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First of all, let's get this straight: which version of the game are we talking about? In Equilibria, it's unambiguous—Chaos is more powerful than Order, and there's nothing to be done about it. In the original version, I believe there was a balance, although some other players claim the opposite—that there is an imbalance in favor of Order. Let's figure it out.
1). Original (from the very first version to Vortices of War):
Order bets on "skillful" spells. Chaos players will have no countermeasures against Order's spells. Because if Chaos players take Life magic, they rid themselves of Hypnosis/Berserk/Forgetfulness, but have problems with Illusions/Accuracy/Blinding, and if they take Death magic—it's the other way around. Taking Order magic is very difficult for them, and then they'll still have to search for the specific "Dispel" spell... in short, if Chaos players manage to do this, their success will be completely deserved)))
Order has either no resistance at all to Chaos spells (mage-djinn, titans are 50/50), or they will have to sacrifice everything for resistances, but take golems-nagas-dragon golems. In this case, direct damage spells won't save the Chaos players, but they will have a lot of fun with Mass Misfortune; moreover, Chaos melee units are much stronger than their Order counterparts. In a word, Order will also lack resistance to Chaos spells. Unless the heroes have pumped magic resistance, but for that case, Chaos has the Black Dragon ;)
As a rule, the outcome of the entire battle depends on who moves first—the mage or the sorcerer. If the sorcerer moves, he casts Disintegration on the mage, the mage is wiped out, and then the mage's troops are cleared without any problems. If the mage moves, he casts Hypnosis on the sorcerer (if the sorcerer has magic resistance—then on the medusas or ifrits), and then all Chaos troops are wiped out by endless Titan illusions without any losses at all.
As for the game strategy for Chaos and Order—specifically strategy, not tactics—there is an equilibrium here. Chaos moves much faster—effectively, the movement can be three times greater if Order is lugging around hobbits (and a smart player will never discard hobbits). On the other hand, it is easier for Order to clear neutrals—Hypnosis is far more useful compared to direct damage spells, since computer armies are monstrous in number and negligible in intelligence. A significant bonus is also given due to the presence of the Lord—but to buy out all grown units, Order has to sweat hard (few people pump finances and mining mastery—it's better if the tactician or a second mage earns this experience). Chaos has enough money—monstrously long turns + loot gathered by thief-heroes.
Summary:
I believe that in the original version there is a balance between Chaos and Order in terms of both battle tactics and strategy. The only caveat: if everything is decided by the question of "who moves first," then a priest/GM of leadership plays a very important role. And it is still easier for Order to obtain a Life hero.
2). Considering the case with Equi. Order is heavily nerfed; most importantly, Hypnosis and Teleport require line of sight. Consequently, you can no longer kill Chaos players from the first turn. Blinding and Forgetfulness can only provide a delay; moreover, a Chaos player will almost certainly be protected from blindness (magic resistance, helmet of sight, shield of mind, lich class—obtaining one of these is definitely not a problem). With Chaos, it's the old story—we crush Order in one turn, long live Disintegration! The opponent will likely resort to "low-budget" spells like illusions and basic curses, and therefore, they have already lost by proxy. If both heroes—both Chaos and Order—are endowed with magic resistance, the battle unfolds slightly differently. Chaos mages easily reach vulnerable Order units "hidden" behind their comrades—djinns, mages, hobbits—with spells and brutally bash them with a tea kettle/disintegration/inferno. Order mages are left only to cast mass Forgetfulness (if the battle is not in a Chaos castle, this makes little sense) or Hypnosis on ifrits/nightmares. If the Chaos players don't stand around idling and quickly remove the hypnosis (and most likely they will, as by the finale Chaos usually has one more hero than Order—perhaps Dispel or Exorcism), then Order mages will get almost no effect—well, they delayed the advance a bit... well, they nipped one hero (but the mass Forgetfulness still wasn't removed). On the other hand, removing the death effect of several dozen djinns is definitely beyond the power of Order mages )))))
In the end, it turns out that the advantage lies with the army that has more heroes. Since Order will bring hobbits to repel the Black Dragon, they will have one fewer hero. If they don't bring hobbits, they will lose even more; you can't really fight with Titan illusions alone, and their own spells are too convoluted (no proper summoning, no universal buffs). Four Chaos mages against four Order mages—in Equi, Chaos will win in any case.
Since Chaos mainly runs with heroes rather than creatures—this means the movement increases further, resources become even more plentiful, and the heroes' experience also exceeds the experience available to Order. Lords can no longer balance the scales, and on the adventure map, the lead also tips in favor of Chaos.
Summary:
In Equi, there is a noticeable predominance of Chaos over Order. The only practical option for Order is to brutally drag out the game, for about three months, so that a bunch of creatures grown with Nobility minimize the damage from the sorcerers' spells. And on small maps—only Chaos! :smile13:
