Some other races get their own amusing tricks (Elven archers with Modern Warfare training are scary, for example), but Humans get a lot of all-around small bonuses and synergies that add up if you're going down the Dread route. You can play a momentum game, locking down territory and resources. However, one later upgrade that Humans get, is that their Builders can build heavily discounted Outposts/Roads/Fortresses note that when you build a new City on a Fortress, that city gets a free wall of the appropriate type. Poison damage comes at the cost of lower physical damage, so even Shadow Stalkers barely scratch Juggernauts.

Really, your main weakness is that you don't get any 'move bonuses' on the strategic map you don't get bonuses to move through mountains (like Dwarves), Forests (like Elves/Halflings), Swamps (like Goblins), etc. This seems like an automatically bad match up, a class that gets a lot of damage points from Poison that machines are entirely immune too.

Two of the better Dreadnought upgrades boost Armored Units, making them defend better, and cheaper. With Mariner, Fast Embark, and eventual ability to research the Sabotage ability, they can become discount naval frogmen of a sort.Īlmost every Human unit has the Armored trait (except Civic Guard or Priests). Human Priests provide healing via Bestow Iron Heart, and Spirit Damage although Spirit damage doesn't help against Machines, it does help quite handily against Undead/Necromancers (especially since Necromancers can negate weaknesses to Fire by building an Embalmer's Guild).Ĭivic Guard are fun to spam early on, due to getting Volunteer (you can have two Guards for the upkeep of one other Militia equivalent).

Personally, I feel that Human Dreadnoughts are a solid way to start off, for the following reasons:

Age of wonders 3 dreadnought vs rogue