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Stronghold units, continued Orc/Orc Chieftain
You need this creature because it is the first ranged unit for the stronghold, but it isn't a very effective ranged attacker. It is slow and so usually attacks after other ranged units have whittled away at their numbers, which occurs with frightening frequency because orcs have such low defense and hit points. So, orcs and even orc chieftains are damned on two fronts: too slow to attack first, too weak to survive that first assault. However, because you need ranged units in the early game to offset the lethality of enemy ranged fire, you must recruit these creatures. Upgrade orcs right away because you need to make them faster and give them more hit points. Both types of orcs suffer the ranged units' penalty for melee combat. Orcs can be quite effective if paired with barbarian heroes with high attack skill, although there is always the question of durability. Cast spells like stoneskin to toughen them up in battle. Throw these troops into your army and hope that the presence of wolf raiders forces the enemy to ignore your orcs so they can survive long enough to hurl their axes. Then again, this can work both ways, as orcs tend to draw fire from your wolf raiders, which are powerful if they can actually get in close. Ogre/Ogre Mage
The ogre is a powerful but slow creature that can soak up and dish out tremendous punishment. As fourth-level creatures go, it has good attack and hit points, but it has poor defense and speed. You want to upgrade these troops because they gain 20 hit points and the ability to cast bloodlust, which you can use to great effect on your wolf raiders, thunderbirds, and behemoths. Ogres are most effective when you can cast teleport to spirit them across the tactical map. However, they are strong enough to walk across the map and take the punishment that some low level ranged units dish out along the way. Ogres and ogre magi dwellings are very expensive to build due to the high wood requirements, but they are cheap units to recruit. Either way, you need them to get cyclopes, so if you want the game's second best ranged unit, you need to build that ogre fort. However, otherwise, if you climb up the behemoth path instead of the cyclops one, you can wait on ogres.
Roc/Thunderbird The roc is a stronger and more mobile version of the ogre. It has a fairly good mix of hit points and offense, and is decent in speed. However, it is one of the more expensive fifth-level creatures, and its upgrade is definitely not cheap. You need lots of cash to support these birds. Upgrade the rocs as soon as you can because their thunderbird aspect gains 4 speed and can call down lightning on opponents. A stack struck by thunderbirds has a 20 percent chance of also being struck by lightning, which does 10 damage per thunderbird. With a large stack of thunderbirds, this can be a very useful ability, especially because it ignores any defensive bonuses the target stack might have. The thunderbird speed upgrade is also very important for the stronghold because most of the other units are pretty slow. You can get the roc's cliff nest immediately after building a wolf rider dwelling and thus acquire two fast units within two turns. Coincidentally, this is also the track towards gaining the behemoth. Once you build the cliff nest, the behemoth lair becomes available the next turn. If you go down this track, you are cutting yourself off from orcs, ogres, and cyclopes for at least a week, but because the thunderbird is so fast and durable, it isn't really that big of a loss. The wolf riders also give you enough muscle and speed to field a credible attack force. Throw in the behemoth you get next round and you have melee force only, but one that commands considerable respect, and all before day four! Even in the later game, the thunderbird remains a good unit, with great speed, durability, and attack. And the chance to call lightning is a healthy bonus. These creatures should be a big part of all your stronghold armies. |
