Buddy/Ignore List
Faerie Folk Review
Game 6057 was my second game as the Faerie Folk. In my first game, I was under siege from the RD the entire time and never had the chance to evaluate the kingdom properly. After this game, where I came out on top, I feel I have a much better sense of how they play.
Overall, the kingdom is very meh. In my kingdom rankings from a few months back, I placed them 30th out of 32, only ahead of the BL and the unfortunate AT. After this game, I don’t see much reason to change that ranking.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Hidden Capital
The hidden capital is excellent and provides real peace of mind. You don’t need to worry much about protecting it early in the game.
I leaned heavily into this advantage and established standing orders to raise food and gold from turn one. The capital was never discovered (outside of a potential Revelation) and served as a secure location to raise wizards and agents.
Immortal Leader
The immortal ruler is another solid advantage. Knowing when your region is enamored and which population centers are reconned is always useful.
That said, it’s strange that the Faerie Queen can be slept. She appears to be the only starting immortal character who is not immune to Sleep, which feels inconsistent.
The immortal leader is a good thing to have. Knowing when your region is enamored and what pop centers are reconned is always going to be useful. While it didn’t come up in this game, I always find it odd that the FF queen can be slept. She is the only starting immortal character who is not immune to sleep.
Wizards
The wizard line is solid - standard Tier 2 magic. Early spells are fairly unremarkable with the exception of Bounty, which is genuinely useful.
As an aide, I nearly always opt for the extra starting adept and then pick up two or even three wizards with the ESO. I maximized wizards this game and did not regret it.
Chimera
The Chimera is disappointing.
As you are limited to only one, it accumulates attrition quickly. Unlike units such as an Iron Golem or Phoenix, it does not feel like a good use of an order to obtain one and have occupying a brigade slot. Once I lost one to attrition, I didn’t bother replacing it.
If I played the kingdom again, I would probably skip recruiting it entirely.
Reinforcements
The reinforcement schedule looks impressive on paper, but this is misleading as the kingdom troops are weak.
I suspect the reinforcement numbers could be increased, even doubled, without significantly increasing the kingdom’s overall strength. I do like this design choice and would like to see it pushed further.
Companions
Companions are also underwhelming.
You can recruit many Sprites and Pixies, but doing so consumes a large number of orders. Centaurs are decent and Ents are strong, but recruiting them removes flying from your groups.
For most of the game I kept my groups flying, though I’m not convinced this is always the optimal choice. One clear exception: losing flying for an Iron Golem is absolutely worth it!
Gameplay
I chose a development-focused strategy.
As mentioned above, I established standing orders to produce food and gold at the hidden capital. These remained active for most of the game. A side effect of this approach was a very large capital census (over 100k), which allowed me to maintain control of the region even after losing multiple population centers.
I used wizards to further increase production, eventually converting that economic base into higher-level wizards and fortifications.
For most of the game, my groups remained flying, composed primarily of Faeries, Pixies, and Sprites, supplemented by Gargoyles and Manticores when I could summon them.
As noted earlier:
Later in the game, once I reached a p-9 wizard, I summoned an Iron Golem along with Minotaurs for my main group. This removed flying, but it was necessary in order to capture a Legendary population center.
Flying was useful throughout the game. It allowed me to capture several water PCs quickly and safely. However, while convenient, it was not game-changing.
The larger issue is that almost everything described above could be done by another Tier 2 magic kingdom. For example, with only minor changes to the description above, this could easily have been a Dark Elves game - except the DA would likely have performed better in nearly every category.
What I Would Change
If I could redesign the kingdom, here are the changes I would make:
Movement
Increase movement speed to emphasize flying.
If Faeries fly, they should really fly!. This is not dragon-level mobility, but it would make the trait meaningful.
Summons
Focus the kingdom on flying creatures.
Remove the following summons:
Keep:
Add:
Recruitment
Prevent the kingdom from recruiting troops directly from population centers.
This would reinforce their identity as a magical/fey kingdom relying on summoned forces.
Chimera Improvements
The Chimera needs to be more impactful.
Proposed abilities:
The Goat’s ability would partially replace the loss of Iron Golems vs pop centers.
Ruler
The Faerie Queen is immune to Sleep. I wouldn’t mind taking this one step further and giving the Queen full immunity from harmful magic - curses, scandals and demons. This seems very flavorful.
Emissaries
Emissaries (and agents) should reflect the kingdom’s mobility.
Changes:
Overall
The Faerie Folk are playable but lack a clear competitive niche. With stronger mobility, a clearer focus on flying creatures, and a meaningful Chimera, the kingdom could enjoy a far more distinctive identity.
Game 6057 was my second game as the Faerie Folk. In my first game, I was under siege from the RD the entire time and never had the chance to evaluate the kingdom properly. After this game, where I came out on top, I feel I have a much better sense of how they play.
Overall, the kingdom is very meh. In my kingdom rankings from a few months back, I placed them 30th out of 32, only ahead of the BL and the unfortunate AT. After this game, I don’t see much reason to change that ranking.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Hidden Capital
The hidden capital is excellent and provides real peace of mind. You don’t need to worry much about protecting it early in the game.
I leaned heavily into this advantage and established standing orders to raise food and gold from turn one. The capital was never discovered (outside of a potential Revelation) and served as a secure location to raise wizards and agents.
Immortal Leader
The immortal ruler is another solid advantage. Knowing when your region is enamored and which population centers are reconned is always useful.
That said, it’s strange that the Faerie Queen can be slept. She appears to be the only starting immortal character who is not immune to Sleep, which feels inconsistent.
The immortal leader is a good thing to have. Knowing when your region is enamored and what pop centers are reconned is always going to be useful. While it didn’t come up in this game, I always find it odd that the FF queen can be slept. She is the only starting immortal character who is not immune to sleep.
Wizards
The wizard line is solid - standard Tier 2 magic. Early spells are fairly unremarkable with the exception of Bounty, which is genuinely useful.
As an aide, I nearly always opt for the extra starting adept and then pick up two or even three wizards with the ESO. I maximized wizards this game and did not regret it.
Chimera
The Chimera is disappointing.
As you are limited to only one, it accumulates attrition quickly. Unlike units such as an Iron Golem or Phoenix, it does not feel like a good use of an order to obtain one and have occupying a brigade slot. Once I lost one to attrition, I didn’t bother replacing it.
If I played the kingdom again, I would probably skip recruiting it entirely.
Reinforcements
The reinforcement schedule looks impressive on paper, but this is misleading as the kingdom troops are weak.
I suspect the reinforcement numbers could be increased, even doubled, without significantly increasing the kingdom’s overall strength. I do like this design choice and would like to see it pushed further.
Companions
Companions are also underwhelming.
You can recruit many Sprites and Pixies, but doing so consumes a large number of orders. Centaurs are decent and Ents are strong, but recruiting them removes flying from your groups.
For most of the game I kept my groups flying, though I’m not convinced this is always the optimal choice. One clear exception: losing flying for an Iron Golem is absolutely worth it!
Gameplay
I chose a development-focused strategy.
As mentioned above, I established standing orders to produce food and gold at the hidden capital. These remained active for most of the game. A side effect of this approach was a very large capital census (over 100k), which allowed me to maintain control of the region even after losing multiple population centers.
I used wizards to further increase production, eventually converting that economic base into higher-level wizards and fortifications.
For most of the game, my groups remained flying, composed primarily of Faeries, Pixies, and Sprites, supplemented by Gargoyles and Manticores when I could summon them.
As noted earlier:
- I never replaced lost Chimeras
- I did not miss them
Later in the game, once I reached a p-9 wizard, I summoned an Iron Golem along with Minotaurs for my main group. This removed flying, but it was necessary in order to capture a Legendary population center.
Flying was useful throughout the game. It allowed me to capture several water PCs quickly and safely. However, while convenient, it was not game-changing.
The larger issue is that almost everything described above could be done by another Tier 2 magic kingdom. For example, with only minor changes to the description above, this could easily have been a Dark Elves game - except the DA would likely have performed better in nearly every category.
What I Would Change
If I could redesign the kingdom, here are the changes I would make:
Movement
Increase movement speed to emphasize flying.
- Movement rate of four
- Seven in mountains
If Faeries fly, they should really fly!. This is not dragon-level mobility, but it would make the trait meaningful.
Summons
Focus the kingdom on flying creatures.
Remove the following summons:
- Minotaurs
- Iron Golems
- Ents
- Centaurs
- All other non-flying summoned creatures
Keep:
- Manticores
- Gargoyles
Add:
- Cockatrices
Recruitment
Prevent the kingdom from recruiting troops directly from population centers.
This would reinforce their identity as a magical/fey kingdom relying on summoned forces.
Chimera Improvements
The Chimera needs to be more impactful.
Proposed abilities:
- Dragon Head: p-2 Firestrike (unchanged)
- Lion Head: p-2 Fear and p-2 Valor
- Goat Head: Stuns the enemy leader or versus a pop center, reduces defense by 10%(by petridying the pop center’s leaders)
The Goat’s ability would partially replace the loss of Iron Golems vs pop centers.
Ruler
The Faerie Queen is immune to Sleep. I wouldn’t mind taking this one step further and giving the Queen full immunity from harmful magic - curses, scandals and demons. This seems very flavorful.
Emissaries
Emissaries (and agents) should reflect the kingdom’s mobility.
Changes:
- Emissaries gain flying with movement range of nine (same as dragons)
- Capture chance reduced from 50% to 25% since they could realistically escape
Overall
The Faerie Folk are playable but lack a clear competitive niche. With stronger mobility, a clearer focus on flying creatures, and a meaningful Chimera, the kingdom could enjoy a far more distinctive identity.
