl??, ??Holy Scourge??, ??Fire Plate??
  * Unit 1 Script: ??Strength of Giants??x2, Attack Rear
  * Unit 2 ??Blessing??, ??Holy Avenger??, ??Attack Rear??


**Turn 25 UW Pale One Indie clearers (Sea Trolls - weak to fire)**

//An impressive UW indie clear with pale one commanders - famously awful commanders that have the amphibious trait (thugged out)//


  * ??Pale One??
  * 1) ??Burning Pearl??, ??Bracers of Protection??, ??Halberd of Might??
  * 2) ??Burning Pearl??, ??Fire Plate??, ??Burning Blade??
  * 3)??Burning Pearl??, ??Bracers of Protection??,??Greatsword of Sharpness??
  * 4) ??Burning Pearl??, ??Burning Blade??
  * 5)??Burning Pearl??, ??Bracers of Protection??, ??Burning Blade??
  * Hold*3 Atk Closest

**Turn 30 Golem Heavy Thug (Fire Shield)**
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axpvKxUYxlY 16.25 E30
<WRAP column 100px>{{  independents:golem.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>
//A stock standard golem prot thug used to kill ??Umbral??s. The fight is a close run thing but the golem takes it//

  * ??Golem??
  * ??Main Gauche of Parrying??, ??Charcoal Shield??, ??Starshine Skullcap??, ??Full Blacksteel Plate??, ??Ring of the warrior??, ??Bracers of Protection??
  * Astral Shield, Attack Closest

**Episode 31 - Golem 2 - Prot/MR variant**

//This was a dodgy line. Two units teleported in - a Golem and a High Magus (Fire Plate, Bracers of Protection, Starshine Skullcap). Essentially PD and birds murdered the magus - which was worth far more than the province taken. 25 gems worth of gear, 3 gems, plus another 6 in teleports spent to take 1 tile - and the PD wasn't worth it. Nevertheless - the GOLEM worked - even if the magus did not - so this gets a mention as a success case RE the golem - and a fail case re thugging overall.//

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IAaRJ37yNRw 20.38

  * ??Golem??
  * ??Fire Brand??, ??Burning Blade??, ??Starshine skullcap??, ??Armor of Meteoric Iron??, ??Chains of Reconstruction??, ??Burning Pearl??
  * ??Body Ethereal??, ??Astral Shield??, ??Resist Magic?? #strictly speaking ethereal was fluffed here

**Episode 31 - Fire Shield Golem 21.07**

//An updated fire shield golem with ring of returning to protect against the worst. As it turned out - this didn't achieve much, but the ring kept losses to a minimum. Same high magus fluffer High Magus (Fire Plate, Bracers of Protection, Starshine Skullcap) - same losses - but this time the battle AND gear were lost. Ouch. Hillariously it was a Lumber construct with a Greatsword of Sharpness counterthug that dealt with the golem. This seems tailor made as a capital patroller for the exact golem case - so kudos to panagea for being prepared.//

  * ??Golem?? 
  * ??Fire Brand??, ??Charcoal Shield??, ??Starshine Skullcap??, ??Full Blacksteel Plate??, ??Ring of Returning??, ??Bracers of Protection??
  * Astral Shield, Attack Closest


**Episode 33 - Fire Shield Golem Thug + master smith fluffer**

//Functionally the same fire shield thug as before (now with boots). Panagea was ready however with howl cast and with GSS on his thugs. This meant that although the golem didn't die (due to the ring), it didn't kill any mages, since they immediately procced ring of returning. A highly effective (and clever) defence from panagea from a golem drop. The lesson here - items can be left on mages and don't 'Have' to sit in the lab - and that can provide contingency from ring of returning lines reliant on prot.//

  * ??Golem?? 
  * ??Fire Brand??, ??Charcoal Shield??, ??Starshine Skullcap??, ??Full Blacksteel Plate??, ??Boots of the messenger??, ??Ring of Returning??, ??Bracers of Protection??
  * Astral Shield, Attack Closest
  * ??Temper Armors fluffed??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egaPPDgYpUE 12.20



**Holy army thugs**
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IAaRJ37yNRw 23.49 - Gonna have to do this in a standalone session - this is insane

<tabbox Malikah Army Thug NABA T18>

<WRAP column 100px>{{ nations:ma:naba:malikah.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>

Lucids Finals T18 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H90nBcBW9bg 4:50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlImIjd1E_A 4:45

  * Bless = Reinvigoration +1 Mountain Survival
  * Thug 1 - 3F3A 20 gems in items ??Blacksteel Plate??, ??Blacksteel Helm??, ??Blacksteel Kite Shield??, ??Greatsword of Sharpness??
  * Approximate script - Personal Mistform, Shroud of Splendor, Shroud of Bewilderment, ??Air Shield?? hold - attack closest
  * Bless fluffed


//This is a last ditch cap defence, so the thugs aren't going to be at their best. This line worked in one video - failed in a second - but in my opinion it has some minor issues. At core, it's a Malikah defensive thug line, designed to hold off most of jotunheim's troops. It's a fair plan. The issue is going to be fatigue chipping at their defense, sheet unit volume, and jotun's mage answers. It's darned close - different RNG has naba winning and losing this fight - and these thugs are at the centre of it. Notably - in the video they failed and in the real game they succeeded. There's a second malikah but it seems dedicated to casting not thugging//

//This thug catches a large bloc of the jotunheim army and just holds it off when the rest of the Naba mages put in work. It has some fatigue problems but very clearly holds off a large number of giant troops, allowing the other mages the time to DPS everything down and trigger a rout.//

<tabbox Hezekiah Lich Queen Pretender>
**Lich Queen - multipurpose supercombatant**

<WRAP column 100px>{{ :pretenders:master_lich.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>

//This is essentially a spin on the demilich - except the Lich Queen is an awake pretender so can expand, allows incarnates and can harass players much earlier. This was used to great effect in expansion and to raid in the early-midgame. Lategame it's a magic phase winds of death / bone grinding caster. The 'secret sauce' is the mirror images on glamor 4 work great with invulnerability and the built in fear. //

  * Bless = Stygian Flesh, Fear, Heroism 
  * (A3, D9, G4 Dom6 (Scales Chaos3, Sloth1, Heat2, Growth0, Misfortune2, Magic3) - total -4 (if you don't count chaos on ind - then +2)

  * ??Lich Queen??
  * No items (most of the time)
  * ??Mirror Image??, ??Personal Mistform??, ??Air Shield?? - ??Blurred Body??, Hold, Advance and cast spells

**If anyone knows the turn the Lich Queen took the throne - I can check if it was geared**


**Episode 27  - Lich Queen Light Supercombatant (Mute Lich Queen)** 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6w9zaAzjRs&t=3s 15.25

//This surprised me in it's effectiveness. High armor, fatigue positive, fear aura and layered defences means vanheims units can't get a clean hit in - so it chips away at the enemy army until they fear rout. A very creative and effective early drop - and a fun/unique kit for a Lich Queen. A very nice 'light supercombatant' at construction 5 - and a potent use of the Lich Queen prior to battlefield spells//

  * ??Lich Queen??
  * ??Mirror Armor??, ??Moon Blade??, ??Dragon Helmet??, ??Boots of the messenger??, ??Burning Pearl??
  * ??Shroud of Bewilderment??, ??Mirror Image??, ??Protection from Lightning??, ??Displace Body??, ??Personal Mistform??, Attack Closest

**Episode 32 - Repel anti-sacred Heavy Thug LQ**
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKKaF-M6RLg&t=3220s

//This is a repel variant - built to deal with any number of sacreds. Basically - it stacks prot, repel, shroud and a bit of defence (displace body), plus an extra damage source in the buff cycle (dance of the emphemeral swords), with fear layerd on top of that. The glue that holds this all together is the lich queen's natural invulnerability and low fatigue - so she can go on repelling forever.//

  * ??Lich Queen??
  * ??Mirror Armor??, ??Dragon Helmet??, ??Boots of the Messenger??, ??Burning Pearl??, ??Chains of Reconstruction??, ??Enchanted Pike??
  * ??Shroud of Bewilderment??, ??Personal Mistform??, ??Displace Body??, ??Mirror Image??, ??Damce of Ephemeral Swords??





<tabbox Axone Panagea anti-Indie Heavy Thugs>

**45 Gem Pan Heavy Thug to take water province**

E21 33:37 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e8ufUe-UkI&t=2181s

<WRAP column 100px>{{ ::nations:la:pangaea:black_bull.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>

//This is a fairly heavy thug that is dedicated to an indie province. It's less expensive than it looks, since it's at low risk - its opponents are predictable and can be ungeared after the fight. This is a very good use of a heavy thug to clear an otherwise tricky UW province//

  * ??Pan??
  * ??Thorn Spear??, ??Eye Shield??, ??Horned Helmet??, ??Full Blacksteel Plate??, ??Boots of Long Strides??, ??Ring of the Warrior??, ??Ring of Water Breathing??
  * ??Personal Regeneration??, ??Personal Ironskin??, ??Personal Poison Resistance??, ??Temper Armors??, ??Enlarge??, Attack Closest


**Double thug + fluffer to clear Sea Trolls E27**

//So first of all - mad respect to this line - thugging trolls is HARD and this had to have been tested. This is essentially a line that relies on high prot, decent repel weapons to fend off the claws, enough reinvigoration to protect the stats, and body etheral/temper flesh gluing it all together. Having 2 units in 1 square to avoid surrounds is a huge deal. This is a very well crafted line and in the authors opinion - should be studied as a masterclass in sending heavy thugs into indies/thrones/mageless armies. No one aspect is likely to get this build over the line, but the combination works beautifully.//


23.33 http://youtube.com/watch?v=k6w9zaAzjRs&t=3s
  * ??Pan??, ??Lizard Shaman??, ??Centaur Hierophant??
  * **PAN** - ??Moon Blade??, ??Helm of Horrors??, ??Fire Plate??, ??Ranger's Boots??, ??Ring of Water Breathing??, ??Ring of the Warrior??
  *  **Centaur Hierophant** ??Stinger??, ??Eye Shield??, ??Horned Helmet??, ??Fire Plate??, ??Rangers Boots??, ??Ring of Water Breathing??
  * **Lizard Shaman** ??Ring of Water Breathing??
  * PAN - ??Summon Earthpower??, ??Regeneration??, ??Enlarge??, ??Temper Flesh??
  * Centaur = ??Summon Earthpower??, ??Blessing??, ??Personal Ironskin??, ??Temper Flesh??
  * SHAMAN ??Body Ethereal??,??Body Ethereal??, ??Barkskin??


<tabbox T24 Fire Resist Axone Panagea Army Thug> 
**15-25 Gem Cenataur Hierophant Heavy Thug**

Episode 24 3:56 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH4tiENWFbE&list=PL-SHZMz9R6beYyNwGVVu1KUE53C44SCnT&index=28

//These frankly were underwhelming. An armY of GSS medium thugs - a bunch still died, and the thugs only killed about 6 units each - not awful - but not a 25 gem units worth of value. On the other hand - they hit hard, and its possible they did a lot of damage but other units got the killing blow - so they're under-represented by the kill count. A few did seem to get caught behind the main army -  so its also highly possible they're under-represented in the numbers due to being trapped//

////

Bless = 5SR, 5FR, Blur, Blood Surge, Awareness, Slowing Weapons


  * ??Centaur Hierophant??
  * ??Greatsword of Sharpness??, ??Fire Plate??, ??Horned Helmet??, - some had ??Ring of the Warrior??
  * Script Unknown - at least a few layers of buffs

<tabbox Failed Crun MA Marignon Commander Army Thugs (GSS)>

E25 24.37 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c53utmRp584

//These units have a very potent rainbow bless, sit in a buffball, then attack with GSS. Simple, uncomplicated and effective. The troops and mages did all the real work - the thugs were insignificant in this fight. Used to defend the mage ball it seems. This isn't to criticize thugging - but in this fight it was ineffectual it was the mages and sacreds that put in the work. //

  * Body Ethereal, Spell Ward, Regeneration Buffed
  * Bless 5SR, 5FR, Blur, ReinvigorationX2, Magic ResistX2, Str X2, Righteous Wrath, Darkvision, Enchanted Blood, Undying X10

  * ??Paladin??
  * ??Greatsword of Sharpness??
  * ??Bless?? *5, stay behind troops?


<tabbox Failed Frost Father last ditch van SC T26>
<WRAP column 100px>{{ :pretenders:Frost_Father.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>
//When Ind was finishing off Van - this was the last ditch defence. It actually did pretty good (albeit not doing enough) so it gets a honorary mention. I have a lot of respect for this SC as it follows most of the rules for making a great SC - but for the chassis itself (but there weren't a lot of options here). It survived until twilight - which is as much as can be hoped for in most cases - but unfortunately Ind had skelespam to keep his army from routing until the key moment. In any event - Kris made a real fight of it and this is a good showing of 'what could have been' - even though it didn't quite get over the line. A great example to template other earlygame rainbow SC's off.//

//Couple things of note. The temp scales hurt this quite a lot - substantially lowering the cold aura and the defense. This had a full 'fluffer squad' and absorbed a lot of buffs - and a bless well suited to resisting a lot of problems. A few people have con5 by now so presumably frost brand was purchased. But for the temp scales - there's a world the fight goes the other way.  Finally - the pretender survived until twilight - so although its kill speed was insufficient - it made a hell of a fight of it (and into skelespam). But for the skelespam, it likely would have won and caused a rout. Arguably there could have been a boots of the ranger + spells line that may be more resistant to twilight - but its a tough sell as its weaker before due to fatigue issues. Overall - a very respectable performance.//

  * Bless = Shock res +5, Fire res +5, Defense +4, Undying +10, Enchanted Blood, Dark Vision +50 ,Unholy Weapons (dormant)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykfQDw0urYM 12.50


  * ??Frost Father??
  * ??Sword of Sharpness??, ??Frost Brand??, ??Dragon Helmet??, ??Blacksteel Plate??, ??Ring of the Warrior??, ??Stone Bird??
  * ??Summon Earthpower??, ??Personal Ironskin?? ??Fire Shield??, ??Astral Shield??, ??Shroud of Bewilderment??
  * FLUFFED - ??Body Ethereal??, ??Enlarge??, ??Temper Armors??, ??Iron Will??, ??Luck??, ??Cold Resistance??, ??Gift of Giant's Strength??, ??Protective Winds??, ??Battle Fury??
  * There was an attempt to fluff Regeneration but unfortunately an imp cancelled it

<tabbox Type100 Machaka Black Sorcerer Anti-Indi Thugs)>
T27 http://youtube.com/watch?v=k6w9zaAzjRs&t=3s 49.41 


//These were 3 identically buffed thugs put in a single square, fluffed lightly and with the same buff script. They were used to take out a moderate to large volume of heavy cavalry. Highly effective - if a little late in the game for anti heavy-cavalry shennanigans. Essentially these layer Prot/Awe/BE/Mistform/Regeneration/Temper Flesh and are fatigue positve//



F2E3D1G1, F3E2D2G1, F2E2D2G1
<WRAP column 100px>{{ nations:ma:machaka:sorcerer.png?nolink  |}}</WRAP>

  * ??Black Sorcerer??
  * ??Flesh Eater??, ??Dragon Helmet??, ??Fire Plate??, ??Boots of the messenger??, ??Girdle of Might??
  * ??Summon Earthpower??, ??Gift of Splendor??, , ??Temper Flesh??, ??Ironskin?? (used as an AOE), ??Temper Armors??, used as an aoe
  * FLUFFED - ??Mistform??, ??Regeneration??, ??Body Ethereal?? (fluffers on retreat)


**V2**
//Later - this same line was used to storm forts. The scripts were Earthpower, Shroud of Splendor, Shroud of Bewilderment, Fire Shield, with BE and gift of flight buffed. There was an ??Anansi?? with a ??Thistle Mace?? mixed into the tile of 3 for regeneration/enlarge etc, but functionally - the thugs all had the same base fluffing and gear// 
E30 19:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axpvKxUYxlY


<tabbox Unknown Build Thugs>
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IAaRJ37yNRw E31 5.24 Jotun Skratti Thug into Hcav (Ironskin, Body Etheral Fluffed, Liquid Body Quicken Self cast (GEAR UNKNOWN)

<tabbox Uruk Thugs>

E31 Uruk spectral mage thug (UW Kululu)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IAaRJ37yNRw 5.53

//Boring, fear aura thug used to take UW provinces. Spectral mages typically are used for diversity - so this is essentially multi-purposing the chassis. Although this is a rare D3 varaint, D2 + 2 gems also would have worked//

  * ??Spectral Mage?? (D3)
  * ??Greatsword of Sharpness??, ??Enchanted Ring Mail Hauberk??
  * ??Invulnerability??, ??Soul Vortex??, ??Horde of Skeletons??, ??Horde of Skeletons??*3

**E31 Uruk Howl Counterthug**

//An ingenious counterthug - this is just an enkidu shaman casting howl. It's essentially skelespam on a budget - and highly effective against small squads (particularly when combined with PD)//

8.30 http://youtube.com/watch?v=IAaRJ37yNRw

  * ??Enkidu Shaman??
  * ??Boots of the messenger??
  * ??Howl?? -> spells

**E31 Uruk Mashmashu (s3 teleport variant) anti-pd**
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IAaRJ37yNRw

//Poison thug gets caught on Animate Trees and dies. Otherwise an effective anti-PD thug. Good showcase of both a good concept and failure due to a mage deployment simultaneously.//

  * ??mashmashu??
  * ??Snake Bladder Stick??, ??Blacksteel Full Plate?? NA gem
  * Body Etereal, Personal Mistform, Personal Poison Resistance, Astral Shield, ??Personal Regeneration??


<tabbox Axone (Pan) other thugs>

**Lumber Construct anti-prot-stack counterthug**

//This seems like a tailor made cheap solution to golem teleport drops. It sat on patrol and dealt with a teleporting golem. Highly effective.//

  * ??Lumber Construct??
  * ??Greatsword of Sharpness??, ??Blacksteel plate??, ??Boots of long strides??, ??Ring of the warrior??
  * Attack closest

**V2**

//Just used to clear zot PD//

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caAhBe_wuzE 16.39
  * ??Lumber Construct??
  * ??Greatsword of Sharpness??, ??Armor of Knights??, ??Horned Helmet??, ??Boots of the messenger??, ??Burning pearl??, ??Bracers of Protection??
  * Attack Closest


<tabbox Jotun Thugs>

**Archdevil Heavy Thug F3S3 -> Into Machaka spiders**
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IAaRJ37yNRw 45.43

//Hydra Skin armor appears to be for poison resistance as well as regen. A fairly stock lategame thug. Has a N1 fluffer with 1N gem. Fairly easily clears a squad of the machaka sacreds - even with the resists.//

  * ??Arch Devil??
  * ??Greatsword of Sharpness??, ??Horned Helmet??, ??Hydra Skin Armor??, ??Boots of the Messenger??, ??Ring of the warrior??
  * ??Fire Shield??, ??Body Ethereal??, ??Astral Shield??, Attack Rear
  * FLUFFED -> ??Enlarge?? -> Flee


**Archdevil Line2**
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IAaRJ37yNRw
58.04

**2X Archdevil army thugs to deal with anzu-pocalypse**
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKKaF-M6RLg 30.59 E32

//These 2 archdevils held off a lot of enemy units, distracted anzu, and ultimately caused a lot of friendly fire. It's a complicated fight and arguably jotun 'lost' due to the mage losses, but the archdevils overperformed, both scoring lots of kills and functionally  causing a lot of chaos in the enemy ranks when they held off large blocks of troops. //

  * ??Arch Devil?? x2
  * 1) ??Greatsword of Sharpness??, ??Armor of Meteoric Iron??, ??Boots of the messenger??, ??Ring of the warrior??, ??Amulet of Antimagic??
  * 2) ??Flesh Eater??x2, ??Horned Helmet??, ??Hydra Skin Armor??, ??Boots of the messenger??, ??Amulet of antimagic??, ??Ring of Regeneration??
  * Buff Script Unknown
  * Looks like 2 fluffer mages per archdevil - at least Body Ethereal + Enlarge buffed, looks like Strength of the giants. Presumably regeneration is buffed as well as is Fire Resistant Warriors. The rest is unclear.




**Archdevil Line 3 - SF with S1 Fluffer**

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RKKaF-M6RLg&t=3220s 17.19

//This line is a little different to others - as it attempts to 'go infinite' with 20% regeneration, 3 reinvigoration and additional fatigue restoration from the blood thorn. The poison resist from the hydra skin armor is also nontrivial, as is the heat aura. Notably - this build only has 22 prot (24 after berserk), and relies heavily on regeneration. This was sent into a large machaka army//

//Notably it breaks through a Voice of the Hunter counterthug with 2 Flesh Eaters. The buff script is short because it expects to be interrupted after t1 by fliers//

  * ??Arch Devil??
  * ??Flesh Eater??, ??Blood Thorn??, ??Horned Helmet??, ??Hydra Skin Armor??, ??Boots of Quickness??, ??Girdle of Might??, ??Ring of Regeneration??
  * ??Astral Shield??, Attack Closest
  * ??Body Ethereal?? Fluffed


**Dracolich (A Empowered) Winds of Death Drop**
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RKKaF-M6RLg&t=3220s 22.22

//A stock standard ring of returning + winds of death line with +4 magic penetration and a bunch of MR to avoid being 1hit. Used to cripple machaka. Notably - machaka HAD anti-dracolich golems, but they never made contact because ring of returning proc'd before they made it into melee. Caused massive casualties.//

  * ??Dracolich?? (Bog Mummy form)
  * ??Rune Smasher??, ??Lead Shield??, ??Armor of Meteoric Iron??, ??Eye of the void??, ??Ring of Returning??
  * ??Wind of Death?? -> zots procced ring of returning

<tabbox Machaka Thugs>

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IAaRJ37yNRw (50.30)
**4X Anti Returning Golem - Golem Counterthugs**

**Thug Ball**

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6YgQL7QbBM E35 10.34

//Boring thug ball used to deal with barbs//

  * ??Black Sorcerer?? x7-8
  * ??Flesh Eater??, ??Dragon Helmet??, ??Boots of the messenger??, ??Girdle of Might?? (some slight variations but this is the core 4 items, some have fire plate, some have 5/6 items)
  * Temper Armors, Regeneration fluffed
  * Temper Flesh, Summon Earthpower


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6YgQL7QbBM E36 15.37

//Same core 3 items but more gear. A few Winged Boots, Ring of the Warrior, Horned helmet intersparced, and one had a wraith sword. Buffs are also wider - including Strength of the Gaints, Body Ethereal, Iron Will, Gift of Splendor, Mistform, Protection from Fire, in addition to the buffs in the prior line (I didn't see it but presumably stoneskin or ironskin was buffed)//


17.15 Divine Mummy E41 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7BkYeCINPE

//Apparently Machaka's mages twiceborn in mage size but ritual of rebirth in spider size (so size 9). Neat trick for supercombatants! This is a very cheap (15D) supercombatant chassis for the mid-lategame. Nice trick! This also very happily accepts the extra prot and resists from the bless. The itemization seems fit out to deal with some form of pyre unit or supercombatant (fatigue axes), and the mask of face borrowing lets it raid around and stealth away. The fatigue axes were to catch any Arch Demon supercombatants flying around (albeit it didn't come up)//

  * Phoenix Pyre, Iron Will, Summon Earthpower, Temper Flesh, Ironskin
  * Axe of Hate X2, Mask of face borrowing, Shroud of the Battle Saint, Boots of Quickness, Amulet of Antimagic, Girdle of Might


Variant 2 26.50
  * Blood Thorn, Flesh Eater, Horned Helmet Shroud of the Battle Saint, Boots of Quickness, Amulet of Antimagic, Girdle of Might
  *   * Phoenix Pyre, Iron Will, Ironskin, Temper Flesh, Shroud of Splendor





<tabbox Ind Thugs>
**Anti-Throne Ind Fire Shield Golem**

//Used to take out a big throne stack with a lich and lots of longdead. Notably - the biggest 'trend' this game is to buff golems with enlarge specifically. As it turns out - 30% HP on a high HP chassis is great! Otherwise, it's essentially the same golem chassis and build we see other players use.//

  * ??Vintefolei Shaman Chief?? fluffer (N/D/B 1 gem)
  * ??Golem??
  * ??Mace of Eruption??, ??Charcoal Shield??, ??Dragon Helmet??, ??Fire Plate??, ??Boots of Quickness??, ??Chains of Reconstruction??, ??Ring of the Warrior??
  * ??Astral Shield??, ??Body Ethereal??, ??Resist Magic??, Attack Closest
  * ??Enlarge??, ??barkskin?? Fluffed (mage on retreat after these 2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6YgQL7QbBM 2.37

</tabbox>


=====Tourney Thugs=====

//Only adding interesting or notable lines. Repetitious lines are left out - including if the examples are elsewhere in the guide//


<tabbox R2G6 Unfinished>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eFtCQ9WlMc

TO REVIEW 15.09 (lots of fun thugs - Longbow thugs - army thugs and mass buffed quickness et al). NOTE THIS IS LATE - T32)

14.38 GSS army thugs failing horribly vs the heavier blessed Panagea (Pan V TNN). Pan army thugs were fairly significant TNN's did nothing.

32.44 Ulm v Mictlan Thug light but has a few

39.57 Fluffed UW Bane Thug

//Failed Horribly but into a hardish tile//

GSS Blacksteel Full Plate
Stoneskin, BE, Temper Armor, Enlarge Fluffed
Hold Hold Attack Closest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAkWuDexJ48
2.22 Pan army thugs effective

8.45 Bane thug worked - differekt kit / fluffing

37 Thug Ball (Bane Based) - MASSIVELY SUCCESSFUL

</tabbox>

=====Other=====
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liFLnEa0ylc 29.14
Annumaki of Love and War (A5 E4 N3) - used to take PD
Enchanted Ring Mail Armor, Enchanted Pike
Personal Regeneration, Personal Stoneskin, Enlarge, Flying Shield, Personal Mistform, Strength of Giants (into indies)
Bless NA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rODycutnd3U 44.10
Ind Malikah Thug Tourney


=====R2G8=====
All on the A/N immobile (forget the name) E3A5N7 I think - SHINU - 5SR, Regen, unaging


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C51jXnIwjoI&list=PL2ug-IIVlRNW0yU3RCzC6w_pXMDLfuemx&index=3

Dragon - Regeneration Bless, cast personal regeneration 3.35

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ktEaZcBiDI&list=PL2ug-IIVlRNW0yU3RCzC6w_pXMDLfuemx&index=11

2.38 Statue SC (quickness bless).

//Caught by barb PD dump - TRAP// -> Succeeds later at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpzefmwUjS4 5.12 Astral Shield Breath script start -> Succeeds into a real army at 37.05  http://youtube.com/watch?v=-D2Bh6SRTjQ&t=2s

Breath of Winter, cast spells (offscript)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpxzTFhk0LY
7.50 Body Ethereal Hydra UG psuedothug line (neat trick)
22.32 Telekhine SC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vQ04eF9dXM
6.05 more hydra BE thugs 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D2Bh6SRTjQ&t=2s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEK58eFAf4g
35.44 First Shinuyama army thugs into indies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nH-_KBc5zE
29.51 Crun Thug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN4V8Rl8WkE&t=3s
18.35 Crun Thug + FLuffer (fatigue issues) - does ok but fails

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttnzoH8HCRY
E22 4.12 Some Ackerbeltz thugs 9.07 - kill total says they do realtively little but they DO kill a pretender so eh - necessary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tqyjJ83OiQ&t=1141s
11.17 More Crun Thugs

At E25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbYFmcd_oeU&t=160s
2.47 Crun wight 1 fluffer
10.37 Akerbeltz Thug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CVUYYunzYg&t=1759s
1.12 2X thugs 2X fluffers (Fail)

9.01 Army Thugs - Both Naba and Pyrene Clash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lErGRk-cJI&t=888s
8.05 The infamous corpse candle fight + Voice counterthug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re-5vJzqVhY&t=1687s
3.31 NO VISION OF THUGS - WE KNOW THEY'RE THERE (sadge)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqYngSE-NQ0&t=583s
12.28 More Shinu Thug Death

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyS2dYR-sk8&t=1349s
8.02 Shinu Thug (fail)
14.25 Success (kinda)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvpH4bnOUzQ&t=1758s
8.16 Shinu Thug

15.25 Baby Naba thug ball

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y74dxpWR8zE&t=1293s
4.40 ackerbeltz thug and lelekhine thug fail

23.05 Shinu thug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt_v6B7Hl7Q&t=1195s E33
2.30 Failed Phaecia Thug

18.20 wakcy commander thug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zajdeaNRLsQ&t=655s E35
7.35 Marignon Army Thugs
10.55 baby thug
29.53 CTIS raider thugs horde


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YblODb3T490&t=367s TODO

6.10 cat raider thug fail

7.55 Paladin THug Marignon (similar variants used in finals) 

17.13 SHinu Thugs (kinda bad result)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcdWXw8IVx0

8.09, 9.04, 34.17, 38.53 Shinu Thugs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHKBidM-Nl4
4.58 GSS Emir, 9.04 Shinu Thug, 12.20 Uba Hordr raiding, 13.41 Shinu 24.27 Fetish SC Line

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLKl6tjwcis
13.10 Shinu THug vs Mari Harbringer Thug - mari has charged body? Willowisps do work again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xblGWOajs_0
18.33 - no fight but all the lizard army thugs

21.50 Heavy Thug (CTIS)

25.25 Berytos Light Thug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTEkrFtAzAY

2.22 Light SC Telekine
5.03 golem anti-PD thug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtfqNw64czQ&t=16s
2.08 Lots of thugs/SC's/Golems/Wights (anti god crew)

6.05 WOD Psuedo-SC - used repeatedly in game to high effect
15.02 Basic PD Twiceborn thug

18.32 Light cyno thug
19.28 Highly effective anti-thug Cyno thug arena

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej5PUW7GJE4
5.31 wacky cyno

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCz98vri-GI
12.18-14.00 Fetish kills a LOT inc golem

18.12 Some thugs inc sobek


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ql-a7GGxD4
8.29 Golem into draconians

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmarXrdbHM0
6.51 anti PD thug 7.35 bless same at 9.17 Mari bless (second fails into pyth)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8y0AeFnp7w&t=942s
.58 The DOOM SC fight machaka v the world - Machaka dies horribly
3.53 WOD wraith Lord (Pyth)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9i2xZPjiM8
1.17 Invuln thugs phaecia'
2.25 Doomball of golems ctis, 2.58 golem thug
4.36 Spectral Mage Thug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmwQmh-9Jkk
Interesting thug army fort storm result unknown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgHQCz6-cQ4
4.45 Lumber Consruct Horror Harmonica Freestyling also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBrQ5CfxNT0 2.57
23.01 Fail transform thug
30.45 cyno thugs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whIH4ISgQOg
3.44 Golem

=====Placeholder Link=====
https://illwiki.com/dom5/dom6/guides_and_player_improvement/strategy_articles/thugs/part2_examples/temp

//This is here because essentially I don't want to delete and add to the same page as the wiki gets cranky at me. The plan is to do up the above page semi-neatly - then port it back.//