Hi everyone!
I’m feeling the keen for E1, and am getting my brain back into empire mode! I loved the thread we had a year or so back about different character builds that were ridiculous, and i wanted to repeat the question for groups.
What synnergistic group designs could you make? And how would they work on the field?
Coven of the Rainbow
10 players, each with one point of lore in each realm.
Using the regio this means that the group could reach mag40 in each realm. Nothing to scoff at.
The Heralds of Awsome- “Oh by the ancestors not thes-AHH!”
Assuming unlimited resources for the group
10 war mages with the following:
Magician
2x extra personal mana
Warmage
Empower spell
Roaring Chimera Rod
Glamourweave Robe
Sunfire Pennant
Glorious Crown of Enchantment
Thats 10 mages, with 24 Empowers each for 240 Empowers total.
Thats a lot of Cleaved limbs…
Now that i think of it, this can be done with any 1 mana spell
One of the classics is the Synod/Autumn Coven group.
Majority of players take Congregation as a resource, others take mana site. Most of the group have Autumn Realm and master Mantle of the Golden Orator plus other useful and prosperous rituals. Group then proceeds to cast as large a Mantle as possible on the players with congregations and then throws their weight around in a single assembly, let’s say Prosperity as it’s on theme 
.
You could also have a few crafters of religious items depending on the focus of your priests, with the ability to make Cowls of Judgement, Wayfarer’s Robes and other Vestments + Reglia.
Then throw in an Alchemist who can make Tisanes of the Labyrinth and you’re cooking with gas. You can make Testimonies, Exorcisms, Excommunications, Consecrations, Anoinntings and Hallowings all with horrific ranks that require a lot of effort and organisation to remove. Making you feared in more ways than one .
Oh and how can I forget Reliquaries . Wayfarers Pyx is useful whereas an Almery of Silence is hilarous 
.
I’d be tempted to abuse the crafting rules to an extent. Just because I liked it, the following build for each member:
Artisan
Mage
Autumn Lore 1
Empower?
Personal resource: Fleet for the first 6 players, then mana sites
They form a coven and throw out Lore of Distant Shores 6 times an event on their fleets. They then sail off trading and get in a LOT of resources, enough to build some of the more powerful items, on a regular basis. Those artisans not building stuff at 30 resources a season churn out cheap things to sell for crystal mana and drinking cash. With a little XP, they can take more spells and personal mana, and take the field as one of the most over-equipped groups around
Bit of a long term build though.