huh, do you guys really want the land that badly? Like, I figure that we are pretty huge as a country already. we already have the Crystal Empire under our rule. After everything we did for them, a referendum to have them officially join us as one empire is most likely going to go in our favor. Sure, the land is still a bit of a winter wasteland but every year, its going to be more and more of its once fertile land that it once was.
Getting more land at this point seems a bit greedy to me and may seem to look that way towards our allies.
Then again, if we HAVE to militarily intervene in this conflict then it would make sense that we want SOMETHING in return for all of the inevitable casualties and costs that we will incur in the military intervention. Whether or not it in the form of some land or other means of compensation is up for debate.
I want to be King of the Hill ala PoC quest. I don't care whether that means through annexation (which is inadvisable at this point since that'd be immediately doubling our land) or through establishing and keeping a government open to our interests in charge of the region. If we militarily intervene and obtain the best-case scenario, I think we should split the unsettled lands on their western half to Canterbury or to a native government if there is a sentient and populous native people, set up a structure for governance in an international conference including the abolitionists for said transition government, and possibly create a free trade zone or leased treaty port along their east coast for our, Neighpon, and Libertalia's benefit.
Of course, that is in the best case scenario where the situation works out that that is both viable and is not non-advisable which is incredibly looking to not be likely. My minimum for achievements is establishing a stable vassal government beholden to the empire's interests.
Also, feel free to tell me if my jokes are in bad taste. I don't mean to be incendiary. Just trying to keep the mood light and spread a few giggles around.
huh, do you guys really want the land that badly? Like, I figure that we are pretty huge as a country already. we already have the Crystal Empire under our rule. After everything we did for them, a referendum to have them officially join us as one empire is most likely going to go in our favor. Sure, the land is still a bit of a winter wasteland but every year, its going to be more and more of its once fertile land that it once was.
Getting more land at this point seems a bit greedy to me and may seem to look that way towards our allies.
Then again, if we HAVE to militarily intervene in this conflict then it would make sense that we want SOMETHING in return for all of the inevitable casualties and costs that we will incur in the military intervention. Whether or not it in the form of some land or other means of compensation is up for debate.
I can only speek for myself, but it's basically like this:
The world just got out of the chaos age.
Most countries are young, or VERY unstable.
Most people are not still really "into" their own country, as for generations the main focus has been mostly about survival.
Getting land is NOT a priority above everything else, but if we're going to get any THIS is the right moment for it, and Maretonia is the last chance we're likely to have to get land contiguous to ours (in a way that other countries could approve of at least). After all We're incredibly unlikely to get land from any of our other neighbours.
We might find a few islands, but not much more. And I'm not really a fan of colonizing land in other continents (which as of right now already have their own countries anyway), not when travel times are still pretty long and we'd probably have to deal with natives with their own culture (It would be different if the land was devoid of people)
The Crystal Protectorate was a massive coup, and we have a really good chance to formally annex it (hopefully after the current problem is solved).. but once that's done, that's it for land expansion.
The other chance we had was the Yaks, but I think that ship has sailed.
About the greedy part... my ideal scenario would be a military intervention, and a splitting of Maretonia between us (the land to the north bordering with the crystal protectorate), Neighpon (coastal lands from the east) and Canterbury (from the west). We all agree to ban slavery, and establish relatively free and easy migration between our countries so that families are not easily separated.
After all I agree that taking all of it for ourselves would be greedy, and more than that probably too complicated. We'd be trying to eat a country nearly as big as us after all. That's without considering that, to really justify taking it all for ourselves we'd have to fight by ourselves without allied help, otherwise they'd want their own slice of the pie (and they'd be completely right too)
It's not a must-have, but it would be my best case scenario in which we could be confident that the maretonian crysis is over and done with, and we'd be reasonably certain that the common people would be treated well (after all we DO trust both Neighpon and Canterbury).
If we can't get the whole thing I'd still want a trustworthy ruler on the throne, which at this point basically mean Ambrosia, MAYBE the captain of the royal guard, or MAYBE both if they rule together as married queen and king as a compromise. Even then I wouldn't say no to some of their northern land, maybe traded to us in exchange of help in the recovery from the war.
Of course, that is in the best case scenario where the situation works out that that is both viable and is not non-advisable which is incredibly looking to not be likely. My minimum for achievements is establishing a stable vassal government beholden to the empire's interests.
that's only really an option if we intervene militarly. And even then we'd probably end splitting it between us, Neighpon and Canterbury unless we went at it alone.
I doubt that Neighpon is gonna be involved. While they are outraged by the shivering of their citizens, they cannot afford to lose soldiers when their birth rate is so low. From the Neighponese's point of view, the benefits are not good enough.
I thought about that being my minimum, but it is too short-term. It wouldn't give us any long-term influence over their affairs, especially since Maretonia is large enough that it will undoubtedly be able to develop itself a very powerful industry and large population once they get their affairs in order. We also don't have the economic system to create a soft power feedback loop chaining them to us economically like Europe to the USA after WWII. Therefore, the only result that will benefit us both in the short and long-term is setting up a government for the interim that is politically beholden to us long enough for them to be properly integrated into our sphere of influence anyhow. It doesn't matter if they get the same deal for a referendum as the C.E. and vote for independence, because our countries will be interconnected enough by then that we should have similar ideals, agendas, and cultural osmosis enough for them to stay with us diplomatically anyhow. They aren't like the Yaks whom aren't really in a good spot to exert influence, with their only influence potential being through that mineral. Maretonia will be powerful one day, and we can't guarantee they will always follow our line unless we push them down that path now.
Still 20 - 15 in favor for Plan "That´s what heroes do" but with Scholars, guys.
As for the whole talk about what to do with Maretonia once things calmed down:
I personally don´t really plan for annexing more than the Abolitionist mainland up North.
Let´s just start our talks with the Guard and go from there in the hopes that we can at least reform their nation into something better than it was.
If we end up partitioning Maretonia between us, Canterbury and Neighpon? Fine by me, but our three nations should work together in how we wanna deal with the unrest that´s sure to follow.
If we end up turning Maretonia into another protectorate? Same answer essentially
If we "only" put someone more benevolent on the throne and leave it as its own entity otherwise? Good as well.
First though we need to get the initial talks and disaster relief going.
Personally, I just want a good fight from them, and some of their people so that we have new forms of magic users. We already have a bunch of their people as refugees, so all that's left is to fight Pegicles.
As far as after everything is over, I wouldn't mind helping them set up a stable government. Perhaps a democracy.
Personally, I just want a good fight from them, and some of their people so that we have new forms of magic users. We already have a bunch of their people as refugees, so all that's left is to fight Pegicles.
As far as after everything is over, I wouldn't mind helping them set up a stable government. Perhaps a democracy.
I don't think they're ready for a democracy, after all the chaos they need a STRONG authority to allow for a fast recovery, and democracies tend to be slower in taking decisions. It would also be a change too big for them right now i expect, they don't have a good example to imitate.
about the refugees, do remember that most of them are earth ponies, probably illiterate ones, (and maybe a few pegasi). Their magic is mostly about farming/nature/growing things and a physical boost which makes them good for heavy work.
It's not a bad magic and I'd love an incentive program of the "one earth pony for every farm" type to see if it leads to a boost in productivity, but it's unlikely we'll see much more from them.
We should also have a few pegasi, though I doubt they'd be more than enough to maybe control the weather around two or three of our main cities, and maybe only in special occasions (like clear skies during a few holydays, or rain for farms during droughts).
And of course at least some of the pegasi and earth ponies will wish to do something different from what their magic would make them best at. Not all earth ponies will want to farm, and not all pegasi will want to manage rains and clouds.
Why exactly would we be pushing for a democracy anyway? We're a monarchy. Our greatest ally is a monarchy. Our good friends to the west and southwest are monarchies. As far as I recall the only republic we know of is the minotaurs and we're pretty sure something hinky is up with them.
In character there's no reason to even suggest a non-monarch solution to the Maretonia problem.
I doubt that Neighpon is gonna be involved. While they are outraged by the shivering of their citizens, they cannot afford to lose soldiers when their birth rate is so low. From the Neighponese's point of view, the benefits are not good enough.
Heck, even them either erecting a blockade of the most important Maretonian harbors or using their transport ships for disaster relief would help a lot.
Why exactly would we be pushing for a democracy anyway? We're a monarchy. Our greatest ally is a monarchy. Our good friends to the west and southwest are monarchies. As far as I recall the only republic we know of is the minotaurs and we're pretty sure something hinky is up with them.
In character there's no reason to even suggest a non-monarch solution to the Maretonia problem.
We may be a monarchy, but we act much more like a democracy. We often worry about what our people think of our decisions, when we had some people kidnapped into slavery we agonized over how to get them back (a true monarchy wouldn't have bothered), and we care about our popularity rate among the common people.
We generally do things for the people or the country itself, rather than for ourselves or the nobles. Sure we got some blackmail on the nobles early on, but we've never had to use it or even allude to it's existence. Nor have we needed to do much to keep the nobles happy. They love us because the country is a great place to live for everyone, including them. That's the hallmark of a successful democracy, not a monarchy.
If we can find a ruler that is like us (and presumably Koryū), that should be okay. But the reason why we should try to put a democracy or an enlightened monarch like us in power is because democracies rarely fight each other. The best way to ensure lasting peace for our people and the rest of the world is to incentivize democracies or governments that act like them to come to power. Opening up tons of trade with them will also help of course. Countries don't like to go to war if it means losing trade. Especially democracies.
Edit:
A good example of how monarchies work is Maretonia before the assassination. The queen needed to keep her nobles happy, and what the common people thought of her policies didn't matter at all. This is not an outlier, it's the way monarchies are.
We may be a monarchy, but we act much more like a democracy. We often worry about what our people think of our decisions, when we had some people kidnapped into slavery we agonized over how to get them back (a true monarchy wouldn't have bothered), and we care about our popularity rate among the common people.
We generally do things for the people or the country itself, rather than for ourselves or the nobles. Sure we got some blackmail on the nobles early on, but we've never had to use it or even allude to it's existence. Nor have we needed to do much to keep the nobles happy. They love us because the country is a great place to live for everyone, including them. That's the hallmark of a successful democracy, not a monarchy.
...You don't know how monarchies work do you? Worrying about your popularity is a sign of LITERALLY every form of government, even literal military juntas, that has ever existed. You seem to think all monarchies work like feudal monarchies. The Griffonian Monarchy works more like an enlightenment era monarchy wherein the monarch is distanced from the people but still has to generally act to appease them as a counterbalance against the nobility regaining any sort of power. Any form of government that doesn't act in any way to maintain popularity of their foundation of power, either a ruling class like the aristocracy/higher nobles in feudal monarchies, religious figures in theocracies, or the general population in juntas and enlightenment monarchies inevitably gets overthrown. You are stretching the definition of "democracy" beyond all relief to be completely unrecognizable.
...You don't know how monarchies work do you? Worrying about your popularity is a sign of LITERALLY every form of government, even literal military juntas, that has ever existed. You seem to think all monarchies work like feudal monarchies. The Griffonian Monarchy works more like an enlightenment era monarchy wherein the monarch is distanced from the people but still has to generally act to appease them as a counterbalance against the nobility regaining any sort of power.
Worrying about popularity among your key supporters is is a sign of literally every form of government to ever exist. That's just how government works. And yes, that includes democracies, the only difference is that in democracies you need to keep more people happy because more of the common people are your key supporters.
A monarchy that requires commoners to approve of the ruler isn't a monarchy, it's a democracy that is dressed up like a monarchy. That would be like calling modern Great Britain a monarchy. Sure there's a Queen, but the government is forced to care for the commoners because that's what keeps people in power. It's like how North Korea isn't a democracy despite having elections.
... Maybe the trouble is the terms we're using. You seem to be talking about monarchies as literally anything with a king or queen. I'm using monarchy to mean a small coalition government that has a hereditary ruler. By democracy, I mean any large coalition government, which would include governments that have a king/queen but also have ways for the people to have a voice (for example, modern Great Britain).
Here's a video that better describes what I'm talking about.
A democracy is not defined by the ruler worrying about the opinion of the people. That happens in every government except a few dictatorships.
A democracy is when the power is in the hand of the people. When people can vote (either directly on how to deal with an issue, or on who should represent them and deal with it in their name).
We're DEFINITELY not a democracy. After all the people don't actually vote on representatives, and don't have control on what we do in any way. All the choices are taken by the emperor, and it doesn't matter if those decisions are good and just or not, that's not relevant.
We're an enlightened monarchy in which the royal family genuinely cares about their people and doing the best job they can.
Like Equestria, Seaquestria, and most kingdoms in canon mlp.
"While I cannot make any formal promises at this time, I will say that, should you find yourself engaged in conflict with our slaving neighbors, we shall offer whatever support we can...though we must caution you that it may not be much."
We'll probably get Canterbury's support regardless of the Peacekeeping Force action, and it wouldn't make sense for King Rutherford to interfere in a land so far away from his lands. That pretty much only leaves Neighpon undecided, and while their navy would be great if we were up against House White Star, the latter have been weakened anyhow.
We'll probably get Canterbury's support regardless of the Peacekeeping Force action, and it wouldn't make sense for King Rutherford to interfere in a land so far away from his lands. That pretty much only leaves Neighpon undecided, and while their navy would be great if we were up against House White Star, the latter have been weakened anyhow.
Technically, we are not in conflict against Maretonia, so that quote might not be legally binding - meaning that we have to rely on the chivalry and benevolence of a nation that MIGHT have played a part in kickstarting the current mess (or at least recieved visions regarding it)
21 - 15 in favor of Plan "That´s what Heroes do" But with Scholars
Technically, we are not in conflict against Maretonia, so that quote might not be legally binding - meaning that we have to rely on the chivalry and benevolence of a nation that MIGHT have played a part in kickstarting the current mess (or at least recieved visions regarding it)
[x] Plan "That´s what Heroes do" But with Scholars
We'll probably get Canterbury's support regardless of the Peacekeeping Force action, and it wouldn't make sense for King Rutherford to interfere in a land so far away from his lands. That pretty much only leaves Neighpon undecided, and while their navy would be great if we were up against House White Star, the latter have been weakened anyhow.
Well, Neighpon's navy would also be useful for logistics. Moving thousands of troops and delivering food, ammo and various supplies to them might be easier through the sea if we Hain control of the coastal region.
Also even if the yaks decide not to interfere (which is pretty likely) the simple act of asking is a show of respect. They might offer volunteers and/or visions too.
It also takes a single action to ask literally every country we know, so the cost is really low for the potential reward, and even if Canterbury is very likely to participate we still have to actually ASK them to at some point
[X] Plan: Grinding Our Old Beak Into the Overtime-stone v2
-[X] Runic Fortifications-Hardbeak Line: Cost: 2000. Time: Two Years. Reward: Hardbeak Line Fortifications Strengthened with Runic Enchantments, increased upkeep costs. Will Finish This Turn
-[X] Abolitionist Army: Cost: 1500. Time: One Year. Reward: Abolitionist Military Strengthened.
-[X] Appeal to the Praetorians: Cost: 500. Time: One Year. Reward: Royal Guard Negotiations Mini-Turn.
-[X] International Relief Effort: Cost: 1200 (only paid if action succeeds). Time: One Year. Reward: International Relief Effort Organized, Maretonian Situation Improved. Chance of Success: 60%, Auto-Pass if Appeal to the Praetorians Succeeds.
-[X] International Peacekeeping Force: Cost: 500. Time: One Year. Reward: Promises (or lack thereof) of Support in event of Maretonian Intervention.
-[X] Aggressive Agricultural Expansion: Cost: 1000. Time: Two Years. Reward: Expanded Agriculture, Secured Food Supply, Increased Income. Will Finish This Turn
-[X] Crystal Agriculture: Cost: 800. Time: Two Years. Reward: Crystal Protectorate gains a substantial agricultural base and is no longer dependent upon food imports from the Griffonlands. Increased Agricultural Income.
-[X] Sound the War Horns!: Cost: 300. Time: One Year. Reward: Gain War Horns. Upgrade Army Communications Bonus.
-[X] Miniature Ballistae: Cost: 400. Time: One Year. Reward: Crossbows.
-[X] Trust but Verify: Cost: 400. Time: One Year. Reward: Intel on Canterbury and its people. Chance of Success: 60%.
-[X] Scaling the Ivory Towers: Cost: 600. Time: One Year. Reward: Information on the Maretonian Colleges of Magic, New Actions Unlocked. Chance of Success: 50%
-[X] Ancient Empire Excavations: Cost: 100. Time: One Year. Reward: Ancient Religious Artifacts recovered.
-[X] Overtime:Thaumatological Education: Cost: 600. Time: One Year. Reward: Magical Education established. Enables future Magic Actions. -[X] Overtime:Generous Pirates: Cost: 700. Time: One Year. Reward: Relief Supplies smuggled in, Maretonian situation does not degrade further. Chance of Success: 75%
[X] Plan: Stabilization, Overtures, and Yaks!
-[X] Gryphus Foreign Legion: Imperial Foreign Legion established, Foreign Auxiliaries recruited.
-[X] Cautious Curiosity: Reward: Knowledge of Distant Lands.
—[X] Far West
-[X] Gaze upon the mists of Fate: Reward: Chance to gain information from Yak Seers. Chance of Success: 60%.
-[X] Appeal to the Praetorians: Reward: Royal Guard Negotiations Mini-Turn.
-[X] International Relief Effort: Reward: International Relief Effort Organized, Maretonian Situation Improved. Chance of Success: 60%, Auto-Pass if Appeal to the Praetorians Succeeds.
-[X] Talking to Scholars: Cost: 1000. Time: One Year. Reward: Opened Relations with the Maretonian Colleges of Magic. Chance of Success: 60%
-[X] Crystal Agriculture: Reward: Crystal Protectorate gains a substantial agricultural base and is no longer dependent upon food imports from the Griffonlands. Increased Agricultural Income.
-[X] Miniature Ballistae: Reward: Crossbows.
-[X] Black-Steel Balls: Reward: Army gains Black-Steel Cannonballs
-[X] Assisted Abolitionist Raids-House Storm: Reward: Abolitionists raid House Storm Infrastructure, Storm forces weakened and thrown into disarray. Chance of Success: 60%
-[X] Generous Pirates: Reward: Relief Supplies smuggled in, Maretonian situation does not degrade further. Chance of Success: 75%
-[X] A Sacred Stone: Cost: 100. Time: One Year. Reward: Brod the Wise carves the first Yakyakistani Runestone for the Empire.
-[X] Overtime
--[X] Cautious Curiosity: Far West
--[X] Talking to Scholars
[X] Plan: My Plan Best Plan
-[X] Doubling the Guard
-[X]Abolitionist Army
-[X] International Relief Effort
-[X]International Peacekeeping Force:
-[X] Talking to Scholars
-[X] Crystal Agriculture
-[X] Cloth Mills
-[X] Sound the War Horns!
-[X] Miniature Ballistae
-[X] Hoofbeard's Other Heist
-[X] Assisted Abolitionist Raids-House Storm
-[X] Overtime
--[X] The Frame-Up Job
--[X]Appeal to the Praetorians
-[X]Seaside Shrines
[x] Plan Get Ready Yesterday
-[x] Runic Fortifications-Hardbeak Line: Will Finish This Turn
-[x] Doubling the Guard: Cost: 3000 Time: Two Years. Reward: Imperial Army Doubles in Size.
--[x]Imperial order: Doubling the Guard
-[x] Overtime: Abolitionist Army: Th Cost: 1500. Time: One Year. Reward: Abolitionist Military Strengthened.
-[X] International Relief Effort: Cost: 1200 (only paid if action succeeds). Time: One Year. Reward: International Relief Effort Organized, Maretonian Situation Improved. Chance of Success: 60%, Auto-Pass if Appeal to the Praetorians Succeeds.
-[X] International Peacekeeping Force: Cost: 500. Time: One Year. Reward: Promises (or lack thereof) of Support in event of Maretonian Intervention.
-[X] Talking to Scholars: Cost: 1000. Time: One Year. Reward: Opened Relations with the Maretonian Colleges of Magic. Chance of Success: 60%
-[X] Crystal Agriculture: Cost: 800. Time: Two Years. Reward: Crystal Protectorate gains a substantial agricultural base and is no longer dependent upon food imports from the Griffonlands. Increased Agricultural Income.
-[X] Sound the War Horns!: Cost: 300. Time: One Year. Reward: Gain War Horns. Upgrade Army Communications Bonus.
-[X] Miniature Ballistae: Cost: 400. Time: One Year. Reward: Crossbows.
-[x] Assisted Abolitionist Raids-House Storm: Cost: 800. Time: One Year. Reward: Abolitionists raid House Storm Infrastructure, Storm forces weakened and thrown into disarray. Chance of Success: 60%
-[X] Scaling the Ivory Towers: Cost: 600. Time: One Year. Reward: Information on the Maretonian Colleges of Magic, New Actions Unlocked. Chance of Success: 50%
-[X] Ancient Empire Excavations: Cost: 100. Time: One Year. Reward: Ancient Religious Artifacts recovered.
Equestria: The most familiar of the factions, comes with a powerful pony core, Earth Pony infantry, Pegasi flyers, and Unicorn mages. Combined with a wide variety of powerful late game units and the twin heroes Luna and Celestia, the world is your oyster, as long as you avoid that pesky and nearly unavoidable civil war, that is.
Sombra: Armed with hordes of slaves, powerful monsters and a powerful mage leader. The numerous and near unbreakable morale of the slaves makes up for their disappointing stats. The monsters offer the force concentration needed to break hardpoints that would otherwise prevent the slaves from doing the work, and later you may be able to field special elite units to start to bridge the gap between the 2. Sombra is also a powerhouse, able to stand toe to toe with both Luna and Celestia, even with the elements of harmony. But, with a grand total of one hero unit the whole game and no general recruitment, you will feel the lack of leadership when you start to hit the later game, and heroes could potentially gank( Looking at you Hardbeak) your only commander, causing problems for you while he recovers, which would only make the bad situation worse. This is only compounded by the near nonexistent anti-sabotage tools available (the measures that keeps slaves in line does not help in dealing with unexpected events, like infiltrators). Also, DON'T let them get to the crystal heart!
Neighpon: These dragon ponies and their allies are the elves of the setting, their powerful magic, units, and heroes are the only thing that keeps them relevant, as the numbers they field are tiny in comparison to most other factions. The magic at their disposal gives them many options, both in stealth and spy craft, along with ways to blast the more numerous oppositions, via fire, illusion, and other methods. Nippon is also one of the few factions with a huge safety net, on top of the island start, if pushed to a certain point, the Divine Dragons would wake and help fight. Not quite invincible but is high tier endgame making eliminating them difficult. They also have powerful heroes and leaders to supplement their forces, which also has a longer natural lifespan allowing you to get more use from them, and to get them more experienced. They don't have to worry about unrest for the main cities they have, but is counterbalanced by having to deal with Mischievous Spirits, which could threaten the security of your empire.
Zebrica: The most diverse of the factions, while they can have public order problems, and can have all manner of nasties crop up in their lands. That is made up by the plethora of decent quality units, potions, alchemy, and rituals to provide a nice magical foundation. They can find artifacts that could provide passive bonuses like public order, or they could find some that holds true power, while likely not close to the crystal heart or the elements, it can still provide powerful bonuses.
Libertalia: A nation of pony pirates, small but dominates the waves with magic, and later also technology, if they last long enough. Has very powerful hero captains and admirals further emphasizing naval dominance, with respectable, but limited ground capability.
Canterbury: Essentially pony Brettonia, minus the idiotic bits. Elite knights backed by a more numerous levy, with the usual pony magic, and the queen is a seer, giving an edge in information gathering.
Maretonia: Pony faction that relies on slaves for their economy, which inevitably leads to raids on their neighbors for slaves, leading to unhappy neighbors. They fight using a professional military, with the royal guard being powerful elites ready to deal massive damage wherever deployed, and a magic college, while independent, does research on pony magic and could be called upon for powerful workings when in need. May splinter due to a civil war between a successful general, the nobles, and abolitionists if they aren't careful.
YakYakistan: A Nomadic faction that transitions into a more usual city-based faction, with shamans that can see events with less accuracy than Canterbury's queen. The yaks make for a very powerful force, but will have to rely on technology and resources to keep up.
Minotaur Republics: This faction of minotaur greeks are more familiar for most total war players due to being largely bipedal. Powerful formations made by highly skilled forces, backed by magic, and later technology ensures they don't just survive, but also thrive.
Griffonia: Starts as 4 separate sub factions, and who wins dictates what the nation becomes, but the winner will have to deal with Sombra if he does not hit Maretonia, and if things don't go well, Sombra may his a divided Griffonia. Note: All gryphon troops are flyers, and gryphons are a rather technological faction.
Garrick Golden-Feather, Merchant King of Griffonia: For a merchant thrust into power because of his bloodline, he proves that even in MLP, the power of auxiliaries are in full force here, as he embraces the power of friendship more than even Equestria! First comes the diamond dogs most likely, giving bipedal tunnelers, then it depends which direction you go, though most likely crystal ponies from sombra, then ponies, which may lead to an interesting event that introduces the Hippogriff species, a hybrid of pony and gryphon. Garrik is very weak for a king, likely to lose most hero duels, but comes with very powerful army buffs and a skill tree that emphasizes that his main role is being a leader, both on and off of the battlefield. As if to make up for that, every so often he ends up recruiting Hardbeak, a knight, and a duelist hero that can fight on the level of the top heroes despite having no magic in his toolbox. The one hero that could actually gank SOMBRA reliably, more than makes up for the comparative weakness of Garrick. Combined with an unusually effective spy network. He brings unrivaled magic variety, easier access to knight orders due to the leader being of the royal bloodline, and superior tech.
King Brochard, leader of Aquileia: Seems like a budget Sombra, with cheap merc meat shields, better fighters but very limited morale, and the ability to tame monsters, with much less technology focus, backed up by a powerful professional military. More lacking in tech options, but gets a powerful beast tamer tree.
Duke Talonuelli of Wingbardy: Rather simple faction that comes with the best garrisons in the game, both in numbers and in quality which will be maintained till endgame, making any siege against them far tougher than usual, hope you brought a wall-buster.
Feathersian Merchant Republic: They love gold, they really love gold. Other than major gold bonuses and cheaper high quality mercs, there isn't much really special about this group. Like Wingbardy, would have a more standard Griffonian tech tree, with more focus on gold and mercs, although they would be able to open many doors with money, giving them access to far more magic than Wingbardy or Aquileia. The power of gold is what sets this nation apart.
Changelings: The resident stealth faction, while comparatively weak, every unit is highly effective at hiding, to facilitate their hit and run style. They have magic for when they decide to go loud, which while in use, would reveal the nature to observers due to their distinct color. Later technology allows a bigger punch without compromising themselves.
Edit(This is my loose take on Take on Total War: Disharmony, would be interested to see more fleshed out factions, and those not mentioned)
It's okay. The very fact that you regret your actions means that you have grown, even in such a short time. Every one gets frustrated, every one gets angry. Your plan is a good one, don't worry about it.
It's okay. The very fact that you regret your actions means that you have grown, even in such a short time. Every one gets frustrated, every one gets angry. Your plan is a good one, don't worry about it.
