"Man is one of the first nations conceived in the Dominions universe. The nation is a conglomerate of medieval English and Arthurian concepts spiced with some fantasy elements from Ars Magica and the books of Robert Jordan. The Irish/Northumbrian monastic tradition, Anglo-Saxon society, and Welsh longbowmen are all inspirational sources. Later on, the nation turns towards scholarship paired with dark tidings. The mood in the movie Sleepy Hollow is a nice comparison.
In Dominions 4 steps has been taken to accentuate the influence of invading barbarians reminiscent of the Angles and Saxons. It is not difficult to see an early Ulm or a similar nation in the Logrian backstory." -Illwinter

The realm of Man is a feudal kingdom. Their kingdom was established by conquering a race of tall and magically powerful beings known as the Tuatha. When the Tuatha were destroyed, their magic was taken by the Witches of Man. They helped Man to grow in power and influence, but with the great magic came a great Curse and the Witches dwindled in number and magic left the kingdom. To contain the Curse, the Old Magic was banned and a scholarly order of Magisters replaced the Witches of Avalon and their wild ways. The infantry of Man has evolved since the Age of Avalon and the crossbow is common, but knights and longbowmen still make up a large part of the armies. The Wardens of Avalon have escaped the Curse and are the only remnant of the Old Ways.

Late Man is a somewhat-rough nation to play, quite set against its beginner-friendly middle incarnation. It has fairly decent soldiers, pony-riders, tier-5 forts, and studious mages who might not even know anything useful.

To start with, Man has a wide spectrum of troops: terrible ones, mediocre ones, and elites. There are varieties of the independent "heavy" infantry who wear green pants instead of red ones, from the previous age. There are stealthy men who wear glorified plainclothes and dual-wield, also from the previous age. There are axemen who wouldn't be out of place in Midgård, though they at least have enough Strength to penetrate armor with their risky weapon choice. There are archers, crossbowmen, and longbowmen, all of which narrowly outdo the projectile spam of most other nations with their extra point or two of Precision. There are even fellows who perform decently well both in melee combat and at range: the Tower Guard, the Defender, and the Sacred Warden. Last-but-not-least, there are the Tower Knights, who would much rather not fight alongside Man's crossbowmen. Simply picking what to use can be overwhelming.

Man can (and generally should) take decent Scales, to print money and men. Man's mages don't really mind Drain, given how they ignore it in their Research and typically use spells that don't operate off Magic Resistance. 3 means getting 21 (or 12) without affecting your Dominion strength or your Bless, for just that many more of whichever troops or commanders you want. The penalty to your starting Research points is fixed, something that having more forts will more than make up for.

As for the mages themselves, they are distinctly inconsistent, befitting a nation that essentially restarted from scratch fifty years ago. There are two official mages: the Lord Warden (who's priced as one of those "do-anything" commanders, like a Vanherse), and the "dedicated" Magister Arcane. The Magister Arcane is priced as a mid-tier combat mage, and essentially is one 90% of the time; he also has the problem of being vulnerable to an Astral war of attrition, but fortunately this is the Age where initiating one is the most expensive. There are also two "minor mages" for Research, but these aren't guaranteed to have any magic paths, though the one with the lowest chance of having any is balanced by costing only 1 Commander Point and not needing a lab. Those without magic levels still have at least one use, whether it's espionage, fort-popping, Citadel-improving, or Unrest-reducing.

Magic Access	Alt. Access	Unit Summary	Core Abilities	Buildings
3 2 2 1 1 1 2	Heroes 12	Infantry Longbowmen Crossbow Heavy Infantry Knights Wardens of Avalon	Stealthy Spy Mason Unhindered Researcher	Starts with a Grand Citadel Standard Forts Magisters can build better forts.

Capitol Gems: 1111
Drain Limit + 1

See Magic Access. These guides supplement the summaries at the top.

• 1 on one-in-four Judges
• 3 on roughly every tenth Magister Arcane
• No water magic
• 2 on roughly every tenth Magister Arcane

• 2 on roughly every tenth Magister Arcane
• 1 on one-in-four Judges
• No nature magic
• 1 on Lord Wardens (capital only), or on roughly every tenth Magister Arcane off-capital

• No blood magic (aside from a hero)
• 2 on Bishops

LA Man, like many Late Age nations, has a wide variety of magical paths, but low levels. For LA Man though, the magical crosspaths it has generally do not lead to many boosters.

Although LA Man has the right paths and crosspaths for a Ring of Sorcery, The Staff of Elemental Mastery, and a Ring of Wizardry, the mages' levels are so low it is difficult to get enough boosters for any of them.

Highest starting: 1 Magister Arcane (1 in 10) or Judge (1 in 4)

Skull of Fire 11 Judge (1 in 16)

Magister Arcane potentially has the right crosspaths for Staff of the Sun (Unique) or the Forbidden Light (Unique, Unremovable), but they require too many boosters to be practical.

Highest starting: 3 Magister Arcane (1 in 10)

Tome of High Power Unique 22 Magister Arcane (1 in 10)

No national access.

Summon Bean Sidhe?? The hero, 1 Vampire Lord Bean Sidhe has a 1 in 4 chance of 1

Summon Spectre The hero, 1 Vampire Lord + Spectre has a 7 in 16 chance of at least 1

Highest starting: 2 Magister Arcane (1 in 10)

Summon Bluecap 11 Magister Arcane (1 in 10) +

Although Magister and Magister Arcane both potentially have the right crosspaths for the Atlantis of Creation (Unique), it takes a ton of boosters.

Highest starting: 2 Magister Arcane (1 in 10)

Coin of Meteoritic Iron 12 Magister Arcane (1 in 10) +

Golem Construction 12 Magister Arcane (1 in 10) + Golem has 2

Tome of High Power Unique 22 Magister Arcane (1 in 10)

The Magister Arcane has the right crosspaths for The Trapped Dreams of Hruvur, Atlas of Creation, or The Forbidden Light, (all Unique), but the number and type of boosters they require is difficult to get.

Highest starting: 1 Judge (1 in 4)

The Black Book of Secrets Unique The hero, 12 Vampire Lord +

No national access.

Summon Gnome 11 Magister Arcane (1 in 10) + Gnome has 2.

Highest starting: 1 Lord Warden or Magister Arcane (1 in 10)

Mirage Crystal 11 Magister Arcane (1 in 10) +

The Magister Arcane has the right crosspaths for The Trapped Dreams of Hruvur.

No recruitable access. The hero, Vampire Lord has 2.

The Black Book of Secrets Unique The hero, 12 Vampire Lord +

Different expansion options.

Early game options.

Mid game options.

Late game options.

What are the nation's weaknesses?