Tower units, continued

Stone Golem/Iron Golem
Attack: 7/9
Defense: 10/10
Hit Points: 30/35
Damage: 4-5/4-5
Speed: 3/5
Movement: ground
Cost: 150/200
Special Abilities: Suffer half damage from spells/Suffer quarter damage from spells

Stone golems and iron golems are strong, durable, and highly resistant to magic. Now if only there was a way to speed them up. These two units compare favorably in defense, hit points, and damage, but they need to have a haste spell or teleport cast on them to be really useful. They are very cheap so you should be able to buy a lot of them. These troops suffer less damage from spells. The stone golem only suffers half damage, while the iron golem suffers but a quarter damage. That means only ranged units or high level spells are really effective at bringing them down. So you can walk your golems over to the enemy lines, withstand several volleys of arrows or rocks, and probably have enough left over to pummel your opponents. Of course, it would be great if you could keep casualties to a minimum, so upgrade the golems as soon as possible. That way you get a faster iron golem that is even more resistant to magic and has a better attack. Still, even with a force of master gremlins, obsidian gargoyles, and iron golems roaming around the countryside by day five, you would lose easily to a rampart or stronghold's day five army. However, if you want to jump to the powerful naga queens, you will need to hold off on the iron golem upgrade.

Remember, these units should be upgraded if you intend to use them, and even then you must amplify their speed with haste.

Mage/Archmage
Attack: 11/12
Defense: 8/9
Hit Points: 25/30
Damage: 7-9
Speed: 5/7
Movement: ground
Cost: 350/450
Special Abilities: Reduce your spell cost, no melee penalty/Reduce your spell cost, no melee penalty, no ranged penalty

The mage is the second ranged attacker the tower gets, and it is able to deliver lethal blasts from long range. The archmage can do so without the ranged penalty (in most cases, ranged attackers only do half damage at long range, which is anything beyond 10 hexes, or behind cover; the archmage ignores this penalty). Both the mage and archmage also do not have the ranged units' melee penalty. Another ability both magi have is that they reduce the casting cost of all your spells by two. A magic arrow is only three spell points, while a haste is only four. The major weakness of this unit is low speed and low hit points.

Upgrade these units early, because they gain more hit points, speed, and better attack. However, the upgraded dwelling requires the library, delaying the upgrade. Also, the mage dwelling itself is expensive and requires both the golem and gargoyle dwelling and the mage guild before it can be built. Once you do get these units, though, you will have a powerful ranged attack that can decimate many lower level armies. Use the archmage whenever possible and keep iron golems on hand for protection. Employ obsidian gargoyles to interfere with any enemy ranged units that might attack your archmagi, and then have your master gremlins throw in some extra ranged attacks. This formation can be a formidable force in the mid game.

Tower units, continued