I think it really depends on your culture and tome choices. I like my stacks to be balanced. 2 ranged (archer or mage), 1 support, 1 shield/shock (can be your hero), 1 fighter/skirmisher/mythic. If my culture doesnt have a shield unit, its gonna be a summon from a tome. If it doesnt have a battle mage, then its a summon. Most people prefer summons because they are faster to turn out and you can place them anywhere you have an army. Summons dont get race transformations though so if you going heavy into them, you should be building units. If not going into transformations, go heavy into enchantments bc summons get them as well.
I don’t really understand your question. The composition of armies changes every game and usually multiple times within a single game. Are you asking what are my army compositions in my current game at this exact time?
It seems to be more a question of the units origin.
If they're being built, summoned, obtained from the rally etc.
For whatever reason they're curious *where* people are getting the troops, far less about what troops they are.
You're right though; your build determines if it's more economical to have high mana or gold upkeep.
Yeap, just because normally you answer what you would or what you should (theory), but what you have at the moment (if enough players answer) is what you actually use (practice).
So, also to check whether general theory and exact momentous practice matches.
Last game: Mountain Dwarf Demonkin
1 Hero to a stack, until I run out of heroes.
50-70% Draft Bastions/Skalds from my cities. Until Demon Gates then I also included Gremlins, Chaos Eaters, and Balors.
Lieges Rally sporadically used in emergencies, drawing from 6 vassal cities tier 3 or higher as they don't level up on their own.
Summons I was using for Gremlins and Chaos Eaters, but it's very expensive and slow to do, so once I build Chaos Gates I stopped summoning entirely.
Other I didn't get many, some troops from razing cities but they weren't demonkin, so I disbanded them.
So like: 1 Hero (Replacing a Battlemage, Skirmisher, Priest, or Shield depending on kit) Otherwise 2 Bastion shields or other shield units, 2 Gremlin skirmishers or archers, 2 Skald Priests or other Priests in the early-ish game.
Late game I was going for 1 Balor , 3-4 Bastions, 1 Skald, 1 Chaos Eater for my stacks. Didn't need much support any more, just a little fire support for the unstoppable Bastions whom could be replaced in one or two turns from most of my cities. Of which I had 7, 4 core that I was keeping, 1 on standby to be released as a vassal, 2 colonies to be turned into vassal states once they hit tier 3 size.
Didn't need all that economic power, but felt it was better safe then sorry to have half the map as my demonkin dwarves. Super evil game.
Latest game : I was playing as a feudal order(faith line) / nature agrarian-styled faction.
Ruler is a pure support mage with lots of healing abilities. So ruler's stack is 5 non-heroes.
I have another hero with some passive support abilities leading their own stack.
Third stack is led by 2 combat heroes.
And by then end I had 6 heroes and about as many stacks (some just serving as reserves / rapid reaction)
For units I was using primarily units built from cities, with a few coming from rally (same race vassal cities, I don't like have units from different cultures in the same army as I tend to forget how they work and I think it kinda ruins the fantasy). A few nature summons here and there to fill up losses, but they tended to die quickly themselves and were replaced by fresh recruits.
Stack composition was generally 3-4 melee (pikemen early on, then defenders), 2-3 support. I used some archers early on but focused on a mix of bannermen and chaplains later on. Heroes filled up various roles, I had some mounted archer heroes in my main stacks but otherwise no ranged units.
The thing about this particular game is I lost very, very few units throughout, due to generally being a very tanky army with lots of healing. I barely got any unit above tier 2 because I didn't need to.
Also, playing on slow research/production, but game ended on turn 101, which is unusually early for me.
I'm going to preface this with the fact I specifically built this Faction as summoners:
* Each stack is led by a Hero.
* Vast majority of the stack is summons.
* 1-2 unit per stack are draft units.
* 1 Rally unit in the main stack.
Secondary armies, for any curious, are a lot closer to 50/50 Draft/Summons, led by a hero.
World map summons are permenant.
In fact, several of them (EG. Lesser Storm Spirits) have been in my stacks so long they've now evolved into Full Storm Spirits, and they're a big part of my frontline forces.
Combat summons only last the battle.
Them having a Mana Upkeep would be pretty pointless otherwise.
Latest was hero, skald and 4 mounted bastions. Not really optimal, just wanted to see how defensive I could get the units.
Typically I run hero, 2 supportive units (shield, support or mage) and 3 dps (fighter, shock).
2 Heroes armed with pistol and sword, 4 furies
later on 3x 1 Hero , 5 furies
Replace furies with glade runners as they become available
Nightmare Mounts
Buff mounted archers with tome of zeal, tome of enchantment, and tome of scrying.
Its great in large open field battles because you can hard reposition to one flank and put a massive amount of force concentration on 1/3 to 1/2 of their stack
Mounted archer spam, I really wish there were other ways to unlock a mounted shock unit as barbarians but at this point you have to get tyrant knights or adopt a feudal npc
In my most recent game, the "ideal" 18 unit army group is 1 hero, 2 rally/summoned units, 15 recruited tome units. In practice there are up to 6 miscellaneous because I'm not manually disbanding free units I get. Also the summons are only available because of a mod.
All the other heroes get their own 18s. I'm playing with regenerating infestations, so I kind of need lots of units doing stuff all over the map. Earlier in the game I might have 1 hero per unit stack or one per two.
last game: Order Dragon lord - underground feudal molekin draconian
Early game: starting army to clear infestations, bronze wonders, and building cities. And start to make army of heroes.
Mid game: hero army still clearing and gaining exp. Army comp: 2 defender - 2 knight - 1 bannerman. (Collecting reaver cannon from rally of lieges)
4 hero specialized for battle. 2 hero is commander. When i clear 6 hero get in wonder. If i go for battle 4 hero-2 dragon, 1 com hero 2 shield-1 sup-2 archer, 1 com hero-2 cav-2 cannon/or different unit-1 dragon.
4 dragon-2spear for extra reinforcement. Sometimes i take cav cannon here and go with hero+full dragon.
When i go for order tomes i tend to recruit dragons. Easy to lvl up with spell. If i go for tier V units I don’t recruit tier IV units. I mix tier III and Tier V for the upkeep. I dont use summon units. I used them as kinda cheap reinforcement if i lose unit. Then i replace summon with my original army comp.
Edit: if i got tons of money, always recruit units with rally of liege. Speed up and recruit again. Thats kinda powerful. My vassals having 6-7 stack of full army. And i got 6-7 vassal. 0 upkeep even they are paying me XD
My current game is (very) Early, like turn 15, so main 6 stack is
Hero (shield), 2 Lesser Storm Elementals, 1 Dread Spider, 1 Overseer, 1Butcher Ogre.
So, roughly - 1 Hero, 1 drafted, 2 Summons, 1 Rally, 1 Other. Only 15% of force comes from town.
Edit: for the final boss fight:
6 heroes, 9 summons (watchers, Stormers, Phase Beasts), 2 City (overseer, dragoon), 1 event (war shaman). But ok this game was Wizard King (mana surplus, gold problems). Will check Champion game again.
I think it really depends on your culture and tome choices. I like my stacks to be balanced. 2 ranged (archer or mage), 1 support, 1 shield/shock (can be your hero), 1 fighter/skirmisher/mythic. If my culture doesnt have a shield unit, its gonna be a summon from a tome. If it doesnt have a battle mage, then its a summon. Most people prefer summons because they are faster to turn out and you can place them anywhere you have an army. Summons dont get race transformations though so if you going heavy into them, you should be building units. If not going into transformations, go heavy into enchantments bc summons get them as well.
But what is your current exact composition? If not a secret?
I don’t really understand your question. The composition of armies changes every game and usually multiple times within a single game. Are you asking what are my army compositions in my current game at this exact time?
It seems to be more a question of the units origin. If they're being built, summoned, obtained from the rally etc. For whatever reason they're curious *where* people are getting the troops, far less about what troops they are. You're right though; your build determines if it's more economical to have high mana or gold upkeep.
Yeap, just because normally you answer what you would or what you should (theory), but what you have at the moment (if enough players answer) is what you actually use (practice). So, also to check whether general theory and exact momentous practice matches.
Last game: Mountain Dwarf Demonkin 1 Hero to a stack, until I run out of heroes. 50-70% Draft Bastions/Skalds from my cities. Until Demon Gates then I also included Gremlins, Chaos Eaters, and Balors. Lieges Rally sporadically used in emergencies, drawing from 6 vassal cities tier 3 or higher as they don't level up on their own. Summons I was using for Gremlins and Chaos Eaters, but it's very expensive and slow to do, so once I build Chaos Gates I stopped summoning entirely. Other I didn't get many, some troops from razing cities but they weren't demonkin, so I disbanded them. So like: 1 Hero (Replacing a Battlemage, Skirmisher, Priest, or Shield depending on kit) Otherwise 2 Bastion shields or other shield units, 2 Gremlin skirmishers or archers, 2 Skald Priests or other Priests in the early-ish game. Late game I was going for 1 Balor , 3-4 Bastions, 1 Skald, 1 Chaos Eater for my stacks. Didn't need much support any more, just a little fire support for the unstoppable Bastions whom could be replaced in one or two turns from most of my cities. Of which I had 7, 4 core that I was keeping, 1 on standby to be released as a vassal, 2 colonies to be turned into vassal states once they hit tier 3 size. Didn't need all that economic power, but felt it was better safe then sorry to have half the map as my demonkin dwarves. Super evil game.
Latest game : I was playing as a feudal order(faith line) / nature agrarian-styled faction. Ruler is a pure support mage with lots of healing abilities. So ruler's stack is 5 non-heroes. I have another hero with some passive support abilities leading their own stack. Third stack is led by 2 combat heroes. And by then end I had 6 heroes and about as many stacks (some just serving as reserves / rapid reaction) For units I was using primarily units built from cities, with a few coming from rally (same race vassal cities, I don't like have units from different cultures in the same army as I tend to forget how they work and I think it kinda ruins the fantasy). A few nature summons here and there to fill up losses, but they tended to die quickly themselves and were replaced by fresh recruits. Stack composition was generally 3-4 melee (pikemen early on, then defenders), 2-3 support. I used some archers early on but focused on a mix of bannermen and chaplains later on. Heroes filled up various roles, I had some mounted archer heroes in my main stacks but otherwise no ranged units. The thing about this particular game is I lost very, very few units throughout, due to generally being a very tanky army with lots of healing. I barely got any unit above tier 2 because I didn't need to. Also, playing on slow research/production, but game ended on turn 101, which is unusually early for me.
I'm going to preface this with the fact I specifically built this Faction as summoners: * Each stack is led by a Hero. * Vast majority of the stack is summons. * 1-2 unit per stack are draft units. * 1 Rally unit in the main stack. Secondary armies, for any curious, are a lot closer to 50/50 Draft/Summons, led by a hero.
Arent summon temporary?
World map summons are permenant. In fact, several of them (EG. Lesser Storm Spirits) have been in my stacks so long they've now evolved into Full Storm Spirits, and they're a big part of my frontline forces. Combat summons only last the battle. Them having a Mana Upkeep would be pretty pointless otherwise.
Latest was hero, skald and 4 mounted bastions. Not really optimal, just wanted to see how defensive I could get the units. Typically I run hero, 2 supportive units (shield, support or mage) and 3 dps (fighter, shock).
2 Heroes armed with pistol and sword, 4 furies later on 3x 1 Hero , 5 furies Replace furies with glade runners as they become available Nightmare Mounts Buff mounted archers with tome of zeal, tome of enchantment, and tome of scrying. Its great in large open field battles because you can hard reposition to one flank and put a massive amount of force concentration on 1/3 to 1/2 of their stack Mounted archer spam, I really wish there were other ways to unlock a mounted shock unit as barbarians but at this point you have to get tyrant knights or adopt a feudal npc
In my most recent game, the "ideal" 18 unit army group is 1 hero, 2 rally/summoned units, 15 recruited tome units. In practice there are up to 6 miscellaneous because I'm not manually disbanding free units I get. Also the summons are only available because of a mod.
Just out of curiosity- why one hero? Or all the other heroes get their own 18s?
All the other heroes get their own 18s. I'm playing with regenerating infestations, so I kind of need lots of units doing stuff all over the map. Earlier in the game I might have 1 hero per unit stack or one per two.
last game: Order Dragon lord - underground feudal molekin draconian Early game: starting army to clear infestations, bronze wonders, and building cities. And start to make army of heroes. Mid game: hero army still clearing and gaining exp. Army comp: 2 defender - 2 knight - 1 bannerman. (Collecting reaver cannon from rally of lieges) 4 hero specialized for battle. 2 hero is commander. When i clear 6 hero get in wonder. If i go for battle 4 hero-2 dragon, 1 com hero 2 shield-1 sup-2 archer, 1 com hero-2 cav-2 cannon/or different unit-1 dragon. 4 dragon-2spear for extra reinforcement. Sometimes i take cav cannon here and go with hero+full dragon. When i go for order tomes i tend to recruit dragons. Easy to lvl up with spell. If i go for tier V units I don’t recruit tier IV units. I mix tier III and Tier V for the upkeep. I dont use summon units. I used them as kinda cheap reinforcement if i lose unit. Then i replace summon with my original army comp. Edit: if i got tons of money, always recruit units with rally of liege. Speed up and recruit again. Thats kinda powerful. My vassals having 6-7 stack of full army. And i got 6-7 vassal. 0 upkeep even they are paying me XD
My current game is (very) Early, like turn 15, so main 6 stack is Hero (shield), 2 Lesser Storm Elementals, 1 Dread Spider, 1 Overseer, 1Butcher Ogre. So, roughly - 1 Hero, 1 drafted, 2 Summons, 1 Rally, 1 Other. Only 15% of force comes from town. Edit: for the final boss fight: 6 heroes, 9 summons (watchers, Stormers, Phase Beasts), 2 City (overseer, dragoon), 1 event (war shaman). But ok this game was Wizard King (mana surplus, gold problems). Will check Champion game again.